his son john s. mccain iv , is a u.s.
while the majority of his service in this capacity was reportedly excellent , a lapse in mccain 's leadership of his forces significantly contributed to the allied defeat and heavy losses in one of the naval battles around guadalcanal .
in october 1942 mccain was born in teoc , mississippi , and nitro ( ae-2 ) .
for the first year of world war ii he served as commander of air forces for western sea frontier and the south pacific force .
as a result , allied naval forces were surprised and defeated in the battle of savo island on august 9 , a defeat that jeopardized the entire guadalcanal operation for the allies .
mccain 's exceedingly skillful tactics protecting canberra ( ca-70 ) and houston ( cl-81 ) in october 1944 earned him the navy cross , and the daring forays of his mobile force had much to do with the eventual victory .
( august 9 , 1884 – september 6 , 1945 ) was an admiral in the united states navy , notable as a commander of the fast carrier task force in world war ii .
his first command was the sirius ( ak-18 ) .
mccain had been requested to conduct extra reconnaissance missions over " the slot " in the solomon islands on august 8 , 1942 .