Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Invasion of Tulagi


caption=Japanese officers and petty officers of the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force that seized Tulagi in May, 1942.
partof=the Pacific Theater of World War II
date=May 3, 1942 – May 4, 1942
place=Tulagi and Gavutu Islands, Solomon Islands
result=Japanese forces occupied Tulagi and nearby islands
combatant1=Allied forces including:
flag|Australia
flag|United Kingdom
flag|United States|1912
combatant2=flag|Empire of Japan
commander1=flagicon|United Kingdom William Sydney Marchant (land),
flagicon|United States|1912 Frank Jack Fletcher (naval)
commander2=flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval Isoroku Yamamoto,
flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval Shigeyoshi Inoue,
flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval Aritomo Goto,
flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval Kiyohide Shima
strength1=1 aircraft carrier, 3 cruisers, 4 destroyers,
58 aircraftHackett, "CombinedFleet.com", "IJN Minelayer OKINOSHIMA: Tabular Record of Movement."]
strength2=2 destroyers,
5 minesweepers,
2 minelayers,
1 transport ship,
2 subchasers,
6 aircraft,
400–500 troopsD'Albas, "Death of a Navy", p. 110.] [Hackett, "Combinedfleet.com".] [Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 58–60.]
casualties1=4 aircraft destroyed [Cressman, "That Gallant Ship", p. 91–94, McCarthy, "South-West Pacific Area", p. 80, and Lord, "Lonely Vigil", p. 10–11.]
casualties2=1 destroyer,
3 minesweepers sunk,
1 destroyer,
2 minelayers,
1 transport damaged,
5–6 aircraft destroyed,
87 killed [Hackett, "CombinedFleet.com", "IJN Minelayer OKINOSHIMA: Tabular Record of Movement," and IJN Seaplane Tender KIYOKAWA MARU: Tabular Record of Movement." Aircraft losses included two to four F1M2 "Petes" and one or two E8N2 "Daves" from "Kiyokawa Maru" and "Kamikawa Maru".] Gill, "Royal Australian Navy", p. 44.]

The invasion of Tulagi, on May 3 and May 4, 1942, was part of Operation "Mo", the Empire of Japan's strategy in the South Pacific and South West Pacific Area in 1942. The plan called for Imperial Japanese Navy troops to capture Tulagi and nearby islands in the Solomon Islands Protectorate. The occupation of Tulagi by the Japanese was intended to cover the flank of Japanese forces that were advancing on Port Moresby in New Guinea as well as to provide a base for Japanese forces to threaten and interdict the supply and communication routes between the United States and Australia and New Zealand.

Without the means to capably resist the Japanese offensive in the Solomons, the British Resident Commissioner of the Solomon Islands protectorate and the few Australian troops assigned to defend Tulagi evacuated the island just before the Japanese forces arrived on May 3. The next day, however, a U.S. aircraft carrier task force enroute to resist the Japanese forces advancing on Port Moresby (that resulted in the Battle of the Coral Sea) struck the Japanese Tulagi landing force in an air attack, destroying or damaging several of the Japanese ships and aircraft involved in the landing operation. Nevertheless, the Japanese troops successfully occupied Tulagi and began the construction of a small naval base.

Over the next several months, the Japanese established a naval refueling, communications, and seaplane base on Tulagi and the nearby islets of Gavutu and Tanambogo and, in July 1942, began to build a large airfield on nearby Guadalcanal. The Japanese activities on Tulagi and Guadalcanal were observed by Allied reconnaissance aircraft, as well as by Australian coastwatcher personnel stationed in the area. Because these activities threatened the Allied supply and communication lines in the South Pacific, Allied forces counter-attacked with landings of their own on Guadalcanal and Tulagi on August 7, 1942, initiating the critical Guadalcanal campaign and series of combined arms battles between Allied and Japanese forces that, along with the New Guinea campaign, would decide the course of the war in the South Pacific.

