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Seinäjoki

Seinäjoki ( "Wall River"; Wegelia, formerly Östermyra) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Ostrobothnia. Seinäjoki is located in the western interior of the country and along the River Seinäjoki. The population of Seinäjoki is approximately 0, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 0. It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 13th most populous urban area in the country.

Seinäjoki is located 80 km east of Vaasa, 178 km north of Tampere, 193 km west of Jyväskylä and 324 km southwest of Oulu.

Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, a market town in 1931, and a town in 1960. In 2005, the municipality of Peräseinäjoki was merged into Seinäjoki, and at the start of 2009, the neighbouring municipalities of Nurmo and Ylistaro were amalgamated with Seinäjoki. The city itself is growing steadily from year to year, but the population of the surrounding municipalities is correspondingly decreasing.

The city hall, city library, Lakeuden Risti Church and other public buildings were designed by Alvar Aalto. Seinäjoki was historically called Östermyra in Swedish. Today, this name, which was never official, is very seldom used even among Swedish speakers. Seinäjoki Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Ilmajoki, 11 km south from the Seinäjoki city centre. Seinajoki railway station in city centre was opened in 1883 and until 1897, it carried the name Ostermyra station.

History
The settlement spread in the area of the present Seinäjoki during the first half of the 16th century. During the 1550s, there is said to have been three houses in Seinäjoki: the houses of Marttila, Jouppi and Uppa. The house of Jouppila, which separated from the house of Jouppi, was established during the same century. All of the houses were located on the shore of the river.

Seinäjoki belonged to the church parish of Ilmajoki like Kurikka, Kauhajoki, Jalasjärvi and Alavus. However, in the 18th century the roads from Seinäjoki to the Church of Ilmajoki were generally in poor condition. Therefore, the inhabitants of Seinäjoki and the neighbouring Nurmo built a new chapel together in 1725, which in 1765 led to the formation of the chapel town of Nurmo. Seinäjoki, which was called Alaseinäjoki since the Greater Wrath, became a part of the chapel town. The chapel parish of Peräseinäjoki was founded in 1798, and the village of Alaseinäjoki began to be called Seinäjoki again. The very same year, the Östermyra steel mill was founded on the shore of the Seinäjoki river.

In the 1850s, actions were taken to separate Seinäjoki from the church parish of Nurmo. Ilmajoki wanted to connect Seinäjoki back to its own parish. In spite of strong objections from the inhabitants of Nurmo, the Senate of Finland accepted the petition from the inhabitants of Seinäjoki in 1863, to form a chapel congregation of their own. Seinäjoki got an independent local government in 1868. In 1900, Seinäjoki became an independent municipality.

Seinäjoki has grown around a few important railroad crossings. The Tampere–Vaasa railway, which passes through Seinäjoki, was inaugurated in 1883. The track, along with the Kokkola track that was opened for rail service in 1885, and the Kristinestad track which had been completed in 1913, raised Seinäjoki as an important railway crossing section in Finland. In the early 1970s, a direct railway between Tampere and Seinäjoki was opened, and the services of Seinäjoki improved further.

After the Winter War and Continuation War, some refugees from Jaakkima and Lumivaara were resettled to Seinäjoki.

Geography
The neighboring municipalities of Seinäjoki are Kauhava in the north, Lapua in the northeast, Kuortane and Alavus in the east, Virrat and Kihniö in the south, Ilmajoki and Kurikka in the west and Isokyrö in the northwest.

The proportion of water in the Seinäjoki landscape is small. Seinäjoki River flows through the city in a south-east-northwest direction and turns at the northern border of the city center, connecting with the Kyrönjoki River, which flows into the Gulf of Bothnia in the Vaasa area.

The most significant road connections in Seinäjoki are highways 16, 18 (between cities of Vaasa and Jyväskylä), 19 and 67.

Population
The city of Seinäjoki has 0 inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Finland. The Seinäjoki region has a population of 0. In Seinäjoki, 4.6% of the population has a foreign background, which is below the national average.

Languages
Seinäjoki is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality. The majority of the population - 0 people or NaN% - speak Finnish as their first language. In Seinäjoki, 0 people, or NaN% of the population, speak Swedish. NaN of the population of Seinäjoki have a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish. As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.

At least 30 different languages are spoken in Seinäjoki. The most common foreign languages are Ukrainian (0.6%), Russian (0.5%), English (0.3%), Arabic (0.3%) and Estonian (0.3%).

Immigration
, there were 3,036 persons with a migrant background living in Seinäjoki, or 4.6% of the population. The number of residents who were born abroad was 3,180, or 4.8% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Seinäjoki was 2,211. Most foreign-born citizens came from the Sweden, Thailand, Estonia and former Soviet Union.

The relative share of immigrants in Seinäjoki's population is below to the national average. However, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.

Religion
In 2023, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 76.7% of the population of Seinäjoki. Other religious groups accounted for 2.1% of the population. 21.2% of the population had no religious affiliation.

Economy
Nordic Regional Airlines has its financial office in Seinäjoki. Its predecessor, Finncomm Airlines, had its head office on the grounds of Seinäjoki Airport in nearby Ilmajoki.

In terms of market area, Seinäjoki is the sixth largest city in the country. Also Seinäjoki has a nationally and internationally significant food production and R&D industry. Headquartered in Seinäjoki food company Atria Corporation's net sales in 2009 were EUR 1316 million and it employed an average of 6,214 persons in several countries. According to a study published by the Economic Survey at the end of 2018, Seinäjoki has the best image among corporate leaders among the 36 largest Finnish cities and municipalities. The survey had asked the CEOs and CFOs of companies operating in the area about the municipality's affairs.

Seinäjoki also is well known for having a large number of SME's and a big number of shops for its size. One of the most important shopping places in Seinäjoki is the Torikeskus shopping mall in the city center.

Culture
There are many kinds of cultural events in Seinäjoki nowadays. For example, Seinäjoki is known for hosting three large summer events: Tangomarkkinat, which is a tango festival typically attracting more than 100,000 visitors annually, Vauhtiajot, which is a motor racing event/music festival, and Provinssirock, which is one of the largest and oldest rock festivals in Finland. Rytmikorjaamo is a popular rock club, wherein almost every weekend some Finnish or international artists perform. In Seinäjoki there are also several other bars and clubs offering live music and other entertainment. The city theatre of Seinäjoki has a wide, quality program throughout the year, offering plays for everyone. The city orchestra of Seinäjoki performs many concerts in the area and has had many tours in Finland and abroad.

Sport
Seinäjoki is home to a big number of sports clubs, such as SJK Seinäjoki, a professional football team that competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. SJK is one of the top football teams in Finland and it plays in the brand new OmaSp Stadion. Seinäjoki is also home to Seinäjoki Crocodiles, an American football team.

Seinäjoki Speedway track is a motorcycle speedway venue located on the south east outskirts of the city, off the Routakalliontie road by the quarry. The track held a qualifying round of the Speedway World Team Cup in 1992 and has held the final of the Finnish Individual Speedway Championship on 11 occasions from 1986 to 2020.

Sights

 * Lakeuden Risti Church ("The Cross of the Plains")
 * Alvar Aalto's cultural and administrative centre, comprising the City Hall, library and theatre, among others
 * The Mannerheim Park
 * The Southern Ostrobothnia District Museum
 * The Civil Guard and Lotta Svärd Museum, located at the Seinäjoki Civil Guard House
 * Törnävä church
 * The railway exhibition
 * Mallaskoski brewery

Other points of interest

 * Törnävä Museum Area
 * the Suviyö trotting-race
 * Törnävä summer theatre – Seinäjoki
 * Jouppi mountain winter sports centre
 * Seinäjoki City Theatre
 * Provinssirock
 * Tangomarkkinat
 * Vauhtiajot

Education
Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK) is the local higher education institution, that also pursues an international profile.

Notable people

 * Jukka Hildén, stuntman, The Dudesons
 * Antti Isotalo, jäger, tribal warrior, Alko's local leader
 * Katja Kankaanpää, mixed martial artist
 * Mari Kiviniemi, politician (Prime Minister of Finland 2010—2011)
 * Paula Koivuniemi, singer
 * Petri Kontiola, hockey player
 * Pekka Koskela, speed skater
 * Jarno Laasala, stuntman, The Dudesons
 * Hannu Lahtinen, world wrestling champion
 * Veli Lampi, soccer player
 * Jarppi Leppälä, stuntman, The Dudesons
 * Tapio Luoma, Archbishop
 * Jorma Ollila, former Chairman and CEO of the Nokia Corporation
 * Hannu-Pekka "HP" Parviainen, snowboarder, stuntman, The Dudesons
 * Pekka Puska, public health researcher and official
 * Paula Risikko, Member of Parliament and Minister
 * Arto Saari, skateboarder
 * Softengine, rock pop band

Twin towns — Sister cities
Seinäjoki is twinned with:
 * 🇵🇱 Koszalin, Poland
 * 🇩🇪 Schweinfurt, Germany
 * 🇭🇺 Sopron, Hungary
 * 🇨🇦 Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
 * 🇷🇺 Veliky Novgorod, Russia
 * 🇨🇳 Jiangjin District, China

title: Seinäjoki


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Woolworths Group (Australia)

Woolworths Group Limited is an Australian multinational retail and finance company, primarily known for the operation of its retail chain Woolworths Supermarkets across Australia, Woolworths (previously known as Countdown) in New Zealand and its discount department store Big W. Headquartered in Bella Vista, Sydney, it is the largest company in Australia by revenue and number of employees, and the second-largest in New Zealand.

Founded in Sydney in 1924 as variety retailer Woolworths Limited, the company entered the New Zealand market in 1929 and has traded in every Australian state and territory since 1960. Woolworths experienced steady growth throughout the 20th century and began to diversify its business, closing the last of its variety stores in the 1980s to focus on its portfolio of other retail brands. Since 2012, Woolworths has undergone significant consolidation, divesting its shopping centre, electronics retailing, home improvement, fuel retailing, liquor retailing and hospitality businesses to concentrate on supermarket retail.

Woolworths currently owns Woolworths Supermarkets, customer loyalty program Everyday Rewards and discount department store Big W in Australia and the Woolworths NZ, SuperValue and FreshChoice supermarkets in New Zealand.

Founding and early growth (1924–1957)
Woolworths opened its first store, the Woolworths Stupendous Bargain Basement, in the old Imperial Arcade Pitt Street, Sydney, where Westfield Sydney now stands, on 5 December 1924. Woolworths Ltd's nominal capital was £185,000, and although 85,000 shares were offered to the public, only 81,707 shares were subscribed for by 619 people, including the five founders – Percy Christmas, Stanley Chatterton, Cecil Scott Waine, George Creed and Ernest Williams. One of the founding investors was Preston Lanchester Gowing, the then chairman of the department store chain Gowings.

