Batavia en route from Calcutta to Karachi. Yura and Yūgiri also sank the Dutch motorship Banjoewangi and the British steamer Taksang. At the end of April, Yura returned to Sasebo Naval Arsenal for a refit. Battle of Midway On 10 May 1942, Yura was made flagship of Rear Admiral Shōji Nishimura's 4th Destroyer Squadron. At the Battle of Midway, the squadron also included Captain Ranji Oe's 3rd Destroyer Division of 4 destroyers and Captain Yasuo Satō's 9th Destroyer Division of 3 destroyers. The 4th Destroyer Squadron was under the overall command of Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondō, but did not see combat at Midway. Solomon Islands Campaigns On 7 August 1942 the United States began "Operation Watchtower" to retake Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands. Yura was dispatched to Truk with Vice Admiral Kondō's IJN Second Fleet to begin reinforcement operations, and was thus at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942. Although the light carrier Ryūjō was sunk and was damaged, Yura emerged unscathed, and returned to Truk on 5 September 1942. For the remainder of September 1942, Yura patrolled between Truk, Guadalcanal and the Shortland Islands. On 25 September 1942, while at Shortland, she was attacked by two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the USAAF 11th Bomb Group based at Espiritu Santo and was slightly damaged. On 11 October 1942, the submarine claimed a torpedo hit forward of Yuras bridge that inflicted minor damage, but postwar analysis failed to confirm this attack and Yura was apparently not damaged this day. On 12 October 1942, Yura departed Shortland to escort the seaplane tender and Chitose returning from a transport run from Guadalcanal, and on 14 October 1942, Yura assisted in landing 1,100 troops on Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal. Another "Tokyo Express" troop transport run to Guadalcanal was made on 17 October 1942 to carry 2,100 troops, field artillery pieces and anti-tank guns. On 18 October 1942, en route back to Shortland, Yura was attacked by the submarine off Choiseul Island. Grampus fired four Mark 14 Torpedoes at Yura. One hit but did not explode, and Yura departed the area with a dent in her port side. On 24 October 1942, Yura departed Shortland to bombard Guadalcanal with the No. 2 Attack Unit consisting of Rear Admiral Tamotsu Takama's flagship , , and . At the north entrance to Indispensable Strait, off Guadalcanal, on 25 October 1942 (the day