A specialist in the heavy torpedoes that were carried by all the destroyers and cruisers of the IJN, Tanaka mainly commanded destroyer squadrons, with a cruiser or two attached, and he was the primary leader of the "Tokyo Express" reinforcement and resupply shipments during the long campaign for the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific Ocean.

The 2nd Destroyer Squadron departed from Truk on 16 August, escorting a convoy carrying the troops to counterattack the American Marines forces on Guadalcanal.

On 25 August, during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, Tanaka's ships were attacked by Marine Corps warplanes from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.

[9] Stationing his squadron at the IJN base in the Shortland Islands, over the next several months Tanaka organized reinforcement and resupply efforts to Japanese soldiers fighting in the battle for Guadalcanal.

Due to the threat of air attacks by the Marines, Tanaka ordered the use of his fast destroyers to deliver men and supplies to Guadalcanal at night.

This was because his destroyers could make the trip to Guadalcanal and back to the northern Solomons in a single night, reducing the vulnerability of ships to American air attacks.

That night, an American force of five cruisers and four destroyers, commanded by Carleton H. Wright, prepared to intercept Tanaka's ships in Ironbottom Sound near Guadalcanal.

The Japanese "Long Lance" torpedoes hit four of Wright's cruisers as Tanaka's ships retreated back up The Slot towards the Shortlands.