The Battle of Vella Gulf (ベラ湾夜戦, Berawan yasen?) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on the night of 6–7 August 1943, in Vella Gulf between Vella Lavella Island and Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Islands of the Southwest Pacific.
This engagement was the first time that destroyers were allowed to operate independent of the cruiser force during the Pacific campaign. In the battle, six American destroyers—Dunlap, Craven, Maury, Lang, Sterett, and Stack—engaged a group of four enemy destroyers attempting to reinforce Japanese troops on Kolombangara. The American warships closed the enemy undetected with the aid of radar and fired torpedoes, which sank Hagikaze, Arashi, and Kawakaze with no damage to American ships.
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