The Tokyo Express was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The operation involved loading personnel or supplies aboard fast warships, later submarines, and using the warships' speed to deliver the personnel or supplies to the desired location and return to the originating base all within one night so Allied aircraft could not intercept them by day.
The Battle of Kolombangara was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 12/13 July 1943, off the northeastern coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. The battle took place during the early stages of the New Georgia campaign when an Imperial Japanese Navy force, carrying reinforcements south to Vila, Solomon Islands, was intercepted by a task force of U.S. and New Zealand light cruisers and destroyers. In the ensuing action, the Japanese sank one Allied destroyer and damaged three cruisers. They were also able to successfully land 1,200 ground troops on the western coast of Kolombangara but lost one light cruiser sunk in the process.
The Battle of Kula Gulf took place in the early hours of 6 July 1943 during World War II. The battle involved United States and Japanese ships off the eastern coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. It took place during the early stages of the New Georgia campaign when a Japanese force landing reinforcements at Vila was intercepted by a force of US Navy cruisers and destroyers. One US light cruiser was sunk during the engagement while two Japanese destroyers were sunk and two more were damaged. The Japanese withdrew after the engagement, having landed 1,600 troops.
The Battle of Vella Gulf was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on the night of 6–7 August 1943 in Vella Gulf between Vella Lavella and Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands of the southwest Pacific.
The Battle off Horaniu was a minor naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought near Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands. On the night of 17–18 August 1943, four U.S. Navy destroyers intercepted an Imperial Japanese Navy convoy carrying troops to Horaniu, on the northern coast of Vella Lavella, where they were to establish a barge base to support the movement of troops through the region.
The Battle of Blackett Strait was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on 6 March 1943 in the Blackett Strait, between Kolombangara and Arundel Island in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a chance encounter between two Japanese destroyers that had been undertaking a resupply run to Vila and a U.S. Navy force of three light cruisers and three destroyers that had been tasked with bombarding the Japanese shore facilities around Vila. The two forces clashed as the Japanese destroyers were withdrawing through the Kula Gulf. In the short battle that followed the two Japanese destroyers were sunk, after which the U.S. ships completed their bombardment of Vila before returning to their base.
Hiroaki Abe was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Arashi(嵐, "Storm") was a Kagerō-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Hayashio was the fifth vessel to be commissioned in the 19-vessel Kagerō-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late-1930s under the Circle Three Supplementary Naval Expansion Program.
Kuroshio was the third vessel to be commissioned in the 19-vessel Kagerō-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late-1930s under the Circle Three Supplementary Naval Expansion Program.
Oyashio was the fourth vessel to be commissioned in the 19-vessel Kagerō-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1930s under the Circle Three Supplementary Naval Expansion Program.
Kagerō was the lead ship of the 19-vessel Kagerō-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late-1930s under the Circle Three Supplementary Naval Expansion Program.
Shigure was the second of ten Shiratsuyu-class destroyers, and the first to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle One Program. Along with the destroyer Yukikaze, she developed a reputation within the Imperial Japanese Navy for being "lucky" or "unsinkable", emerging undamaged from several battles and as the sole surviving Japanese warship from two. As the flagship of Captain Tameichi Hara's Destroyer Division 27 Shigure received a prominent place in the memoirs of the only Japanese destroyer captain to survive the entire Pacific War and write about his experiences. Shigure was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Blackfin in the Gulf of Siam on 24 January 1945.
Kawakaze was the ninth of ten Shiratsuyu-class destroyers, and the third to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle Two Program. Completed in April of 1937, Kawakaze saw minor roles in the battles of the Java Sea, Eastern Solomans, Santa Cruz, and Guadalcanal, usually not doing much of note, but torpedoed and sank the destroyer USS Blue in the aftermath of the Battle of Savo Island, and came to her own in the Battle of Tassafaronga where she torpedoed and sank the heavy cruiser USS Northampton. Kawakaze was sunk by a mass torpedo attack from US destroyers at the Battle of Vella Gulf.
Yūgumo(夕雲, "Evening Clouds") was the lead ship of her class of destroyer built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Teruo Akiyama was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Shunji Isaki was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Kaju Sugiura, was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Kiyoto Kagawa was a rear admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
The Battle of Vella Lavella was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on the night of 6 October 1943, near the island of Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands. It marked the end of a three-month fight to capture the central Solomon Islands, as part of the Solomon Islands campaign.
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