 During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 27 August , Mutsu , assigned to the Support Force , fired four shells at enemy reconnaissance aircraft during what was her first , and only , action of the war . On 7 January 1943 , Mutsu returned to Japan together with the carrier Zuikaku , the heavy cruiser Suzuya and four destroyers . The ship prepared to sortie on 13 April to reinforce the Japanese garrisons in the Aleutian Islands in response to the Battle of the Komandorski Islands , but the operation was cancelled the next day and Mutsu resumed training . 
