She rejoined TF 17 on 8 October, and on 15 October, received orders to proceed north to the Guadalcanal area to strike enemy forces in order to relieve pressure there. "Hornet" launched strikes on 16 October, and on 24 October the force joined with TF 16 to form TF 61. On 26 October, the American ships engaged a numerically superior Japanese striking force in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Contact between the two opposing forces, as at Coral Sea, was almost simultaneous. During the day planes from "Enterprise" and "Hornet" damaged two enemy carriers, a cruiser, and two destroyers. American ship casualties, however, were considerably heavier.