US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

426 Amphibians Came To Conquer
ante of the Advanced Naval Bases of the forward areas in the South
Pacific. This officer would be a subordinate to the officer who had these
tasks in addition to many other logistic tasks for the whole SOPAC area,
the Commander Service Squadron, South Pacific Force.
Besides the pre-WATCHTOWER bases of SOPAC started in the Society,
Samoan, Fiji and Tonga Islands, there were the newer Advanced Naval Bases
at Efate and Espiritu Santo in the New Hebricles and now bases at Tulagi and
GuadalcanaI physically separated but working together in the Southern
Solomons. In early September 1942, Commander Service Squadron SOPAC-
FOR, Rear Admiral Calvin H. Cobb ( 1911), had just been given the over-all
task of building up and supporting all bases in the SOPAC Area. Vigorous
discussion in Noumea also centered around the need to stop building a major
base way down south in Auckland and to start to build up a main base at
Noumea.”
Rear Admiral Turner also became convinced that there should be established
an Advanced Naval Base at Guadalcanal-Tulagi, not just an Advanced
Air Base, and that an officer with some seniority should be ordered to it.
On 5 September 1942, he committed his views to paper,” including recom-
mendations that Commander James P. Compton, U. S. Navy, the Command-
ing Officer of CUB One, be ordered as Commander Advance Bases CACTUS-
RINGBOLT (Guadalcanal-Tulagi) and that an officer of appropriate rank
be ordered to command each of the two bases in this base complex. Both
of these recommendations were carried into effect by COMSOPAC, Com-
mander Compton being ordered as Commander Advanced Bases CACTUS-
RINGBOLT on 11 September 1942 and to the command of all Naval
Activities in the area on 13 September 1942. It was more than another two
months, however, before Commander H. L. Maples ( 1917) arrived, in
December 1942, to command Naval Base, Lunga, which by May 1943 grew
into the Advanced Naval Base-Guadalcanal.
In early August 1942 when Lieutenant Commander D. H. Dexter of the
Coast Guard went ashore at Guadalcanal to head up the Local Defense
Force, and become Port Director, Guadalcanal, Lieutenant R. W. Pinger,
D-V, USNR, was ordered to take charge of the Gavutu-Tulagi Sub Base
Local Defense Force.” Dexter was Port Director Tulagi-Gavutu. Under
the principle of unity of command, he reported to Major General Vandegrift
mStaff Interviews.
= COMPHIBFORSOPAC to COMSOPAC, letter, Ser 00116 of 5 Sep. 1942.
mCTF 62, letters, PlG4/00, Ser 0027 of 5 Aug. 1942; and P16-4/00, Ser 0023 of 5 Aug. 1942,
subj: Lieutenant Pinger’s orders to the Local Defense Force, Sub-Area.