Navy Department Communique No. 248

JANUARY 11, 1942

South Pacific (all dates are east longitude).

Navy Department communiqués have previously announced the loss of the following U. S. naval vessels in air and surface actions with Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands area. One aircraft carrier (Navy Department Communiqué No. 175), two light cruisers and six destroyers (Navy Department Communiqué No. 194), one destroyer (Navy Department Communiqué No. 198) and one cruiser (Navy Department Communiqué No. 211.)
For reasons of military security and to avoid causing needless anxiety on the part of relatives and friends of the personnel who survived these actions, the original announcement of the losses did not state the names of the ships. Reports of casualties have since been received and the next of kin of all personnel killed, wounded, or missing in these actions have now been notified. The vessels lost are listed below.

(a) The U. S. S. Hornet (aircraft carrier) was sunk by U. S. ships after having been damaged beyond salvage in the Battle of The Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942. (Navy Department Communiqué No. 175).
(b) The U. S. S. Juneau and U. S. S. Atlanta (light cruisers) and the U. S. S. Cushing, Preston, Benham, Walke, Monssen, Laffey and Barton (destroyers) were sunk by enemy action during the battle of Guadalcanal, November 13th-15th, 1942. (Navy Department Communiqué No 194 and No. 198).
(c) The U. S. S. Northampton (heavy cruiser) was sunk by enemy action during the engagement north of Guadalcanal on the night of November 30th-December 1st, 1942. (Navy Department Communiqué No. 211)