Solomons
The invasion fleet goes to General Quarters at 0530. At 0600 the carriers launch their first strike. Planes from Wasp, Saratoga and Enterprise have been assigned targets on Guadalcanal Island, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo. Gavutu and Tanambogo are targeted because the Japanese have established seaplane bases in these two locations. At 0612 the communications headquarters at the Tulagi seaplane base sends a frantic message announcing the attack. This radio message goes to the 4th, 6th, 8th Fleets, Adm Yamamoto and Imperial Headquarters in Tokyo.
8 fighters from the Enterprise are to attack Guadalcanal's aircraft, PT boats, troop installations and supply dumps. No aircraft or PT boats are seen so the planes strafe buildings at Lunga Point. About 0800 bombers begin to hit Tulagi and the Lunga Point area. Planes from the other carriers hit the seaplane base at Gavutu. Surprise is complete. 9 Zero-like float planes are destroyed as well as 1 4-engined Kawanishi flying boat and 8 other seaplanes. A few Japanese pilots try to take off but are shot down before they get airborne. No Japanese plane survives the Gavutu attack.
The initial landing in the Solomons is made by a covering force supported by fire from the Tulagi Fire Support Group consisting of 1 cruiser and 2 destroyers. B Company, 2nd Marines, goes ashore near Haleta, a village on Florida Island which commands Beach Blue on Tulagi. The remainder of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, lands at Halavo on Florida to cover the landings. No enemy is encountered, and the battalion is later withdrawn.
With supporting fire, landing craft carry B and D Companies of the Lt-Col Merritt Edson's 1st Raider Battalion to Beach Blue on Tulagi, a small, hilly island about 3 miles long. The enemy is not defending beach, but are established in caves and dugouts on the southeastern part of island. The Japanese troops are from the Yokohama Air Base detachment under Capt Hasike Miyazaki. The second wave, A and C Companies follows the other 2 companies and advances northward across the island. The 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, comes ashore, pushes northwestward to clear any enemy in the northwest part of island. Initially the terrain is their biggest obstacle. It takes about three hours to hack along a mile and a half of rising ground. The Raider companies turn right toward the southeast, supported by E Company, the heavy weapons company. Reaching the ridge line the marines run into the central Japanese defenses. There are dugouts and rock embrasures and machine guns so placed to create interlocking fields of fire. The Japanese defense is based on keeping enemy below them. Frontal resistance is stiff and there are Japanese snipers everywhere. In the afternoon the Raiders drive along ridge until running into 3-sided ravine, the floor of which is an old British cricket field. Here the Japanese have dug into the ravine walls. Naval gunfire does little damage to the caves or the duguouts. The best means for destroying such turns out to be grenades and explosive charges hand placed. The Japanese will not surrender and they continue fighting until they are either shot or blown up. The marines run into a crossfire. Since darkness is approaching, Edson stops his advance and determines they are not going to complete the capture of Tulagi this day because there is not enough time to probe unknown dangers. The Raiders establish a defensive line about 1,000 yards from the southeastern tip. The 5 Raider companies and G Company, 5th Marines, occupy this line.
During the night the marines on Tulagi experience the first of what will become infamous for the Japanese - an almost suicidal night counterattack. While the marine perimeter is quiet, about 2230, the Japanese attack and break through two companies completely surrounding one of them. The marines fight in their foxholes and in the open using guns, machine guns, grenades and knives. The Japanese come across the ridge closing within 50 yds of Col Edson's command post. The Japanese are finally overpowered by the marines and are thrown back but not before one of the companies loses half its noncommissioned officers.
Resistance is stiff on both Gavutu and Tanambogo. Both are dominated by small hills not quite 150 feet high, but high enough. The Japanese defenses are along the slopes and are well supplied with machine guns, automatic rifles and ammunition. Each position has to be taken, there are no surrenders. By midafternoon it becomes apparent that reinforcements are needed. Tanambogo is taken but the causeway that links the two small islands has not been secured. Reinforcements are ordered to Tanambogo and after a 5-minute naval bombardment boats carrying them head for the beach. Unfortunately a shell from the bombardment hits a fuel dump making the marines easily visible by the Japanese. Two boatloads of marines reach the beach but the following boats turn back toward the sea. There is confusion because the third boat driver is killed by Japanese fire. After the confusion is cleared up, the other boats begin to land. The Japanese counterattack the beach area and the fighting continues throughout much of the night.
Dive bombers attack Gavutu from 1145 to 1155. Then the Tulagi Fire Support Group shell the island from 1155 to 1200 to cover the 13 landing craft of the 1st Parachute Battalion. The 1st wave reaches shore safely, but succeeding waves are hit hard resulting in 10% casualties. By 1400 the parachutists are advancing inland under fire from the island's single hill and on nearby Tanambogo. By 1800 the battalion has secured the hill, while the Japanese have retained possession of several dugouts.
B Company, 2nd Marines, attempts to land on the north coast of Tanambogo after a 5-minute naval shelling. The attack fails.
