Editing Guadalcanal campaign (section)

===Battle of the Eastern Solomons===
{{Main|Battle of the Eastern Solomons}}
[[File:EasternSolomonsEnterpriseBurning.jpg|thumb|The carrier {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|6}} under aerial attack during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons]]

As the Tenaru battle was ending, more Japanese reinforcements were already on their way to Guadalcanal. Yamamoto had organized an extremely powerful naval expeditionary force, with the goal of destroying any American fleet units in the Solomons and subsequently eliminating Allied ground forces at Henderson Field. This force sortied from Truk on 23 August. Several other IJN units carrying reinforcements and supplies, and ships tasked with naval bombardment of the island, sortied from both Truk and Rabaul.<ref name="ww2db.com">{{cite web |url=http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=8 |title=Solomon Islands Campaign: 23 August 1942 – 25 December 1943 |author=Chen, C. Peter |work=World War II Database |access-date=10 January 2018}}</ref> Three slow transport ships departed from Truk on 16 August, carrying the remaining 1,400 soldiers from Ichiki's (28th) Infantry Regiment plus 500 naval marines from the 5th Yokosuka [[Special Naval Landing Forces|Special Naval Landing Force]].<ref>Smith pp. 33–34</ref> The transports were guarded by 13&nbsp;warships commanded by Japanese Rear Admiral [[Raizō Tanaka]], who planned to land the troops on Guadalcanal on 24 August.<ref>Zimmerman, p. 70; Frank, p. 159.</ref> To cover the landing of these troops and provide support for the operation to retake Henderson Field from Allied forces, Yamamoto directed [[Chūichi Nagumo]] to sortie with a carrier force from Truk on 21 August and sail toward the southern Solomon Islands. Nagumo's force included three carriers and 30 other warships.<ref>Hammel, ''Carrier Clash'', pp. 124–125, 157</ref> Yamamoto would send the light carrier {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Ryūjō||2}} ahead of the rest of the Japanese fleet to act as bait to draw the American aircraft into combat. The aircraft from the two fleet carriers would then attack the American fleet while it lacked air cover.<ref name="ww2db.com"/>

Simultaneously, the U.S. carrier task force under Fletcher approached Guadalcanal to counter the Japanese offensive efforts.<ref>Hammel, ''Carrier Clash'', p. 147.</ref> On 24 August, the two carrier forces located and launched strikes against each other. The Japanese had two fleet carriers, the {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Shōkaku||2}} and {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Zuikaku||2}}, as well as the light carrier ''Ryūjō'',<ref name="ww2db.com" /> with a total of 177 carrier-based aircraft. The American forces had two carriers, the ''Saratoga'' and {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|2}}, and their 176 aircraft. The Japanese light carrier ''Ryūjō'', offered as bait to Allied naval aircraft, was hit by several {{convert|1,000|lb|kg|adj=on}} bombs and an aerial torpedo; she was abandoned by her crew and sank that night.<ref name="ww2db.com" /> The two Japanese fleet carriers were not attacked, but Japanese aircraft successfully attacked ''Enterprise'', badly damaging her flight deck. Both fleets subsequently retreated from the area. The Japanese lost the ''Ryūjō'', along with dozens of carrier aircraft and most of their aircrew; the Americans lost a handful of planes and suffered damage to ''Enterprise'' requiring two months to repair in Hawaii.<ref>Frank, pp. 166–174; Lundstrom, p. 106</ref> Unable to safely land on ''Enterprise's'' ruined flight deck, many of her remaining aircraft flew to Guadalcanal and reinforced the beleaguered American air units at Henderson Field. 

Concurrently to the carrier air battle, on 25 August, Tanaka's convoy, headed by the flagship {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Jintsū||2}}, was attacked near Taivu Point<ref name="ww2db.com" /> by Cactus Air Force aircraft based at Henderson Field. After suffering heavy damage during the battle, including the sinking of one of the transports, the convoy was forced to divert to the [[Shortland Islands]] in the northern Solomons in order to transfer the surviving troops to destroyers for later delivery to Guadalcanal.<ref>Hara, pp. 118–119; and Hough, p. 293. Though the exact number of the 5th Yokosuka troops killed in the sinking of their transport ship is unknown, the losses were considered to be substantial.</ref> A Japanese transport was sunk, and the older destroyer ''Mutsuki'' was so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled. Several other Japanese warships were damaged, including Tanaka's flagship ''Jintsū''. At this point, Tanaka withdrew and rescheduled the supply run for the night of 28 August, to be carried out by the remaining destroyers. Japanese air raids against the Allied positions on Guadalcanal continued largely unabated during this time.

On 25 August, the American carrier {{USS|Wasp|CV-7|2}}, after refueling, positioned herself east of Guadalcanal, expecting Japanese movement to the area. No Japanese forces made any movement towards the area, however, and the ''Wasp'' was left idle.<ref name="ww2db.com" />

The Americans had won a modest tactical victory with the destruction of the ''Ryūjō,'' destroying some 75 Japanese aircraft while losing 25 of their own. The forced withdrawal of Tanaka's troop convoy also bought valuable breathing room for the embattled Allied troops on Guadalcanal. While the ''Enterprise'' was taken out of action for repair for several months, she was able to return to sea later in the campaign. The temporary loss of ''Enterprise'' was offset by the timely arrival of the carrier ''Hornet''. Additionally, the reinforcement of Henderson Field by ''Enterprise''{{'}}s orphaned carrier aircraft bolstered ground-based Allied air strength on the island, while ground-based Japanese pilots based at Rabaul were forced to undertake a grueling day-long round-trip flight in order to make their attacks. These factors combined to render daylight supply runs to Guadalcanal impossible for the Japanese. Only weeks before this, the Japanese had total control of the sea in the region; now they were forced to make supply runs only under the cover of darkness.<ref name="ww2db.com"/> Japanese naval commanders began to recognize the reality that their ships could not safely operate in the Solomons in the daytime without first suppressing Allied airpower at Henderson Field.