The FReeper Foxhole Remembers "Operation Watchtower" - Guadalcanal (8/1942-2/1943)

The tide began to turn against the Japanese when the "Cactus Air Force" started to operate. Now the Japanese no longer had control of the air and soon the skies would be clear of them altogether. Marine Captain John Smith became the first ace of the squadron and also won a Medal of Honor.

On the 18th of September the 7th Marines landed (4,200 strong) and Vandergrift became even more aggressive. Firefights were a daily occurrence now.The Japanese were still determined to kick the Americans off the island and were landing about a thousand men a night and the Marines kept on shooting them. The Japanese finally landed a full division on Guadalcanal under the command of General Masao Maruyama. Maruyama planned to hit the Americans in full force and put an end to them once and for all. He had his division split into 2 attacking forces. While one hit the Marines from the west the other would hit from the south. This latter force would hit the Marines on Bloody Ridge again. This battle would feature two of the Marine Corps legendary figures, Gunnery Sgt John Basilone and Lt.Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller The young Marines serving with them would soon become war hardened veterans.

The all out attack that the marines expected hit them on the night of October 24th. The brunt of the assault came against the south perimeter, Bloody Ridge again, in wave after wave of "Banzai" attacks. This position was held by Puller's 1st Battallion, 7th Marines. At almost 10 PM the Japanese came screaming out of the jungle and into heavy machine gun fire. GySgt. John Basilone, set up in the middle of the line, fired a constant stream of bullets from one gun and kept the other guns supplied with ammo.He moved about the positions directing fire and had to run to the rear on several occassions to bring up more ammo. Several times he had to have his men crawl out in front of their position and drag the bodies of the dead Japanese away. They would pile up so high as to block the field of fire. The attacks continued all night(7 in all) as did the rain,and when it ended there were 1,300 hundred Japanese lying dead in front of the marines,a large percentage of them killed by Basilone's machine gunners.

Dead Japanese on the Beach after the Battle of the Teneru

Basilone received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Sadly to say, he was killed at the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. He could have stayed out of the action. He was offered a commssion and could have stayed Stateside on a bond tour but refused and went back to his fellow Marines.

By November the 182nd U.S. Army Infantry Regiment was landed to bolster the Marines. The "Tokyo Express" was still landing troops each night and the outcome was still to be decided. The war on the sea was just as savage as that on the land. In fact more Americans would be killed in sea battles in this campaign than would be on the land. Shortly after midnight on November 13th a fierce surface battle erupted north of Guadalcanal. It was one of the largest sea battls of the war. The U.S.Navy took another beating, losing the Juneau, Atlanta, and 4 destroyers. The San Francisco was badly damaged.

Marines, wary of snipers, move into a formerly-held Japanese area.

With the loss of the Juneau, 5 brothers who served together aboard her were killed.

The Japanese also suffered losses. The battleship Hei was sunk. They also lost some 12,000 men from their 38th Division that were drowned when the U.S. sunk their troop transports on the 14th of November. Navy Lt.Cmdrs. Bruce McCandless and Herbert Schonland received the Medal of Honor for their actions in this sea battle. Another member of the "Cactus Air Force" Lt.Col Harold Bauer, who had received the medal for actions taken on October 16th was missing in this action and later declared KIA. Another Medal of Honor winner was Marine Captain Joe Foss, who, between October and January shot down 26 Japanese planes. He became Governor of South Dakota after the war.

Burned Out Tanks Which Tried to Cross the Matanikou

The Tokyo Express finally petered out and came to a halt on November 30th. The lst Marine Division was officially relieved and the Army took over on December 9th 1942. These men, relatively new to military service, and led mostly by officers that, except for the higher grades, were also new to the military, had fought face to face with a battle hardened, experienced enemy, and had beaten them.

The battle now was continued by the XIV Corps which consisted of the 2nd Marine Division and the Army 25th and Americal Divisions under the command of Army General Patch. The fighting was still vicious, but while American strength on and around the island was building, the Japanese strenght was on the wane. Attrition was wearing them down. Due to the American buildup of ships and planes the Japanese could only supply the island with men and supplies by submarines. On January 3rd 1943, Japanese headquarters conceded defeat and ordered the evacuation of their remaining troops from Guadalcanal and on the 7th the last of the defeated Japanese left the island via destroyers. They left 25,000 dead on the island and between 600 and 900 pilots in the sea. I don't have any figures on the number of sailors killed. 1,600 Americans were killed on the island and many more killed at sea. The rest of the Solomon Islands chain would take almost another year of fighting before being entirely in American hands.

This victory, coming after the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, showed the world that the United States was definitely recovered from the devastating damages done at Pearl Harbor and was on the way back.

Guadalcanal was, in many senses, the Thermopylae of the Pacific War. In its urgency, its desperation, its hair-thin margins between success and failure, and in its profound effects upon both the U.S. and the Japanese war efforts, it may well rank as one the decisive campaigns of history.

Beached and sunk on the Guadalcanal shore, November 1943. She had been sunk by U.S. aircraft on 15 November 1942, while attempting to deliver men and supplies to Japanese forces holding the northern part of the island.
Savo Island is in the distance.