Beach Red, about 6,000 yards east of Lunga Point, between the Tenaru and Tenavatu Rivers, is selected for the Guadalcanal landings. At 0900 3 cruisers and 4 destroyers of the Guadalcanal Fire Support Group begin firing to cover the 3,200-yard-long area from 800 yards each side of Beach Red to a depth of 200 yards. The 5th Marines, less the 2nd Battalion, land first at 0910 and discover there are no Japanese on the beach. The reinforced 1st Battalion is on the right, while the 3rd Battalion is on the left along a 1,600-yard front. The regimental headquarters follows followed by the heavy weapons troops. The Marines advance inland about 600 yards and establish a beachhead perimeter in order to cover the landings of the following units. The perimeter is bounded on the west by the Tenaru River, on the east by the Tenavatu River, and on the south by an east-west branch of the Tenaru. By 1100 the entire reinforced regiment is ashore.
To provide direct support, 75-mm pack howitzers of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 11th Marines come ashore with the assault battalions of the 5th and 1st Marines. The 105-mm howitzers of the 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, are not ready for action until the afternoon.
The advance toward the airfield is ready to begin. The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, is to advance west along beach toward Lunga River while the 1st Marines attack southwest toward Mount Austen. The 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, and other specialty battalions hold the beach during advance. The 1st Marines cross the Tenaru and turn southwest toward Mount Austen. The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, crosses the mouth of the Tenaru at 1330 and marches toward the Ilu. Neither meets any Japanese. Because of jungle conditions and weighted down by all the equipment the men are carrying, the advance is slow. There is also a shortage of fresh water and salt tablets. About 1600 the regiments are ordered to halt in order to reorient and establish contact. By dusk both regiments have advanced about a mile. The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, establishes a perimeter defense at the mouth of the Ilu River. The 1st Marines dig in for the night 3,500 yards to the south.
At 2000, with about 10,000 troops ashore, Gen Vandegrift issues orders for the next morning. The 1st Marines are to attack toward the Lunga instead of taking Mount Austen. Taking Mount Austen had been one of the original objectives, but that was based upon how it appeared on the inaccurate maps being used to assess objectives. In actuality it was too large and too far away for his small force to hold. He decided not to take it immediatedly.
One problem that will become an issue later on: the unloading of supplies. There are not enough men tasked with the job. The 1st Pioneer Battalion is assigned the task, but supplies quickly piled up on the beach not having the necessary manpower to move them further. By nightfall 100 landing craft are beached, waiting to be unloaded, with another 50 waiting which can not find any landing room on the beach. Enemy aircraft causes ships to scatter a few times during the day which also delays the unloading process. During one of the raids the destroyer Mugford is damaged.
After receiving word at Rabaul from Tulagi they were being attacked, the mission to attack the Australians on New Guinea is changed to one heading for the Tulagi area. A flight of 27 twin-engined Betty bombers take off from Rabaul escorted by 18 Zeros. This flight is spotted by 4 Enterprise planes just after 1300. The F4Fs attack shooting down 1 bomber and damaging 4 others. Another flight of 6 fighters also from Enterprise finds the enemy off Santa Isabel Island. The Zeros hit first and shoot down 3 of the F4Fs. The other American fighters attack the bombers. A bomber and a Zero are shot down before the Americans have to take cover in the clouds from more Zeros. All 3 end up being shot down by the Zeros, but 2 of the pilots are rescued by coastwatchers. Just after 1430 6 fighters of Flight 323 hit the enemy bombers off Lunga Point and shoot down 4 of them. Of the 24 Betty bombers that took off for Guadalcanal, all but 1 are shot down and only damage sustained by the Japanese bombing attack is to the destroyer Mugford which is hit by a bomb.
When word reaches Rabaul of the 'invasion', Vice-Adm Gunichi Mikawa, commander of the 8th Fleet and the Outer South Seas Force, reacts immediately. He loads 6 small transports with troops and sends them with destroyer escort to reinforce the 2,000-man Guadalcanal garrison. On the way the American submarine S-38 sinks the transport Meiyo Maru with 342 men aboard. With this sinking and reports of an 'enormous' American flotilla, the transports are recalled.
Early in the morning 5 heavy cruisers left Kavieng on the northern tip of New Ireland. 3 are headed for Manus Island in the Admiralty Group and 2 for Rabaul. Mikawa orders them all to Rabaul. Chokai, accompanied by a destroyer, moves into Simpson Harbor shortly after noon. Adm Mikawa boards and the ships move out. Joining up with the other cruisers plus the light cruisers Tenryu and Yubari, they speed south.
When looking at charts Adm Turner sees the Japanese have a great approach to the island of Guadalcanal - along the west coast of Bougainville, straight down between Choseul Island and Vella Lavella, past Kolombangara, between New Georgia and Santa Isabel, and then between Florida Island and Guadalcanal's north coast. This lane will be dubbed 'The Slot'.
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