US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

432 Amphibians Came To Conqzer
COMPHIBFORSOPAC, COMSERONSOPAC) all sending dispatches
and letters direct to the Base Commander.
Rear Admiral Turner, far from seeking to enlarge his area of responsi-
bility, or believing in the desirability of his being the appropriate responsible
senior, or enjoying his responsibility to build up the Advanced Base at
Guadalcanal-Tulagi, was anxious to transfer the responsibility to a more
appropriate commander. Less than a month after he had been handed the
hot potato, he felt strongly enough in the matter to seek a change.
On 5 September 1942, COMPHIBFORSOPAC recommended to his im-
mediate seniors
that Commander Amphibious Force South Pacific be relieved of his present
responsibilities in connection with the upbuilding of this base, at a time
deemed appropriate by the Commander South Pacific Force; and that the administration
of the base be handled in a manner similar to the administration
of the other Naval Advanced Basesin the PacificOcean.er
OPINIONS ON THE COURSE OF THE
LOGISTIC DIFFICULTIES
After Vice Admiral Ghormley had left his SOPAC command, and had
time to consider the broader aspects of his duty in that area, he wrote that
he believed that there was in the Navy Department
a marked failure in appreciation of the time element necessary for transportation
to the South Pacific, for base construction and for airfield construction.es
Vice Admiral Halsey soon learned, as he told his seniors in a message of
November 1942:
Planning and development bases this area is a major problem.eo
In June 1943, when Major General Vandegrift moved up to command of
the Amphibious Corps South Pacific with Headquarters in Noumea, he
opined:
My biggest problem concerned supply, a field in which, at this point, the
Navy did not excel.’”
A fighting Marine and a keen observer who served throughout this period
of logistic difficulties in the Southern Solomons thought that:
‘“COMPHIBFORSOPAC to COMSOPAC, letter, Ser 00116 of 5 Sep. 1942.
WGhormley manuscript, p. 13.
w COMSOPAC, 061345 NOV. 1942.
* Vandegrift, p. 221. Reprinted from Once a Marine with permission of W.W. Norton &
Co., Inc.