The Battle of Savo Island was a naval armed encounter of World War II Pacific Theater. It was fought between the Allied Task Force 62, under Admiral Richmond K. Turner, and a Japanese fleet, led by Gunichi Mikawa, on August 8 and 9, 1942, off the coast of Savo Island, during the Guadalcanal Campaign, which had just begun on August 7. Savo is a tiny land mass which is part of the Solomon Islands. It lies 15 km (9.4 miles) north of Guadalcanal, the landing on which marked the beginning of the Allied Island-Hopping Campaign of the Pacific Theater of Operations. Result: Japanese victory.
Task Force 62, under Turner, was composed of a landing force and a screening group. The screening group was led by British Admiral Sir Victor Crutchley. It was a flotilla composed of 6 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers, and 15 destroyers. They had the task of protecting the Allied landing force at Guadalcanal. However, they had been weakened as Admiral Frank J. Fletcher had withdrawn his aircraft carriers from the area, leaving them without air cover. The Japanese 8th Fleet, commanded by Mikawa, consisted of 5 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and only one destroyer. Thus, both fleet avoided direct confrontation in daylight.
With the mission of destroying the Allied landing force at Guadalcanal, Gunichi Mikawa ordered the Japanese warships to attack the British screening force on the night of August 8, 1942. Although Crutchley had deployed two radar-equipped destroyers to give early warning for any approaching enemy warships, Mikawa's vessels were able to sail undetected towards Savo Island and the Guadalcanal area. The Japanese ships approached in a single, 3-km column, which was led by heavy cruiser Chokai, followed by Aoba and Kako. With enemy floatplanes dropping flares for better visibility, the Imperial Japanese 8th Fleet's heavy cruisers suddenly opened fire out of the blue.
The Japanese naval assault was relentless, with the Allied ships maneuvering around to avoid major damage. Thus, the Battle of Savo Island basically took place in two areas; a combat action between Guadalcanal and Savo, which was the most ferociously fought, and a naval encounter north of Savo. By the end of the battle, at 05:00 hours on August 9, the Japanese had sunk three US Navy's heavy cruisers, and had seriously damaged an Australian cruiser, which would be scuttled hours later. A fifth Allied cruiser also sustained heavy damage as well as two US destroyers. The Japanese 8th Fleet, on the other hand, did not lose any ship, with three vessels being only damaged. However, the Allied transport and landing ships were not sunk and came out unscathed of the battle.
Among the Allied warships sunk by the Japanese were the USS Vincennes (CA-44), USS Astoria (CA-34), USS Quincy (CA-39), and the HMAS Canberra.
 |
| Above, HMAS Canberra damaged and listing to port. It would be scuttled on August 9. |
 |
| Map of Solomon Islands showing the location of both Guadalcanal and Savo Island. The site of the battle is marked by a red arrow. |
 |
| Above, the heavy cruiser USS Astoria, a couple of days before the Battle of Savo Island took place. |