Video: 'The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: How the US Won a Strategic Victory | Battle 360 | History'

(Friday, November 13, 1942, 1:48 a.m. Solomon Islands Time) — The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allied (primarily American) and Imperial Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal Campaign, part of the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific Theater of World War II, began early this morning when the Japanese destroyers Akatsuki and Hiei turned on large searchlights and illuminated the American light cruiser Atlanta only 3,000 yards away – almost point-blank range for the battleship’s main guns.

Several ships on both sides spontaneously began firing, and the formations of the two adversaries quickly disintegrated.

Allied forces had landed on Guadalcanal on Aug. 7, 1942, and seized an airfield, later called Henderson Field, that was under construction by the Japanese military.

There were several subsequent attempts to recapture the airfield by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy using reinforcements delivered to Guadalcanal by ship, efforts which ultimately failed.

Video: 'The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 1942 - Animated'

In early November 1942, the Japanese organized a transport convoy to take 7,000 infantry troops and their equipment to Guadalcanal to attempt once again to retake the airfield. Several Japanese warship forces were assigned to bombard Henderson Field with the goal of destroying Allied aircraft that posed a threat to the convoy.

Learning of the Japanese reinforcement effort, U.S. forces launched aircraft and warship attacks to defend Henderson Field and prevent the Japanese ground troops from reaching Guadalcanal.

In the resulting battle, both sides lost numerous warships in two extremely destructive surface engagements at night. Nevertheless, the U.S. succeeded in turning back attempts by the Japanese to bombard Henderson Field with battleships.

Allied aircraft also sank most of the Japanese troop transports and prevented the majority of the Japanese troops and equipment from reaching Guadalcanal. Thus, the battle turned back Japan’s last major attempt to dislodge Allied forces from Guadalcanal and nearby Tulagi, resulting in a strategic victory for the U.S. and its allies and deciding the ultimate outcome of the Guadalcanal campaign in their favor.

Video: 'I'm Sorry, All Five - The Sullivan Brothers - USS Juneau'

The battle is also remembered as a tragedy for an American family when the light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52) was torpedoed today by the Japanese submarine I-26 and sunk.

Among those killed were all five Sullivan brothers, brothers of Irish American descent from Waterloo, Iowa, who all were serving together.

Video: 'The fighting Sullivans - Full Movie in English (War, Drama, History) 1944 | Lloyd Bacon'

Among the 697 Americans aboard the Juneau, only 10 survived. They reported that Frank, Joe, and Matt Sullivan were all killed instantly, Al drowned the next day, and George survived for four or five days, before suffering from delirium as a result of hypernatremia (though some sources describe him being “driven insane with grief” at the loss of his brothers); he went over the side of the raft he occupied. He was never seen or heard from again.