TOKYO EXPRESS

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shipstamps
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:12 pm

TOKYO EXPRESS

Post by shipstamps » Mon Dec 22, 2008 3:47 pm


The Solomon Island stamp issued 2005 of $5 depict a Japanese cruiser, which till so far not is identified during a voyage as given on the stamp in the “Tokyo Express nightly bombardments by Japanese warships”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Express gives the following:

The Tokyo Express was de name given by the 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 and/or supplies onto fast warships, such as destroyers or other warships, and using the warships speed capability to deliver the personnel and/or other 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 original name of the resupply mission 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 the phrase in place of “Cactus Express.” The Japanese called the night resupply mission “Rat Transportation.”

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 attacks. Thus, the faster warships were used at night to make deliveries when the threat of detection was much less and aerial attack minimal. The Tokyo Express began soon after the Battle of Savo Island in August 1942 and continued until late in the Solomon Island campaign where one of the largest Express runs was interdicted and almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Cape St George on 26 November 1943. Although the fast destroyers typically used were not configured for cargo handling, many supplies were simply pushed in the water inside sealed steel drums tied together with strings that floated ashore or were picked up by a barge. A typical night in December resulted in 1500 drums being rolled into the sea, but only 300 were recovered.

Solomon Islands 2005 $5 sg?, scott ?

Source: downloaded from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Express

aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: TOKYO EXPRESS

Post by aukepalmhof » Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:11 pm

Solomon Islands 1992 80c sg 746, scott 728i.
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