August 9, 1942 - Sunday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.

Operation Watchtower  .

The US Navy forces approached the southern Solomon Islands and landed forces there on August 7th.  Landings on Guadalcanal went well, and the Marines captured the airfield and set up a perimeter.  On Tulagi there was more difficulty, and Tulagi and 2 nearby islands were captured after some intense fighting over the next two days.  Land-based Japanese air forces attacked several times in the first days, but with little success.

Guadalcanal did not seem to be a critical strategic point, but  it drew in large forces on both sides for many months, and so had an outsized effect on how the war progressed.

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. 237-238.
  
•  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.
  

 

NEXT POST: AUGUST 13TH

 

 

The invasion force (now Task Force 61) moved toward the Solomons from the 1st to the 5th, and on August 5th, were about 400 miles from Guadalcanal and Tulagi.  The next day the task force would come within the normal search range of Japanese land-based planes.  

August 5, 1942 - Wednesday - 80 years ago today

 Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.

Operation Watchtower  .

The invasion force (now Task Force 61) moved toward the Solomons from the 1st to the 5th, and on August 5th, were about 400 miles from Guadalcanal and Tulagi.  The next day the task force would come within the normal search range of Japanese land-based planes. 

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 was approaching the Solomon Islands to carry out the planned invasion 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. 237-238.
  
•  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.
  

 

NEXT POST: AUGUST 9TH

August 1, 1942 - Saturday - 80 years ago today

 Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.

Operation Watchtower  .

 Invasion practice continues at Koro Island.  Useful practice is conducted for all operations except landings, as the island's coral reef prevents almost all landing boats from getting ashore.  Commanders are continuing to plan the details of the invasion operations.  Admiral Ghormley, in overall command, reaches the area on August 1st and enters his flagship, USS Argonne.

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 was at Koro Island near Fiji, practicing for the invasion of the southern Solomon Islands.
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) -> TF 61
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) -> TF 61
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) -> TF 61

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 236-237.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 27-30.
• 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. 32-39.
  

 

NEXT POST: AUGUST 5TH

 

 

July 28, 1942 - Tuesday - 80 years ago today

 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.
  

 

NEXT POST: AUGUST 1ST