Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:
O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at Pearl Harbor.Operation Watchtower .
On July 26th, the three carrier task forces, along with an allied cruiser task force escorting troop transports, met south of Fiji. All the task forces were now merged into a new Task Force 61 for the duration of this initial invasion of the Solomon Islands.
Naval officers met the next day to see the full plan for the invasion operation; some had not yet seen any of the plan, and most had not seen the full plan. Landings and disembarking of troops was expected to last 2 days, and cargo ships would remain for five days to fully unload. As the islands were almost all tropical jungle, initial supplies had to be brough with the invasion force. Controversy erupted when Admiral Fletcher, commanding the carriers, would not agree to cover the cargo ships unloading after the first two days. He felt that the carriers would be vulnerable to attack due to staying in a confined area.
Invasion practice started on the 29th and continued for the next few days on Koro Island near Fiji before Task Force 61 re-formed.
U. S. Navy Task Forces:
- Task Force 17 (Hornet)
was at Pearl Harbor. Extensive training was being done during this time.
- Task Force
16 (Enterprise) joined with other task forces at the meeting point and then participated in practice landings for the upcoming invasion.
- Task Force 11 (Saratoga) joined with other task forces at the meeting point and then participated in practice landings for the upcoming invasion.
- Task Force 18 (Wasp) joined with other task forces at the meeting point and then participated in practice landings for the upcoming invasion.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 235-236.
- The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, John B. Lundstrom, pp 27-30.
- Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 278-280.
- Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 32-36.
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