On 4 May, from a position south of Guadalcanal (), 60 aircraft from TF 17 launched three attacks against Shima's forces off Tulagi. "Yorktown"s aircraft sank the destroyer "Kikuzuki" () and three of the minesweepers, damaged four other ships, and destroyed four seaplanes. The Americans lost one dive bomber and two fighters. Even though the Japanese forces were harmed by the carrier strikes, they kept building the seaplane base. They began flying from Tulagi by 6 May.