Battle of The Santa Cruz Islands - Aftermath

Aftermath

The Japanese claimed victory by claiming to have sunk three American carriers, one battleship, one cruiser, one destroyer and one "unidentified large warship" along with 79 American carrier aircraft destroyed (plus many more sunk on the carriers). In reality, the Americans lost one carrier, the Hornet, along with the destroyer Porter. The Enterprise was heavily damaged as was the battleship South Dakota, as well as the light cruiser San Juan and the destroyers Smith and Mahan. Of the 175 U.S. aircraft at the start of the battle, 81 were lost to all causes (33 fighters, 28 dive-bombers, and 20 torpedo bombers). In contrast, three Japanese warships were badly damaged which would require extensive repairs, which included the carriers Shōkaku, Zuihō and the heavy cruiser Chikuma. Of the 203 Japanese carrier aircraft at the start of the battle, 99 were lost.

The loss of Hornet was a severe blow for Allied forces in the South Pacific, leaving just one operational, but damaged, Allied carrier in the entire Pacific theater. Enterprise, however, received temporary repairs at New Caledonia and, although still somewhat damaged, returned to the southern Solomons area just two weeks later to support Allied forces during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, playing an important role in what turned out to be the decisive naval engagement in the overall campaign for Guadalcanal.

Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, it came at a high cost for Japanese naval forces. Both damaged carriers were forced to return to Japan for extensive repairs and refitting. After repair, Zuihō returned to Truk in late January 1943. Shōkaku was under repair until March 1943 and did not return to the front until July 1943, when she was reunited with Zuikaku at Truk.

The most significant losses for the Japanese Navy, however, were in aircrew. The U.S. lost 81 aircraft along with 26 pilots and aircrew members in the battle. The Japanese, on the other hand, lost 99 aircraft and 148 pilots and aircrew members including two dive bomber group leaders, three torpedo squadron leaders, and 18 other section or flight leaders. Forty-nine percent of the Japanese torpedo bomber aircrews involved in the battle were killed along with 39% of the dive bomber crews and 20% of the fighter pilots. The Japanese lost more aircrew at Santa Cruz than they had lost in each of the three previous carrier battles at Coral Sea (90), Midway (110), and Eastern Solomons (61). By the end of the Santa Cruz battle, at least 409 of the 765 elite Japanese carrier aviators who had participated in the Attack on Pearl Harbor were dead. The Japanese lost so many aircrew members that undamaged Zuikaku and Hiyō were also forced to return to Japan because of a scarcity of trained aircrew to man their air groups. Admiral Nagumo, upon being relieved of command shortly after the battle and reassigned to shore duty in Japan, stated in his report to the Combined Fleet Headquarters: "This battle was a tactical win, but a shattering strategic loss for Japan. Considering the great superiority of our enemy's industrial capacity, we must win every battle overwhelmingly in order to win this war. This last one, although a victory, unfortunately, was not an overwhelming victory."

Having lost many of its veteran carrier aircrew, and with no quick way to replace them because of an institutionalized limited capacity in its naval aircrew training programs and an absence of trained reserves, Japan lost its strategic opportunity to follow up their victory and defeat Allied naval carrier forces in a single, decisive battle before the industrial might of the U.S. placed that goal out of reach. Although they returned to Truk by the summer of 1943, the Japanese carriers played no further offensive role in the Solomon Islands campaign. Historian Eric Hammel summed up the significance of the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands as, "Santa Cruz was a Japanese victory. That victory cost Japan her last best hope to win the war."