The Allies initiated a counterattack against the Japanese in a battle for Guadalcanal Island located at the southeast end of the Solomon Islands in the South Seas. It was clear that, if the Japanese had occupied Guadalcanal, an important point on the communication line between the United States and Australia, and completed air bases there, the Allies would have lost the command of the air from New Guinea to Australia and been brought into a critical situation.
The Japanese Navy was constructing Lunga Field (the Americans called it Henderson Field) in Guadalcanal about 1,000km southeast of Rabaul, the key Japanese base for invading Australia, and Buin Field in Bougainville lying halfway between them. For the air defense of Lunga Field, the Navy constructed an aquatic base at Tulagi of Florida Island near Lunga Field and in mid June of 1942 stationed there a part of the 4th Air Fleet equipped with twelve Type 2 Floatplane Fighters and some Type O Observation Seaplanes and Type O Three Seater Scout Seaplanes. (The 4th Air Fleet was the first unit to use the Type 2 Floatplane Fighter). On the 7th August when the airfields were nearly completed, the Americans attacked Guadalcanal and Tulagi of Florida and occupied them in two days. The twelve Type 2 Floatplane Fighters of the 4th Air Fleet which fought to repulse the enemy attack carried a No.3 bomb under each main wing. (The No.3 bomb is a time bomb containing small balls of yellow phosphor. If dropped from above an enemy plane formation, it will explode in the air and scatter the balls to shoot down a number of planes at a time. The weight is 30 kg).
They type 2 Floatplane Fighters dropped No.3 bombs against enemy planes flying in formation and used 20 mm and 7.7 mm machine guns against those flying separately or shatteringly, inflicting great losses on the Allies. The detachment of the 4th Air Fleet, however, lost all it men and was annihilated at the fighting of 7th August. The Japanese immediately sent army troops from Rabaul to Guadalcanal with a view to recapturing Guadalcanal. Navy planes escorted them and bombed airfields under enemy occupation. Because the distance from Rabaul to Guadalcanal was the very limit of the Zero Fighter's cruising range, however, the Zero Fighter could not make sufficient attack or escort. Thus the Navy constructed an aquatic base in Shortland Island lying 470 km southeast of Rabaul and organized the 11th Air Flotilla comprising planes of seven seaplane tenders including the Kamikawa Maru (19 Type 2 Floatplane Fighters, 54 Type O Observation Seaplanes and 13 type O Scout seaplanes).
Using the beautiful shoal of Shortland as a runway, these planes took off to attack Allied planes from airfields which were completed after being captured by the Americans and also to escort the army reinforcements moving to Guadalcanal in place of land based planes of Rabaul. From 4th September to 9th November of 1942, they repeated fierce air battles day after day with bombers and fighters including the Grumman F4F over Kolombangara and Shortland Islands. By 7th November, they encountered more than 150 enemy planes and confirmed 17 shot down. On 10th October, Master Sergeants Kawai and Maruyama, each piloting a Type 2 Floatplane Fighter, engaged with 20 Grumman F4F's and were killed, but they fought desperately and shot down four, one of which by body cars. This fact eloquently speaks the skill and morale of Floatplane Fighter pilots. The Type 2 Floatplane Fighter was also widely used in bombing of Guadalcanal, reconnaissance, etc. through the use of Lekata, Santa Isabel Island as an intermediate base.