Marsh Is.#324 Battle of Eastern Solomon - 1992 Imperforate Mint Issue
August 24, 1942 Since Pearl Harbor, Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto yearned to destroy the U.S. carrier fleet. He planned a complex operation which, if successful, would cripple the U.S. Navy and allow the Japanese to reclaim the island of Guadalcanal. Two separate attack groups, a strike force anchored by three aircraft carriers and a transport landing force, sailed toward Guadalcanal. On August 24, radar provided the U.S. the location of the Japanese aircraft carriers when they launched their planes for the initial assault on Henderson Field. Warplanes from the carrier Enterprise counterattacked and sunk the Japanese carrier Ryujo. The Enterprise was soon under attack herself and sustained serious bomb damage which made her vulnerable. By sunset, the U.S. had destroyed 70 enemy aircraft and a Japanese aircraft carrier. While it wasn’t a decisive victory for the U.S., the Japanese subsequently changed their tactics by reinforcing troops on Guadalcanal at night via “the Slot.”
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