Between August and November of 1942, the seemingly irresistible advance of the Japanese collided head-on with the scanty forces which the United States could throw in their path. By the end of November, the enemy had been halted on the ground, turned back at sea, and virtually driven from the air above Guadalcanal. After 7 August 1942, when U.S. Marines opened the assault, the Japanese never again advanced beyond the Pacific positions which they held at that time. Their succeeding movements throughout the war were always to the rear. This turn of the tide, largely accomplished by the forces of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, inflicted at least 27,500 casualties upon the enemy, and cost us 6,111, including 1,752 killed or missing in action.1 What is more, it gained for the United States a strategic initiative which was never relinquished.

In many respects, Guadalcanal was a victory in relative terms. That is to say, when the Fleet Marine Force was committed to action in the summer of 1942, no one could pretend that we were fully ready, afloat, ashore or in the air, to assume and sustain an offensive of this character. On the other hand, however, as a result of the battle of Midway and their position of extreme extension, the Japanese were less ready, either to meet our resolute thrust or to dislodge our forces, than we were to attempt such a venture. Because of the enemy's unbalanced position, August 1942 was--strategically--a time of now or never. Relatively, the United States was lessunready for the Guadalcanal campaign than were the Japanese.

Relatively speaking again, the autumn hemorrhage of naval strength between the Japanese and U.S. force told more heavily against the enemy than against ourselves. Both sides sustained serious losses, but, after the November sea-fights, it was the U.S. Navy which held the balance, slim as it was, and with that balance held the sea, and with that control of the sea, inevitably held ultimately victory.

Examined as a victory of seapower in its broadest sense (which includes all elements of a balanced fleet, by they air, surface, subsurface or ground), it is apparent that the outcome, and indeed the outset, of Guadalcanal, as a naval campaign, was profoundly influenced by the existence within the U.S. Naval Establishment of the Fleet Marine Force. Organized and trained--as no other U.S. force then was--to act as an amphibious expeditionary component within the Fleet, the FMF was ready, just as it had been a year before, in the occupation of Iceland. The fact that Admiral King had at his disposal a balanced ready force of the combined arms, including marine Corps Aviation, enabled the United States to embark without hesitation upon the operation, and at the unique moment. Without the Fleet Marine Force, Guadalcanal would never have taken place.

Dead Japanese After the Battle of the Matanikou

In considering the fighting on shore, especially as compared to later great battles such as Iwo Jima or Okinawa, it is easy to dismiss the Guadalcanal campaign as a protracted series of small-unit actions, bitterly fought, perhaps, but small. Unless we can weigh the consequences of those actions, this view is perhaps true. We have already seen, however, that the importance of Guadalcanal lay in its character as a turning-point, as the moment when the Japanese drive reversed itself. That, certainly, is how the most astute of the Japanese themselves evaluated it.

Prior to the latter part of 1942, Japan had counted on a relatively easy victory and a war effort which could readily be supported by what was, after all, their rather limited economy. In the Japanese thinking, even the battle of Midway was only a single defeat, a disastrous but temporary setback. Guadalcanal, however, removed the blindfold, and it was only from that time on that the Japanese--too late--set their economic and strategic sights for total war. For example, after the war, Mr. Hoshino Naoki, Chief Secretary of the Tojo Cabinet, stated that the calendar of the Japanese war economy should be dated "After Guadalcanal." As an official U.S. Government appraisal of the war (based on interrogation of high enemy officials) added,

The entire Guadalcanal campaign lasted from 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943, but the handwriting on the wall had become plainly visible in mid-November 1942. This date, 11 months after the Pearl Harbor attack, marked the end of the first phase of Japanese economic development in the Pacific war. With November 1942 began the really energetic effort. . . .

After the Battle of the Tenaru

At another point, the same source summarizes,

At midyear 1942 the Japanese could set the occupation of the southern regions, including Burma and much of New Guinea, against the one major defeat at Midway. In August the American forces secured a position on Guadalcanal and thereafter the picture changed rapidly. By October-November the decisive engagements for control of Guadalcanal were being fought. . . . By the end of November, total Japanese merchant shipping was reduced to 5,946,000 tons, or 430,000 tons below the December 1941 and July 1942 level.

Not only from an economic point, however, did the Japanese feel the immense impact of Guadalcanal. Fleet Admiral Nagano Osami, IJN, Supreme Naval Adviser to the Emperor and (from April 1941 to February 1944) Chief of Naval General Staff, was asked, after the war:

Admiral, what would you consider was the turning point from the offensive to the defensive for Japan, and what was that caused by?

After a moment, the Admiral replied,

I look upon the Guadalcanal and Tulagi operations as the turning point from offense to defense, and the cause of our setback there was our inability to increase our forces at the same speed as you did.

Japanese Knee Mortar

Captain Toshikazu Ohmae, IJN, one of the foremost of general staff planners of Japan, confirmed this view without hesitation. "After Guadalcanal, in the latter part of 1942, I felt we could not win," he said.

Lieutenant General Kawabe, former Deputy Chief of the Japanese Army General Staff, reached, from the Army's standpoint, virtually the same conclusion, which he expressed as follows:

As for the turning point (of the war), when the positive action ceased or even became negative, it was, I feel, at Guadalcanal.

