in which the aircraft carrier was lost and Enterprise damaged while the Japanese suffered severe losses in aircraft and pilots. During the last dive-bombing attack on the formation, one bomb passed through San Juans stern, flooding several compartments and damaging, though not disabling, her rudder. She arrived at Nouméa with the task force on 30 October and then spent ten days at Sydney, Australia, receiving permanent repairs. San Juan joined the aircraft carrier at Nadi, Viti Levu Island, in the Fijis on 24 November. 1943 From December 1942 to June 1943, San Juan was based at Nouméa and operated in the Coral Sea, both with carrier groups and alone. At the end of June 1943, during the occupation of New Georgia, San Juans carrier group patrolled the Coral Sea for 26 days to prevent enemy interference. Late in July, the force made a quick stop at Nouméa and moved to the New Hebrides, first to Havannah Harbor, Efate, and later to Espiritu Santo. On 1 November, the Saratoga group, including San Juan, neutralized airfields on Bougainville and Rabaul while Allied forces landed on Bougainville. In the middle of November, the task group acted as a covering force for the occupation of the Gilberts. San Juan then joined the aircraft carrier on a raid on Kwajalein in the Marshalls, fighting off persistent torpedo plane attacks on 4–5 December. Detached on 6 December, the cruiser returned to the United States for overhaul at Mare Island. 1944 San Juan rejoined Saratoga off Pearl Harbor on 19 January 1944 and the force covered the occupation of Eniwetok in February. San Juan next escorted the carriers and in strikes on Palau, Yap, and Ulithi on 30 March and 1 April. On 7 April, the cruiser joined the new carrier , which covered the landings at Hollandia in April and then struck at Truk on 29–30 April. After returning to bases in the Marshalls, the Hornet group began support of the Marianas campaign in early June, striking at Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima in the Bonins, while American troops landed on Saipan. San Juan helped guard her group during the Battle of the Philippine Sea when American naval air power decisively defeated a Japanese counterattack to save the Marianas, and, in doing so, all but wiped out Japanese naval air strength. After a short stop at Eniwetok, San Juan escorted the new and during July as