Naval Battle of Guadalcanal General Headquarters—with approval from the Emperor—agreed on 31 December to the evacuation of all Japanese forces from the island and establishment of a new line of defense for the Solomons on New Georgia. Thus, the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was the last major attempt by the Japanese to seize control of the seas around Guadalcanal or to retake the island. In contrast, the U.S. Navy was thereafter able to resupply the U.S. forces at Guadalcanal at will, including the delivery of two fresh divisions by late December 1942. The inability to neutralize Henderson Field doomed the Japanese effort to successfully
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal mission that Abe's force had failed to carry out—the bombardment of Henderson Field. The battleship "Kirishima", after abandoning its rescue effort of "Hiei" on the morning of 13 November, steamed north between Santa Isabel and Malaita Islands with her accompanying warships to rendezvous with Kondo's Second Fleet, inbound from Truk, to form the new bombardment unit. The 8th Fleet cruiser force, under the command of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, included the heavy cruisers , , , and , the light cruisers and , and six destroyers. Mikawa's force was able to slip into the Guadalcanal area uncontested, the battered U.S.