Marines struggle up a jungle trail

Not only from those high officers just cited, but from many other such interrogations of the defeated Japanese, comes this same theme: The theme of Guadalcanal as the turning point. From the slim victories by small forces; from the discipline and ability of Marines to hold on despite hunger, fatigue and disease; from the resolution of U.S. airmen and seamen who were often outnumbered but never outfought; and from the fact that, at this ultimate single point of extension and conflict, the United States, straining its utmost, as against Japan straining its utmost, could exert a few more ounces of effort--from this aggregate came victory, not only on Guadalcanal, but ultimately in the whole Pacific.

Additional Sources:

www.waikato.ac.nz
www.ibiblio.org
www.history.navy.mil
www.microsoft.com
www.lib.utexas.edu
www.gnt.net
www.pacificghosts.com
www.1sted.dk
www.daveswarbirds.com

The Guadalcanal campaign was an air, sea and land battle that raged for six months to determine who would control an obscure hot, humid, disease-ridden mountainous jungle-clad tropical hell-hole. It claimed thousands of lives, mostly Japanese, who died mainly of fever and starvation.

The Guadalcanal Patch

The campaign also killed several thousand Americans, many of whom were also struck down by disease and the climate. Naval losses were considerable, each side losing 24 warships each as well as many hundreds of aircraft.

The Strategic Background

Guadalcanal is an island in the Solomons group directly to the east of New Guinea, and due north of the New Hebrides. At the outbreak of World War II, it was a colonial possession of Britain inhabited mainly by native Melanesians, with a handful of British colonial officials and other British nationals. Many of these took to the bush when the Japanese arrived and stayed there as "Coastwatchers" to observe and report Japanese movements and activities as part of the organisation.

Guadalcanal's only significance was its location. In 1942, the Japanese Empire was expanding across the Pacific and South-East Asian regions with dramatic speed, winning almost every battle it fought. Japan had set up a major air and naval base at Rabaul, on New Britain in the northern Solomons. Taking Guadalcanal would enable the Japanese to threaten supply lines to Australia and New Zealand, preventing them from acting as forward bases for future Allied advances.

The significance of Guadalcanal from an operational point of view was that it provided an opportunity to compare the performance of the US and the Japanese on the land, the sea, and in the air. The lessons learnt during the campaign would be put to good use later on in the war.

Origins of Operation "Watchtower"

The struggle to take Guadalcanal had its beginnings when the US Joint Chiefs of Staff began organising a counter-offensive to prevent further Japanese moves. Using available resources, they intended to capture Guadalcanal as the opening move in efforts to push the Japanese out of the Solomon Islands.

Weary Marines march back from the front lines after being relieved by the US Army

US air reconnaissance and Coastwatchers reports had by 6 July 1942 confirmed that, besides the seaplane base on Tulagi (one of the small islands just north of Guadalcanal), the Japanese had also begun building an airstrip on Guadalcanal itself. 3,100 Japanese were estimated to be on Guadalcanal and that by 15 August the airfield would be complete.

Speed was of the essence, to take the island before the airstrip became fully operational. A plan - codenamed "Operation Watchtower" - was improvised and put into effect. The operation was mounted in haste, which meant that preparations that would become hallmarks of later amphibious operations could not be carried out.

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Thursday Morning Everyone!

If you would like added or removed from our ping list let me know.

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

And when he gets to Heaven
To St. Peter he will tell:
"One more Marine reporting, Sir --
I've served my time in Hell."

Sgt. James A. Donahue
United States Marine Corps.
First Marine Division (H-2-1)

Morning EGC.

Today's classic warship, USS Salt Lake City (CA-25)

Pensacola class heavy cruiser
Displacement: 10,826 t.
Length: 585’6”
Beam: 65’3”
Draft: 17’5”
Speed: 32.7 k.
Complement: 612
Armament: 10 8”; 4 5”; 2 3-pdrs.; 6 21” torpedo tubes; 4 aircraft

USS SALT LAKE CITY (CL-25) was laid down on 9 June 1927 by the American Brown Boveri Electric Corp., a subsidiary of the New York Shipbuilding Co., at Camden, N.J.; launched on 23 January 1929; sponsored by Miss Helen Budge; and commissioned on 11 December 1929, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Capt. F. L. Oliver in command.

SALT LAKE CITY departed Philadelphia on 20 January 1930 for shake down trials off the Maine coast. She began her first extended cruise on 10 February; visited Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Culebra, Virgin Islands; Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, Brazil; then returned to Guantanamo Bay where, on 31 March, she joined Cruiser Division (CruDiv) 2 of the Scouting Force. With this division, she operated along the New England coast until 12 September, when she was reassigned to CruDiv 5. SALT LAKE CITY then operated in the New York, Cape Cod, and Chesapeake Bay areas through 1931. On 1 July of that year, she was reclassified as a heavy cruiser, CA-25.

Early in 1932, SALT LAKE CITY, with CHICAGO (CA-29) and LOUISVILLE (CA-28), steamed to the west coast for fleet maneuvers. They arrived at San Pedro, Calif., on 7 March; and, following the scheduled exercises, were reassigned to the Pacific Fleet. SALT LAKE CITY visited Pearl Harbor in January and February 1933; and, in September, she was attached to CruDiv 4. From October 1933 to January 1934, she underwent overhaul at the Puget Sound Navy Yard; then resumed duty with CruDiv 4. In May, she sailed for New York to participate in the Fleet Review and returned to San Pedro on 18 December.

