- 38 - Pacific War - Battle of Savo Island, August 9-16, 1942

The disastrous Battle of Midway is remembered nowadays as one of the major turning points of the Pacific War, leaving the IJN significantly weakened. The Japanese would still continue to secure more territory, but it was now the allies who held the strategic initiative, and the Americans would then go on to execute Operation Watchtower, the first Allied offensive of the Pacific War; and as we’ve seen last week, the invasion of the Solomons was up to a good start. Yet despite its tremendous losses at Midway, the IJN was still standing and it still had sufficient strength to contest control of the south seas from the US, so Admiral Mikawa now prepared for a bold naval ambush that would prove to be one of the worst defeats in the history of the US Navy. Join us as we cover the Battle of Savo Island, and as we also take a look at some new developments on the Kokoda Track