USN dreadnought battleships (DDs) can be sort of sub-divided into four types/eras. The original dreadnoughts had 12" main guns, as did HMS Dreadnought. Of these, only USS Arkansas survived being scrapped to comply with the London and Washington Naval Treaties. Next were super-dreadnoughts with incremental armor, USS New York and USS Texas. These had 14" guns (hence the "super") and every part of the ship was armored to some degree. These three BBs were viewed as unsuitable for service in the Pacific, and were kept in the Atlantic until very late in the war. Starting with the Nevada class, subsequent USN BBs used an "all-or-nothing" layout. All vital areas were concentrated in a sort of citadel, with sufficient armor and buoyancy to protect against being sunk by the ship's own guns (with two exceptions to be noted shortly). The "all-or-nothing" BBs can be divided between those with a top speed of ~21 knots - built just before, during, and just after WW1 - and fast battleships (>/= 28 knots), built as a result of Japan formally dropping out of the naval treaties. Some slower "all-or-nothing" BBs (most) had 14" guns, while several had 16" guns.
The 21-knot BBs could not keep pace with the carriers (CVs). In 1941, just one fast BB was in commission, but it was in the Atlantic working out some "teething" problems. The BBs damaged or sunk at Pearl Harbor were all of the slower variety. The USN built three classes of fast BBs, the North Carolina class, which were just in or coming into commission, the South Dakota class, and the Iowa class. All three classes had 16" guns. Because USS North Carolina and USS Washington originally were going to have 14" guns, but were changed during construction, those two were armored for 14" guns while carrying 16" guns.
By November, 1942, both North Carolina class BBs were in the Pacific - North Carolina was being repaired from a torpedo hit - as was USS South Dakota. Washington,
https://www.hazegray.org/danfs/battlesh/bb56.htm , had been part of the support force for USS Hornet, recently sunk, and had just joined the force supporting USS Enterprise. SoDak,
https://www.hazegray.org/danfs/battlesh/bb57.htm , was part of the support force for the recently damaged USS Enterprise.
Commanded by Willis Lee, these two BBs, which had not operated together, supported by four destroyers (DDs) from four different squadrons (and DD classes; chosen because they had sufficient fuel) were about to face a cruiser force commanded by Nobutake Kondo that had been joined by battleship Kirishima and several destroyers that had survived the melee of two nights previous. Kondo's total force had Kirishima, with eight 14"/45 guns, two heavy cruisers with 8" guns, two light cruisers, with 5.5" guns plus torpedoes, and nine destroyers with 5" guns and torpedoes. The numeric odds, obviously, were not in Lee's favor, though the 16"/45 guns of his two BBs did outgun Kondo's one battleship's 14"/45s.
As he approached Guadalcanal, Kondo had divided his force into three groups: one light cruiser and destroyer group sent ahead to sweep the east side of Savo Island; one light cruiser and destroyer group sent ahead to sweep the west side of Savo Island; his bombardment group of Kirishima, heavy cruisers Atago and Takao, and three supporting destroyers.
Lee's force was steaming in column, with the DDs leading. As a consequence of this formation, USN DDs were spotted fist by the IJN destroyers, with disastrous results. Two were quickly sunk by gunfire and torpedoes, a third damaged and sinking later, and a fourth seriously damaged. In this action USN DDs did what was needed, absorbing much of the punishment while giving Kondo (via reports from his destroyers) the impression that the USN force had been defeated.
Washington kept coming, setting an IJN destroyer afire, and SoDak did as well, though she went through electrical problems that disabled her radar and most of her guns. Washington sailed behind a burning DD, while SoDak passed by on the other side, which silhouetted her for Kondo's oncoming cruisers and battleship. As a result, SoDak came under heavy fire which, while not threatening to sink her, resulted in significant damage to her communications and gunfire control systems and many casualties.
Meanwhile, Washington was unseen, and in firing on SoDak, Kirishima made herself a target. In minutes, Washington disabled all of Kirishima's turrets, hit Kirishima below the waterline, causing flooding and jamming her radar, and set Kirishima afire. Both SoDak and Washington had to avoid Japanese torpedoes.
Kondo ordered his force to head for "home", leaving behind several destroyers to rescue survivors from the destroyer that had to be scuttled and the sinking Kirishima. The US force, again, was heavily damaged. On the other hand, the IJN had lost yet another battleship and had failed to bombard Henderson Field. Four Japanese transports managed to reach and beach themselves on Guadalcanal, and land 2000-3000 soldiers, but planes from Henderson Field destroyed the transports and much of the food and equipment the soldiers needed.
From the point of view of the Guadalcanal campaign, this was the last major effort by the Japanese to reinforce their troops on the island. The IJN tried for a few weeks to supply their troops via fast destroyer runs and submarines, but by the end of December, 1942 the decision had been made to evacuate their troops.
The term "turning point" is, perhaps, overly dramatic and over-worked. And how to choose from among Coral Sea, Midway, and the Solomons Campaign? Coral Sea and Midway were the first failures of planned invasions. But the months-long Solomons Campaign was the first time territory the Japanese had taken was reconquered.