Through 1935, SALT LAKE CITY ranged the west coast from San Diego to Seattle. In the first months of 1936, she conducted extensive gunnery exercises at San Clemente Island and then, on 27 April, departed San Pedro to participate in combined surface-subsurface operations at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone. SALT LAKE CITY returned to San Pedro on 15 June and resumed west coast operations until sailing for Hawaii on 25 April 1937. She returned to the west coast on 20 May.

Her next extended cruise began on 13 January 1939 when she departed for the Caribbean, via the Panama Canal. During the next three months, she visited Panama, Colombia, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad, Cuba, and Haiti; returning to San Pedro on 7 April. From 12 October until 25 June 1940, she cruised between Pearl Harbor, Wake, and Guam; utilizing the services of tender VESTAL (AR-4) while at Pearl Harbor. In August 1941, she visited Brisbane, Australia.

On 7 December, when the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor, she was returning from Wake Island, as an escort for carrier ENTERPRISE (CV-6). SALT LAKE CITY was 200 miles west of Pearl Harbor when she received word of the attack. The group immediately launched scouting planes in hopes of catching possible stragglers from the enemy force, but the search proved fruitless. The ships entered Pearl Harbor toward sundown on the eighth. After a tedious night refueling, they sortied before dawn to hunt submarines north of the islands. Submarines were encountered on the 10th and 11th. The first, I-70, was sunk by dive bombers from ENTERPRISE; the second, sighted ahead of the group on the surface, was engaged with gunfire by SALT LAKE CITY as the ships maneuvered to avoid torpedoes. Screening destroyers made numerous depth charge runs, but no kill was confirmed. Operations against a third contact brought similar results. The group returned to Pearl Harbor on the 15th to refuel.

SALT LAKE CITY was with Task Force 8, from 14 to 23 December, as that group covered Oahu and supported the task force strike that was planned to relieve beleaguered Wake. After Wake fell, SALT LAKE CITY's group moved to cover the reinforcement of Midway and then Samoa.

In February 1942, the ENTERPRISE task force carried out air strikes in the eastern Marshalls at Wotje, Maloelap, and Kwajalein to reduce enemy seaplane bases. While conducting shore bombardment during those strikes, SALT LAKE CITY came under air attack and assisted in downing two Japanese bombers. In March, she supported air strikes at Marcus Island. In April, she escorted the HORNET (CV-8) and ENTERPRISE group, TF 16, which launched Lt. Col. Doolittle's raids on Tokyo and other Japanese cities, and returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 April.

Orders awaited the ships to sail as soon as possible to join the YORKTOWN (CV-5) and LEXINGTON (CV-2) forces in the Coral Sea. Although the task force moved fast, they had only reached a point some 450 miles east of Tulagi by 8 May, the day of the Battle of the Coral Sea. What followed was essentially a retirement, and SALT LAKE CITY operated as cover with her group; on the 11th off the New Hebrides, and from the 12th to the 16th eastward from Efate and Santa Cruz. On 16 May, she was ordered back to Pearl Harbor and arrived there 10 days later.

The carrier groups now began intensive preparations to meet the expected Japanese thrust at Midway. During the battle, early in June, SALT LAKE CITY provided rear guard protection for the islands.

The cruiser was next assigned to screen for WASP (CV-7) in Group 3, Task Force "Nan" of the air support force which was preparing to invade the Solomon Islands. The assault landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi began on 7 August.

SALT LAKE CITY protected WASP as she shuttled planes for SARATOGA (CV-3) and ENTERPRISE, and provided CAP and scouting patrols during the landings. SALT LAKE CITY was with WASP, on 15 September, when that carrier was torpedoed by Japanese submarines and sunk. She assisted in rescue operations for survivors, and took on board others who had been picked up by destroyer LARDNER (DD-487).

The campaign in the Solomons developed into a grim struggle which was climaxed on the night of 11 and 12 October in the Battle of Cape Esperance. Task Force 64 was formed around cruisers SALT LAKE CITY, BOISE (CL-47), HELENA (CL-50), and SAN FRANCISCO (CA-38) to thwart the "Tokyo Express," a steady flow of Japanese vessels maintaining reinforcement and resupply to Guadalcanal. The force was not considered large enough to get involved with a major Japanese covering force; they were interested primarily in inflicting maximum damage to the transports. They arrived off Espiritu Santo on 7 October and, for two days, steamed near Guadalcanal and waited. Land-based search-plane reports came in that an enemy force was steaming down the "slot" and, that night, the Task Force moved to the vicinity of Savo Island to intercept it.

Search planes were ordered launched from the cruisers, but in the process of launching, SALT LAKE CITY's plane caught fire as flares ignited in the cockpit. The plane crashed close to the ship and the pilot managed to get free. He later found safety on a nearby island. The brilliant fire was seen in the darkness by the Japanese flag officers, who assumed that it was a signal flare from the landing force which they were sent to protect. The Japanese flagship answered with blinker light, and receiving no reply, continued to signal. The American force formed a battle line at right angles to the Japanese T-formation, and thus were able to enfilade the enemy ships. The American cruisers opened fire and continued scoring hits for a full seven minutes before the confused Japanese realized what was taking place. They had believed that, by error ,their own forces were taking them under fire. When the Japanese warships replied, their fire was too little and too late. The action was over in half an hour. One Japanese cruiser sank; another was reduced to rubble; a third was holed twice, and a destroyer sank. One destroyer of the five-ship force escaped damage. SALT LAKE CITY sustained three major hits during the action. BOISE was severely crippled, but managed to rejoin the group under her own power. The destroyer DUNCAN (DD-485) was left gutted off Savo. The ships formed up and steamed to Espiritu Santo.