The name on the draft prospectus drawn up by Cecil Scott Waine was "Walworth's Bazaar" – a play on the name of F.W. Woolworth, the owner of the Woolworth's chain in the United States and United Kingdom. According to Ernest Robert Williams, Percy Christmas dared him to register the name Woolworths instead, which he succeeded in doing after finding out the name was available for use in New South Wales.

The new Woolworths store was the first variety store in the world to use cash registers that print receipts for customers.

During the late 1920s the company grew, with a second store in Sydney and stores in Brisbane, Perth and Wellington in New Zealand. The company grew further in the 1930s, despite the depression, until by the end of 1933 it had 23 stores. In 1933 the first store in Melbourne was opened and on 1 April 1936 the company bought eight stores from Edments Ltd and opened its first store in Adelaide. Following the opening of the Hobart store in 1940, Woolworths had a store in every state in Australia.

World War II slowed the growth of the company, with the Australian and United States militaries commandeering Woolworths' warehouses in Sydney for storage. After the war expansion was once again rapid and in 1955 Woolworths opened its 200th store, in the Civic Centre in Canberra.

Diversification, expansion and takeover (1957–1993)
In 1957, Woolworths began to diversify from variety retailing when it opened its first food store at Dee Why, Sydney. The company further diversified in 1960, opening it first purpose-built supermarket at Warrawong, purchasing the Rockmans chain of women's clothing stores and commencing selling liquor at some outlets.

In the 1970s, the company started to open discount department stores under the brand Big W. Woolworths also began converting its variety stores to supermarkets and removing many of its variety products from sale. In 1979, Woolworths sold its New Zealand operations to LD Nathan & Co.

In 1981, Woolworths purchased 60 percent of consumer electronics retailer Dick Smith, acquiring the rest of the company in 1983 for a total price of A$25 million.

In 1985, the acquisition of 126 Safeway supermarkets in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland (including Food Barn branded stores) made Woolworths the largest food retailer in Australia. As part of the purchase of Safeway's Australian stores, Safeway Inc acquired a 20 percent interest in Woolworths Limited. In 1989, the last of the Woolworths Variety stores was closed and Woolworths "Family Centres" were split into separate Big W discount stores and Woolworths branded supermarket stores.

Woolworths Limited was acquired by Industrial Equity Limited in 1989, a consortium of Adelaide Steamship Company, David Jones Limited and Tooth & Co.

IPO and further diversification and expansion (1993–2012)
In 1993, Industrial Equity floated Woolworths on Australian Securities Exchange in what was then the biggest initial public share offering in Australia's history.

In 1996, Woolworths entered the petrol retailing market, initially with wholly-owned "Plus Petrol" outlets located in shopping centre parking lots. Woolworths expanded its liquor retailing portfolio with the acquisition of the Dan Murphy's liquor barn stores in 1998. In 1999, Woolworths began a joint venture with the Commonwealth Bank called Woolworths Ezy Banking, which was scaled back by 2006.

In 2001, Woolworths expanded its consumer electronics retailing interests with the purchase of the Tandy chain in Australia from InterTan. Also in 2001, Woolworths established the smaller format liquor retailing chain BWS to complement its big-box liquor retailer Dan Murphys. In 2003, Woolworths entered into an agreement with Caltex to jointly supply food and groceries to Woolworths owned petrol stations and selected Caltex sites near Woolworths supermarkets, with petrol stations covered by the joint venture co-branded as Caltex Woolworths.

With Queensland licensing laws dictating that liquor retail outlets must be operated by a hotelier, Woolworths moved into the hotel industry in 2004 by acquiring 75 percent of the Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) in a joint venture with business partner Bruce Mathieson. In 2005, Woolworths expanded its portfolio to 250 hotels by acquiring the Taverner Hotel Group. Statistics provided during the acquisition of the Taverner group showed that over one-third of sales were made up of gaming/pokie machine takings (slot machines) with the total number of pokie machines owned by ALH after its acquisitions being 10,722.

In 2005, Woolworths re-entered the New Zealand market by purchasing the retailer Progressive Enterprises, owner of supermarket brands including Countdown, in a deal that gave the company a 45 percent share of the New Zealand grocery sector. In the same deal, the company also acquired 22 Action supermarket stores in Western Australia, bringing the total number of Woolworths supermarkets in Australia to near 750. In 2006, Woolworths announced that it had taken a 10 percent strategic stake in The Warehouse Group in New Zealand and announced a joint venture with the Tata Group to introduce the Dick Smiths Electronics store format in India.

In August 2007, Woolworths announced that it was planning to launch a general purpose credit card in 2008. It is expected to offer credit cardholders reward vouchers redeemable through its store network. HSBC was subsequently named as its credit card partner. Woolworths subsequently announced that the Woolworths Everyday Money MasterCard would be launched on 26 August 2008 and allows customers to earn shopping cards redeemable at Woolworths group retailers. It was suggested Woolworths could earn approximately $20m from credit cards in three years and that it was targeting 100,000 to 150,000 cardholders in the first year. During 2009, Woolworths and American retailer Lowe's purchased Danks Ltd owners of the Home Timber and Hardware brand and then entered into a joint venture to launch a new hardware brand named Masters Home Improvement. The first of these stores were opened to the public in Braybrook, Melbourne, Victoria, on 1 September 2011.

Consolidation (2012–2019)
In 2012, Woolworths placed 69 shopping centres it owned into a real estate investment trust known as Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group (SCA Property Group), which listed as a separate entity on the ASX on 26 November 2012. Most of the locations contain a Woolworths owned store as an anchor tenant, with the trust deriving most of its rental income from Woolworths Limited stores. Woolworths announced it was exiting the consumer electronics retailing sector in September 2012, completing the sale of its Indian electronics wholesale business to Infiniti Retail for $A35 million and the sale of the Dick Smith Electronics chain to Anchorage Capital Partners for A$20 million. In May 2013, Woolworths acquired a 50 percent stake in analytics firm Quantium for $20 million. In December 2014, Woolworths acquired Summergate, an alcoholic drinks distributor in China for A$27 million.

In 2015, Woolworths' home improvement chain Masters posted a loss of A$227.4 million and on 18 January 2016 Woolworths announced that it intended to "either sell or wind up" Masters hardware and Home Timber and Hardware. Chairman Gordon Cairns said that it would take years to become profitable and that the ongoing losses could not be sustained. On 24 August 2016, it was announced that all Masters stores would close on or before 11 December 2016. It was also announced that Woolworths would sell the Home Timber and Hardware brand to Metcash.

In June 2015, CEO Grant O'Brien retired and Woolworths went without a CEO until the appointment of Brad Banducci in February 2016. On 25 August 2016, the company announced a loss of $1.235 billion for the 2016 financial year, the biggest loss in the more than 20 years since it has been publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, mainly due to more than $2 billion in write-downs of the failed Masters Home Improvement business and losses in the Big W business.

In April 2016, Woolworths Liquor Group was renamed Endeavour Drinks Group. December 2016, Woolworths announced it would sell its Caltex Woolworths branded petrol stations to British multinational oil and gas company BP for AU$1.75 billion. BP pulled out of the deal in July 2018, saying that sale conditions imposed by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission would make the acquisition commercially unviable. On 9 November 2018, Woolworths announced it would instead sell its petrol stations to the British company EG Group for $1.72 billion, with a 15 year agreement that EG Australia would maintain the Woolworths fuel discount program and enable Woolworths Rewards points to continue to be earned on fuel transactions in its stores. The acquisition was completed on 1 April 2019.

New ventures (2019–present)
In March 2019, Woolworths launched a stand-alone media business called Cartology to communicate with supplier partners and customers. In April 2019, Woolworths established a venture capital arm called W23.

In July 2019, the Woolworths announced the merger of its hospitality and liquor interests, including BWS, Cellarmasters, Jimmy Bring's, Dan Murphy's and ALH into a single company, Endeavour Drinks, with Woolworths holding an 85 percent stake in the new entity. Woolworths indicated that it would explore options to divest the newly created Endeavour Drinks business in 2020, subject to shareholder approval at an annual general meeting. Also in 2019, Woolworths admitted to having underpaid its employees by millions of dollars. In 2021, it was revealed that the Woolworths underpayment of staff was more extensive than first thought More specifically, it was discovered that Woolworths underpaid salaried managers over $700,000 and the Fair Work Ombudsman looked into this further.

In August 2020, Woolworths announced a A$552 million deal to purchase a 65 percent stake in foodservice distributor PFD Food Services, along with the entirety of PFD's property portfolio, as part of the company's push to expand into the business-to-business wholesale market. In June 2021, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission announced that it would not oppose Woolworths' PFD deal due to insufficient evidence that the deal would cause a substantial lessening of competition. In 2020, Woolworths was found to have repeatedly ignored consumers who had tried to prevent receipt of marketing emails and had not attempted to improve, despite the AMCA notifying the company that they had received customer complaints. The company was fined $1,003,800.

In September 2020, Woolworths and pet insurance company PetSure signed a deal to launch a new joint venture called PetCulture. The online business would sell pet insurance, pet food and pet-related products, and veterinary services. Woolworths owns 60 percent of the venture. PetCulture launched in April 2021. That month, Woolworths also paid $223 million to increased its stake in Quantium from 47 percent to 75 percent. Following the transaction, Woolworths and Quantium established a new joint data science and advanced analytics business called Wiq. In October 2020, Woolworths rebranded its supply chain function as Primary Connect with the goal of evolving it into an end-to-end service provider for the group as well as external businesses. In February 2021, Woolworths restructured its red meat business, creating a new standalone division called GreenStock. In 2021, Woolworths launched HealthyLife, an online platform which offers health and wellness advice, products and services.

Having been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Woolworths successfully completed the demerger of its alcohol, hotel, and gambling businesses into a new ASX-listed company, Endeavour Group in June 2021, with the new company holding the Dan Murphy's, BWS, AHL, Cellarmasters and Jimmy Brings brands. After the float, Woolworths held a 14.6 percent stake in Endeavour Group. It sold portions of its stake in December 2022 and April 2024, leaving it with a 4.1 percent stake.

In February 2022, Woolworths Group rebranded its logo to better represent "what its collective businesses and platforms stand for today". The company says that it showcases its impact on a "Better Tomorrow [sic]". It was designed by Re, a business design division of UK-based advertising firm M&C Saatchi.

