Santa Isabel Island down the houses in Ulubea riverside settlement, 33 houses in all, as a result of a property dispute. The number was later expanded to 31. The population of Santa Isabel speak as many as eight languages in addition to English and Solomon Islands Pijin. Santa Isabel Island Santa Isabel Island (also known as Isabel, Ysabel and Mahaga) is the longest in the Solomon Islands, the third largest in terms of surface area, and the largest in the group of islands in Isabel Province. Choiseul lies to the north-west, Malaita to the south-east. The Pacific Ocean lies to the north, and
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.