Background

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack crippled most of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's battleships and started a formal state of war between the two nations. In launching this war, Japanese leaders sought to neutralize the U.S. fleet, seize possessions rich in natural resources, and obtain strategic military bases to defend their far-flung empire. Soon after, other nations, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand joined the U.S. as Allies in the war against Japan. In the words of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet Secret Order Number One, dated November 1, 1941, the goals of the initial Japanese campaigns in the impending war were to, "(eject) British and American strength from the Netherlands Indies and the Philippines, (and) to establish a policy of autonomous self-sufficiency and economic independence." [Parker, "A Priceless Advantage", p. 3.] To support these goals, during the first few months of 1942 Japanese forces also attacked and took control of the Philippines, Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, Wake Island, New Britain, and Guam. [Murray, "War to be Won", p. 169–195]

Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue, commander of the Japanese 4th Fleet (also called the South Seas Force) consisting of most of the naval units in the South Pacific area, advocated the seizing of Lae, Salamaua, and Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. Inoue believed that the capture and control of these locations would provide greater security for the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. Japan's Naval General Staff endorsed Inoue's argument and began planning further operations, using these locations as supporting bases, to seize Nauru, Ocean Island, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa and thereby cut the supply lines between Australia and the United States, with the goal of reducing or eliminating Australia as a threat to Japanese positions in the South Pacific. [Parker, "A Priceless Advantage", p. 5, and Frank, "Guadalcanal", p. 21–22.]

The Japanese Imperial Army supported the idea of taking Port Moresby and in April 1942, with the Japanese Navy, developed a plan for the attack that was titled Operation "Mo". The plan also included the seizure of Tulagi, a small island in the southern Solomon Islands, where a seaplane base would be set up for potential air operations against Allied territories and forces in the South Pacific. Although Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet, was concurrently planning an operation that he hoped would lure the U.S. Navy's Pacific fleet into a decisive showdown in the central Pacific, he detached some of his large warships to support the "Mo" operation and placed Inoue in charge of the naval portion of the operation. [Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 57.]

A large force consisting of two heavy aircraft carriers, one light aircraft carrier, a seaplane carrier, nine cruisers, and 13 destroyers, split into several elements, was to guard the Japanese Port Moresby invasion convoy as well as to engage any Allied naval warships that approached to contest the invasion. The Tulagi invasion force, consisting of the destroyers "Kikuzuki" and "Yuzuki", minelayers "Okinoshima", and "Koei Maru", minesweepers "Wa #1", "Wa #2", "Hagoromo Maru", "Noshiro Maru #2", and "Tama Maru", subchasers "Toshi Maru #3" and "Tama Maru #8", and transport "Azumasan Maru" and commanded by Rear Admiral Kiyohide Shima, departed from Rabaul on April 29 and headed towards the Solomon Islands. Rear Admiral Aritomo Goto provided distant cover for the Tulagi invasion with his force of one light carrier, four cruisers, and one destroyer located just west of the central Solomons. [Dull, "Imperial Japanese Navy", p. 122–124.] Gill, "Royal Australian Navy", p. 42.] [Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 58.]

At the time, Tulagi was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, which included all of the islands of the Solomons except Bougainville and Buka. William Sydney Marchant, the British Resident Commissioner of the Solomons and commander of the local defense forces — described by historian Walter Lord as a "bewildered elderly Englishman" — directed the evacuation of most of the white civilian residents to Australia in February 1942. Marchant was evacuated to Malaita the following month. [Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 13, Lord, "Lonely Vigil", p. 2–5, 9.]

The only Allied military forces at Tulagi were 24 commandos from the Australian Army's 2/1st Independent Company, under Captain A. L. Goode, and about 25 personnel from 11 Squadron R. A. A. F., under F/O R. B. Peagam, operating a seaplane base on nearby Gavutu-Tanambogo with four PBY Catalina reconnaissance aircraft. [McCarthy, "South-West Pacific Area", p. 63, and Frank, "Guadalcanal", p. 28.] Three Allied coastwatchers were also located nearby, on Guadalcanal island. The task of the coastwatchers was to report on any enemy movements, or suspicious activity, that they observed in the vicinity of their stations. In the belief that it might prevent them being executed for espionage, all of the coastwatchers were commissioned as Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve officers, and they were directed by Lieutenant Commander Eric Feldt, who was located at Townsville in Australia. [Lord, "Lonely Vigil", p. 6–7.]

was towed to Aola on Guadalcanal where Martin Clemens later destroyed it to keep it out of Japanese hands.]