In May 2022, Woolworths announced a $243 million bid to acquire an 80 percent stake in online marketplace MyDeal from its founder, Sean Senvirtne. The acquisition was finalised in September 2022. In July 2022, Cartology announced it had made a deal to acquire targeted advertising company Shopper Media for $150 million. In December 2022, Woolworths Group said it would acquire a 55 percent stake in pet business Petspiration Group for $586 million. That month, it also inked a deal with SuperPharmacy to acquire the company's technology and warehouse assets and rebrand SuperPharmacy's six retail stores as HealthyLife Pharmacy. Woolworths will also provide e-commerce and warehousing services to SuperPharmacy. In March 2023, HealthyLife launched telehealth services through a partnership with Global Health, allowing patients to make appointments with doctors, naturopaths and dietitians. That month, Woolworths also announced it would shut down its export business Woolworths International by the end of June 2023.

In May 2023, Woolworths acquired Milkrun, a fast grocery delivery startup which ceased operations the previous month and competed with the supermarket's Metro60 delivery service. Woolworths rebranded Metro60 as Milkrun.

In mid July 2023, Woolworths announced that its New Zealand-based Countdown supermarkets would be rebranded as Woolworths over the next three years commencing early 2024. The NZ$400 million rebrand will be accompanied by the launch of the Everyday Rewards programme for New Zealand consumers.

In Nov 2023, Woolworths launched MarketPlus, a platform that combines all of its marketplace businesses. The platform will host the marketplaces of MyDeal, Everyday Market, and the recently launched Big W market. Shoppers can collect and use their Everyday Reward loyalty points throughout the marketplaces, including the ability to earn vouchers and Qantas points.

In February 2024, Woolworths announced that Brad Banducci would retire as CEO in September 2024 and a $781 million loss due to major write-downs and due to the public outcry about not selling Australian flags on Australia Day in 2024. Amanda Bardwell, head of WooliesX, is set to succeed Banducci as CEO.

Consumer

 * Woolworths Supermarkets – Australia's largest supermarket chain, operating 995 stores across Australia
 * Woolworths New Zealand
 * Woolworths NZ – Woolworths NZ's flagship supermarket chain. 191 full-service supermarkets, operating across the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
 * SuperValue – franchised convenience supermarket
 * FreshChoice – franchised full-service supermarket
 * Big W – Discount department store chain, which sell a wide range of general merchandise
 * Everyday Rewards – Customer loyalty program offering discounts, fuel savings and rewards
 * Woolworth Financial Services & Insurance – A range of Woolworth's branded financial products across credit cards, gift cards and insurance
 * MyDeal – Online marketplace acquired in September 2022
 * PetCulture – Pet products, services and insurance online business established as a joint venture with PetSure in September 2020. Woolworths owns a 60 percent stake in the venture.
 * HealthyLife – Health and wellness online business launched in 2021

Business

 * Woolworths at Work – Online shopping platform aimed at small-to-medium businesses and organisations
 * PFD Food Services – Food service distributor which Woolworths acquired a 65 percent stake in August 2020

Retail platforms

 * Cartology – Media business established in March 2019
 * Primary Connect – Supply chain arm established in October 2020
 * Quantium – Analytics firm which Woolworths owns a 75 percent stake in
 * Wpay – Payments platform launched in June 2021

Other

 * W23 – Venture capital arm established in April 2019

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Woolworths Group (Australia)


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USS Edsall (DD-219)

USS Edsall (DD-219), was a Clemson-class destroyer, the first of two United States Navy ships named after Seaman Norman Eckley Edsall (1873–1899). She was sunk by a combined Japanese air and sea attack, approximately 200 miles east of Christmas Island on 1 March 1942.

Construction and commissioning
Edsall was laid down by the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company on 15 September 1919, launched on 29 July 1920 by Mrs Bessie Edsall Bracey, sister of Seaman Edsall, and commissioned on 26 November 1920.

Service history
Edsall sailed from Philadelphia on 6 December 1920 for San Diego, California for shakedown. She arrived at San Diego 11 January 1921, and remained on the United States West Coast until December, engaging in battle practice and gunnery drills with fleet units. Returning to Charleston, South Carolina, 28 December, Edsall departed 26 May 1922 for the Mediterranean.

Arriving at Constantinople on 28 June, Edsall joined the U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters to protect American interests as the Near East was in turmoil with civil strife in Russia, and Greece at war with Turkey.

She was part of the international effort to alleviate the postwar famine in eastern Europe. She helped evacuate refugees, furnishing a center of communications for the Near East and standing by for emergencies. When the Turks expelled the Anatolian Greeks from Smyrna (Izmir), Edsall was one of the American destroyers which evacuated refugees. On 14 September 1922, she took 607 refugees off USS Litchfield (DD-336) in Smyrna and transported them to Salonika, returning to Smyrna on 16 September to act as flagship for the naval forces there. In October she carried refugees from Smyrna to Mytilene on Lesbos Island. She made repeated visits to ports in Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, Greece, Egypt, Mandate Palestine, the Syrian Federation, Tunisia, Dalmatia, and Italy, and kept up gunnery and torpedo practice with her sisters until her return to Boston, Massachusetts, for an overhaul on 26 July 1924.

Edsall sailed to join the U.S. Asiatic Fleet on 3 January 1925, joining in battle practice and maneuvers at Guantanamo Bay, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor before arriving at Shanghai on 22 June. She was to become a fixture of the Asiatic Fleet on the China coast, in the Philippines and Japan. Her primary duty was protection of American interests in the Far East. She served during the civil war in China, and the early part of the Sino-Japanese War. Battle practice, maneuvers and diplomacy took her most frequently to Shanghai, Yantai, Hankou, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Kobe, Bangkok, and Manila. In late October 1927, Edsall visited the Siamese capital Bangkok, and had three of the Royal Princesses aboard for tea. In return Edsall's skipper, Commander Jules James, was given an engraved silver cigarette case by the Thai Royal Family.

World War II
On 25 November 1941, two days in advance of the "war warning" which predicted that hostile Japanese action in the Pacific was imminent, Admiral Hart, commander of the Asiatic Fleet, dispatched Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 57 (USS Whipple (DD-217), USS Alden, USS John D. Edwards and Edsall) with the destroyer tender USS Black Hawk (AD-9), to Balikpapan, Borneo, to disperse the surface ships of his fleet from their vulnerable position in Manila Bay.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 (local date 8 December 1941 due to the International Date Line), Edsall was en route to Batavia (now Jakarta) with her sister ships when word was received. DesDiv 57 was ordered to Singapore to rendezvous with Royal Navy Force Z. She embarked a British liaison officer and four men at Singapore from HMS Mauritius (80) and was sent to search for survivors of HMS Prince of Wales (53) and HMS Repulse (1916), sunk by Japanese aircraft off the east coast of Malaya on 10 December. Edsall intercepted a Japanese fishing trawler, Kofuku Maru (later renamed MV Krait and used extensively by Australian special forces) with four small boats in tow and escorted them into Singapore before turning them over to HMAS Goulburn.

Edsall and her division joined the heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) and other US units at Surabaya on 15 December 1941 and escorted shipping retiring to the relative safety of Darwin, Australia. During the first week of 1942 Edsall escorted the Pensacola Convoy from Torres Strait back to Darwin.

After fueling operations in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Edsall and Alden were escorting the Darwin-bound oiler USS Trinity (AO-13) in the Beagle Gulf 40 nmi west of Darwin. On the morning of 20 January 1942 the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine JAPANESE SUBMARINE I-123 sighted Trinity, and misidentifed her as a transport. I-123 fired four Type 89 torpedoes at -12.09167°N, 130.09333°W shortly after 0630. The sound man aboard I-123 reported hearing one torpedo hit, but all four torpedoes had missed; Trinity had sighted three of them and reported the attack. Alden then searched for I-123, made a sound contact and conducted a brief depth charge attack at 06:41 before losing contact and abandoning the search.

Later that day, Edsall and three Australian corvettes, HMAS Deloraine, HMAS Lithgow (J206), and HMAS Katoomba, sank JAPANESE SUBMARINE I-124 off Darwin, the first sinking of a full-sized submarine with the involvement of a U.S. destroyer in World War II.

Continuing to escort convoys in northern Australian waters, Edsall was damaged when one of her own depth charges exploded during an anti-submarine attack on 23 January 1942 in the shallow — 8 fathom — Howard Channel.

On 3 February Edsall and other American units of ABDA moved up to Tjilatjap, Java in order to be closer to the combat theater and to replenish. She continued as a patrol vessel off southern Java. On 23 February 1942 she and the old gunboat USS Asheville (PG-21) operated off Tjilatjap on antisubmarine patrols.

On 26 February she steamed from Tjilatjap with her sister ship USS Whipple (DD-217) to rendezvous with the converted seaplane tender USS Langley (AV-3), which was bringing in P-40E fighters and U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) personnel for the defense of Java. On 27 February, the three ships were attacked by sixteen Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service's Takao Kōkūtai, led by Lieutenant Jiro Adachi, flying out of Den Pasar airfield on Bali, escorted by fifteen Mitsubishi A6M2 Reisen (Zero) fighters. The attack damaged Langley so severely that she had to be scuttled. Edsall picked up 177 survivors, and Whipple 308.

On 28 February the two destroyers rendezvoused with the oiler USS Pecos (AO-6) off Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island some 250 mi southwest of Tjilatjap. More Japanese bombers forced Edsall and other ships to head for open sea. They headed directly south into the Indian Ocean for the rest of 28 February in high winds and heavy seas; between 0430 (USN/local time) and 0815 on 1 March all Langley's crew were transferred to Pecos. Whipple then set off for Cocos as protection for the tanker Belita. Pecos, carrying about 700 survivors from Langley, USS Stewart (DD-224) and Houston, plus assorted stragglers, was ordered to Australia.

Edsall was directed to return to Tjilatjap, carrying USAAF pilots and ground crew who had been passengers on Langley. The USAAF personnel were to assemble and fly 27 disassembled and crated P-40 fighters which had been delivered to Tjilatjap aboard the cargo ship MS Sea Witch (1940). Following orders, at 0830 she headed back to the northeast for Java.

