US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

326 Amphibians Carrie To Conquer
the beach on either side, so that an alert Japanese sentry would not spot
the ships passing by and sound the alarm. This hazard dictated splitting the
channel with exact midway piloting of the formation. To accomplish this
task the staff navigator had to know exactly where the formation was by
not later than 1600 on the 6th.10
But, as noted in the previous chapter, the 51 navigators of the 51 ships
were all over the lot in their morning and noon position reports. It was
as though they had all agreed to disagree and worry the Admiral and
the staff navigator.
Perhaps the real reason was that the Coral Sea currents were tricky, the
weather was hazy, and the Solomons were beyond the range of the few
1942 surface radars in Task Force 62. The Staff Log for 6 August 1942 tells
the story:
Last [good] sight about 1400, August 5, 1942. . .
During forenoon obtained various sun lines of doubtful value. . .
[No] zigzagging in order not to complicate navigational data. . .
At 1730 Sel/ridge [DD-357, Lieutenant Commander Carroll D. Reynolds
after sighting Bellona Islandj rejoined disposition reporting position of
San Jaan [CL-54, Captain James E. Maher] at 1655 as Latitude 10–58 South,
Longitude 15941 East [115 miles due south of Russell Islands] .“
With this firm position from Selfvidge in hand, an exact approach
through the shoal bound waters ahead was practicable at last for the
5l-ship formation.
Later in the afternoon of 6 August, the carrier groups totaling 26 ships
which had been hovering around and protecting the amphibians, broke off
contact and disappeared to the southward. The amphibians were shifted
into a column of squadrons of transports so as to narrow the front of the
formation. Speed was changed to 12 knots and the final die cast.
The long day of 6 August and the one preceding it had had their bless-
ings not known or directly recognized at the time. The rain squalls and the
haze had been even heavier and thicker further north and closer to the
equator in the area toward which the Expeditionary Force was moving. Thus
Japanese Air reconnaissance flights from Rabaul and fyom the Tulagi-Gavutu
air bases were either washed out, or the pilot’s visibility was limited. The
‘0Ibid.
“ COMPHIBFORSOPAC Staff Log.