page_title: Operation I-Go
section_title: Air attacks
hierarchical_section_title: Operation I-Go / Air attacks
context_page_description: Operation I-Go was an aerial counter-offensive launched by Imperial Japanese forces against Allied forces during the Solomon Islands and New Guinea Campaigns in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Taking place from 1–16 April 1943, during the operation, Japanese aircraft – primarily from Imperial Japanese Navy units under the command of Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto and Jinichi Kusaka – attacked Allied ships, aircraft, and land installations in the southeast Solomon Islands and New Guinea. The goal of the operation was to halt the Allied offensives in New Guinea and the Solomons and to give Japan time to prepare a new set of defenses in response to recent defeats to the Allies in the Battle of Guadalcanal and in New Guinea at Buna–Gona, Wau, and the Bismarck Sea.
  The operation consisted of several massed aerial attacks by Japanese bomber and fighter aircraft – based at Rabaul, Bougainville, and the Shortland Islands – against Allied targets on and around Guadalcanal and the Russell Islands in the Solomons and Port Moresby, Oro Bay, and Milne Bay in New Guinea.
context_section_description: Allied reconnaissance aircraft detected increased Japanese air activity around the upper Solomons on 1 April 1943. That day, as a preliminary part of the operation a fighter sweep of 58 Mitsubishi A6M3 Zeros was dispatched to draw out Allied fighters defending the area and destroy them ahead of the main aerial assault. The Japanese fighter sweep was met by 41 Allied fighters, consisting of a variety of types including Wildcats, Corsairs and Lightnings from Rear Admiral Charles P. Mason's AirSols command. The Japanese aircraft were intercepted over the Russell Islands while they were en route to Tulagi and Guadalcanal. The aerial battle that followed claimed 18 Zeros at the cost of six Allied aircraft. In the days that followed the carrier-based aircraft began arriving at Rabaul from Truk in preparation to begin the air strikes of the offensive. Some elements were delayed by low cloud, and a few of the Japanese aircraft did not arrive at Ballale until early on 7 April.
  The first attack of the Japanese offensive was launched on 7 April against Guadalcanal. This was the largest raid of the operation, and consisted of 67 Aichi D3A2 "Val" dive bombers escorted by 110 Zeros and was met by 76 Allied fighters. The raiding aircraft were organized into six elements: two fighter sweeps preceded four waves of dive bombers. The first fighter sweep, consisting of aircraft from the 253rd Kokutai, departed Ballale around midday under the command of Saburo Saito. It was followed by the second sweep consisting of aircraft from the 204th Kokutai. The four waves of dive bombers were drawn from the carriers Zuikaku, Suiho, Hiyo and Junyo. Twenty-one Japanese aircraft were lost; the Allies lost seven. The raid resulted in the sinking of the destroyer USS Aaron Ward, the corvette HMNZS Moa, and the tanker USS Kanawha. 
  Nevertheless, the Allies were able to evacuate their bombers from Henderson Field so that they escaped damage. The main Allied air assets scrambled came from the US Thirteenth Air Force and included a variety of aircraft including Wildcats, Lightnings and Airacobras. Australian aircraft from No. 77 Squadron RAAF, based out of Gurney Field at Milne Bay, took part in the Allied response. Flying Kittyhawk fighters, one of their pilots, Flying Officer John Hodgkinson, was responsible for downing one of the Japanese fighters. One US Marine Corps pilot, Lieutenant James E. Swett, was later awarded the Medal of Honor after shooting down five Japanese aircraft.
  A three-day lull followed before the Japanese launched their second strike. On 11 April, a force of 22 "Vals" and 72 Zeros attacked shipping at Oro Bay, near Buna. A total of 50 Allied fighters scrambled from Dobodura and intercepted the force, shooting down six Japanese aircraft without loss. The Allied squadrons committed to the fight included the 7th, 8th and 9th Fighter Squadrons flying Lightnings and Warhawks. These aircraft were controlled by an Allied radar station, which attempted to guide the defending fighters into position, but initially misdirected some of them to Cape Sudest. Anti-aircraft fire from ships in the bay also contributed to the defense and ultimately only limited damage was inflicted on one Allied merchantman.
  An attack on Port Moresby took place on 12 April. A force of 131 Zeros of the 253rd Kōkūtai and air groups of the carriers Zuikaku and Zuihō and 43 Mitsubishi G4M2 "Betty" medium bombers of the 751st and 705th Kōkūtai was assigned to the airstrike. Their targets were the Allied aircraft dispersed at the five airfields located around the town and the transports in the harbor. The raid was detected by the U.S. radar station at Paga Hill 38 minutes prior to their arrival, allowing the Allies time to scramble their fighters. Opposed by 44 Allied fighters, mainly from the US 39th, 40th and 41st Fighter Squadrons, the attack resulted in two Allied and five Japanese aircraft lost. The Japanese bombers were able to penetrate the Allied fighter screen which was outnumbered by their Japanese rivals, and they were able damage a few small craft in the harbor. T
caption: Japanese aircraft at Rabaul
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