Last engagement of Edsall
Pecos was detected later that morning by air patrols from the carriers of Japanese Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's Kido Butai (or KdB) and came under heavy air attack. For some time she sent out distress calls to any Allied ships in the area, as it was assumed the ship would probably be lost. Whipple, less than 100 mi distant, received some of these calls, but was too far away to return quickly. USS Mount Vernon (AP-22), a troopship many hundreds of miles away in the Indian Ocean also read some of the signals. At approximately 1548 hours Pecos sank after being attacked for several hours by four waves of IJN dive-bombers from Nagumo's KdB.

At 1550 hours (USN/local time) the Japanese task force spotted a single "light cruiser" about 16 mi behind the force, approximately 250 mi SSE of Christmas Island; this was in fact Edsall. The destroyer was perhaps no more than 38 – from the last reported position of Pecos and probably attempting to get to her stricken comrades. At about 1603 hours she was seen from the Japanese heavy cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Chikuma, and within five minutes the cruiser opened fire with her 8 in guns. Fifteen minutes later the battleships of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa's Sentai 3/1 (Hiei and Kirishima) opened fire with their main battery of 14 in guns at extreme range (27000 m). All shots missed as the destroyer conducted evasive maneuvers that ranged from flank speed, about 26 kn, to full stop, with radical turns and intermittent smoke-screens.

Edsall also disrupted the Japanese by counter-attacking with her torpedoes and 4-inch guns. She signalled that she had been surprised by two enemy battleships; this was copied by the Dutch merchant ship Siantar more than 160 km away.

The Japanese surface vessels (2 cruisers, 2 battleships) fired 1,335 shells at Edsall that afternoon, with no more than one or two hits, which failed to stop the destroyer. Vice Admiral Nagumo ordered airstrikes: 26 Type 99 dive-bombers (Aichi D3A) in three groups  took off from the carriers JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Kaga (8), JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Hiryū (9), and JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Sōryū (9). The dive bombers were led by Lieutenants Ogawa, Kobayashi, and Koite respectively. Their 250 kg bombs immobilised Edsall with one hit and one miss near enough to do damage.

At 17:22 the Japanese ships resumed firing on the destroyer. A Japanese cameraman, probably on the cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Tone, filmed about 90 seconds of her destruction. (A single frame from this film was culled for use as a propaganda photo later, misidentified as "the British destroyer HMS Pope".) Finally, at 17:31 hrs (19:01 IJN/Tokyo time) Edsall rolled onto her side, "showing her red bottom" according to an officer aboard the JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Hiei, and sank amid clouds of steam and smoke.

The Japanese report after action described the sinking of Edsall as a fiasco. The Japanese Navy revised rules of engagement for battleships and cruisers against destroyers.

The fate of Edsall survivors
Japanese Imperial Navy officers aboard the cruiser Chikuma several years later reported that a number of men may have survived the sinking of Edsall as they were found in the water on liferafts, cutters or clinging to debris. However, due to a submarine alert, the Japanese only stopped long enough to rescue a handful (the Japanese word is jakkan) before they received orders to retire, leaving the others to perish in the Indian Ocean.

Onboard Chikuma the survivors were interrogated by their captors; the name of their ship was recorded as "the old destroyer E-do-soo-ru". After a few days, the details of these interrogations were provided to the other ships of Nagumo's Kido Butai during their return journey. There is some suggestion that the cruiser Tone may have picked up a survivor or two as well, but there is no confirming evidence of this. The Americans were held on Chikuma for the next ten days before returning to the Japanese force's advance base on 11 March 1942.

Mass grave
On 21 September 1946 several mass graves were opened in a remote locale in the East Indies, over 1000 mi from where Edsall had disappeared. Two graves contained 34 decapitated bodies, among which were the remains of six Edsall crewmen and what are thought to be five USAAF personnel from Langley, along with Javanese, Chinese, and Dutch merchant sailors from the Dutch merchant-ship Modjokerto, sunk on the same day and in the same general area as Edsall. The American bodies were reinterred in U.S. cemeteries between December 1949 and March 1950.

War crimes trials conducted in 1946–1948 concerning other murders that occurred in or near Kendari by IJN personnel recorded fragmentary information about the killings of Edsall survivors, but were not recognized as such by Allied investigators, and were not pursued.

Awards
Edsall received two battle stars for her World War II service.

L. Ron Hubbard claim
L. Ron Hubbard claimed that he had served on Edsall during World War II and that, following her sinking, he swam to shore and remained in the jungle as the ship's sole survivor. He claimed that this is where he was during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, although Edsall had been sunk in 1942, and the U.S. Navy has no record of his service on the ship. Navy records show that Hubbard was in training in New York when the war broke out. He was supposed to be posted to the Philippines, but his ship was diverted to Australia. There he angered the US naval attaché for assuming "unauthorized duties"; he was relieved from his assignment and returned to the United States.

title: USS Edsall (DD-219)


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USS Porter (DD-356)

USS Porter (DD-356) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers in the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship named for Commodore David Porter and his son, Admiral David Dixon Porter.

Construction
Porter was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden in New Jersey on 18 December 1933, launched on 12 December 1935 by Miss Carlile Patterson Porter and commissioned at Philadelphia on 27 August 1936.

1936–1941
After shakedown in waters off Northern Europe, Porter visited St. John's, Newfoundland, for ceremonies in honor of the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937 and was at the Washington Navy Yard during the Boy Scout Jamboree, June–July 1937. Then reassigned to the Pacific Fleet, she transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Francisco, California 5 August 1937. She operated continuously with the Pacific Fleet until the outbreak of World War II, homeported at San Diego, California.

World War II
On 5 December 1941, Porter got underway from Pearl Harbor, escaping the Japanese attack by two days. She patrolled with cruisers and destroyers in Hawaiian waters before steaming in convoy 25 March 1942 for the west coast. She operated off the west coast with Task Force 1 (TF 1) for the next 4 months. Returning to Pearl Harbor in mid-August, she trained in Hawaiian waters until 16 October when she sortied with TF 16 and headed for the Solomon Islands.

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
On 26 October 1942, TF 16 exchanged air attacks with strong Japanese forces northeast of Guadalcanal in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. During the ensuing action, Porter was torpedoed, and, after the crew had abandoned ship, was sunk by gunfire from USS Shaw (DD-373), which unlike the Porter, hadn't escaped the attack on Pearl Harbor. Authorities differ as to the source of the torpedo which sank Porter. Author Eric Hammel states Porter was sunk by a single torpedo, part of a three-torpedo spread fired from Japanese submarine JSUB I-21. However, author Richard B. Frank states that Japanese records do not support this, and that, more likely, an errant torpedo from a ditching US Navy Grumman TBF Avenger hit Porter and caused the fatal damage. Her name was struck from the Navy List 2 November 1942.

Porter earned one battle star for World War II service.

title: USS Porter (DD-356)


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Onopordum acanthium

Onopordum acanthium (cotton thistle, Scotch (or Scottish) thistle) is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia from the Iberian Peninsula east to Kazakhstan, and north to central Scandinavia, and widely naturalised elsewhere, with especially large populations present in the United States and Australia. It is a vigorous biennial plant with coarse, spiny leaves and conspicuous spiny-winged stems.

It should not be confused with Cirsium vulgare (spear thistle), which is also known as Scotch or Scottish thistle and is the national flower of Scotland. Spear thistle is native to Britain, while cotton thistle is non-native.

Description
It is a biennial plant, producing a large rosette of spiny leaves the first year. The plants typically germinate in the autumn after the first rains and exist as rosettes throughout the first year, forming a stout, fleshy taproot that may extend down 30 cm or more for a food reserve.

In the second year, the plant can grow to as much as 3 m tall with a width of up to 1.5 m. The leaves are 10 - 50 cm wide, alternate, spiny, and often covered with white woolly hairs with the lower surface more densely covered than the upper. The leaves are deeply lobed with long, stiff spines along the margins. Fine hairs give the plant a greyish appearance. The massive main stem may be 10 cm wide at the base and branched in the upper part. Each stem has a vertical row of broad, spiny wings (conspicuous ribbon-like leafy material), typically 2 - 3 cm wide, extending to the base of the flower head.

The flowers are globe shaped, 2 - 6 cm in diameter, from dark pink to lavender, and are produced in the summer. The flower buds form first at the tip of the stem and later at the tip of the axillary branches. They appear singly or in groups of two or three on branch tips. The plants are androgynous, with both pistil and stamens, and sit above numerous, long, stiff, spine-tipped bracts, all pointing outwards, the lower ones wider apart and pointing downwards. After flowering, the ovary starts swelling and forms about 8,400 to 40,000 seeds per plant.

Distribution and habitat
The Cotton thistle is native to Europe and Asia. The plant prefers habitats with dry summers, such as the Mediterranean region, growing best in sandy clay and calcareous soils which are rich in ammonium salts. It grows in ruderal places, as well as in dry pastures and fields. Its preferred habitats are natural areas, disturbed sites, roadsides, fields, and especially sites with fertile soils, agricultural areas, range/grasslands, riparian zones, scrub/shrublands valleys and plains along with water courses. Temperature and moisture, rather than soil nutrient concentrations, determine the ecological performance of Onopordum species.

In Europe, the plant tends to colonise disturbed pastures. In its native range, cotton thistle is considered a weak competitor that needs regeneration gaps to develop and maintain stands; populations tend to retreat when disturbance ceases. The plant has been widely introduced at mid-latitudes across much of North America.

Scotch thistles can spread rapidly. For example, it was first found in Utah in 1963. By 1981, it covered approximately 6070 hectares in 17 counties. Eight years later, it had spread to cover more than 22,540 hectares in 22 counties.

Ecology
Onopordum acanthium reproduces by seeds only. Most seeds germinate in autumn after the first rains, but some seeds can germinate year round under favourable moisture and temperature conditions. Seeds that germinate in late autumn become biennials. When they germinate earlier, they can behave as annuals. Buried seed can remain viable in the soil seed bank for at least seven years, possibly for up to twenty years or more. Yearly seed production and seed dormancy are highly variable, depending on environmental conditions.

The slender and smooth achenes are about 3 mm long, brown with gray markings. They are tipped with a pappus of slender bristles. Mainly locally dispersed by wind, or more widely by humans, birds, wildlife, livestock or streams, the seeds are sensitive to light and only germinate when close to the surface. Seedlings will emerge from soil depths up to 4.5 cm, 0.5 cm are optimal. While some seeds will germinate in the dark, most germination occurs with alternating light/dark cycles, with an optimal day length of eight hours.

The leaves of cotton thistle are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, such as the thistle ermine (Myelois circumvoluta).

Taxonomy and naming
Three subspecies are accepted:
 * Onopordum acanthium subsp. acanthium. Most of the species' range.
 * Onopordum acanthium subsp. gautieri (Rouy) Franco. France, Spain.
 * Onopordum acanthium subsp. parnassicum (Boiss. & Heldr.) Nyman. Greece.

