The Conquering Tide (111 page)

5th Naval Construction Brigade, 517

Fifth Air Attack Force, Japanese, 67

Fifth Air Force, U.S., 223, 224, 236, 238, 420, 438

“skip-bombing” technique of, 224–25

Fifth Amphibious Corps (VAC), 317, 321, 434, 458, 459, 468

H. Smith as commander of, 317

Fifth Amphibious Force, 333

Fifth Fleet, U.S., 237, 242, 313, 315, 316, 339, 373, 384, 386, 402, 419, 436, 438, 449, 453, 456, 531

amphibious fleet of, 317

Spruance appointed commander of, 315, 325

Fifty-First Division, Japanese, 179

Fiji Archipelago, 11, 20, 21, 125, 190

Finschafen, New Guinea, 239

fire control systems, 49, 153, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 186

1st Marine Division, 12, 15–16

in assault on Cape Gloucester, 240

in evacuation from Guadalcanal, 209

in Guadalcanal campaign,
see
Guadalcanal campaign

in Marshall Islands campaign, 313

in Melbourne, 209–10, 212

Tulagi landing of, 26, 29

1st Marine Engineer Battalion, 69

1st Marine Raider Battalion, 21, 104, 106

1st Provisional Marine Brigade, 512

First Air Fleet, Japanese, 449, 452, 463

First Battleship Division, Japanese, 450, 473

First Marine Amphibious Corps, 236

First Mobile Fleet, Japanese, 447, 461–62, 469–72, 473, 497, 530, 531

in A-Go battle plan, 449

crude oil employed as fuel for, 451

fuel shortages of, 448

inexperience of pilots in, 447–48

submarine threat and, 448

U.S. submarine tracking of, 453

Fitch, Aubrey “Jake,” 129, 158

Flatley, Jimmy, 167, 330

Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC), 284

Fletcher, Frank Jack, 108, 220

and Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 77–79, 83

in Guadalcanal campaign, 20, 22, 23, 30–31, 34, 37, 43, 51, 57–58, 60, 61–62

and KA-Go counteroffensive, 75–76

in Solomons offensive, 107–8

Fletcher
, USS, 161

FLINTLOCK
, Operation,
see
Kwajalein, Battle of

Flying Fish
, USS, 253, 471

Fomalhaut
, USS, 61

FORAGER
, Operation,
see
Marianas campaign

Forrestal, James V., 325, 398, 436

Forty-Seventh Independent, 459

Forty-Third Division, 459, 460

Foss, Joe, 100, 137

442nd Regimental Combat Team, 295

475th Fighter Group, 223

4th Marine Division, 457, 468, 498–99, 510, 512–13

in Kwajalein battle, 390, 391–95

Fourth Infantry Regiment, Japanese, 156

Fox, Clifford, 102

France, Vichy regime in, 200

France, Finley, Jr., 380

Franks
, USS, 364

Fraser, Peter, 197

Fraser, Thomas E., 169

Free French, 200

Freemantle, 255

Fujita, Iyozo, 157, 425

Fukudome, Shigeru, 405, 446

Fulton
, USS, 265

Funafuti atoll, 333, 342, 370

Furlong, William R., 292

Furutaka
, 41, 46

Galvan, David, 71, 106

GALVANIC
, Operation, 315, 317, 320, 325, 333,
345
, 364, 367, 499

carrier operations in, 340–42

chain of command in, 318–19

Ellice Islands landings in, 315

Funafuti atoll as forward base for, 333

interservice rivalries in, 362, 434

land-based air support for, 333

logistics of, 332–33

Nauru landings in, 315

Nimitz and, 325

Spruance and, 325

Towers and, 325

Turner and, 325

see also
Tarawa, Battle of

Gard, Ray, 339

Garrett, Vern, 355

Gavutu Island, xxiii, 25, 75

Japanese resistance on, 36–37

Geiger, Roy, 103, 106, 130, 136, 138, 458, 497–98, 511, 513

in Guadalcanal campaign, 140

George, Flavius J., 161, 163

George III, King of England, 253

George F. Elliott
, USS, 39, 45

Germany, Nazi, xiii, 94

air campaign against, 128

eastern front and, 11, 94, 96, 308–9, 530

Getting, Frank, 45

Gettysburg, Battle of, 366

Ghormley, Robert L., 12, 15, 16–17, 20, 56, 198, 199, 514

appointed COMSOPAC, 12

deteriorating health of, 125, 143

FDR and, 143

and Guadalcanal campaign, 18, 22, 43, 57, 58, 60, 62, 83, 109, 123, 125–26, 134, 142

