Invasion of Guadalcanal

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Gathering for a Rehearsal

The Americans hastily assembled two fleets of ships for the Guadalcanal invasion from various bases in the continental United States, Hawaiian Islands, and other bases in the South Pacific. Both fleets—the Invasion Force and the Carrier Force—steamed for the Fiji Islands where they would rehearse the landings before actually launching the invasion. Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner commanded the Invasion Force, and Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher led the Carrier Force.

Invasion Force

The Invasion Force’s mission was to bring the First Marine Division to Guadalcanal and land them and the supplies they needed on the beaches of Guadalcanal and Tulagi. There were 48 ships in Turner’s fleet that included:

Ship Type	Ships
Heavy Cruisers	Australia, Canberra, Chicago, Vincennes, Quincy, Astoria
Light Cruisers	Hobart, San Juan
Destroyers	Selfridge, Patterson, Ralph Talbot, Mugford, Jarvis, Blue, Helm, Henley, Bagley, Hull, Dewey, Ellet, Wilson, Monssen, Buchanan
Minesweepers	Hopkins, Trever, Zane, Southard, Hovey
Transports	Zeilin, Crescent City, President Hayes, President Adams, President Jackson, Neville, Hunter Liggett, American Legion, Barnett, McCawley, George F. Elliott
Destroyer-Transports	Little, McKean, Gregory, Calhoun
Cargo Ships	Athena, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Formahaut, Libra

Carrier Force

While powerful in its own right, Turner’s fleet did not have enough ships to land the Marines successfully. The Americans needed their carriers to protect the landings. Those ships, commanded by Admiral Fletcher included:

Ship Type	Ships
Carriers	Saratoga, Enterprise, Wasp
Battleships	North Carolina
Heavy Cruisers	Minneapolis, New Orleans, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Portland
Light cruiser	Atlanta
Destroyers	Balch, Benham, Grayson, Gwin, Maury, Lang, Sterett, Aaron Ward, Stack, Laffey, Farenholt, Phelps, Farragut, Worden, MacDonough, Dale

Fijian Rendezvous

The Americans decided to conduct the rehearsal at the Fiji Islands near Suva Island. Fiji offered just what the Americans needed to hold the invasion’s prelude. The islands were out of range of Japanese aircraft. The beaches on the islands did not differ significantly from those on Guadalcanal and Tulagi. There was a fine, protected anchorage in the Koro Sea that could accommodate a large fleet.

The islands were part of the British protectorate in the South Pacific. Nearly all the ships gathered just south of Suva on July 26, 1942 at 2:00 p.m. It was truly an impressive sight. It was the largest armada since the Allies met off Gallipoli in 1915 during World War I. Thus far, the world had never seen such an impressive display of invasion power.

A Fateful Meeting

A meeting took place aboard Fletcher’s flagship Saratoga among all the senior commanders. Fletcher had stationed his carriers and supporting ships outside the confining waters near the Fijis so that he could launch aircraft if needed to maintain a combat air patrol (CAP). Turner, Vandegrift, and Rear Admiral John S. McCain, Commander of all air forces in the South Pacific, flew aboard the carrier. Rear Admiral Thomas Kinkaid was the last senior officer to arrive on the scene arrived from the Enterprise in his whaleboat. Vice Admiral Ghormley, for some strange, unknown reason, did not attend but sent Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan as his representative. Everyone in the room wondered why Ghormley, on the eve of his greatest operation, was not there.

Fletcher, the senior officer present, convened the meeting and wasted no time informing the rest that he planned withdrawing his carriers outside the range of needed to provide air support two days after the invasion began. The rest stood shocked and amazed. Fletcher said he did not want the Imperial Japanese Navy or Japanese aircraft find his ships near Guadalcanal. He commanded the only operational carrier groups in the Pacific and acted in the same way he did at Midway under Nimitz’s orders to not put his ships in peril without a good chance of inflicting severe damage on Japanese carrier forces.

A heated discussion arose between Fletcher and Turner where Turner said he needed four days to unload all the supplies the Marines required. Nevertheless, Fletcher insisted the protection of the American carriers was a higher priority. After all, Fletcher was the highest-ranking officer in the room. Callaghan, with the rank of Rear Admiral, could not overrule Fletcher. The only who could, Ghormley, was not there.

Fletcher, Turner, and Vandegrift continued debating among them until the meeting’s attention turned to the preparation for the rehearsal. As it turned out, the effort at the Fijis to anticipate what would happen at Guadalcanal was not up to everyone’s expectations. Calling the participating officers’ reviews of the rehearsal at the Fijis mixed was generous.

Heading for Guadalcanal

Both Fletcher’s and Turner’s forced steamed from their positions off the Fijis for Guadalcanal on the 1^st of August. All proceeded according to plan when both forces arrived at the assigned positions six days later on August 7. After a vigorous bombardment by Turner’s cruisers and destroyers and bombing by Fletcher’s carrier-based aircraft, the Marines went ashore on Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands in the greatest amphibious landings conducted by the U.S. Navy up to that point in time.