Allied intelligence personnel had deciphered much of the Japanese "Mo" plans through radio intercepts at the Allied Fleet Radio Units (radio intelligence centers) in Melbourne, Australia and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. [Parker, "A Priceless Advantage", p. 11.] Based on this intelligence, on April 22, U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz, stationed at Pearl Harbor, directed Allied forces towards the Coral Sea area to interdict the Japanese "Mo" operation. On April 27, the U.S. aircraft carrier USS "Yorktown"’s task force, under the command of U.S. Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, sortied from Tonga and was joined by the U.S. carrier USS "Lexington's" task force near the New Hebrides on May 1. The two task forces, operating semi-independently of each other, prepared to engage any Japanese forces operating in the Coral Sea area. [Cressman, "That Gallant Ship", p. 83–86.]

Landings and air attacks

at Aola on Guadalcanal and departed that night. [Lord, "Lonely Vigil", p. 12–13, Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 60.]

Supporting the Japanese landings were seaplanes from the Japanese seaplane tender "Kamikawa Maru", based at the Deboyne Islands in the Louisiade Archipelago. [Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 48 and 426, Hackett, "Combinedfleet.com". Aircraft from the Japanese seaplane tender "Kiyokawa Maru", undergoing repair in Japan, were temporarily assigned to augment "Kamikawa Maru's" complement of aircraft.] About 400 Japanese naval troops, mainly from the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force, disembarked from the transport ship on barges and immediately began construction of facilities on Tulagi and Gavutu-Tanambogo. [Lord, "Lonely Vigil", p. 13, Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 58–60. 3rd Kure troops involved numbered 398 and they were accompanied by an anti-aircraft detachment and some construction workers.] Once the Japanese troops were ashore, six seaplanes landed in Tulagi harbor as part of the establishment of the planned seaplane base there. [AWM, "Coral Sea"]

At 17:00 on May 3, Fletcher received information that U.S. Army and RAAF reconnaissance aircraft based in Australia and New Guinea had sighted the Japanese Tulagi invasion force the day before approaching the southern Solomons. Since "Lexington" was occupied with keeping a rendezvous with an Allied cruiser force coming from Sydney, Australia, "Yorktown's" task force proceeded independently towards the Solomons in order to be in position to launch airstrikes against the Japanese forces at Tulagi the next morning. [Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 62, Cressman, "That Gallant Ship", p. 86, Gill, "Royal Australian Navy", p. 43, and Parker, "A Priceless Advantage", p. 27. "Yorktown's" task force included the U.S. cruisers "Astoria", "Chester", and "Portland", plus the U.S. destroyers "Hammann", "Anderson", "Perkins", and "Sims".]

s from a position about 160 kilometres (100 mi) south of Guadalcanal. The aircraft began their attacks on Shima's ships anchored near Tulagi at 08:50, taking the Japanese ships by surprise and at anchor. [Cressman, "That Gallant Ship", p. 87.] The "Okinoshima" and the two destroyers were positioned to provide a protective barrier for Shima's other ships that were busy unloading troops and materiel. Although the U.S. pilots from the first strike claimed many bomb and torpedo hits on the anchored ships, they actually only hit "Okinoshima", causing minor damage, and "Kikuzuki", causing major damage. "Kikuzuki", with the assistance of one of the subchasers, was beached on Gavutu in an attempt to keep her from sinking. During this time, all of the other ships weighed anchor and attempted to escape from the harbor. One U.S. dive bomber destroyed a Japanese F1M2 "Pete" seaplane that attempted to take off during the attack.Dull, "Imperial Japanese Navy", p. 127.] [Cressman, "That Gallant Ship", p. 87–88, and Nevitt, "Combinedfleet.com", "IJN Kikuzuki: Tabular Record of Movement."]

