Battle of Cape Esperance

Commanders

• 

  Japanese Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa

• 

  Japanese Rear Admiral Aritomo Goto

• 

  U.S. Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley

• 

  U.S. Rear Admiral Norman Scott

U.S. ships

• 

  USS San Francisco

• 

  USS Salt Lake City

• 

  USS Helena

• 

  USS Boise photographed circa late August 1942, probably at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides.

• 

  USS Duncan underway in the south Pacific on 7 October 1942, five days before she was sunk in the Battle of Cape Esperance.

• 

  USS Farenholt

• 

  USS Buchanan

• 

  USS McCalla

• 

  USS Laffey

Japanese ships

• 

  HIJMS Furutaka

• 

  Aoba class heavy cruiser which included Aoba and Kinugasa.

• 

  HIJMS Fubuki

• 

  HIJMS Hatsuyuki

• 

  HIJMS Asagumo

• 

  HIJMS Shirayuki

• 

  HIJMS Murakumo

• 

  HIJMS Akizuki

Battle maps

• 

  U.S. Navy map from 1943 showing movements of U.S. Navy and Japanese ships in Battle of Cape Esperance. Japanese movements made not be very accurate since this map was published during the war.

• 

  Fairly good chart of the battle based on testimony by surviving Japanese participants.

Aftermath

• 

  Heavily damaged Aoba off Buin, Bougainville on October 13, 1942.

• 

  USS Boise arrives at Philadelphia naval yard in November, 1942 to repair damage suffered in this battle.

• 

  Another picture of USS Boise arriving at Philadelphia naval yard in November, 1942 to repair damage suffered in this battle.

• 

  A U.S. sailor points to the scoreboard on USS Boise that shows that Boise claimed to have assisted in sinking three cruisers and three destroyers in the battle.

• 

  U.S. Army Private First Class Felix A. Uva (left) and Corporal Donald A. Purdy examine a memorial plaque on the U.S. cruiser Boise's main deck, while they were being transported to the United States from Europe as part of Operation "Magic Carpet" in November 1945. This plaque was presented to the ship by the citizens of Boise, Idaho, in memory of the 107 crewmembers who lost their lives in the Battle of Cape Esperance.