Scott's battle plan was simple. He knew that his force could not hope to match the night tactics of his adversaries. Instead, he would keep his ships in line-ahead formation, using the destroyers to illuminate targets, and his cruisers to neutralize the opponent with gunfire. His two light cruisers, Boise and Helena, each sported fifteen 6" guns, and could pump out prodigious quantities of shells. Unfortunately, Scott's choice of flagship, the heavy cruiser San Francisco, while nominally the more powerful vessel than either of his CLs, had an inferior radar suite.

Helena detected the approaching Japanese force on radar at 2325, but owing to Scott's distrust of the information he was receiving from San Francisco's set, he first executed a 180-degree turnabout, and then allowed the range to close to perilous proximity before opening fire. As a result, two of his destroyers fell out of formation, and found themselves between the Japanese and US main bodies when firing commenced.

The Japanese force was taken largely by surprise. However, the Japanese vessels quickly realized that Scott had crossed their 'T', and executed individual turns to port and starboard to clear the area. The flagship Aoba was hit hard early on, and Admiral Goto was mortally wounded in the opening moments. Seeing the Aoba in distress, the captain of Furutaka swerved to interpose his vessel between the American force and the flagship. It was to prove her undoing, as she was buried in an avalanche of 6" fire. Destroyer Fubuki, sailing in the van, was also quickly gunned into submission. The Japanese fled as best they could back up The Slot, with the Americans breaking off the pursuit at 0245.

The Americans had not come away unscathed. Destroyer Duncan, finding herself between the two main forces, had closed the Japanese and attempted to attack with torpedoes. She was heavily hit in the process, by both Japanese and American shells, and would eventually sink. More important, Boise sustained a pair of 8" hits which detonated her forward 6" ready ammunition, killing practically everyone in turrets #1 and #2. Fortunately, her magazine crews had scrupulously kept a minimum of ammunition and powder exposed, meaning that while they paid with their lives, the lives of their shipmates were spared from a more catastrophic explosion.

The net result was another flawed victory, this time for the Americans. Given their numerical advantage, the element of surprise, and their superior tactical position, they ought to have inflicted heavier casualties on the Japanese. Instead, they had sunk a cruiser and a destroyer, at the cost of destroyer sunk and a very valuable light cruiser badly damaged. More important, this half victory did nothing to dissuade the Americans from their linear, line-ahead tactics, which would have importance in later fights. Superior gunfire had won the day here, but the Japanese torpedo was the mightier nighttime weapon still, and linear gun-line tactics invited disaster from torpedo-armed craft.

Battle of Cape Esperance	Japan	Allied
Starting Forces	x3 x2	x2 x2 x4
Losses	x1 sunk (Furutaka) x1 heavily damaged (Aoba) x1 sunk (Fubuki)	x1 severely damaged (Boise) x1 sunk (Duncan) x1 damaged (Farenholt)