Komandorski Islands, Battle of the

In World War II, minor US naval victory over Japanese forces on 26 March 1943. A Japanese naval force escorting a troop convoy to reinforce the Aleutian Islands clashed with US naval forces and, after a minor engagement, withdrew.

The Japanese convoy was attacked by a US squadron of two cruisers and four destroyers. One cruiser on each side was damaged by long-range gunfire, and the US destroyers then closed in with a torpedo strike. The Japanese commander, fearful of the torpedoes and also apprehensive of an air strike from nearby US airfields, withdrew without landing the reinforcements. He was subsequently relieved of his command.