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Allied intelligence discovered the Japanese were planning to retake Henderson Field so reinforcements of Marines and two U.S. Army battalions were sent to Guadalcanal on November 11. The supply ships carrying the reinforcements and their battle group were attacked several times between Nov. 11 and 12 by Japanese aircraft out of Rabaul but most of the supply ships unloaded without serious damage.
The Japanese bombardment force was detected by allied aircraft Nov. 12 and all Allied combat ships, commanded by Rear Admirals Daniel J. Callaghan and Norman Scott, were ordered to intercept, protecting the supply ships and newly arrived ground forces. The intercepting fleet comprised of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers.
Late that night, in pitch darkness the Allied fleet intermingled with the Japanese forces and opened fire at unusually close range. During the fight the Japanese sunk or crippled all but one cruiser and one destroyer in Callaghan's force and both Callaghan and Scott were killed. Two Japanese destroyers were lost and another heavily damaged and later sank. In spite of the Allied loss, the Japanese retired without bombarding Henderson Field.
A bombardment of Henderson Field was later executed around 2 a.m. Nov. 14, unopposed but was poorly conducted, leaving the station and most aircraft in working operation. The bombardment party was harassed the remainder of the day by aircraft from Henderson Field and the carrier USS Enterprise (CV 6) sinking a heavy cruiser and seven troop transports.
Another Japanese strike force was sent that night and the battleships Washington (BB56) and South Dakota (BB 57) along with four destroyers from the Enterprise task force were sent to intercept. When the two forces made contact the three destroyers were quickly sunk and the forth was severely damaged. The Japanese force then sighted, opened fire and damaged the South Dakota. Washington approached the Japanese battleship Kirishima undetected and opened fire, sinking the ship. Washington was fruitlessly chased causing the Japanese force to retire, again without bombarding Henderson Field.
As the combat ships retired four Japanese transports landed on Guadalcanal and began unloading. Two hours later U.S. aircraft and artillery began attacking the beached transports, destroying all four along with their supplies. Because of the extreme loss of soldiers and supplies, the Japanese were forced to halt their planned November offensive.
Guadalcanal was later developed into a major base allowing the Allied forces to move up the island chain. This allowed the isolation of Japanese stronghold Rabaul. With Rabaul effectively neutralized the Central Pacific Island hopping campaign under Admiral Chester Nimitz began, successfully advancing Allied forces toward mainland Japan.
The Guadalcanal campaign was costly to Japan strategically and in material losses and manpower. Japan could not match the output of American industry and manpower. Thus, as the campaign continued, the Japanese were losing irreplaceable assets while the Americans were continuously replacing and augmenting their forces. The Japanese aircraft and ships destroyed and suck in this campaign were irreplaceable, thus can be argued that this Allied victory was the first step in a long string of successes that eventually led to the surrender of Japan and the occupation of the Japanese home islands.
After the war Japanese General Torashiro Kawabe stated, "As for the turning point [of the war], when the positive action ceased or even became negative, it was, I feel, at Guadacanal."
