protection of the battleship's guns. Enterprise came under direct attack by Japanese aircraft, taking three bomb hits that killed 74 of its crew. Extraordinary efforts permitted the carrier to continue operating aircraft, but it was forced to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. In his report after the battle, Kinkaid recommended that the number of fighters carried by each carrier be further increased. For his part in the battle, he was awarded his second Distinguished Service Medal. Task Force 16 returned to the South Pacific in October 1942, just in time to take part in the decisive action of the campaign, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, when the Japanese Army and Navy made an all-out effort to recapture the airfield of Guadalcanal. In addition to Enterprise, Kinkaid's force included the battleship , heavy cruiser Portland, anti-aircraft cruiser , and eight destroyers. Fortunately, both Enterprise and South Dakota had been fitted with the new Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. In the three early carrier battles, Kinkaid had been a subordinate commander. This time, he was in overall command, in charge of Task Force 61, which included both his own Task Force 16 and Rear Admiral George D. Murray's Task Force 17, built around the aircraft carrier . The battle unfolded badly. Hornet was sunk, and Enterprise, South Dakota and San Juan were severely damaged. Aviators like Murray and John H. Towers blamed Kinkaid, as a non-aviator, for the loss of Hornet. It became a black mark on Kinkaid's record. The Japanese had won another tactical victory, but Kinkaid's carriers had gained the Americans precious time to prepare and reinforce. Aleutian Islands On 4 January 1943, Kinkaid became Commander of the North Pacific Force (COMNORPACFOR) following the failure of his predecessor, Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald, to work harmoniously with the U.S. Army. Command relationships in the North Pacific were complicated. Naval forces came under Fletcher's Northwestern Sea Frontier. The troops in Alaska, including Brigadier General William O. Butler's Eleventh Air Force, were commanded by Major General Simon B. Buckner, Jr., who was answerable to the head of the Western Defense Command, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt. Kinkaid's command was responsible for coordinating these forces and retaking the Aleutian Islands captured by the Japanese. He found the Army eager to cooperate, but encountered more difficulty with Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, the commander of the Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, and