Tokyo Express

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Tokyo Express


caption=Japanese troops load onto a warship in preparation for a "Tokyo Express" run sometime in 1942.
dates= August, 1942 – November, 1943
country= Empire of Japan
allegiance= Axis Powers of World War II
branch= Imperial Japanese Navy
type= Ad hoc military logistics organization
role= Supply and reinforcement to Japanese Army and Navy units located in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea
size= Varied
command_structure=
garrison= Rabaul, New Britain
Shortland Islands and Buin, Solomon Islands
garrison_label=
equipment=
equipment_label=
nickname=Cactus Express
"Rat" or "ant" transportation (Japanese names)
patron=
motto=
colors=
colors_label=
march=
mascot=
battles=Battle of Cape Esperance
Battle of Tassafaronga
Operation Ke
Battle of Blackett Strait
Battle of Kula Gulf
Battle of Kolombangara
Battle of Vella Gulf
Battle off Horaniu
Naval Battle of Vella Lavella
Battle of Cape St. George
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=
current_commander=
current_commander_label=
ceremonial_chief=
ceremonial_chief_label=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
colonel_of_the_regiment_label=
notable_commanders= Gunichi Mikawa
Raizo Tanaka
Shintarō Hashimoto [Evans 176]
Matsuji Ijuin
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=
identification_symbol_2=
identification_symbol_2_label=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 tactic involved loading personnel or supplies onto fast warships, such as destroyers or other warships, and using the warships' speed capability 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.

Name

The original name of the resupply missions was "Cactus Express" as coined by Allied forces on Guadalcanal, using the codename for the Guadalcanal operation. After the U.S. press began referring to it as the "Tokyo Express," apparently in order to preserve operational security for the codeword "Cactus," Allied forces also began to use that phrase in place of "Cactus Express." The Japanese called the night resupply missions nihongo|Rat Transportation|鼠輸送|nezumi yusō, because they took place at night.

Organization and history

Rat Transportation was necessary for Japanese forces due to Allied air superiority in the South Pacific that was established soon after the Allied landings on Guadalcanal and Henderson Field began operating as the "Cactus Air Force" in August, 1942. Delivery of troops and material by slow transport ships to Japanese forces on Guadalcanal and New Guinea soon proved too vulnerable to daytime air attack. Thus, Japanese Combined Fleet commander, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, authorized the use of faster warships at night to make the deliveries when the threat of detection was much less and aerial attack minimal. [Coombe, "Derailing the Tokyo Express", p. 33.]

The Tokyo Express began soon after the Battle of Savo Island in August, 1942 and continued until late in the Solomon Islands campaign when one of the last, large Express runs was interdicted and almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Cape St. George on November 26, 1943. Although the fast destroyers typically used were not configured for cargo handling, many supplies were simply pushed into the water, inside of sealed steel drums tied together with strings that floated ashore or were picked up by barge. A typical night in December resulted in 1500 drums being rolled into the sea, but only 300 were recovered. [ [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/USMC-I-VI-9.html History of USMC Operations in WWII, Vol I, Chapter 9: Final Period, 9 December 1942 to 9 February 1943] ]

Most of the warships used for Tokyo Express missions came from the 8th Fleet, based at Rabaul and Bougainville, although ships from Combined Fleet units based at Truk were often temporarily attached for use in Express missions. The warship formations assigned to Express missions were often formally designated as the Reinforcement Unit, but the size and composition of this unit varied from mission to mission. [Frank, p. 559.]

John F. Kennedy and PT-109

"see main article Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109"

John F. Kennedy's PT-109 was lost on a "poorly planned and uncoordinated" attack on the Tokyo Express. [National Geographic Search for the PT-109 DVD] 15 PT boats with 60 torpedoes did not register a single hit, let alone a sinking. The PT-109 was struck by a destroyer returning from its supply run, estimated to be traveling in excess of 30 knots with no running lights

