Guadalcanal, Rennell Island, and a carrier first

Enterprise's aircraft shared in the sinking of the Kongō-class battleship Hiei during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the first Japanese capital ship lost in the war. By the battle's end, the carrier could claim a share in sixteen ships sunk and eight more damaged. Her fighters later protected the cruiser-destroyer force at Rennell Island and destroyed many attacking aircraft, although USS Chicago was sunk by aerial torpedoes. After a training period near Espiritu Santo, Enterprise returned to the Solomons and then sailed to Pearl Harbor. Chester W. Nimitz presented her with the first Presidential Unit Citation awarded to an aircraft carrier. New Essex- and Independence-class ships soon relieved the pressure on a carrier that had repeatedly remained available while American strength was close to collapse.