US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

364 Amphibians Carrie To Conquer
McC~wley had only two transmitters and five radio receivers, and could
not spare one of the receivers to guard the Australian BELLS circuit~S The
message, not in the air until 1843, was decoded and available on the Flag
Bridge of the AicCawley about 1900, and not about 1800 as the War Diary
entry would indicate.l” Rear Admiral Crutchley in the Australia received
the message via the Australian BELLS broadcast circuit at 1837, since the
Australian ship guarded this circuit in lieu of the American FOX schedule.
He did not pass it to Rear Admiral Turner in the McCawley. This factual
difference of one hour between the times many have assumed the message
was available, and the time it was actually available to Rear Admiral Turner
is important.
The sighting of the Japanese task force was some eight and a half hours
old. The Japanese ships were 40 miles east of the town of Kieta situated on
the east central shore of the island of Bougainvillea as shown in the map on
page 363. They were not “In the Slot” but well east of it. Their reported
course was not the course “Down the Slot,” nor a course that would put
them “In the Slot.” Their reported speed was far from the 22–26 knots
necessary to get them the 34o miles to Guadalcanal Island the night of 8–9
August.
that:
Instructions governing Army Air Force reconnaissance missions stipulated
A plane making contact at sea is to remain in the vicinity of the sighted target
until recalled or forced to retire.20
The pilot of the Royal Australian Air Force Hudson Plane A16/218 on
Search Mission FR623, originating at Fall River Field at Milne Bay, New
Guinea, who sighted Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa’s Cruiser Force headed
south, shall remain unidentified, and alone with his own conscience, as far
as this writer is concerned.z’
He quite erroneously identified the seven cruisers and one destroyer that
were in the waters below him. According to Morison:
‘SNote: The five receivers were on circuits of
1. Pearl Harbor FOX (CINCPAC broadcast to all ships)
2. CTF 61 Group Commanders Circuit
3. CTF 62 Immediate Subordinate Commanders who were CTG 62.1, CTG 62.2, 62.3 etc.
4. TF 62 All units tactical circuit
5. Aircraft Warning Circuit.
wHepburn Report, Vol. 3, Communication Log.
mGeneral Headquarters Southwest Pacific Area, Signal Annex to Operation Instruction Number
Two, 25 Apr. 1942.
= COMSOWESPACFOR Communication officer, memorandum, 19 Feb. 1943.