SALT LAKE CITY spent the next four months at Pearl Harbor undergoing repairs and replenishing. Late in March 1943, she departed for the Aleutians and operated from Adak to prevent the Japanese from supporting their garrisons on Attu and Kiska. Operating in TF 8, SALT LAKE CITY was accompanied by RICHMOND (CL-9) and four destroyers when they made contact on 26 March with some Japanese transports and supporting vessels. Believing that easy pickings were in store, the American warships formed up and closed range. The Japanese force, however, consisted of two light cruisers and two heavy cruisers screened by four destroyers. Two transports departed the enemy force and headed for safety as the Japanese warships turned to engage. The SALT LAKE CITY group was outgunned and outnumbered, but they pressed on and made a course change in hopes of getting a shot at the transports before the warships could act.

There was also a possibility that the Japanese would split their force and the SALT LAKE CITY, with the old light cruiser RICHMOND, could tackle a portion of them on more equal terms. Simultaneously, the opposing cruisers opened fire at a range of nearly ten miles. The ensuing battle was a retiring action on the part of the Americans, for the Japanese foiled their attempt to get the auxiliaries. SALT LAKE CITY received most of the attention of the enemy gunners and soon received two hits, but she returned very accurate fire. Her rudder stops were carried away, and she was limited to 10 degree course changes. Another hit soon flooded forward compartments. Under cover of a thick smoke screen and aggressive torpedo attacks by the destroyers, the United States cruisers were able to make an evasive turn, which for a while allowed the range to open. SALT LAKE CITY began receiving hits again soon and then her boiler fires died one by one. Salt water had entered the fuel oil feed lines. There was now cause for grave concern; she lay dead in the water, and the Japanese ships were closing fast. Luckily she was hidden in the smoke, and the enemy was not aware of her plight.

The destroyers charged the Japanese cruisers and began to draw the fire away from SALT LAKE CITY. They were taking extreme punishment by the time they launched a spread of torpedoes. In the meantime, SALT LAKE CITY engineers were purging the fuel lines and firing the boilers. With fresh oil supplying the fires she was now building up steam and gaining headway. Suddenly, the Japanese began to withdraw, for they were fast exhausting their ammunition. They never suspected that the Americans were far lower than themselves in both ammunition and fuel.

Despite being outnumbered two to one, the American ships succeeded in their purpose. The Japanese attempt to reinforce their bases in the Aleutians had failed and they turned tail and headed home. SALT LAKE CITY later covered the American occupation of Attu and Kiska which ended the Aleutian Campaign. She departed Adak on 23 September and sailed, via San Francisco, to Pearl Harbor where she arrived on 14 October.

The Allied offensive strategy in the Pacific now focused on the Marshall Islands. A two column thrust through Micronesia and the Bismarcks would force the enemy to disperse his forces, deny him the opportunity for a flanking movement, and provide the Allies with the choice of where and when to strike next. To obtain adequate intelligence for planning the Marshalls operation, the Gilberts would have to be secured for use as a staging area and launch point for photographic missions. SALT LAKE CITY was assigned to Task Group 50.3 the Southern Carrier Group for the Gilbert Islands Campaign, Operation "Galvanic."

SALT LAKE CITY conducted rigorous gunnery training until 8 November when she sailed to join carriers ESSEX (CV-9), BUNKER HILL (CV-17), and INDEPENDENCE (CVL-22) which had carried out preliminary strikes on Wake, as a diversion on 5 and 6 October, and at Rabaul on 11 November. SALT LAKE CITY joined on the 13th off Funafuti, Ellice Islands, following the carriers' fueling rendezvous at Espiritu Santo. She then saw action on the 19th as she bombarded Betio at Tarawa, in the Gilberts. That day and the next, she fought off repeated torpedo plane attacks aimed for the flattops. Tarawa was secured by the 28th. This was the first Pacific amphibious operation to be vigorously opposed at the beach, and many lessons were learned here to be applied in the island campaigns to follow.

SALT LAKE CITY was attached to the Neutralization Group, TG 50.15, for the long awaited Marshalls Campaign. Between 29 January and 17 February 1944, she conducted shore bombardment at Wotje and Taroa islands which were bypassed and cut off from support as the major forces concentrated on Majuro, Eniwetok and Kwajalein. This leapfrog technique worked well and eliminated the needless casualties that would result in mopping up every Japanese-held island. On 30 March and 1 April, SALT LAKE CITY participated in raids on Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai in the western Caroline Islands Archipelago. The cruiser anchored at Majuro on 6 April and remained until 25 April when she sailed, unescorted, for Pearl Harbor.

SALT LAKE CITY arrived at Pearl Harbor on 30 April and sailed the next day for Mare Island. She arrived on 7 May and operated in the San Francisco Bay area until 1 July. She then proceeded to Adak, Alaska arriving on the 8th. In the Aleutians, her operations, including a scheduled bombardment at Paramushiro were curtailed by severe weather, and she returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 August.

