U.S.S. Hornet found

The ding-dong naval campaign for Guadalcanal was touch and go and the United States Navy suffered several defeats and some victories that were as costly as defeats. Two carriers, the Hornet and Wasp, were lost in the campaign. At one time we were down to only a single carrier in the Pacific, the Enterprise. American warship losses for the campaign were 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 14 destroyers and 2 carriers; 5041 sailors were killed. (The Army and Marines lost 1592 killed in ground fighting.) The Japanese lost 2 battleships, 3 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 11 destroyers, 6 submarines and 1 carrier; how many Japanese sailors were killed isn’t known.

Fortunately while the Japanese Navy was tactically proficient it suffered from poor strategic leadership. The United States Navy had better strategic leadership, better logistics and learned tactical proficiency through hard knocks.
 
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