KA-Go counteroffensive and, 75

relieved of command, 143–44

in Solomons offensive, 107

Gilbert Islands,
13
, 237, 319, 333, 419

aerial and submarine reconnaissance of, 321–22

lack of accurate charts for, 321

U.S. airfields in, 389

U.S. invasion of, 314–15, 342

Ginder, Samuel P., 399

Gizo Harbor, 105

Goettge, Frank, 65–66

Goto, Aritomo, 135

Great Britain:

buildup of U.S. forces in, 95, 96

Germany-first strategy of, 306, 308, 310–11

Mediterranean operation advocated by, 309, 311

Great Depression, 85–86

Green Islands, U.S. landing on, 240, 242

Greenman, Captain, 51–52

Greenman, William G., 47

Grider, George W., 257, 258, 259, 260, 262, 265, 267, 268, 272, 273

Grumman Corporation, 304

Guadalcanal, Naval Battle of, 174

Japanese defeat in, 174

Phase One of, 162–66,
164

Phase Two of, 168–73,
171

Guadalcanal campaign, xxxi, 16, 17–18,
27
, 58, 95, 97, 123, 130–31, 142, 257, 317, 318, 416, 417, 458, 501, 514–15

aerial reconnaissance for, 19

aftermath of, 189–90

army reinforcements as lacking in, 131–32, 159

chain of command in, 20, 60

coastwatchers and, 99–100

as decisive conflict in Pacific War, 120

deteriorating Japanese morale in, 175

disease and, 64, 131, 175

“Dugout Sunday” (October 25) in, 156

Edson's Ridge (Bloody Ridge) in, 104, 106, 121, 130

1st Marine Division evacuated from, 209

first Japanese counterstrike against,
see
Savo Island, Battle of

food supplies in, 61, 99, 132

Halsey's appointment as morale booster in, 145

Hirohito and, 122

inadequacy of maps for, 18–19

intelligence on Japanese troops as lacking in, 65–66

Japanese airstrikes in, 30–34, 38–39

Japanese bombing and strafing in, 62–63, 65, 156

Japanese caught by surprise by, 29

Japanese contemplation of withdrawal from, 179–80

Japanese estimates of U.S. troop strength in, 121–22

Japanese evacuation (Operation KE) in, 183–85

Japanese food shortages in, 125, 174–76, 178

Japanese mortality in, 175–76

Japanese naval bombardments in, 63, 102

Japanese reinforcements in, 63, 72, 105, 133, 141, 147, 155, 156, 167–68, 174, 176

Japanese strategic and tactical blunders in, 188–89

Japanese supply problems in, 121, 155, 174–77, 183

Japanese troop strength in, 174, 176

Japanese underestimation of Marine troop strength in, 68, 155

Japanese vs. U.S. troop losses in, 187

King's deadline for, 12, 15, 19, 20, 21

Koro rehearsal in, 21–22, 26

landing of munitions and supplies in, 39–40, 53–54

McCain and, 124–25

morale issues in, 62, 63–64, 65, 71, 131–32, 141–42

mutilation of Japanese dead in, 196

naval losses in, 186

“The Night” (October 13–14) in, 137–41

164th Infantry in, 134

press coverage of, 97–98

reinforcements for, 107

Seabees in, 70, 103, 135, 190

2nd Marine Division in, 53

submarines and, 261, 262, 263

Task Force 16 in, 33

Task Force 61 in, 20, 23–24, 37, 43, 51

Task Force 62 in, 20–21, 23–24, 43, 52–53

Task Group 62.6 in, 20, 42–43

Tenaru River battle in, 73–76, 121

Tulagi landings in, 26, 29, 35–36

25th Infantry Division in, 183

Ugaki's strategy for, 120–21

unburied Japanese dead in, 130, 131, 184, 189–90

U.S. landings in, 26–28, 34–35, 102, 120

U.S. naval barrage in, 29, 35–36, 155

U.S. perimeter in, 64–65, 72, 104, 130, 147

U.S. supply operations in, 19, 60–61, 83, 107, 125–26, 132–33, 160–61, 175

Guadalcanal campaign, air war in, 22, 31–34, 37, 38–39, 43, 53, 59, 98–104, 160–61, 304

aircraft losses in, 186

air search radar in, 100

aviator losses in, 186–87

Cactus Air Force in,
see
Cactus Air Force

dogfights in, 100–101

fighter losses in, 34, 58, 59

inexperience of Japanese pilots in, 156–57

Japanese losses in, 157–58

Marine Aircraft Group 21 in, 61

Marine Aircraft Group 23 in, 70–71

McCain and, 102–3, 124–25

pilot fatigue in, 125, 130, 136–37, 156

scouting patrols in, 103–4

Ugaki and, 121

U.S. fuel shortages in, 133, 140

U.S. reinforcements for, 102–3, 135

Guadalcanal Diary
(Tregaskis), 97

Guadalcanal Island, xviii, xix, xxiv,
13
, 14, 19, 22, 23–24, 26,
27
, 49, 60, 108, 514

