The Americans would have had three carriers with which to meet the Japanese force, but Wasp was detached to refuel on the 23rd, so she would be out of the coming action. Thus, the Americans would field two carriers (Saratoga and Enterprise) and 176 aircraft to the Japanese two heavy carriers (Shokaku, Zuikaku) and one light carrier (Ryujo) and 177 aircraft; pretty much a straight-up fight. As he was prone to, however, Yamamoto divided his forces, sending Ryujo off by herself in advance of the main force, ostensibly to be in a position to attack Henderson Field, as well as supporting the Guadalcanal reinforcement convoy under Raizo Tanaka coming down the Slot from Rabaul.

As usual, division of forces cost the Japanese, as the Americans got in the first blow. Catching Ryujo by herself, and with most of her fighters either gone (on a strike against Guadalcanal) or (inexplicably) still on her decks, they quickly turned her into a burning, sinking wreck. The Japanese heavy carriers, however, counterattacked and damaged Enterprise badly with three bomb hits. However, she managed to transfer the majority of her airwing to Henderson Field before limping away to the southeast. A second Japanese strike failed to find the Americans (which meant that Enterprise would live to fight another day). After an abortive attempt to engage the Americans in a night surface fight with battleships and cruisers, the Japanese Main Force began retiring to Truk.

This was a mistake. The Japanese heavy carriers were thus far unscathed, while they had rendered one of the American CVs impotent, thus leaving them with the advantage. Instead, by withdrawing, Yamamoto had left Tanaka's reinforcement convoy practically unprotected in the Slot. On the morning of the 25th, as the Japanese began approaching Taivu Point, American aircraft from Henderson found the convoy and gave it a pasting. A transport was sunk, and an older destroyer so badly hit that she had to be scuttled. Several other warships were damaged. At this point, Tanaka wisely withdrew.

The Japanese had an opportunity for a decisive victory and had failed to grasp it. American carrier power in the region was diminished, but not broken. Further, with the installation of Enterprise's aircraft at Henderson, the American airfield was a more prickly target than ever. This established an operational precedent, as Henderson would be fed a steady stream of carrier-borne reinforcements. Because of American airpower, the waters around Guadalcanal would continue to be a very dangerous place during the daylight hours.

Battle of the Eastern Solomons	Japan	Allied
Starting Forces	The following are the main Japanese groups involved. Some additional forces which did not contribute directly to the battle have been ommitted. Main Body (Nagumo) x2 x6 Detached Carrier Strike Force (Hara) x1 x1 x2 Vanguard Force, Main Body (Abe) x2 x3 x1 x3 Support Force, Main Body (Kondo) x5 x1 x6 + 1 seaplane tender Support Group, Reinforcement Force (Mikawa) x4 Reinforcement Force x1 x8 + 3 transports, 4 patrol boats x177 (total for three carriers)	TF 61 (Fletcher) x1 x2 x5 TF 16 x1 x1 x1 x1 x6 x176 (total for two carriers)
Losses	x1 sunk (Ryujo) 1 seaplane tender damaged (Chitose</EM>) x1 damaged (Jintsu) x1 sunk (Mutsuki) +1 transport sunk x75 destroyed	x1 severely damaged (Enterprise) x25 destroyed