Stille, Mark/Groult, Edouard A. USN PT Boat vs IJN Destroyer. Tokyo Express 1942-43

During the fighting in the Solomons, the IJN was forced to rely on destroyers to ferry men and supplies to its forward garrisons. These missions, carried out at night to evade American air defences, were first carried out during the fighting for Guadalcanal and were known as the Tokyo Express. As the USN was unable to stop the Tokyo Express by using its destroyers, it deployed PT boats off Guadalcanal from October 1942, sinking one destroyer and damaging another. As the fighting shifted to the central Solomons, the USN attempted to disrupt the build-up of Japanese forces on New Georgia Island and other Japanese bases by deploying cruisers and destroyers, but this approach resulted in heavy casualties. PT boat operations became increasingly important after the Japanese switched to barges to transport troops and supplies. Colour illustrations and maps, as well as carefully selected archive photographs, complement the vivid accounts of the battles and perceptive analysis in this account of the ships and men who fought on both sides in the decisive campaign in the Solomons at the height of the Second World War. Renowned expert Mark Stille explores the background to this epic engagement, tracing its course in 1942-43 and offering insights into the achievements of both sides in this decisive World War II campaign in the Pacific.