Guadalcanal, Battle of:

The fight for the island of Guadalcanal was the first battle to include an American amphibious invasion of Japanese-held territory. The invasion was launched on August 7, when American forces landed near an unfinished airstrip that they soon secured and renamed Henderson Field. This area soon was cleared out and grew into an Allied staging area, which was reinforced with 17,000 Marines, even though it was constantly under fierce attack by Japanese forces. The Japanese launched a huge offensive against American forces at Guadalcanal in what became known as the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. A Japanese naval force came toward the much smaller American task force, and was able to sink two cruisers, but at the cost of a battleship. This prompted American air raids based off of Henderson Field, which were able to sink or badly damage all eleven transports stationed there. The Japanese came after American forces with all of their remaining naval units, which were four cruisers and a battleship. However, American forces sunk the battleship and two cruisers, which made it clear that the Japanese had failed to cause the American invasion forces to disengage. Jungle fighting continued on for another four months until American forces had secured the island in early February 1943.

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