The genus botanical name is derived from the Ancient Greek words όνος (ónos=donkey), πέρδω (pérdo=to fart), and άκανθος (ácanthos=thorn), meaning 'donkey fart thorny food'.

The common name of cotton thistle refers to the cotton-like hairs on the leaves. Other names are Scots thistle or Scottish thistle, heraldic thistle and woolly thistle. The name Scots thistle refers to the flower used as the national emblem of Scotland. However, this is Cirsium vulgare., not onopordum.

Uses
It is grown as an ornamental plant for its bold foliage and large flowers. It has been used to treat cancers and ulcers and to diminish discharges of mucous membranes. A recent study of a crude extract from the leaves of the plant demonstrated activity against glioblastoma, a type of very malignant brain tumor. The receptacle was eaten in earlier times like an artichoke. The cottony hairs on the stem have been occasionally collected to stuff pillows. Oil from the seeds has been used for burning and cooking.

Thistles produce abundant nectar for pollinators and provide seeds and floss for birds such as the goldfinch. Large-flowered tall thistles in particular provide considerable nectar.

Invasive species
In the late 19th century, it was introduced to temperate regions of North America, South America, and Australia as an ornamental plant, and is now considered a major agricultural and wildland noxious weed. It has been recorded from nearly 50 countries. It is difficult to eradicate because of its drought resistance. It can spread rapidly and eventually dense stands prohibit foraging by livestock. Infestations of cotton thistle often start in disturbed areas such as roadways, campsites, burned areas, and ditch banks. The weed adapts best to areas along rivers and streams, but can be a serious problem in pastures, grain fields and range areas. A single plant is imposing enough, but an entire colony can ruin a pasture or destroy a park or campsite, sometimes forming tall, dense, impenetrable stands. This issue is often amplified by the prolific thorns found on this species. Besides creating an impenetrable barrier to humans and animals, the plant nearly eliminates forage use by livestock and some mammal species such as deer and elk.

In the United States, known infestations include most of the Pacific Northwest along with Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota. On western rangeland, infestations directly result in significant economic losses for ranchers. It is also widespread in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia it commonly hybridises with the related invasive Onopordum illyricum.

Control
Small infestations may be physically removed or cut a few centimetres below the soil surface ensuring that no leaves remain attached to prevent regrowth. Mowing during early flowering will not kill the plant but will reduce seed production. Repeated treatments may be required because populations typically exhibit a wide range of developmental stages among individual plants. Slashing should be done prior to flowering since seed may mature in the seed head after cutting. Plants should not be mowed following seed set, as this increases chances for seed dispersal.
 * Mechanical

Because of their shorter life cycle, cotton thistle plants can be effectively treated with herbicides. All herbicide treatments should be applied at the rosette stage of the plant. Generally, herbicide applications would be in early spring or autumn. One of the primary difficulties in chemical control of cotton thistles is their ability to germinate nearly year round. From autumn to spring a range of plant sizes can be found which may result in variable success from chemical control. Herbicides are very effective on seedlings and young rosettes, but control becomes more variable with increasing plant age. Onopordum spp. seeds may persist for several years in the soil. Buried seed may persist for up to twenty years, and reinfestation is likely without yearly management. Therefore, several years of re-treatment may be necessary. Picloram, dicamba, 2,4-D, dicamba + 2,4,-D, and metsulfuron are effective for controlling cotton thistle. Clopyralid is more selective for controlling plants in the family Asteraceae, but will also injure or kill legumes.
 * Chemical

There are no biological control agents that have been specifically released for cotton thistle control in the United States. A thistle head weevil Rhinocyllus conicus that feeds on Carduus pycnocephalus has also been shown to feed on cotton thistle. This insect was the object of imprudent biological control introduction, and it became an invasive species that has threatened endangered native thistles in North America (Strong 1997). Establishment of this thistle head weevil as a biological control agent for cotton thistle has been unsuccessful in the Pacific Northwest. A thistle crown weevil (Trichosirocalus horridus) that feeds on musk, bull, plumeless, Italian, and creeping thistles will also feed on cotton thistle. In Australia, this insect has been shown to kill cotton thistle rosettes. The related Trichosirocalus briese is also being tested as a control agent. The Australian painted lady butterfly has been known to use this invasive species as a host plant, but the larvae do not do enough damage to the plant for this butterfly to be used as biological control agent.
 * Biological

In Australia, a total of seven insects have been released to control cotton thistle. Two of the seven released insects are weevils, including Larinus latus which feeds on the seeds, and Lixus cardui, which bores in the stems.

A combination of methods (IPM) is often more effective than any single method. An integrated pest management plan deals with prevention as well as control. Eradication of weed species is often not a practical goal, but in many cases reducing infestation to manageable levels is an achievable objective. Seed bank longevity is a major factor in managing cotton thistles. Re-establishing competitive perennial grasses and monitoring infested areas on a yearly basis is critical. Herbicides can successfully be used for reducing thistle populations and giving grasses a competitive advantage, but they cannot be used as a stand-alone solution. These techniques must be linked with good grazing practices in rangeland areas. Otherwise, the thistles will recolonize and rapidly replenish the seed bank to pre-control levels.
 * Integrated management

title: Onopordum acanthium


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Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands

The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or Third Battle of Solomon Sea, in Japan as the Battle of the South Pacific (南太平洋海戦 Minamitaiheiyō kaisen), was the fourth aircraft carrier battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It was also the fourth major naval engagement fought between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during the lengthy and strategically important Guadalcanal campaign. As in the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, and the Eastern Solomons, the ships of the two adversaries were rarely in sight or gun range of each other. Instead, almost all attacks by both sides were mounted by carrier- or land-based aircraft.

In an attempt to drive Allied forces from Guadalcanal and nearby islands and end the stalemate that had existed since September 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army planned a major ground offensive on Guadalcanal for 20–25 October 1942. In support of this offensive, and with the hope of engaging Allied naval forces, Japanese carriers and other large warships moved into a position near the southern Solomon Islands. From this location, the Japanese naval forces hoped to engage and decisively defeat any Allied (primarily U.S.) naval forces, especially carrier forces, that responded to the ground offensive. Allied naval forces also hoped to meet the Japanese naval forces in battle, with the same objectives of breaking the stalemate and decisively defeating their adversary.

The Japanese ground offensive on Guadalcanal was underway with the Battle for Henderson Field while the naval warships and aircraft from the two adversaries confronted each other on the morning of 26 October 1942, just north of the Santa Cruz Islands. After an exchange of carrier air attacks, Allied surface ships retreated from the battle area with the fleet carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) sunk, and another fleet carrier, USS Enterprise (CV-6), heavily damaged. The participating Japanese carrier forces also retired because of the Japanese army’s failure to capture Henderson Field.

Santa Cruz was a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of both tonnage and control of the seas around Guadalcanal. However, Japan's loss of many irreplaceable veteran aircrews proved to be a long-term strategic advantage for the Allies, whose aircrew losses in the battle were relatively low and were quickly replaced. The Japanese had hoped for, and needed, a larger, decisive victory. The fact that the naval battle was won just after the land battle was lost meant that the opportunity to exploit their victory in the battle had already passed.

Background
On 8 August 1942, Allied forces, predominantly from the United States, landed on Japanese-occupied Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and the Florida Islands in the Solomon Islands. The landings on the islands were meant to deny their use by the Japanese as bases for threatening the supply routes between the U.S. and Australia, and to secure the islands as starting points for a campaign with the eventual goal of neutralizing the major Japanese base at Rabaul while also supporting the Allied New Guinea campaign. The landings initiated the six-month-long Guadalcanal campaign.

After the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24–25 August, in which the fleet carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) was heavily damaged and forced to sail to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for a month of major repairs, three U.S. carrier task forces remained in the South Pacific area. The task forces were based around the fleet carriers USS Wasp (CV-7), USS Saratoga (CV-3), and USS Hornet (CV-8) plus their respective air groups and supporting surface warships, including battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, and were primarily stationed between the Solomons and New Hebrides (Vanuatu) islands. In this area of operations, the carriers were charged with guarding the line of communication between the major Allied bases at New Caledonia and Espiritu Santo, supporting the Allied ground forces at Guadalcanal and Tulagi against any Japanese counteroffensives, covering the movement of supply ships to Guadalcanal, and engaging and destroying any Japanese warships, especially carriers, that came within range. The area of ocean in which the U.S. carrier task forces operated was known as "Torpedo Junction" by U.S. forces because of the high concentration of Japanese submarines in the area.

On 31 August, Saratoga was torpedoed by JAPANESE SUBMARINE I-26 and was out of action for three months for repairs.

On 15 September, Wasp was hit by three torpedoes fired by Japanese submarine JAPANESE SUBMARINE I-19 while supporting a major reinforcement and resupply convoy to Guadalcanal and almost engaging the Japanese carriers JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Shōkaku and JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Zuikaku, which withdrew just before the two adversaries came into range of each other's aircraft. With power knocked out from torpedo damage, Wasp's damage-control teams were unable to contain the ensuing large fires, and she was abandoned and scuttled.

Although the U.S. now had only one operational carrier, Hornet, in the South Pacific, the Allies still maintained air superiority over the southern Solomon Islands because of their aircraft based at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. However, at night, when aircraft were not able to operate effectively, the Japanese were able to operate their ships around Guadalcanal almost at will. Thus, a stalemate in the battle for Guadalcanal developed—the Allies delivered supplies and reinforcements to Guadalcanal during the day, and the Japanese did the same by warship, referred to as the "Tokyo Express" by the Allies, at night—with neither side able to deliver enough troops to the island to secure a decisive advantage. By mid-October, both sides had roughly an equal number of troops on the island. The stalemate was briefly interrupted by two large-ship naval actions. On the night of 11–12 October, a U.S. naval force intercepted and defeated a Japanese naval force en route to bombard Henderson Field in the Battle of Cape Esperance. But just two nights later, a Japanese force that included the battleships JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Haruna and JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Kongō successfully bombarded Henderson Field, destroying most of the U.S. aircraft there and inflicting severe damage on the field's facilities.

The U.S. made two moves to try to break the stalemate in the battle for Guadalcanal. First, repairs to Enterprise were expedited so that she could return to the South Pacific as soon as possible. On 10 October, Enterprise received her new air group (Air Group 10) and on 16 October, she left Pearl Harbor; and on 23 October, she arrived back in the South Pacific and rendezvoused with Hornet and the rest of the Allied South Pacific naval forces on 24 October, 273 nmi northeast of Espiritu Santo.

