The
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the
Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the
Battle of the Solomons, the
Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12–15 November 1942, and was the decisive engagement in a series of
naval battles between
Allied (primarily United States) and
Imperial Japanese forces during the months-long
Guadalcanal Campaign in the
Solomon Islands during World War II. The action consisted of combined air and sea engagements over four days, most near
Guadalcanal and all related to a Japanese effort to reinforce land forces on the island. The only two U.S. Navy admirals to be killed in a surface engagement in the war were lost in this battle.