Savo Sound in WW2 History | World War II Database

21 Jun 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

USS S-44 sank converted gunboat Keijo Maru in northern Savo Sound, Solomon Islands. She was immediately counterattacked by Japanese aircraft, causing damage to her depth gauges, gyrocompass, and the ice machine due to flooding. ww2dbase [S-44 | Savo Sound | CPC]

24 Jun 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

USS S-44 arrived at Lunga Roads off the northern coast of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [S-44 | Lunga Roads, Savo Sound | CPC]

26 Jun 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

USS S-44 reported extremely poor weather north of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [S-44 | Savo Sound | CPC]

29 Jun 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

USS S-44 departed waters north of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. ww2dbase [S-44 | Savo Sound | CPC]

7 Aug 1942

7 Aug 1942 Photos

8 Aug 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

In the pre-dawn morning, 7 Japanese cruisers and 1 destroyer under Gunichi Mikawa departed Kavieng, New Ireland and Rabaul, New Britain, sailing south without being detected; after sundown, the force caught Allied warships by surprise off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; in the Battle of Savo Island, Japanese cruisers Chōkai, Aoba, Kako, Kinugasa, and Furutaka used Type 93 torpedoes and gunfire to sink US cruisers USS Quincy, Vincennes, and Astoria and Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra; 1,077 US personnel were killed in this battle (Canberra was badly damaged and was ultimately scuttled by a US destroyer). ww2dbase [Kinugasa | Type 93 | Vincennes | Astoria (New Orleans-class) | Quincy (New Orleans-class) | Canberra (County-class) | Aoba | Kako | Furutaka | Chokai | Guadalcanal Campaign | Savo Sound | CPC]

22 Aug 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

US and Japanese supplying destroyers made contact in the Savo Sound off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands; Japanese destroyer Kawakaze disabled destroyer USS Blue with Type 93 torpedoes at 0359 hours (killing 9; she would be scuttled on the following day). ww2dbase [Type 93 | Guadalcanal Campaign | Savo Sound | CPC]

13 Nov 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended before dawn with the US Navy task force under Rear Admiral Daniel Callahan driving off a Japanese naval bombardment group. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Savo Sound | CPC]
Cruiser USS Atlanta was sunk by Type 93 torpedoes launched from Japanese destroyer Akatsuki; destroyer USS Barton was sunk by Type 93 torpedoes launched from Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze; and destroyer USS Laffey was sunk by Type 93 torpedoes launched from unidentified Japanese destroyers. ww2dbase [Type 93 | Laffey (Benson-class) | Atlanta | Guadalcanal Campaign | Savo Sound | DS]

14 Nov 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

After dark, the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal began with Japanese ships severely crippling the American destroyer screen. Japanese destroyers launched Type 93 torpedoes that took the bows off destroyers USS Walke and Benham; Walke sank almost immediately and Benham was scuttled sixteen hours later by USS Gwinn, herself badly damaged in the action. ww2dbase [Type 93 | Guadalcanal Campaign | Savo Sound | CPC]

15 Nov 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

The Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended in the early hours of the day, with the Americans fighting off the Japanese attack with effective use of radar; four surviving Japanese transports were able to accomplish their missions by delivering 2,000 troops to Guadalcanal, albeit without most of their heavy equipment. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Savo Sound | CPC]

30 Nov 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

Near Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, a formation of US cruisers sailing from Espiritu Santo ambushed a nighttime fast destroyer convoy led personally by Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka south of Savo Island in the Solomons. Tanaka's quick thinking led to a Japanese victory in the Battle of Tassafaronga. Cruisers USS Northampton, USS Pensacola, USS Minneapolis, and USS New Orleans (New Orleans-class) were badly damaged by torpedoes. Cruiser USS Northampton was sunk by Type 93 torpedoes launched by Japanese destroyer Oyashio. Light cruiser USS Honolulu reported gunfire hits (along with other ships) on Japanese destroyer Takanami which broke apart and sank. ww2dbase [Pensacola | Honolulu | Raizo Tanaka | Guadalcanal Campaign | Minneapolis | New Orleans | Northampton | Type 93 | Savo Sound | CPC]

1 Dec 1942

British Western Pacific Territories

at 0303 hours (local time): Badly damaged by two torpedo hits in the Battle of Tassafaronga, cruiser USS Northampton sank in Iron Bottom Sound north of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Destroyers Drayton and Fletcher took on 870 of her survivors in less than an hour. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Northampton | Savo Sound | CPC]

1 Feb 1943

British Western Pacific Territories

USS Nicholas and USS DeHaven screened the landing of Army troops at Verahue on western Guadalcanal. While escorting the transport ships back to base, Nicholas and DeHaven came under a vigorous Japanese dive-bomber attack. DeHaven took three bomb hits including one hit on the forward magazine. DeHaven split in two and sank. Nicholas received minor damage from near miss bomb hits. Nicholas and the transports picked up DeHaven survivors. 146 were killed aboard DeHaven and two aboard Nicholas. ww2dbase [Guadalcanal Campaign | Nicholas | Savo Sound | DS]

7 Jul 2025

British Western Pacific Territories

The bow of USS Orleans, blown off during the Battle of Tassafaronga in Nov 1942, was found in the Savo Sound ("Iron Bottom Sound") at the depth of 675 meters. ww2dbase [New Orleans | Savo Sound | CPC]

12 Jul 2025

British Western Pacific Territories

Two remotely-operated submarine vehicles inspected the wreck on the floor of Savo Sound, initially discovered by University of New Hampshire's unmanned surface vessel DriX. Visuals collected by the submarine vehicles confirmed that the wreck was the Japanese destroyer Teruzuki, sunken on 12 Dec 1942. ww2dbase [Savo Sound | CPC]

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