To protect the approaching convoy from attack by CAF aircraft, Yamamoto sent two battleships from Truk to bombard Henderson Field. At 01:33 on 14 October, and , escorted by one light cruiser and nine destroyers, reached Guadalcanal and opened fire on Henderson Field from a distance of . Over the next one hour and 23 minutes, the two battleships fired 973 shells into the Lunga perimeter, most of which fell in and around the square area of the airfield. Many of the shells were fragmentation shells, specifically designed to destroy land targets. The bombardment heavily damaged both runways, burned almost all of the available aviation fuel, destroyed 48 of the CAF's 90 aircraft, and killed 41 men, including six CAF pilots. The battleship force immediately returned to Truk.