Cape Esperance, Battle of

The Battle of Cape Esperance was one of many naval battles spawned by the Guadalcanal Campaign. On the night of October 11–12, 1942, a U.S. Navy task force commanded by R. Adm. Norman Scott fought a Japanese force under R. Adm. Goto Aritomo. Its mission was to pin down U.S. Marines onshore with suppressing fire while two Japanese seaplane carriers landed reinforcements. Thanks to advances in available U.S. radar technology, namely a new type of surface radar, Scott was able to surprise Aritomo's group. Unfortunately, the seaplane carriers did manage to land their reinforcements, but at great cost: One Japanese heavy cruiser and one destroyer were sunk, while another heavy cruiser was severely damaged. Goto died in the battle, and the next day U.S. aircraft sank another two destroyers. The cost to the U.S. Navy was one destroyer sunk and damage to three other vessels. The beleaguered marines, however, were thrilled by the effective support they had received from the navy, and, for the navy, Cape Esperance was an important victory, which not only boosted morale at a time when most of the news from the Pacific was bad, but also demonstrated the effectiveness of the navy's night-fighting capability.