This is actually a term given by the allied forces fro the supply system which the Japanese used around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Since today is the anniversary of the opening of the Solomon’s campaign, August 7, 1942.

The ships used in the express would operate mostly at night. This was to combat the air superiority of the allies. By running at night the playing field was leveled and when allied surface ships were present there was still a better than average chance the missions would be completed.

The Japanese used ships attached the 8th fleet based in Rabaul. At times ships were dispatched from the Central Fleet in Truk. The warships had the advantage of being fast enough to make the run in a single night and avoid allied air cover from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. This however did also create another problem, warships were not designed as transports. The supplied were sealed in steel drums that would be pushed overboard and floated to shore. The drums were also tied together in strings. On a typical mission 1500 drums would be dumped into the sea, 300 would be recovered.
The express began running shortly after the Battle of Savo Island on 8-9 August 1942. It ran for over a year until the last largest mission was almost totally destroyed during the Battle of Cape St. George on November 26, 1943.

During one attack on the Tokyo Express future president of the US John Kennedy’s PT109 was sunk after being hit by a Japanese destroyer running in the night at 30 knots. The attack that night by 15 PT boats firing 60 torpedoes resulted in no hits on Japanese shipping.

General Patch signaled Admiral Halsey, "Tokyo Express no longer has terminus on Guadalcanal." The express was closed and the Allies could move up the Solomon chain.


Thank you Wikipedia for the image(s).