ABSTRACT
The tide of battle in the Pacific began to turn when Japan suffered a series of setbacks between May and December 1942. The grim struggles on New Guinea and Guadalcanal also increased American hatred of the Japanese, which had been growing since the start of the war. Halsey decided to bring the carriers into action again in an effort to gain the initiative. The result was another daylight encounter near the Santa Cruz Islands to the east of Guadalcanal on October 26. The United States had forced the Japanese out of the bitterly-contested island and before long would take the offensive up the Solomon chain. Admiral Robert Ghormley, the US naval commander in the South Pacific, held overall responsibility for the invasion. The site of Ghormleys headquarters was Nouma, on the French island of New Caledonia, which had sided with de Gaulle. Yamamoto won the argument, and Nagano agreed to an operation against Midway.