Second, on 18 October, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Allied Commander-in-Chief of Pacific Forces, replaced Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley with Vice Admiral William Halsey, Jr. as Commander, South Pacific Area: this position commanded Allied forces involved in the Solomon Islands campaign. Nimitz felt that Ghormley had become too myopic and pessimistic to lead Allied forces effectively in the struggle for Guadalcanal. Halsey was reportedly respected throughout the U.S. naval fleet as a "fighter". Upon assuming command, Halsey immediately began making plans to draw the Japanese naval forces into a battle, writing to Nimitz, "I had to begin throwing punches almost immediately."

The Japanese Combined Fleet was also seeking to draw Allied naval forces into what was hoped to be a decisive battle. Two fleet carriers—JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Hiyō and JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Jun'yō, as well as the light carrier JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Zuihō—arrived at the main Japanese naval base at Truk Atoll from Japan in early October and joined Shōkaku and Zuikaku. With five carriers fully equipped with air groups, plus their numerous battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, the Japanese Combined Fleet, directed by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was confident that it could make up for the defeat at the Battle of Midway. Apart from a couple of air raids on Henderson Field in October, the Japanese carriers and their supporting warships stayed in the northwestern area of the Solomon Islands, out of the battle for Guadalcanal and waiting for a chance to approach and engage the U.S. carriers. With the Japanese Army's next planned major ground attack on Allied forces on Guadalcanal set for 20 October, Yamamoto's warships began to move towards the southern Solomons to support the offensive and to be ready to engage any enemy ships, especially carriers, that approached to support the Allied defenses on Guadalcanal.

Prelude
On or around 11 October a large force consisting of aircraft carriers, battleships, and their escorts departed Truk for an extended sortie in support of an October Guadalcanal offensive. On the same day a major reinforcement convoy reached Guadalcanal, but a force of supporting heavy cruisers was prevented from bombarding Henderson Field and turned back in what became known as the Battle of Cape Esperance. What followed were three heavy bombardment missions conducted by battleships and heavy cruisers between 13 October and 16 October (this was the heaviest naval attack on the airfield in the entire campaign), the first and third of those conducted by vessels detached from Vice admiral Nobutake Kondō's Advance Force. Starting midnight on 14 October, another major convoy consisting of four transports unloaded the bulk of their cargo successfully, including tanks and heavy artillery. On 15 October, the destroyer USS Meredith (DD-434), while escorting the tug Vireo pulling a resupply barge, was spotted and sunk by aircraft from Zuikaku and Shokaku. On 17 October, Hiyō and Jun'yō launched a strike force to attack transports off Lunga Point, but caused no damage. The large body of warships would remain in the waters around Guadalcanal until after fighting in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands had ceased and returned to Truk at the end of October. The recently commissioned carrier Hiyō was originally part of the fleet, but a fire in her engineering room on 21 October forced her to retire to Truk for repairs. On 25 October, 6 bombers and 12 fighters from Jun'yo attacked Henderson Field, but did little damage.

From 20 to 25 October, Japanese land forces on Guadalcanal attempted to capture Henderson Field with a large-scale attack against the U.S. defenders. The attack was decisively defeated with heavy casualties for the Japanese. Incorrectly believing that the Japanese army troops had succeeded in capturing Henderson Field, the Japanese sent warships from the Shortland Islands toward Guadalcanal on the morning of 25 October to support their ground forces on the island. Aircraft from Henderson Field attacked the convoy throughout the day, sinking the light cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Yura (with some help from B-17s out of Espiritu Santo) and damaging the destroyer JAPANESE DESTROYER Akizuki.

Despite the failure of the Japanese ground offensive and the loss of Yura, the rest of the Combined Fleet continued to maneuver near the southern Solomon Islands on 25 October in the hope of engaging Allied naval forces in a battle. The Japanese naval forces now comprised four carriers (two large, one medium, one light), Hiyō having departed, with a combined aircraft complement of approximately three Shokaku-class fleet carriers.

The Japanese naval forces were divided into three groups: the "Advanced" force of Jun'yō, four heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and seven destroyers commanded by Kondō in heavy cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Atago with a support group consisting of two battleships and two destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Takeo Kurita; the "Main Body" of Shōkaku, Zuikaku, and Zuihō plus one heavy cruiser and eight destroyers, commanded by Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo aboard Shōkaku; and the "Vanguard" force of two battleships, three heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and seven destroyers, commanded by Rear Admiral Hiroaki Abe in the battleship JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Hiei. In addition to commanding the Advanced force, Kondo acted as the overall commander of the three forces.

On the U.S. side, the Hornet and Enterprise task groups, under the overall command of Rear Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, swept around to the north of the Santa Cruz Islands on 25 October, searching for the Japanese naval forces. The U.S. warships were deployed as two separate carrier groups, separated from each other by about 10 nmi. A U.S. PBY Catalina reconnaissance seaplane based in the Santa Cruz Islands located the Japanese Main Body carriers at 11:03. However, the Japanese carriers were about 355 nmi from the U.S. force, just beyond carrier aircraft range. Kinkaid, hoping to close the range to be able to execute an attack that day, steamed towards the Japanese carriers at top speed and, at 14:25, launched a strike force of 23 aircraft. But the Japanese, knowing that they had been spotted by U.S. aircraft and not knowing where the U.S. carriers were, turned to the north to stay out of range of the U.S. carriers' aircraft. Thus, the U.S. strike force returned to its carriers without finding or attacking the Japanese warships.

Carrier action on 26 October: first strikes
At 02:50 on 26 October, the Japanese naval forces reversed direction and the naval forces of the two adversaries closed the distance until they were only 200 nmi away from each other by 05:00. Both sides launched search aircraft and prepared their remaining aircraft to attack as soon as the other side's ships were located. Although a radar-equipped Catalina sighted the Japanese carriers at 03:10, the report did not reach Kinkaid until 05:12. Therefore, believing that the Japanese ships had probably changed position during the intervening two hours, he decided to withhold launching a strike force until he received more current information on the location of the Japanese ships.

At 06:45, a U.S. scout aircraft sighted the carriers of Nagumo's main body. At 06:58, a Japanese scout aircraft reported the location of Hornet's task force. Both sides raced to be the first to attack the other. The Japanese were first to get their strike force launched, with 64 aircraft, including 21 Aichi D3A2 dive bombers, 20 Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bombers, 21 A6M3 Zero fighters, and 2 Nakajima B5N2 contact aircraft on the way towards Hornet by 07:40. This first strike was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Shigeharu Murata, while the fighter cover was led by Lieutenants Ayao Shirane and Saneyasu Hidaka. Also at 07:40, two U.S. SBD-3 Dauntless scout aircraft, responding to the earlier sighting of the Japanese carriers, arrived and dove on Zuihō. With the Japanese combat air patrol (CAP) busy chasing other U.S. scout aircraft away, the two U.S. aircraft were able to hit Zuihō with both their 500-pound bombs, causing heavy damage and preventing the carrier's flight deck from being able to land aircraft.

Meanwhile, Kondo ordered Abe's Vanguard force to race ahead to try to intercept and engage the U.S. warships. Kondo also brought his own Advanced force forward at flank speed so that Jun'yō's aircraft could join in the attacks on the U.S. ships. At 08:10, Shōkaku launched a second wave of strike aircraft, consisting of 19 dive bombers and five Zeros, and Zuikaku launched 16 torpedo bombers and 4 Zeros at 08:40. The second strike leader was Lieutenant Commander Mamoru Seki, while the fighter cover was led by Lieutenant Hideki Shingo. Thus, by 09:10 the Japanese had over 100 aircraft on the way to attack the U.S. carriers.

The U.S. strike aircraft were running about 20 minutes behind the Japanese. Believing that a speedy attack was more important than a massed attack, and because they lacked fuel to spend time assembling prior to the strike, the U.S. aircraft proceeded in small groups towards the Japanese ships, rather than forming into a single large strike force. The first group—consisting of 15 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, 6 Grumman TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bombers, and eight Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters, led by Lieutenant Commander William J. "Gus" Widhelm from Hornet—was on its way by about 08:00. A second group—consisting of three SBDs, nine TBFs (including the Air Group Commander's), and eight Wildcats from Enterprise, led by Lieutenant Commander John A. Collett—was off by 08:10. A third group—consisting of nine SBDs, ten TBFs (including the Air Group Commander's), and seven F4Fs from Hornet—was on its way by 08:20.

At 08:40, the opposing aircraft strike formations passed within sight of each other. Lieutenant Hidaka's nine Zuihō Zeros surprised and attacked the Enterprise group, attacking the climbing aircraft from out of the sun. In the resulting engagement, four Zeros, three Wildcats, and two TBFs, including Collett's, were shot down, with another two TBFs and a Wildcat forced to return to Enterprise with heavy damage. The remaining Zuihō Zeros, having exhausted their ammunition, withdrew from the action.

At 08:50, the lead U.S. attack formation from Hornet spotted four ships from Abe's Vanguard force. Pressing on, the U.S. aircraft sighted the Japanese carriers and prepared to attack. Three Zeros from Zuihō attacked the formation's Wildcats, drawing them away from the bombers they were assigned to protect. Thus, the dive bombers in the first group initiated their attacks without fighter escort. Twelve Zeros from the Japanese carrier CAP attacked the SBD formation, shot down two (including Widhelm's, though he survived), and forced two more to abort. The remaining 11 SBDs commenced their attack dives on Shōkaku at 09:27, hitting her with three to six bombs, wrecking her flight deck, and causing serious damage to the interior of the ship. The final SBD of the 11 lost track of Shōkaku and instead dropped its bomb near the Japanese destroyer JAPANESE DESTROYER Teruzuki, causing minor damage. The six TBFs in the first strike force, having become separated from their strike group, did not find the Japanese carriers and eventually turned back towards Hornet. On the way back, they attacked the Japanese heavy cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Tone, missing with all their torpedoes.

The TBFs of the second U.S. attack formation from Enterprise were unable to locate the Japanese carriers and instead attacked the Japanese heavy cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Suzuya from Abe's Vanguard force but caused no damage. At about the same time, nine SBDs from the third U.S. attack formation—from Hornet—found Abe's ships and attacked the Japanese heavy cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Chikuma, hitting her with two 1000 lb bombs and causing heavy damage. The three Enterprise SBDs then arrived and also attacked Chikuma, causing more damage with one bomb hit and two near-misses. Finally, the nine TBFs from the third strike group arrived and attacked the smoking Chikuma, scoring one more bomb hit. Chikuma, escorted by two destroyers, withdrew from the battle and headed towards Truk for repairs.

