Savo Island

SUN 9 AUG 1942
Pacific
Battle of Savo Island: Japanese force of seven cruisers and one destroyer (Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi) approaches west of Savo Island, Solomons, undetected. The defeat is one of the worst ever inflicted on the U.S. Navy. Allied ships depart Guadalcanal area. Japanese vessels temporarily control waters around Guadalcanal. Heavy cruiser Astoria (CA-34) is sunk by gunfire of Japanese heavy cruisers Chokai, Aoba, Kinugasa, and Kako. Quincy (CA-39) is sunk by gunfire of heavy cruisers Aoba, Kako and Furutaka and light cruiser Tenryu and is torpedoed by light cruiser Yubari.

IJN YUBARI opens fire on the American cruisers ASTORIA, QUINCY and VINCENNES.
No further info given.

Vincennes (CA-44) is sunk by gunfire and torpedo from heavy cruiser Chokai, and gunfire from Kako, Aoba, and Kinugasa, and light cruiser Yubari. The fourth Allied ship lost off Savo is Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra which, badly damaged by Japanese gunfire, is scuttled by destroyer Selfridge (DD-357).

U.S. ships damaged are heavy cruiser Chicago (CA-29) by Kako; destroyer Ralph Talbot (DD-390) by Furutaka, Yubari, and Tenryu; and destroyer Patterson (DD-392) by Yubari and Tenryu. U.S. gunfire damages Chokai (from Quincy and Astoria); Kinugasa (by Vincennes); Aoba (by Quincy) and Tenryu (by Chicago and Patterson).

"Battle of Savo Island in Guadalcanal" by Yoshio Shimizu 1944

Destroyer Jarvis (DD-393), damaged the previous day, is mistaken as an "Achilles-class cruiser" and attacked by Japanese land attack planes (Misawa Kokutai) and torpedoed 200 nautical miles southeast of Tulagi, 09°42'S, 158°59'E. Jarvis puts up a stout fight, splashing two of the attacking planes; a third ditches due to battle damage. There are, however, no survivors from the destroyer, which is lost with all hands.

Atlantic
German submarine U-98 completes laying mines off mouth of St. Johns River, east of Jacksonville, Florida.