SALT LAKE CITY sortied with PENSACOLA (CA-24) and MONTEREY (CVL-26) on 29 August to attack Wake Island. They shelled that island on 3 September, and then proceeded to Eniwetok to remain until the 24th. The cruisers then moved to Saipan for patrol duty after which, on 6 October, they proceeded to Marcus Island to create a diversion in connection with raids on Formosa. They shelled Marcus on 9 September and returned to Saipan.

In October, during the second Battle of the Philippine Sea, SALT LAKE CITY returned to screen and support duty with the carrier strike groups against Japanese bases and surface craft. Based at Ulithi, she supported the carriers between 15 and 26 October. From 8 November 1944 through 25 January 1945, she operated with CruDiv 5, TF 54, in bombardment against the Volcano Islands to neutralize airfields through which the Japanese staged bombing raids on the B-29's based at Saipan. These raids were coordinated with B-24 strikes. In February, she operated in the Gunfire and Covering Force, TF 54, during the final phases of securing Iwo Jima and the initial operations in the campaign to capture Okinawa.

SALT LAKE CITY provided call-fire at Iwo Jima until 13 March, and then concentrated her activities at Okinawa until 28 May when she put into Leyte for repairs and upkeep. She returned to Okinawa to cover minesweeping operations and general patrol in the East China Sea on 6 July. A month later, on 8 August, she sailed for the Aleutians via Saipan. While en route to Adak, she received word on 31 August to proceed to northern Honshu, Japan, to cover the occupation of Ominato Naval Base. The long war in the Pacific was now at a close.

Like many warships at the close of the war, SALT LAKE CITY was almost immediately slated for deactivation. She was originally ordered to report to Commander, Third Fleet, upon arrival on the west coast, in October, for deactivation. On 29 October, however, she was diverted to "Magic Carpet" duty to return veterans of the Pacific theater to the United States.

On 14 November, she was added to the list of warships to be used as test vessels for the Atomic Bomb Experiments and Evaluation Tests at Bikini Atoll, "Operation Crossroads." She was partially stripped and her crew reduced, prior to sailing to Pearl Harbor in March 1946.

SALT LAKE CITY was used in evaluating the effects on surface vessels during the initial test with an aerial burst on 1 July, and during the second test with a subsurface burst on the 25th. Surviving two atomic bomb blasts, she was decommissioned on 29 August and laid up to await ultimate disposal. She was sunk as a target hull on 25 May 1948, 130 miles off the coast of southern California and struck from the Navy list on 18 June 1948.

SALT LAKE CITY earned eleven battle stars for World War II service. She was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for her action during the Aleutian Campaign.

Big Guns in action!

The Japanese could have dealt with Guadalcanal OR with New Guinea, where excellent Australians and the American 32nd Division (Wisconsin farm boys, an activated Guard Division, and the first American Army Division in combat, I believe, and definitely my people!) but not BOTH AT ONCE. The Japanese figured New Guinea as the more important battle, then decided, no, Guadalcanal was more important, then they changed their minds again, and then again one last time. Played hell with logistics, timing, and morale. The Battle of the Bismark Sea put an end to this period, to my mind.(Bismark Sea is worth a Foxhole, an important turning point, and real tough on a lot of Japanese).

MacArthur was the fellow who persuaded the Joint Chiefs to invade Guadalcanal, because MacArthur could see that the Japanese were going to win in New Guinea otherwise, and Australia and New Zealand would be lost, and access to the Indian Ocean. MacArthur was one smart cookie. Maybe even as smart as he thought he was! And boy, was that smart!

On the other hand lots of "Old Breed" Marines had no use for MacArthur, since he had made the Marines pull the Army's fat out of the fire. But that "Old Breed" resentment was gone by Okinawa, an old Marine who was there told me, and the Army and the Corps were like brothers.

Those old 8" guns were very effective for shore bombardment. As I recall the projectiles were something like 270 pounds apiece. Also as I recall an old CA utterly destroyed a North Viet Namese Army armored regiment during the '72 invasion with 8" fire. Almost all the armor were not just destroyed but buried, all in maybe ten minutes.

Present!

Great job today, SAM, on Guadalcanal! Everyday I think about what efforts and sacrifices these young men had to make for their country, and I thank God for for their efforts and His love for us.

With no disrepect to todays's military, the "Greatest Generation" was the lever arm on the fulcrum of history, which prevented a terrible new Dark Ages to engulf the World. It is unbelievable what kind of fierce battles and carnage the US forces had to face in such a place.

Please remember to personally thank each and every WWII veteran when you meet one.

I also am pleased that our current generation military is so professional and dedicated to their mission and country. May God watch over them all where they serve around the globe.

Hope the day is going well for you, Snippy.

Folks, with the Labor Day Holiday approaching, I just want to remind everyone reading this that if you plan to do any partying this weekend, be sure to bring along someone to drive you home.

We want to see each and everyone of us back here in one piece on Tuesday when this weekend is over with.

Thanks:-D

Great thread SAM. Sometime in October 1942, the 551st Signal Aircraft Warning Batallion of the US Army Air Forces landed on Guadalcanal and set up operations near Henderson Field providing airborne early warning of enemy attacks.

The batallion's adjutant, a 21 year old Warrant Officer told of watching movies projected on a bedsheet during the rain. One night two soldiers in ponchos walked in just after the movie began and sat in front of him. They didn't move or speak but smelled awful. They got up and left right before the movie ended. It was only then that he realized the two had been Japanese soldiers in need of a little American entertainment.