Carney Field on, 190

geography of, xxvii–xxviii, 34–35

Henderson Field on,
see
Henderson Field

“Hotel De Gink” on, 190

I-Go aerial attack on, 203

Japanese landing on, xxviii–xxix

Japanese withdrawal from, 444

Lever Brothers plantation on, 64

Tatvu Point in, 105

unfinished Japanese airstrip on, xxix, xxxi, 24, 25, 35, 37

“Guadalcanal twitch,” 63

Guam Island,
13
, 307, 437, 438, 441, 451, 456, 458, 459, 461, 462, 467, 470, 474, 478, 497–98, 506, 511–12, 516–19, 530

American personnel on, 520

CINCPAC on, 519–20

Japanese holdouts on, 521–22

landing on, 512–13

naval bombardment of, 511–12

rebuilding of, 517–21

Guimaras Strait, 456

Gwin
, USS, 169–70

HAILSTONE
, Operation,
see
Truk Atoll, carrier raid on

Hale, Willis H., 7, 434

Haley, Alex, 211

Halsey, William F., Jr., 7, 125
n
, 168, 172, 240, 261, 317, 324, 340, 399, 420, 440, 515

Admiralty Islands offensive and, 223–24

anti-Japanese rhetoric of, 146, 159, 194–95

appointed COMSOPAC, 144, 145

atomic bombing of Japan criticized by, 195

Bougainville assault and, 236

CARTWHEEL
and, 224

chain of command and, 220

and death of Yamamoto, 204–5

“Dirty Tricks Department” of, 232, 235

Guadalcanal campaign and, 183, 184, 185, 186

Guadalcanal trip of, 159–60

interservice rivalry detested by, 199

leadership qualities of, 197–98

MacArthur's relationship with, 221–22

press and, 194, 197

in rash prediction of war's end, 197

“rough brush” style of, 145

Solomons offensive and, 313

transfer of forces to central Pacific opposed by, 313

Hampton, Woodward M., 409–10

Hanks, Ralph, 368, 371

Hara, Tameichi, 150, 154, 181, 188, 234

Harder
, USS, 453

Hardison, Osborne B., 152

Harmon, Millard F., 125, 134

Harper, John A., 494, 496

Harrill, William K., 463, 472–73, 478

Hart, Thomas C., 255

Haruna
, 122, 137–38, 491

Hashimoto, Shintaro, 184

Hata, Shoryu, 527

Hatanaka, Shigeo, 528–29

Hawaii:

CINCPAC headquarters in, 297–98

defense workers in, 292–93, 295–96

interracial dating and marriages in, 296

Pacific War as gold rush for, 293–94

servicemen in, 296

USO clubs in, 294–95

Hawkins, William D., 355

Hawkins Field, 355

Hayanami
, 453

headhunting, xviii, 191

Hearst, William Randolph, 87, 94, 366

Hedding, Truman J., 341, 369, 370, 372, 390, 436, 476, 489

Helena
, USS, 155, 163, 165, 166, 255

Henderson Field, 62, 64, 65, 70–72, 75, 76, 80, 82, 83, 147, 156, 166, 175, 179, 189, 190, 203, 205, 353

Air Control at, 99–100

as AIRSOLS headquarters, 222

Japanese bombing of, 63, 78, 98–100, 105, 133, 135, 138, 156, 183

Japanese failure to recapture, 120

Japanese snipers at, 98

Japanese strafing of, 101–2, 135

naval bombardment of, 98, 122, 135, 137–39, 155, 167

primitive conditions at, 72

race to finish, 69–70

upgrading of, 103

Henderson, Lofton R., 63

Henkel, 427

Hepburn, Arthur J., 56–57

Hersey, John, 97

Hiei
, 69, 416

in Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 163–65

sinking of, 166

Higgins, Andrew, 317

Higgins boats (LCVPs), 335, 347, 348–49, 391

Hill, Harry W., 55, 338, 343, 361, 362, 365, 398, 399, 400

in Tarawa assault, 333–34, 346–47

Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, 195, 417, 530, 531, 538

decisive fleet battle urged by, 417–18

Guadalcanal campaign and, 122

and Guadalcanal withdrawal, 182

and possible peace overtures, 536

public appearances of, 113–14

Tojo and, 422–23

Hiroshima, atomic bombing of, 195

Hiryu
, 9

Hitler, Adolf, 11, 95

Hiyo
, 419, 428, 491, 530

Hobart
, HMAS, 43

Hogan, Thomas W., 453