The U.S. carrier forces received word from their outbound strike aircraft at 08:30 that Japanese attack aircraft were headed their way. At 08:52, the Japanese strike force commander sighted the Hornet task force—the Enterprise task force was hidden by a rain squall—and deployed his aircraft for attack. At 08:55, the U.S. carriers detected the approaching Japanese aircraft on radar—about 35 nmi away—and began to vector the 37 Wildcats of their CAP to engage the incoming Japanese aircraft. However, communication problems, mistakes by the U.S. fighter control directors, and primitive control procedures prevented all but a few of the Wildcats from engaging the Japanese aircraft before they began their attacks on Hornet. Although the U.S. CAP, including fighter pilot Swede Vejtasa, was able to shoot down or damage several dive bombers (the formation leader Lieutenant Sadamu Takahashi had to abort the dive due to the damage ), most of the Japanese aircraft commenced their attacks relatively unmolested by U.S. fighters.

At 09:09, the anti-aircraft guns of Hornet and her escorting warships opened fire as the 20 untouched Japanese torpedo planes and remaining 16 dive bombers commenced their attacks on the carrier. At 09:12, a dive bomber placed its 250 kg semi-armor-piercing "ordinary" bomb dead center on Hornet's flight deck, across from the island, which penetrated three decks before exploding, killing 60 men. Moments later, a 242 kg high-explosive "land" bomb struck the flight deck, detonating on impact to create an 11 ft hole and kill 30 men. A minute or so later, a third bomb hit Hornet near where the first bomb hit, penetrating three decks before exploding, causing severe damage but no loss of life. At 09:14, a dive bomber was set on fire by Hornets anti-aircraft guns; the pilot, Warrant Officer Shigeyuki Sato, deliberately crashed into Hornets stack, killing seven men and spreading burning aviation fuel over the signal deck.

At the same time as the dive bombers were attacking, the 20 torpedo bombers were also approaching Hornet from two different directions. Despite suffering heavy losses from anti-aircraft fire, including Murata, the torpedo planes planted two torpedoes in Hornet's side between 09:13 and 09:17, knocking out her engines. As Hornet came to a stop, a damaged Japanese dive bomber approached and purposely crashed into the carrier's side, starting a fire near the ship's main supply of aviation fuel. At 09:20, the surviving Japanese aircraft departed, leaving Hornet dead in the water and burning. Twenty-five Japanese and six American aircraft were destroyed in this attack, including 12 dive bombers, ten torpedo planes and at least one Zero.

With the assistance of fire hoses from three escorting destroyers, the fires on Hornet were under control by 10:00. Wounded personnel were evacuated from the carrier, and an attempt was made by the heavy cruiser USS Northampton (CA-26) under Captain Willard A. Kitts to tow Hornet away from the battle area. However, the effort to rig the towline took some time, and more attack waves of Japanese aircraft were inbound.

Carrier action on 26 October: post-first strike actions
Starting at 09:30, Enterprise landed many of the damaged and fuel-depleted CAP fighters and returning scout aircraft from both carriers. However, with her flight deck full, and the second wave of incoming Japanese aircraft detected on radar at 09:30, Enterprise ceased landing operations at 10:00. Fuel-depleted aircraft then began ditching in the ocean, and the carrier's escorting destroyers rescued the aircrews. One of the ditching aircraft, a damaged TBF from Enterprise's strike force that had been attacked earlier by Zeros from Zuihō, crashed into the water near the destroyer USS Porter (DD-356). As Porter rescued the TBF's aircrew, she was struck by a torpedo, possibly from the ditched aircraft, causing heavy damage and killing 15 crewmen. After the task force commander ordered the destroyer scuttled, the crew was rescued by the destroyer USS Shaw (DD-373) which then sank Porter with gunfire (-8.53333°N, 167.28333°W).

As the first wave of Japanese strike aircraft began returning to their carriers from their attack on Hornet, one of them spotted the Enterprise task force, which had now emerged from the rain squall, and reported the carrier's position. The second Japanese aircraft strike wave, believing Hornet to be sinking, directed their attacks on the Enterprise task force, beginning at 10:08. Again, the U.S. CAP had trouble intercepting the Japanese aircraft before they attacked Enterprise, shooting down only 2 of the 19 dive bombers as they began their dives on the carrier. Attacking through the intense anti-aircraft fire put up by Enterprise and her escorting warships, Seki's division attacked first and scored no hits. Next attacked the division led by Lieutenant Keiichi Arima that scored hits on the carrier with two 250 kg semi-AP "ordinary" bombs, where the first one was released by Arima's pilot, Petty Officer Kiyoto Furuta. The 2 bombs killed 44 men and wounded 75, and caused heavy damage to the carrier, including jamming her forward elevator in the "up" position. In addition, Arima's division also achieved a near-miss with another bomb. However, ten of the nineteen Japanese bombers were lost in this attack, including Seki's, with two more ditching on their return.

Twenty minutes later, the 16 Zuikaku torpedo planes arrived and split up to attack Enterprise. One group of torpedo bombers was attacked by two CAP Wildcats, again including Vejtasa, which shot down three of them and damaged a fourth. On fire, the fourth damaged aircraft purposely crashed into the destroyer USS Smith (DD-378), setting the ship on fire and killing 57 of her crew. The torpedo carried by this aircraft detonated shortly after impact, causing more damage. The fires initially seemed out of control until Smith's commanding officer ordered the destroyer to steer into the large spraying wake of the battleship USS South Dakota (BB-57), which helped put out the fires. Smith then resumed her station, firing her remaining anti-aircraft guns at the torpedo planes.

The remaining torpedo planes attacked Enterprise, South Dakota, and the cruiser USS Portland (CA-33), but all of their torpedoes missed or failed, causing no damage. The engagement was over at 10:53; 9 of the 16 torpedo aircraft were lost in this attack. After suppressing most of the onboard fires, at 11:15 Enterprise reopened her flight deck to begin landing returning aircraft from the morning U.S. strikes on the Japanese warship forces. However, only a few aircraft landed before the next wave of Japanese strike aircraft arrived and began their attacks on Enterprise, forcing a suspension of landing operations.

Between 09:05 and 09:14, Jun'yō had arrived within 280 nmi of the U.S. carriers and launched a strike of 17 dive bombers and 12 Zeros, under the command of Lieutenant Yoshio Shiga. As the Japanese main body and advanced force maneuvered to try to join formations, Jun'yō readied follow-up strikes. At 11:21, the Jun'yō aircraft arrived and dove on the Enterprise task force. The dive bombers scored one near miss on Enterprise, causing more damage, and one hit each on South Dakota and light cruiser USS San Juan (CL-54), causing moderate damage to both ships. Eight of the seventeen Japanese dive bombers were destroyed in this attack, with three more ditching on their return.

At 11:35, with Hornet out of action, Enterprise heavily damaged, and the Japanese assumed to have one or two undamaged carriers in the area, Kinkaid decided to withdraw Enterprise and her screening ships from the battle. Leaving Hornet behind, Kinkaid directed the carrier and her task force to retreat as soon as they were able. Between 11:39 and 13:22, Enterprise recovered 57 of the 73 airborne U.S. aircraft as she retreated. The remaining U.S. aircraft ditched in the ocean, and their aircrews were rescued by escorting warships.

Between 11:40 and 14:00, the two undamaged Japanese carriers, Zuikaku and Jun'yō, recovered the few aircraft that returned from the morning strikes on Hornet and Enterprise and prepared follow-up strikes. It was now that the devastating losses sustained during these attacks became apparent. Lt. Cmdr. Masatake Okumiya, Jun'yō's air staff officer, described the return of the carrier's first strike groups:

"We searched the sky with apprehension. There were only a few planes in the air in comparison with the numbers launched several hours before... The planes lurched and staggered onto the deck, every single fighter and bomber bullet holed ... As the pilots climbed wearily from their cramped cockpits, they told of unbelievable opposition, of skies choked with antiaircraft shell bursts and tracers." Only one of Jun'yō's bomber leaders returned from the first strike, and upon landing he appeared "so shaken that at times he could not speak coherently".

At 13:00, Kondo's Advanced force and Abe's Vanguard force warships together headed directly towards the last reported position of the U.S. carrier task forces and increased speed to try to intercept them for a gun battle. The damaged carriers Zuihō and Shōkaku, with Nagumo still on board, retreated from the battle area, leaving Rear Admiral Kakuji Kakuta in charge of the Zuikaku and Jun'yō aircraft forces. At 13:06, Jun'yō launched her second strike of seven torpedo planes led by Lieutenant Yoshiaki Irikiin, which were escorted by eight Zeros led by Lieutenant Shirane. At the same time, Zuikaku launched her third strike of seven torpedo planes, two dive bombers, and five Zeros, under the command of Lieutenant (jg) Ichirō Tanaka. Most of the torpedo planes were armed with an 800 kg armor-piercing bomb. At 15:35, Jun'yō launched the last Japanese strike force of the day, consisting of four dive bombers and six Zeros, again under the command of Lieutenant Shiga.

After several technical problems, Northampton finally began slowly towing Hornet out of the battle area at 14:45, at a speed of only five knots. Hornets crew was on the verge of restoring partial power, but at 15:20, Jun'yōs second strike arrived, and the seven torpedo planes attacked the almost stationary carrier. Although six of the torpedo planes missed, at 15:23, one torpedo struck Hornet amidships, which proved to be the fatal blow. The torpedo hit destroyed the repairs to the power system and caused heavy flooding and a 14-degree list. With no power to pump out the water, Hornet was given up for lost, and the remaining crew abandoned ship. The third strike from Zuikaku attacked Hornet during this time, where B5N level bombers hit the sinking ship with one 800 kg bomb. All of Hornet's crewmen were off by 16:27. During the last Japanese attack of the day, a dive bomber from Jun'yō's third strike dropped one more 250 kg semi-AP bomb on the sinking carrier at 17:20.