True story told to me by my father who was the 21 year old adjutant.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on August 28:
1592 George Villiers duke of Buckingham, royal minister to James I
1749 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Frankfurt, social philosopher (Faust)
1774 Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton 1st American Catholic saint
1831 Lucy Ware Webb Hayes 1st lady
1833 Sir Edward Burne-Jones England, Pre-Raphaelite painter/designer
1878 George Hoyt Whipple US, astrophysicist (Nobel-1934)
1889 Charles Boyer France, actor (Algiers, Fanny, Barefoot in the Park)
1901 Paul Henry Lang Budapest, critic/musicologist (NY Herald Tribune)
1903 Bruno Bettelheim US, writer (Uses of Enchantment)
1905 Sam Levene actor (Demon, Gung Ho)
1906 Sir John Betjeman poet laureate of England (Mt Zion)
1908 Roger Tory Peterson NY, ornithologist/writer (How to Know Birds)
1913 Richard Tucker [Reuben Ticker],Brooklyn NY, Tenor (NY Met Opera)
1914 Glenn Osser Munising Mich, orch leader (Paul Whiteman Goodyear Revue)
1916 C Wright Mills sociologist, writer (The Power Elite)
1919 Ernest Martin [Markowitz], producer (Feuer & Martin-Chorus Line)
1921 Nancy Kulp Penn, actress (Beverly Hillbillies)
1924 Janet Frame NZ, novelist (Intensive Care, Owls Do Cry)
1924 Peggy Ryan Long Beach Calif, actress (Jenny-Hawaii Five-0)
1925 Marvin Davis Newark NJ, CEO (Davis Oil Company)
1929 Istv n Kert‚sz Budapest Hungary, conductor (Budapest Opera 1953-57)
1929 Rokie Roker Miami Fla, actress (Helen-Jeffersons)
1930 Ben Gazzara NYC, actor (Run for Your Life, QB VII)
1931 John Shirley-Quirk Liverpool England, baritone (Death in Venice)
1932 Andy Bathgate Canada, NY Ranger (1958 NHL MVP)
1939 Cassie Mackin newswoman (NBC TV)
1940 Richard Sanders actor (Les Nessman-WKRP, Berrengers, Spencer)
1940 William Cohen (Sen-R-Me)
1941 Paul Peter Plishka Old Forge Penn, bass (Bronx Botanical Gardens)
1943 David Soul Chicago, actor (Starsky & Hutch, Here Comes the Bride)
1943 Lou Pinella Yankee manager (1969 AL rookie of the year)
1946 Bob Beamon US, long jumper (Olympic-gold-1968)
1947 Alice Playton NYC, actress (Who Killed Mary Whats 'er Name)
1949 Hugh Cornwell rocker (The Stranglers-Dreamtime)
1950 Ron "Louisana Lightning" Guidry Yankee pitcher (Cy Young 1978)
1951 Wayne Osmond Ogden Utah, singer (Osmond Brothers, Donnie & Marie)
1957 Daniel Stern Stamford Ct, actor (City Slickers, Wonder Years)
1958 Scott Hamilton Toledo, figure skating champion (Olympic-gold-1984)
1960 Emma Samms [Samuels], London, actress (Colby's, General Hospital)
1960 Leroy Chiao Milwaukee Wisc, astronaut
1961 Kim Appleby rocker (Mel & Kim-Coming to America)
1963 Reyna Thompson NFL corner back (NY Giants)
1965 James Jagger son of Mick Jagger & Jerry Hall
1965 Julie Brown MTV VJ (approx)
1966 Jerry Fehily rocker (Hothouse Flowers-Don't Go)
1968 Scarlet Annette Morgan Pfafftown NC, Miss NC-America-1991
1969 Jason Priestley Vancouver BC, actor (Brandon-Beverly Hills 90210)
1969 Mary McCartney daughter of Beatle Paul McCartney
1971 Janet Evans US swimmer (Olympics-1992)

Deaths which occurred on August 28:
0030 John the Baptist is Beheaded by order of King Herod
0388 Magnus Maximus, Spanish West Roman Emperor (383-88), executed
1818 Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable trader, founder of Chicago, dies
1955 Emmett Till kidnapped & lynched at 14, in Money Mississippi
1961 Thomas Connolly 1st baseball umpire elected to hall of fame, dies
1964 Gracie Allen Mrs George Burns/comedian (Burns & Allen), dies at 62
1967 Paul Muni actor, dies at 71
1968 Nick Castle choreographer (Dinah Shore, Judy Garland), dies at 58
1983 Jan Clayton actress (Ellen Miller-Lassie), dies at 66
1985 Ruth Gordon actress, dies at 88 suffering a stroke in her sleep

