Operation Watchtower: The Invasion of Guadalcanal
-Jason
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Thanks to History with the Szilagyis Patron Kris Hill for the topic suggestion.
The Battle for Guadalcanal took place between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943. This was the first major Allied offensive conducted in the Pacific Theater of Operations. American and Japanese army, air force, and naval units fought a bitter campaign to control the island. Most Americans had never heard of this Pacific Island until its name appeared in newspapers and newsreels discussing the battles raging on and around it.
The code name for the invasion of Guadalcanal was Operation Watchtower. Following the crushing US Navy victory at the Battle of Midway, fought between 4 and 7 June 1942, the Japanese were at an operational impasse. The loss of four heavy aircraft carriers, and more importantly their veteran aircrews, put the Japanese at a disadvantage; they could not easily replace any of these. Their overland attempt to take the Australian base of Port Moresby, located on the southern coast of New Guinea, was also stalled. The hopes of neutralizing Australia and New Zealand hinged on Japanese forces cutting off the sea lanes between these countries and the United States. If Port Moresby could not be taken, an alternative needed to be secured to help the Japanese control the southern Pacific.
The Solomon Islands Chain is located to the southeast of New Guinea and became a primary target for Japanese expansion in the early summer of 1942. Two islands suited the purposes of the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy: Guadalcanal and Tulagi. Guadalcanal was the larger island and was big enough to build multiple airfields. Tulagi was an excellent location for the construction of a seaplane base. Once these bases were finished, fighter, bomber, and seaplanes would be able to attack Allied shipping going to Australia. The threat of these facilities being completed prompted the Americans to seize the islands.
Australian Coast Watchers were volunteers who lived in the Solomon Islands, as well as other locations, and provided the Allies with the first intelligence regarding the Japanese landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi. American heavy bombers conducted reconnaissance flights and confirmed the construction of the facilities. Allied leaders conferred to determine what steps should be taken before the Japanese airfields on Guadalcanal were completed.
The American Armed Services were at odds with each other over what to do in this situation because of the strategic plans that had already been determined. The Allied forces had decided concentrate on a Europe-First approach to military operations, because they felt that Germany was the most powerful Axis member, and therefore the primary target for elimination. And so, most Allied war materials and soldiers were directed towards England to work towards the liberation of Western Europe. The Pacific Theater of Operations was considered a secondary priority: Allied forces were to stay on the defensive and blunt the Japanese advances. The American victories at the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway dramatically shifted the balance of power in the Allies’ favor.
The US Army argued that Europe-First policy should still stay in effect. In their view, the Hawaiian, Samoan, New Hebrides Islands, Australia, and New Zealand were defended and, at that time, the only activity the Army was interested in was the seizure of Japanese bases in New Guinea. Warships, planes, soldiers, transport ships, and all other war materials needed to be sent to England to build up a surplus for the upcoming invasion of France. They also argued that Solomon Islands were also in their area of operational control, thus any invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi would be commanded by American General Douglas McArthur.
The United States Navy and Marine Corps had serious reservations about McArthur, an Army General and not versed in amphibious operations, having command. The Navy was still recovering from the severe damage caused by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Few large aircraft carriers, these were the most valuable ships in the Pacific, were available to the US Navy. American shipyards were working on the first round of naval construction that would spawn hundreds of new warships, but their completion and deployment was still months away. The commanders of those precious carriers, fearing their loss, demanded that the upcoming operation fall under Naval command. The US Marine Corps agreed, believing that their way of conducting amphibious landings and the subsequent land campaigns would not be effective under McArthur.
The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed to an invasion of the Solomons so long as it did not drain too many Allied resources away from Europe. Despite arguments over command, the resources for the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi were gathered. The fight for command became even more heated once Admiral Earnest J. King, head of the US Navy, bluntly refused to give McArthur overall command. This forced US General George C. Marshall, head of the US Army and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave into King’s demands and gave the Navy control of the operation. With the command structure determined, it was decided the US Navy, along with several Australian warships, would escort the US 1st Marine Division to the islands and cover their landing. Once the American Marines were onshore, they were to seize the airfields and then be reinforced with both aircraft and further soldiers.
Marine General Alexander Vandergrift commanded the 1st Marine Division in the attacks on Guadalcanal and Tulagi. US Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher was in command of the expeditionary forces, while Rear Admiral Richmond Turner commanded the amphibious forces. 75 Allied warships and transports assembled near Fiji around 26 July 1942 to conduct the landings. This was the first major amphibious operation that was conducted by Allied forces in the Pacific, meaning that mistakes were made: the biggest being supplies and equipment being loaded in the incorrect order on transports. The 16,000-man landing force had been allocated only ten days’ worth of ammunition and 60 days’ worth of other supplies: these too were woefully inadequate. It had been planned that further Allied convoys would be able to continue to resupply the garrison once the islands were seized. It did not take long for the US Marines to realize how tenuous their future situation was; they unofficially renamed the invasion: Operation Shoestring.
The Allied forces reached Guadalcanal on the morning of 7 August 1942 and began the landings at both islands. American and Australian warships bombarded the Japanese installations to cover the US Marines hitting the beaches. The Japanese Naval garrison, and their enslaved Korean laborers, were taken completely by surprise and retreated into the nearby jungle. The Americans faced no opposition and quickly seized the incomplete airfield, as well as all the Japanese building materials. The only American casualty reported that first morning was a Marine who cut himself trying to open a coconut with a machete. The US transports started to unload the supplies that the Marines needed to garrison the islands, but this process was not completed. As the day wore on, a false sense of security descended on the Allies about the ease of the operations. This lapse of judgement would have dire consequences that first night for the American and Australian warships during the Battle of Savo Island.