US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

CACTUS Bound 299
TurnerCollection
On tbe Iwidge of USS McCawley, Flagship of Commander Amphibious
Force Soatb Pacific. Left to right: Rear Admiral Turner; Lieutenant Colone~
Harold D, Harris, USMC, Intei[igence Oficer; and Lieutenant Colonei
Frank D, Weir, USMC, Assistant Operations Ojicer.
As May turned into June, and June into July, I became more and more
convinced that it was time for ‘our turn at bat.’ H
FIGHTING THE PROBLEM
On Sunday, 26 July 1942, Vice Admiral Fletcher held a conference of
senior officers on board the Expeditionary Force flagship, the Saratoga
(CV-3) near Koro Island about 100 miles south of Suva, Fiji Islands. It
was not only a pre-rehearsal conference for DOVETAIL but the vital con-
ference for WATCHTOWER. DOVETAIL was the code name assigned by
CINCPAC for the rehearsal of the WATCHTOWER Operation.35
It was a large conference. The log of destroyer Ha/i (DD-35o) that
picked up and delivered the passengers to the Saratoga indicates that 17
went to the conference from Commander Task Force 62’s flagship, the
McCawley. These included Turner, Vandegrift, Peyton, Linscott, Doyle,
“ Turner.
= CINCPAC to COMSOPAC, 070231 Jul. 1942.