part on the strike against Tjilatjap. On 6 March, Tone rescued a British seaman who had been adrift since his ship had been sunk off Java on 27 February. Indian Ocean Raids On 5 April 1942, Tone was part of a major task force which launched 315 aircraft against British-held Colombo, Ceylon. The old destroyer , armed merchant cruiser and 27 aircraft were destroyed and over 500 killed in the harbor, while cruisers and were destroyed at sea. Tone and the rest of the task force returned to Japan in mid-April 1942, when it was almost immediately assigned to the unsuccessful pursuit of Admiral Halsey's Task Force 16.2 with the aircraft carrier after the Doolittle Raid. Battle of Midway At the crucial Battle of Midway, Tone and CruDiv 8 was part of Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's Carrier Striking Force. On 4 June, Tone and Chikuma each launched two "Jakes" to search out for American carriers. Tones floatplane discovered American ships, but owing to internal bureaucracy in their command structure its report was not immediately delivered to Admiral Nagumo. As a result, he had already ordered his aircraft to prepare for another attack on Midway before he received the report. Tone was attacked by enemy carrier aircraft during the battle, but sustained no damage, except the loss of a "Dave" with its crew. Chikuma and Tone were then detached to support Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya's Aleutian invasion force. However, the anticipated American counter-attack failed to materialize. CruDiv 8 cruised northern waters uneventfully. Rear Admiral Chuichi Hara assumed command of CruDiv 8 from 14 July 1942. With the US invasion of Guadalcanal, Chikuma and Tone were ordered south again on 16 August with the aircraft carriers , , , , and . They were joined by the battleships , , seaplane tender , and cruisers , , , . Battle of the Eastern Solomons On 24 August 1942, CruDiv 7's and arrived to join the reinforcement fleet for Guadalcanal. The following morning, a Consolidated PBY Catalina spotted Ryūjō, which Douglas SBD Dauntlesses and Grumman TBF Avengers from Enterprise unsuccessfully attacked. Seven floatplanes from Tone and Chikuma were launched to locate the American fleet. One of Chikumas planes spotted the Americans, but was shot down before its report could be relayed. However, a second floatplane was more successful, and the Japanese launched an attack against Enterprise, hitting it with three bombs which set