The Americans had landed troops from the 3rd Marine Division around Torokina on Bougainville on 1 November 1943. Judging the landings a ruse, and that the real Allied objective was the airfields around Buka to the north of Bougainville, the Japanese delayed launching a concerted counterattack on Cape Torokina, and instead determined to reinforce Buka. As a result, 920 Japanese Army troops were embarked on the destroyers , and under the command of Captain Katsumori Yamashiro and were sent to reinforce the garrison, escorted by the destroyers and under the command of Captain Kiyoto Kagawa. The convoy was spotted by reconnaissance aircraft, and the United States Navy sent Captain Arleigh Burke's Destroyer Squadron 23, composed of Destroyer Division 45 (, , and ), under Burke's direct command, and Destroyer Division 46 ( and ), under Commander Bernard Austin to intercept it. Meanwhile, nine PT boats under Commander Henry Farrow moved into the Buka Passage to engage the Japanese if Burke's force was unable to make contact.