"North Carolina" was sent to join the Guadalcanal campaign as part of TF 16, which also included the aircraft carrier , the heavy cruiser , the light cruiser , and six destroyers. The unit was part of TF 61, commanded by Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher, and sent to cover the landing of the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal to seize the airfield being constructed there by the Japanese. TF 61 also included the carriers and "Wasp". "North Carolina" covered "Enterprise" on the first day of the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi on 7 August, and thereafter remained in company with "Enterprise" to protect the carrier from Japanese air attacks. Fear of Japanese land-based torpedo bombers prompted Fletcher to withdraw the carrier groups the next day. The initial landing met little resistance, but a Japanese cruiser squadron attacked the invasion fleet on the night of 9 August, inflicting a major defeat on Allied naval forces in the Battle of Savo Island. The Navy briefly considered forming a surface combat force to counter the Japanese cruisers that would have been centered on "North Carolina", with five heavy and one light cruiser and four destroyers, but it was determined that the need to protect the carrier task forces was too great to strip away their heavy units.