August 13, 1942 - Thursday - 80 years ago today

 Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor. Admiral Nimitz ordered Task Force 17 to prepare to depart for the South Pacific on August 17th.

Operation Watchtower  .

The marines had established themselves on Guadalcanal and Tulagi, but still needed to fully unload troops and provisions for maintaining their positions on the islands.  However, Admiral Fletcher moved to withdraw the three carriers, and their air cover, even earlier than the proposed time that had caused so much controversy in the pre-invasion meetings.  This left the landing beaches uncovered as troops and supplies came onboard.  Fletcher, however, was determined to preserve the carriers, as the 4 current active carriers would be all the Navy would have for at least the next year.

Battle of Savo Island

Savo Island is a nearly-round, small island that is north of the western side of Guadalcanal.  This gives two natural approaches toward Guadalcanal from the west, one north of Savo island and one south.  Two US Navy cruiser forces were patrolling on the north and south sides of the island on the evening of August 9th. 

The Japanese had thought the US carriers were still in the area and not withdrawing, and so determined to send a cruiser force at night to bombard the landing zones.  This force was not detected by the US cruiser force in time; being taken by surprise, the Allied cruisers suffered heavy losses.  Four heavy cruisers, 3 US and one Australian, were sunk, another cruiser was damaged, and a destroyer was also lost,  

The Navy now had little to cover the Marines in the Solomons.  Transports would continue to bring supplies but this would be dangerous work for now.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Hornet) was at Pearl Harbor.  Extensive training was being done during this time.
  
• Combined Task Force 61 supported the invasion of the Solomon Islands beginning on August 7th.
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) -> TF 61
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) -> TF 61
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) -> TF 61

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 239-241.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 30-33.
• Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 280-282.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 32-43.
  

 

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