After being informed that Japanese forces were approaching and that further towing efforts were infeasible, Halsey ordered Hornet sunk. While the rest of the U.S. warships retired towards the southeast to get out of range of Kondō's and Abe's oncoming fleet, the destroyers USS Mustin (DD-413) and USS Anderson (DD-411) attempted to scuttle Hornet with multiple torpedoes and over 400 shells, but she still remained afloat. With advancing Japanese naval forces only 20 minutes away, the two U.S. destroyers abandoned Hornet's burning hulk at 20:40. By 22:20, the rest of Kondō's and Abe's warships had arrived at Hornet's location. The destroyers JAPANESE DESTROYER Makigumo and JAPANESE DESTROYER Akigumo then finished Hornet with four 24 in torpedoes. At 01:35 on 27 October 1942, she finally sank, at approximately -8.63333°N, 166.71667°W. Several night attacks by radar-equipped Catalinas on Jun'yō and Teruzuki, knowledge of the head start the U.S. warships had in their retreat from the area, plus a critical fuel situation apparently caused the Japanese to reconsider further pursuit of the U.S. warships. After refueling near the northern Solomon Islands, the Japanese ships returned to their main base at Truk on 30 October. During the U.S. withdrawal from the battle area towards Espiritu Santo and New Caledonia, while taking evasive action from a Japanese submarine, South Dakota collided with the destroyer USS Mahan (DD-364), heavily damaging Mahan.

Aftermath

Both sides claimed victory. The Americans stated that two Shōkaku-class fleet carriers had been hit with bombs and eliminated. Kinkaid's summary of damage to the Japanese included hits to a battleship, three heavy cruisers, and a light cruiser, and possible hits on another heavy cruiser. In reality, Shōkaku, Zuihō, and Chikuma were the only ships hit during the battle, none of which sank. For their part, the Japanese asserted that they sank three American carriers, one battleship, one cruiser, one destroyer, and one "unidentified large warship". Actual American losses comprised the carrier Hornet and the destroyer Porter, and damage to Enterprise, the light cruiser San Juan, the destroyer Smith and the battleship South Dakota.

The loss of Hornet was a severe blow for Allied forces in the South Pacific, leaving Enterprise and Saratoga as the only operational Allied carriers in the entire Pacific theater. As Enterprise retreated from the battle, the crew posted a sign on the flight deck: "Enterprise vs Japan". Enterprise received temporary repairs at New Caledonia and, although not fully restored, returned to the southern Solomons area just two weeks later to support Allied forces during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. There she played an important role in what turned out to be the decisive naval engagement in the overall campaign for Guadalcanal when her aircraft sank several Japanese warships and troop transports during the naval skirmishes around Henderson Field. The lack of carriers pressed the Americans and Japanese to deploy battleships in night operations around Guadalcanal, one of only two actions in the entire Pacific War in which battleships fought each other, with South Dakota again being damaged while two Japanese battleships were lost.

Although the Battle of Santa Cruz was a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, it came at a high cost for their naval forces, as Jun'yō was the only active aircraft carrier left to challenge Enterprise or Henderson Field for the remainder of the Guadalcanal campaign. Zuikaku, despite being undamaged and having recovered the aircraft from the two damaged carriers, returned to home islands via Truk for training and aircraft ferrying duties, returning to the South Pacific only in February 1943 to cover the evacuation of Japanese ground forces from Guadalcanal. Both damaged carriers were forced to return to Japan for extensive repairs and refitting. After repair, Zuihō returned to Truk in late January 1943. Shōkaku was under repair until March 1943 and did not return to the front until July 1943, when she was reunited with Zuikaku at Truk.

The most significant losses for the Japanese Navy were in aircrew. The U.S. lost 81 of the 175 aircraft that were available at the start of the battle; of these, 33 were fighters, 28 were dive-bombers, and 20 were torpedo bombers. However, only 26 pilots and aircrew members were lost. The Japanese fared much worse, especially in airmen; in addition to losing 99 aircraft of the 203 involved in the battle, including 27 fighters, 40 dive bombers, and 29 torpedo bombers, they lost 148 pilots and aircrew members, including two dive bomber group leaders, three torpedo squadron leaders, and eighteen other section or flight leaders. The most notable casualties were the commanders of the first two strikes – Murata and Seki. Forty-nine percent of the Japanese torpedo bomber aircrews involved in the battle were killed, along with 39% of the dive bomber crews and 20% of the fighter pilots. The Japanese lost more aircrew at Santa Cruz than they had lost in each of the three previous carrier battles at Coral Sea (90), Midway (110), and Eastern Solomons (61). By the end of the Santa Cruz battle, at least 409 of the 765 elite Japanese carrier aviators who had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor were dead. Having lost so many of its veteran carrier aircrew, and with no quick way to replace them—because of an institutionalized limited capacity in its naval aircrew training programs and an absence of trained reserves—the undamaged Zuikaku was also ordered to return to Japan. Jun'yo remained and provided air support during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Zuikaku returned just in time to cover the withdrawal of the forces from Guadalcanal.

Admiral Nagumo was relieved of command shortly after the battle and reassigned to shore duty in Japan. He acknowledged that the victory was incomplete: "[T]his battle was a tactical win, but a shattering strategic loss for Japan ... Considering the great superiority of our enemy's industrial capacity, we must win every battle overwhelmingly in order to win this war. This last one, although a victory, unfortunately, was not an overwhelming victory." In retrospect, despite being a tactical victory, the battle effectively ended any hope the Japanese Navy might have had of scoring a decisive victory before the industrial might of the United States placed that goal out of reach. Historian Eric Hammel summed up the significance of the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands as, "Santa Cruz was a Japanese victory. That victory cost Japan her last best hope to win the war."

Military historian Dr. John Prados offers a dissenting view, asserting that this was not a Pyrrhic victory for Japan, but a strategic victory: "By any reasonable measure the Battle of Santa Cruz marked a Japanese victory—and a strategic one. At its end, the Imperial Navy possessed the only operational carrier force in the Pacific. The Japanese had sunk more ships and more combat tonnage, had more aircraft remaining, and were in physical possession of the battle zone... Arguments based on aircrew losses or who owned Guadalcanal are about something else—the campaign, not the battle." In Prados' view, the real story of the aftermath is that the Imperial Navy failed to exploit their hard-won victory.

World War II carrier-versus-carrier engagements

 * Battle of the Coral Sea
 * Battle of Midway
 * Battle of the Eastern Solomons
 * Battle of the Philippine Sea
 * Battle off Cape Engaño

title: Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands


text:
International figures' positions on the 2003 invasion of Iraq

Richard Butler
Richard Butler, who led the UN inspection teams in Iraq until 1998, accused the United States of promoting "shocking double standards" in considering unilateral military action against Iraq. He said, "The spectacle of the United States, armed with its weapons of mass destruction, acting without Security Council authority to invade a country in the heartland of Arabia and, if necessary, use its weapons of mass destruction to win that battle, is something that will so deeply violate any notion of fairness in this world that I strongly suspect it could set loose forces that we would deeply live to regret." In pointing out that the United States has not responded in the same way to Syria, which is also suspected of having weapons of mass destruction, and that several US allies, including Pakistan, India, and Israel, have such weapons without having signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, Butler asked why the United States is "permitting the persistence of such shocking double standards". However, part of the U.S.'s position is that Iraq is a unique case. Iraq is the only country out of this list that has had 12 years of defiance against 17 U.N. resolutions calling for its disarmament. Butler himself, upon leaving Iraq for the last time in 1998 said he could not say that Iraq had disarmed. Nor could he confirm that Iraq possessed WMDs.

Pope John Paul II
In 2003, the Vatican of Pope John Paul II tried to prevent the US-led invasion of Iraq, instead urging a peaceful solution. In his 2003 State of the World address, the Pope declared his opposition to the invasion by stating, "No to war! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity." He sent former Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States Pío Cardinal Laghi to talk with American President George W. Bush to express opposition to the war. John Paul II said that it was up to the United Nations to solve the international conflict through diplomacy and that a unilateral aggression is a crime against peace and a violation of international law.

This is consistent with his previous proclamations about peace. For example, in 1999, in preparation for the 33rd World Day of Peace, he sent out a message saying:

"Wars generally do not resolve the problems for which they are fought and therefore... prove ultimately futile."

- Pope John Paul II

Nelson Mandela
In February, 2003, Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, sharply criticized Bush and his drive for war, saying, "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America." Mandela also said, "One power with a president who has no foresight – who cannot think properly – is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust." Mandela also accused Bush of "ignoring the U.N.". Mandela went on by asking "Is this because the secretary general of the United Nations is now a black man?" Mandela and Sir Richard Branson planned, with Kofi Annan's blessing, a secret trip to Iraq to convince Saddam to step down, but the bombing starting just before they were to leave. Bush's supporters argue that he had been working through the U.N. on this issue since the previous September; however, he and his Cabinet made it clear that they would act with or without UN agreement.

Scott Ritter
As of August 2002, former UNSCOM weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who believes U.N. inspections effectively verified the destruction of over 90% of Iraq's weapon capabilities, is actively campaigning against an invasion, and challenging the Bush administration to make public any evidence that Iraq has rebuilt the capabilities which were destroyed under the auspices of UNSCOM. Says Ritter, "If Iraq was producing weapons today, we would have definitive proof." However, critics of Ritter point out that four years earlier he had exactly the opposite view as inspectors were forced to leave Iraq. In 1998, upon leaving Iraq, Ritter sharply criticized the Clinton administration and the U.N. Security Council for not being vigorous enough about insisting that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction be destroyed. Ritter also accused U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan of assisting Iraqi efforts at impeding UNSCOM's work. "Iraq is not disarming," Ritter said on August 27, 1998, and in a second statement, "Iraq retains the capability to launch a chemical strike."

Mary Robinson
Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and ex-president of Ireland Mary Robinson was also highly critical, in an article published in The Irish Times.

Lech Wałęsa
Leader of the opposition to the communist regime in Poland during the 1980s, former president of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Lech Wałęsa supports the invasion and said that the UN should accept the war because it has done nothing worthy of its name in the last few years.

Václav Havel
The most well known and highly regarded dissident in Communist Czechoslovakia and later President of democratic Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, Václav Havel spoke in favour of a projected American and Allied invasion of Iraq as early as September 2002, stating that "Saddam Hussein's regime poses a major threat to many nations and to his own people ... there should be an international intervention."

Adam Michnik
Adam Michnik, the most important intellectual of the Polish Solidarity movement, also issued statements in support of the war, pointing to historical reasons for the former eastern bloc countries' support for the American action in Iraq.

Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton
Former American Presidents Carter and Clinton have both offered criticism on the war. While Clinton was in favor of regime change, and supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, he strongly objected to the ways in which he perceived the Bush administration to be ignoring the will of the America's traditional allies and undermining proper UN procedures. President Carter opposed the war entirely, and the Carter Center outlined a specific "alternative to war" plan that involved an increased presence of weapons inspectors.