 Tulagi and Guadalcanal were four hours flying time from Rabaul, the nearest large Japanese base.Three months later, on 7 August 1942, 11,000 United States Marines landed on Guadalcanal, and 3,000 U.S. Marines landed on Tulagi and nearby islands.The Japanese troops on Tulagi and nearby islands were outnumbered and killed almost to the last man in the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo and the U.S. Marines on Guadalcanal captured an airfield under construction by the Japanese.