Collapsed bow on USS Honolulu after she was torpedoed during the Battle of Kolombangara in July 1943

The Battle of Kolombangara was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of July 12th-13th 1943, off the northeastern coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. The battle took place during the early stages of the New Georgia campaign when an Imperial Japanese Navy force, carrying reinforcements south to Vila, Solomon Islands, was intercepted by a task force of U.S. and New Zealand light cruisers and destroyers. In the ensuing action, the Japanese sank one Allied destroyer and damaged three cruisers. They were also able to successfully land 1,200 ground troops on the western coast of Kolombangara but lost one light cruiser sunk with all hands in the process. USS Honolulu (CL-48) and USS St. Louis (CL-49) were two Brooklyn-class light cruisers present during this engagement. The Japanese force commanded by Rear Admiral Shunji Isaki, which was composed of the light cruiser Jintsu and five destroyers, escorting a group of four destroyer-transports, spotted the Allied