It was October of 1942, and the Guadalcanal campaign in the Pacific Theater had devolved into a brutal deadlock. Both the Japanese and the US forces could not push their adversaries off the region, and each side kept pouring more men and equipment into the lethal stalemate.
After Japan took USS Enterprise out of action weeks prior, the US lost naval superiority in the region. However, the Americans still had air superiority thanks to the capture of Henderson Field.
Everything boiled down to that airbase; if the Japanese could recapture it, they would be able to overwhelm the US forces by air as well as by sea. As such, holding Henderson Field was the most crucial objective of the US Navy and the Marines.
Soon, Japan moved its superior fleets to the Santa Cruz Islands, hoping to lure the US warships out once and for all. But despite being vastly outnumbered and having only two aircraft carriers, the US fleet steamed ahead, knowing they had to protect the US airfield at any cost.
A massive clash ensued, one of the first and most violent carrier battles of the entire war…
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"enterprise vs japan" nuff said
Good storytelling
comment #2 for anyone wondering about it:"In late January 2019, the research vessel Petrel located Hornet's wreck at more than 17,500 feet (5,300 m) deep off the Solomon Islands." -wikipedia
These men actually fought for this country. And for what. For people to worry about simpleton thoughts.
VG Thankyou
Ah yes, good old CV6 Enterprise..the agonizing thorn in the back of the Japanese navy.
Men and heroes all.
Another great video! Great narration too!
The Enterprise survived the war, earning the name The Lucky Ship. Wasn't she under a rain squall during the attack on the Hornet?
"War never changes. It's exactly the same no matter the era."
"OWARI DA!"
"LET HISTORY NEVER FORGET THE NAME ENTERPRISE"
Greatest Generation …
The Aircraft Carrier that Took on All of Japan HOW IT"S CONNECTED
My dad was an aviation machinist mate on CV-6 USS Enterprise at this battle.
What always blows my mind about these videos is how young the men were. These are very young men, boys, even, manning the guns, steering the ships, flying the planes. Such young guys, and so many of them never came home.
I pray we never see the likes of WWII again, and thank the gods for the Greatest Generation.
My father was a gunner in VT-10 part of Air Group 10
Even though Enterprise is the most decorated US warship ever, I've rarely seen a documentary about it…
Interestingly. Hornet at the time of Santa Cruz was flagship of Task Force 17. The same one led by her eldest sister Yorktown earlier in the war and the commander was George Murray. Who was Enterprise’s Captain from March 1941 till after the Battle of Midway.
Didn't the Royal Navy lend the US a Carrier?
Didn't the Royal Navy lend the US a Carrier?
The Big E vs Japan
Great idea for next video. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. who was the the first soldier killed in Vietnam on June 8th, 1956. He was killed by a disgruntled airman, this technically being one of the first forms of friendly fire or a metaphorical "fragging" in Vietnam.
My brother-in-law’s father, both eventually Annapolis graduates, was killed on the Hornet. His name was Byron Newell. My brother-in-law went to Annapolis like his father and became a Rear Admiral. When he was a young officer, he was called on deck and the ship named after his father came by and presented honors. Very moving and something he never forgot.
Aircraft carriers without aircrafts…
My favorite bit of trivia about Enterprise was how the Japanese believed they had sank her multiple times, only for her to come back for the next battle, earning her the nickname 'The Grey Ghost'
What’s amazing is the fact that both countries had to come up with the logistics on pen and paper technology to supply all those land and sea battles around an obscure group of islands waaay out in the middle of nowhere.
why didn't your ships around australia join them?
Who was Lt Zuiho?
It’s absolutely infuriating to me that the Enterprise wasn’t preserved as a museum ship. She was a huge piece of history lost to scrap.
Task force, not task group.
Any other battle 360 fans here?
At 0.32 you specify the capture of Henderson Field, and show footage of an airfield…… that IS NOT Henderson Field.
While I appreciate there isn't endless amounts of ww2 footage, it seems obtusely sloppy not to edit together actual footage of the airfield while talking about it.
It's insulting to assume your viewers don't care about the misattributed images…