Status - John Skinner - USS Fullam:
John was on duty at his new destroyer, the USS Fullam, at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.
Japanese Evacuation of Guadalcanal
On February 9th, US Army troops moving to the west on Guadalcanal, executing a pincer movement, found, as the tips of the pincer came together, that the Japanese army had fully evacuated the island. This was certainly welcome news, but there was still much more fighting to do, in moving northwest up the Solomons chain, island by island, toward the Bismarck Islands and Rabaul.
The US Navy had lost carriers Wasp and Hornet, 9 cruisers, and 14 destroyers (including O'Brien) during the fight for Guadalcanal. Only carriers Saratoga and Enterprise were now available, and new fleet carriers would not arrive until late in 1943.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 306-308.
- The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 338-373.
NEXT POST: FEBRUARY 17TH
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