US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

308 Amphibians Came To Conquer
g. ‘There is plenty more to talk about when we meet.’
It should be noted that Vice Admiral Fletcher apparently did not agree
with Rear Admiral Turner in three important respects:
said:
1.
2.
3.
No general conference was held after the rehearsal by Commander
Expeditionary Force, CTF 61, a sine qzia non for amphibious opera-
tions. Since Commander Expeditionary Force did not call such a
meeting, a conference of most of the group and unit commanders
of Task Force 62 was held in the H.M.S. Australia on 31 July.5S
Air protection was not provided during the “three to six days” of
the unloading period.
Vice Admiral Fletcher did not direct Rear Admiral Crutchley to
shift his Flag to the Chicago, nor regrettably did Rear Admiral
Turner, who could have done so, but probably encountered reluc-
tance by that oficer to shift to an American ship.
In his letter to Rear Admiral Norman Scott, Rear Admiral Turner had
I foresee considerable difficulty, particularly in the rehearsal, in keeping
the transports in the same locality all day long while loading and unloading.
The water is too deep to anchor, of course, and I hope we don’t have a lot of
collisions. However, there will be more important difficulties in the combat
operations, so we can’t worry about these.
The rehearsal, from 28 through 31 July, was less than full blown. The
original plan had been to conduct landing exercises on 28 July, re-embark
the Marines on 29 July, and then conduct further landing exercises on the
30th, with accompanying air bombings and ship gunfire support fire, and
again re-embark the troops on the 31st.
Despite the fact that the sea was smooth, COMPHIBFORSOPAC Staff
Log for 28 July 1942 reads as follows:
0900. Began rehearsal exercises on Koro Island. Beach conditions very
inadequate and hazardous for boats. Landing conducted on beaches Blue and
Green in accordance with plan, but incomplete on beach Red.
The COMPHIBFORSOPAC order had said:
Care will be taken to avoid damage to boats, as they cannot be replaced
before being required for combat.
This explains why COMPHIBFORSOPACS War Diary records that:
mPHIBSOPAC (TF 62), Rehearsal Operation Plan AR-42, 22 Jul. 1942. Paragraph X (6)
directed his subordinates to hold conferences on 1 August 1942 prior to issuing their final
operation plans.