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.