Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
ACTIVITY: World War II / Sea disaster
CASE: GSAF 1942.11.
DATE: November 12-16, 1942
LOCATION: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
LOCATION: The incident took place in the Pacific Ocean near Guadalcanal, Solomon
Islands.
NAME: Unknown
DESCRIPTION: He was a 19-year-old male, one of the crew of an American destroyer that
was sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
BACKGROUND
Prior to prior to December 14, 1942, the US Navy believed sharks presented “negligible
danger” to personnel in the sea. Available information suggested that sharks were likely be
driven away by explosions and loud noises that typically occurred during sea warfare. (See
pages 4 & 5 of this report.)
During World War II, the Battle of Guadalcanal was fought between August 7, 1942 and
February 9, 1943 in the Solomon Islands on and around the island of Guadalcanal. Fiercely
contested on the ground, at sea, and in the air, the campaign was the first major offensive
launched by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
NARRATIVE: Among the 6,000 casualties evacuated from the Guadalcanal battle area was
a 19-year-old who had drifted in the sea for 12 hours before a plane found him. “He was on
a destroyer when a shell struck. The explosion threw him to the deck and fractured his
ankle. As his ship sank, he jumped in and started swimming. At dawn he thought he saw
land. He swam toward shore for two hours, then rested, only to feel a nibble first at one leg,
then the other. Then a shark bit into his hip.”
© Global Shark Accident File, 2006. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or
reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File.
INJURY: His hip was bitten.
TREATMENT: He was taken aboard the hospital
ship Solace.
SPECIES: Not identified.
SOURCE: The Lima News, Thursday, July 13, 1944
The Hospital Ship USS Solace
© Global Shark Accident File, 2006. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or
reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File.
© Global Shark Accident File, 2006. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or
reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File.
© Global Shark Accident File, 2006. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or
reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File.
© Global Shark Accident File, 2006. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or
reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File.