Battle of Santa Cruz
Primary Objectives
1. Sink the Japanese carrier Juyo. 2. Seek & destroy the Japanese carrier Zuiho.
Secondary Objectives.
None.
Hidden Objectives.
1. Sink a battleships from the Vanguard Force.
Tip.
If you have unlocked the Allen M. Sumner Class Destroyer (DD) choose it at the Unit Selection screen as it will give you superior anti air defense for the upcoming fight.
Once the scenario starts, immediately launch 2 Wildcat's for CAP (Combat Air Patrol). Use them to shoot down the incoming two waves of enemy bombers and then set them to defend your ships.After the last bomber in the 2nd wave is shot down, launch 1 Dauntless Dive bomber and 1 Avenger and send both of them to attack the Junyo as soon as she is spotted. By using a mix of low altitude torpedo planes and higher level dive bombers you force the enemy to split their fire and their CAP fighters to pursue two separate groups at two different altitudes.
You need to replace your fighters with bombers, so as your attack aircraft are dealing with the Juno, issue orders to your Wildcats to land on the carrier one at a time. Or order your fighters to attack the CAP fighters over the Juyo (they will be shot down in short order, but you will probably take some of the enemy fighters with you) Or if you are impatient and do not mind killing your own men, you can crash all your fighters into the ocean. . After the first Wildcat has landed (or been destroyed) order up a Avenger and another Dauntless. Now you should have 2 Avengers and 2 Dauntless, do not worry much about air attack on your ships, as the Destroyer screen along with the AAA (Anti Aircraft Artillery) from the Enterprise should make short work of most of the incoming enemy aircraft.
The Cruiser Takao and Tone will attack you now, so just use your aircraft to sink them. You also have the Battleship South Dakota, Cruiser San Juan, and destroyer Smith to aid you here. Next you should spot the approaching Cruiser Chikuma along with 3 escort Destroyers. Send all your attack aircraft to sink the Cruiser, and have your Battleship and 2 escorting ships intercept the incoming ships and sink them. Also you are going to be harassed by a lot of enemy aircraft, but your AAA on your ships should do well enough at keeping them at bay.
At some point you will get a radio message stating that the Carrier Hornet has taken a hit and is dead in the water. The Hornet is flanked by 2 Destroyers that are now under your command. Have one of them put a few torpedoes into the Hornet to sink her, then have the destroyers join the Carrier Enterprise screening force.
Soon after sinking the Hornet you should have control of 5 ships led by the Cruiser Northampton along with 2 other Cruisers and 2 Destroyers. Keep them in the area where you found them and send all your attack aircraft to the area to find the enemy Battleships and sink them for the Hidden Objective. (Important: if you want to complete the Hidden Objective so you can get the Gold Metal, sink the enemy Battleships BEFORE you sink the Carrier Zuiho!) Once you spot the enemy armada, focus all your air and sea power that you have in the area on a specific Battleship until it is sunk, then focus on the next, and the next, until they are all sunk. If you do not focus your attack, the enemy Battleships will chew you up in short order. Let the A.I. handle the path your Carrier takes, as it will keep you away from the threat of the enemy Battleships.
Once the Battleships are sunk send all your attack aircraft north in search of the Carrier Zuiho and bomb & torpedo her till she slips beneath the waves.
Congratulations, you have just beat the Japanese in the Battle of Santa Cruz and completed all the objectives for a Gold Metal!