September 10, 1942 - Thursday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:  

Hornet and Wasp continued to patrol in the Coral Sea. 

Operation Watchtower 

Admiral Ghormley, in charge in the South Pacific, was suffering from battle fatigue and there was a consideration of making a change.  Nimitz would visit Ghormley in person.  Admiral Halsey was returning from the illness that had kept him out of the Battle of Midway, and would command the Enterprise when it was repaired and sent back to the battle area.  In the meantime, fear of losing another carrier kept Hornet and Wasp south of the Solomon Islands, but within striking distance.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was returning to Pearl Harbor, for repairs to Enterprise. Arrives Sep. 10.
  
• Saratoga was also returning to Pearl Harbor for repairs.  Arrives Sep. 21.
  
• Combined Task Force 61 remained on patrol in the Coral Sea near Guadalcanal.
  
• Task Force 17 (Hornet) -> TF 61
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) -> TF 61
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 249-250.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 164-182.
• The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 104-125.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 118-131.
  

 

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