The naval battles for Guadalcanal 1942 by Mark Stille

The naval battles for Guadalcanal 1942 by Mark Stille

The battle for Guadalcanal that lasted from August 1942 to February 1943 was the first major American counteroffensive against the Japanese in the Pacific, it also marks the high point of Japanese expansion and can justly be claimed as one of the major turning points of the Pacific War. While the troops of the US Marine Corps and later the US Army battled the Japanese occupiers on the densely jungled island of Guadalcanal, the US and Japanese naval forces fought a series of tightly contested battles in the waters nearby. The first of these, the battle of Savo Island on the night of 9 August 1942, saw the Japanese inflict a sever defeat on the Allied force, driving them away from Guadalcanal and leaving the just-landed marines in a perilously exposed position. This was the start of a series of night battles that culminated in the First and Second battles of Guadalcanal, fought on the nights of 13 and 15 November, that were narrowly won by US Naval forces and prevented the Japanese from reinforcing their troops on the island to any great extent, and heralded the turning of the tide in the battle for Guadalcanal. One further major naval action followed, the battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November 1942, when the US Navy once again suffered a severe defeat, but this time it was too late to alter the course of the battle as the Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal in early February 1943.This title will detail the contrasting fortunes experienced by both sides over the intense course of naval battles around the island throughout the second half of 1942 that did so much to turn the tide in the Pacific.

Mark E. Stille (Commander, United States Navy, retired) received his BA in History from the University of Maryland and also holds an MA from the Naval War College. He has worked in the intelligence community for 30 years including tours on the faculty of the Naval War College, on the Joint Staff and on US Navy ships. He is currently a senior analyst working in the Washington DC area. He is the author of numerous Osprey titles, focusing on naval history in the Pacific.

Howard Gerrard studied at the Wallasey School of Art and has been a freelance designer and illustrator for over 20 years. He has worked for a number of publishers and is an associate member of the Guild of Aviation Artists. He has won both the Society of British Aerospace Companies Award and the Wilkinson Sword Trophy, and has illustrated a number of books for Osprey including Campaign 69: Nagashino 1575, and Campaign 72: Jutland 1916. Howard lives and works in Kent.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781780961545
ISBN 10	1780961545
Title	The naval battles for Guadalcanal 1942
Author	Mark Stille
Series	Campaign
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	2013-05-20
Number of pages	96
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.