The fourth carrier battle of World War II, and the last one before the Battle of the Philippine Sea in 1944. With the sinking of the Hornet and no Japanese ships lost, this looks like a tactical victory for the Japanese. However, it was a Pyrrhic victory, since the Japanese air groups experienced substantial losses. 
After Midway and other battles, this left Japanese carrier aviation short on both planes and pilots. Hence the delay until 1944 for further attempts at carrier action. Even then, the new Japanese aircraft were no longer comparable to American planes, and most of the new Japanese pilots were poorly trained -- experienced pilots had previously not been rotated back as instructors and too many were lost. The Philippine Sea was a massacre and left Japan without functioning carrier aviation. Thus, Santa Cruz was a last hurrah for the carriers. The prize of the Hornet, the ship that had carried Doolittle's B-25's to the bombing of Tokyo, might have seemed promising; but it would be a false promise.
James D. Hornfischer's Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal [Bantam, 2011] slights the carrier battles off Guadalcanal and provides incomplete orders of battle for them. Thus, he only notes that four unspecified Japanese destroyers were also damaged. Thus, the full order of battle here needed to be supplied from internet sources and from The Struggle for Guadalcanal by Samuel Eliot Morison [the History of United States Naval Operatons in World War II, Volume V, Castle Books, 1949, 2001]. American personnel losses, 262 killed in action.
In the 1980's I met someone who had been at Santa Cruz and had seen the Japanese planes bombing the Hornet. He is certainly gone now, and I fear for how much memory is lost as oral history projects have not caught up with everyone who could have born witness.
| Alled Ships | Japanese Ships |
|---|---|
| Task Force 61 | Support Force |
| Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid | Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo |
| Task Force 16 | Carrier Strike Force |
| Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid | Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo |
| Enterprise CV-6, Flag, damaged | Shokaku CV, Flag, damaged |
| South Dakota BB-57, damaged | Zuikaku CV |
| Portland CA-33, damaged | Zuiho CVL, damaged |
| San Juan CLAA-54, damaged | Kumano CA |
| Cushing DD-376 | Kumano CA |
| Preston DD-379 | Suzuya CA |
| Smith DD-378, damaged | Chikuma CA, damaged |
| Maury DD-401 | Hatsukaze DD |
| Conyngham DD-371 | Yukikaze DD |
| Shaw DD-373 | Maikaze DD |
Porter DD-356, sunk  | Hamakaze DD |
| Task Force 17 | Amatsukaze DD |
| Rear Admiral George D. Murray | Tokitsukaze DD |
| Hornet CV-8, Flag, sunk | Arashi DD |
| Northampton CA-26 | Teruzuki DD |
| Pensacola CA-24 | Advance Force |
| San Diego CLAA-53 | Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo |
| Juneau CLAA-52 | Atago CA Flag |
| Morris DD-417 | Takao CA |
| Anderson DD-411 | Myoko CA |
| Hughes DD-410, damaged | Maya CA |
| Mustin DD-413 | Kongo BB |
| Russell DD-414 | Haruna BB |
| Barton DD-599 | Junyo CV |
| Task Force 64 | Isuzu CL |
| Rear Admiral Willis Augustus Lee | Makinami DD |
| Washington BB-56, Flag | Kawakaze DD |
| San Francisco CA-38 | Suzukaze DD |
| Helena CL-50 | Naganami DD |
| Atlanta CLAA-51 | Umikaze DD |
| Aaron Ward DD-483 | Takanami DD |
| Benham DD-397 | Kuroshio DD |
| Fletcher DD-445 | Hayashio DD |
| Lansdowne DD-486 | Oyashio DD |
| Lardner DD-487 | Kagero DD |
| McCalla DD-488 | Vanguard Force |
| Rear Admiral Hiroake Abe | |
| Hiei BB, Flag | |
| Kirishima BB | |
| Suzuya CA | |
| Tone CA | |
| Chukuma CA | |
| Nagara CL | |
| Makigumo DD | |
| Akigumo DD | |
| Urakaze DD | |
| Kazagumo DD | |
| Fugumo DD | |
| Tanikaze DD | |
| Isokaze DD |
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