Cyclone Rewa country to be impacted by Rewa. As it developed into a tropical cyclone on 28 December, the system passed to the north of the outer lying atolls of Malaita Province in the Solomon Islands. Rewa then passed over the southern tip of Malaita Island, before passing to the south of Guadalcanal Island and the north of Rennell Island during 29 December. Cyclone Rewa started to affect New Caledonia on 5 January, before it passed over Grand Terre Island later that day. Rewa dumped over 300 mm (12 in) of rain on parts of the archipelago, which made all of the
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.