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1962 SIMPSON ROBERT LEWIS PANAMA
1965 SCHIERMAN WESLEY D. ST. JOHN WA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 BABULA ROBERT L. INDIANA PA.
1966 BODENSCHATZ JOHN E. LOS ANGELES CA.
1966 BORTON ROBERT C. JR. BENTON HARBOR MI.
[FAMILY REJECTS ID REMAINS IDENTIFIED 29 MAR 95]
1966 CARTER DENNIS R. LOMITA CA.
1967 DEGNAN JERRY L.
1967 WALLACE CHARLES FRANKLIN ELLISVILLE MS.
1968 MILLER ROBERT CHARLES HAYWARD CA.
1968 PHILLIPS ELBERT AUSTIN HUNTSVILLE AL.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1609 Delaware Bay explored by Henry Hudson for the Netherlands
1655 New Amsterdam & Peter Stuyvesant bars Jews from military service
1776 Battle of Long Island
1789 Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus
1850 The opera "Lohengrin" is produced (Weimar)
1862 Belle Boyd released from Old Capital Prison in Washington, DC
1867 US occupies Midway Islands in the Pacific
1884 1st known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard SD
1884 Mickey Welsh strikes-out 1st 9 men he faces
1907 United Parcel Service begins service, in Seattle
1916 Italy declares war against Germany during WW I
1917 10 suffragists arrested as they picket the White House
1921 2nd Pan-African Congress meets (London, Brussels & Paris)
1922 Walker Cup golf tournament established
1922 WEAF in NYC airs 1st radio coml (Queensboro Realty-$100 for 10 mins)
1938 Northwestern U awards honorary degree to dummy Charlie McCarthy
1942 Gunther Hagg (Sweden) sets world record for 3,000m (8:01.2)
1949 Riot prevents Paul Robeson from singing near Peekskill NY
1951 Pirates snap NY Giants 16 game win streak
1955 1st NFL preseason sudden death football, Rams beats Giants 23-17
1957 Sen Thurmond begins 24-hr filibuster against civil rights bill
1960 White Sox Ted Kluzewski's 3-run HR is disallowed as ump called time
1962 Dr Geza DeKaplany tortures wife with acid
1962 Tony Sheridan & the Beat Brothers record "Ya Ya (Parts 1 + 2)"
1963 200,000 demonstrate for equal rights in Washington, DC
1963 Evergreen Point Floating Bridge connecting Seattle & Bellevue opens
1963 Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech" at Lincoln Memorial
1964 Race riot in Philadelphia
1968 Police & anti-war demonstrators clash at Chicago's Dem Natl Conven
1970 Phillies Larry Bowa steals home for 2nd time in 1970
1973 6.8 quake centered in Oaxaca State in Mexico kills 527
1974 Soyuz 15 returns to Earth
1976 NY Cosmos beat Seattle Sounders 2-1 for NASL cup
1977 NY Yankee Ron Guidry faces just 28 men & beats Texas Rangers 1-0
1977 NY Cosmos defeat Seattle Sounders, 2-1, at Civic Stadium in Portland Ore, winning their 2nd North American Soccer League championship
1978 Donald Vesco rode 21'-long Kawasaki motorcycle at 318.598 mph
1981 John Hinckley Jr pleads innocent in attempt to kill Pres Reagan
1981 Sebastian Coe of UK sets 1-mi record of 3:47.33 (since broken)
1981 National Centers for Disease Control announces high incidence of Pneumocystis & Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men
1983 Israeli PM Menachem Begin announces resignation
1983 Joseph Kreckman sets record of 2,215 clay pigeons shot in an hour
1986 US Navy officer Jerry A Whitworth sentenced to 365 years for spying
1988 70 killed in crash of 3 Italian AF fighters at air show in Germany
1990 Iraq declares Kuwait its 19th province
1991 5 die in a NYC subway's 3rd worst accident
1991 Red Tom Browning vs Expo Dennis Martinez both perfect game pitcher

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

England, Channel Is, Northern Ireland, Wales : Bank Holiday
( Monday )
Hong Kong : Festival of Hungry Ghosts
Jordon : Arab Renaissance Day
Laos :
Mauritius : Ganesh Chatturthi
Hong Kong : Liberation Day (1945) ( Monday )
[American Indians] Cherokee National Holiday

Religious Observances
Orth : Falling-Asleep (Assumption) of Mary (8/15 OS)
Luth, RC : Memorial of St Augustine of Hippo, bishop/doctor

Religious History
0430 Death of St. Augustine of Hippo, 76, the great early Latin Church Father and one of the outstanding theological figures of the ages. It was St. Augustine who wrote: 'Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee.'
1413 St. Andrew's University, in Scotland, was chartered by a papal decree from Gregory XII.
1645 In Poland, King Vladislav IV convened the Conference of Thorn. Through it he sought to bring reunion among the 26 Catholic, 28 Lutheran and 24 Calvinist theologians in attendance. Discussions continued through November, but no satisfying theological fusion was achieved.
1840 Birth of Ira D. Sankey, Dwight Moody's song evangelist. During their revival crusades (from 1870), Sankey penned many hymn tunes; among the most enduring today are HIDING IN THEE ("O Safe to the Rock That is Higher Than I") and SANKEY ("Faith is the Victory").
1953 Campus Crusade for Christ was incorporated in Los Angeles by founder Bill Bright. Today, CCC is an evangelical organization training Christian leaders in over 90 countries around the world.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

You Might Be A Redneck If...
"Your favorite hunting dog has a bigger tombstone than your grandfather."

Murphys Law of the day...
When the bosses talk about improving productivity, they are never talking about themselves.

Cliff Clavin says, it's a little known fact that...
Americans consume 42 tons of aspirin per day.

Good morning everyone!!

Thanks for the great post.

Well then, I owe that set of 8" guns something. I was in Vietnam in 1972.

Morning Glory Snip and Sam~

Outstanding reading folks. The Marines . . . damn their good.