The Battle of Tassafaronga, sometimes referred to as the Fourth Battle of Savo Island or in Japanese sources as the Battle of Lunga Point , was a nighttime naval battle that took place on 30 November 1942 between United States Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy warships during the Guadalcanal campaign. The battle took place in Ironbottom Sound near Tassafaronga Point on Guadalcanal.
USS Minneapolis at Tulagi with torpedo damage, 1 December 1942
Raizō Tanaka
Carleton H. Wright
TF67 heads for Guadalcanal on November 30. Fletcher (foreground) is followed by Perkins, Maury, Drayton, and the cruisers (far distance).
8th Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)
The 8th Fleet was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) established during World War II.
Japanese heavy cruiser Chōkai, flagship of the 8th Fleet in 1942.
Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa was the first commander of the 8th Fleet and led it throughout the Guadalcanal Campaign.
8th Fleet warships led by Vice Admiral Mikawa dealt a major defeat to Allied naval forces at the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942 by sinking four heavy cruisers.
Seaplane tender Nisshin was used by the 8th Fleet's Reinforcement Unit as a high-speed transport to resupply Guadalcanal in October 1942.