References

Notes

Books

*cite book
last = Brown
first = David
authorlink =
year = 1990
title = Warship Losses of World War Two
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-55750-914-X
*cite book
last = Coombe
first = Jack D.
authorlink =
year = 1991
title = Derailing the Tokyo Express
publisher = Stackpole
location = Harrisburg, PA
id = ISBN 0-8117-3030-1
*cite book
last = Crenshaw
first = Russell Sydnor
authorlink =
year = 1998
chapter =
title = South Pacific Destroyer: The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-55750-136-X
*cite book
last = D'Albas
first = Andrieu
authorlink =
year = 1965
title = Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II
publisher = Devin-Adair Pub
location =
id = ISBN 0-8159-5302-X
*cite book
last = Dull
first = Paul S.
authorlink =
year = 1978
chapter =
title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-097-1
*cite book
last = Evans
first = David C.
authorlink =
year = 1986 (2nd Edition)
chapter = The Struggle for Guadalcanal
title = The Japanese Navy in World War II: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location = Annapolis, Maryland
id = ISBN 0-87021-316-4
*cite book
last = Frank
first = Richard
authorlink = Richard B. Frank
year = 1990
title = Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle
publisher = Random House
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-394-58875-4
*cite book
last = Griffith
first = Brig. Gen. Samuel B (USMC)
authorlink =
year = 1974
chapter = Part 96: Battle For the Solomons
title = History of the Second Wold War
publisher = BPC Publishing
location = Hicksville, NY, USA
id =
*cite book
last = Hara
first = Tameichi
authorlink = Tameichi Hara
coauthors =
year = 1961
chapter =
title = Japanese Destroyer Captain
publisher = Ballantine Books
location = New York & Toronto
id = ISBN 0-345-27894-1
*cite book
last = Kilpatrick
first = C. W.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1987
chapter =
title = Naval Night Battles of the Solomons
publisher = Exposition Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-682-40333-4
*cite book
last = Lord
first = Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1977 (Reissue 2006)
chapter =
title = Lonely Vigil; Coastwatchers of the Solomons
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-59114-466-3
*cite book
last = Lundstrom
first = John B.
coauthors =
year = 2005 (New edition)
chapter =
title = First Team And the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-59114-472-8
*cite book
last = McGee
first = William L.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2002
chapter =
title = The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII)
publisher = BMC Publications
location =
id = ISBN 0-9701678-7-3
*cite book
last = Miller
first = Thomas G.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1969
chapter =
title = Cactus Air Force
publisher = Admiral Nimitz Foundation
location =
id = ISBN 0-934841-17-9
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1958
chapter =
title = The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943", vol. 5 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Little, Brown and Company
location = Boston
id = ISBN 0-316-58305-7 Online views of selections of the book: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0785813063]
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1958
chapter =
title = Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier", vol. 6 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Castle Books
location =
id = 0785813071
*cite book
last = Potter
first = E. B.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2005
chapter =
title = Admiral Arleigh Burke
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-59114-692-5
*cite book
last = Roscoe
first = Theodore
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1953
chapter =
title = United States Destroyer Operations in World War Two
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = 0870217267
*cite book
last = Rottman
first = Gordon L.
authorlink =
coauthors = Dr. Duncan Anderson (consultant editor)
year = 2005
chapter =
title = Japanese Army in World War II: The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43
publisher = Osprey
location = Oxford and New York
id = ISBN 1-84176-870-7

Web

*cite web
last = Hough
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authorlink =
coauthors = Ludwig, Verle E., and Shaw, Henry I., Jr.
date =
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url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/index.html
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format =
work = History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II
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*cite web
last = Parshall
first = Jon
coauthors = Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt
year =
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm
title = Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)
work =
accessdate = 2006-06-14
*cite web
last = Shaw
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authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 1992
month =
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Guadalcanal/index.html
title = "First Offensive: The Marine Campaign For Guadalcanal"
format =
work = Marines in World War II Commemorative Series
pages =
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accessdate = 2006-07-25
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*cite web
last = Shaw
first = Henry I.
authorlink =
coauthors = Douglas T. Kane
date =
year = 1963
month =
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/II/index.html
title = Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul
format =
work = History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II
pages =
publisher =
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accessdate = 2006-10-18
accessyear =
*cite web
last = U.S. Army Center of Military History
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year =
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url = http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/macarthurv2.htm#contents
title = Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area, Volume II - Part I
format =
work = Reports of General MacArthur
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publisher =
language =
accessdate = 2006-12-08
accessyear =- Translation of the official record by the Japanese Demobilization Bureaux detailing the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy's participation in the Southwest Pacific area of the Pacific War.
*cite web
last = Zimmerman
first = John L.
authorlink =
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date =
year = 1949
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title = "The Guadalcanal Campaign"
format =
work = Marines in World War II Historical Monograph
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publisher =
language =
accessdate = 2006-07-04
accessyear =