. The four U.S. fighters then strafed "Yuzuki", killing her captain and nine others of her crew, and causing moderate damage to the ship. Two or three other Japanese floatplanes were damaged in Tulagi harbor and their crews were killed. [Cressman, "That Gallant Ship", p. 89–91.] [Hackett, "Combinedfleet.com", "IJN Seaplane Tender KIYOKAWA MARU: Tabular Record of Movement."] [Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 63.]

A third, smaller strike from "Yorktown" arrived at 15:30 and caused moderate damage to "Azumasan Maru" and "Okinoshima." One of the TBD aircraft in the third strike became lost, ran out of fuel, and ditched in the ocean about 60 kilometres (40 mi) south of Guadalcanal. Two of the wildcat fighters from the second strike also ran out of fuel and crash landed on the southern coast of Guadalcanal. Fletcher sent the destroyers "Hammann" and "Perkins" to rescue the aircrews from the three aircraft. "Hammann" was able to recover both fighter pilots, but "Perkins" was unable to locate the TBD crew. Both destroyers returned to "Yorktown's" task force late that evening, and the task force turned away from Guadalcanal towards the southeast in order to refuel the next day. [Cressman, "That Gallant Ship", p. 91–94.]

Aftermath

On May 5, "Kikuzuki" slid off of the shore of Gavutu and sank in Tulagi harbor, a total loss. "Tama Maru" foundered two days later. The other surviving Japanese ships were able to reach Rabaul for repairs. On May 10, as "Okinoshima" led the first Japanese attempt to take Ocean (Banaba) and Nauru Islands, she was sunk by the submarine USS "S-42" off New Ireland. [Nevitt, "Combinedfleet.com", "IJN Kikuzuki: Tabular Record of Movement."] [Hackett, "Combinedfleet.com", "IJN Minelayer OKINOSHIMA: Tabular Record of Movement." The rest of the Japanese ships later turned back after receiving reports of U.S. carriers (USS "Enterprise" and USS "Hornet") in the Ocean Island/Nauru area. Ocean Island and Nauru were later occupied by Japanese forces in August 1942.] A total of 87 Japanese naval personnel died in the May 4 air attacks on Tulagi, and 36 of the landing troops were seriously injured. [Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 63.] The lost "Yorktown" TBD aircrew reached Guadalcanal after drifting in the ocean for three days. A Catholic missionary took them to Martin Clemens who arranged for a boat to take them to San Cristobal. From San Cristobal another boat took them to the New Hebrides and from there they eventually rejoined U.S. forces. [Cressman, "That Gallant Ship", p. 92.] [Lord, "Lonely Vigil", p. 16.]

After striking Tulagi, "Yorktown" rejoined with "Lexington", and the two carriers engaged the rest of the Japanese forces involved in the Mo operation May 6–May 8 in the Battle of the Coral Sea. In the battle, "Lexington" was sunk and "Yorktown" was damaged. The Japanese suffered one light carrier sunk and another carrier heavily damaged. Fearing more damaging attacks from Allied land-based aircraft or warships, the Japanese turned back from their planned assault on Port Moresby with the intention of trying again later. The next Japanese seaborne attempt to take Port Moresby, however, never happened, mainly because of their navy's defeat in June at the Battle of Midway. Instead, the Japanese decided to try to take Port Moresby in an overland attack along the Kokoda Trail. The failure to take Port Moresby in May 1942 would have significant and far-reaching strategic implications, many of which involved the small Japanese naval base at Tulagi. [Frank, "Guadalcanal", p. 17, 24–25.]

Despite the damaging air attacks to their ships and landing forces, the Japanese proceeded with the construction of the naval seaplane base at Tulagi and Gavutu, receiving more shipments of troops and construction workers over the next several months. The base was soon operational and began conducting air reconnaissance patrols throughout the surrounding area. On May 27, the Japanese inspected the Lunga Point area on Guadalcanal as a possible location to build a large airfield. On June 13, the Naval General Staff approved the construction of an airfield at that location and on June 19, Admiral Inoue toured the site in anticipation of the airfield construction effort. The next day, Japanese troops began clearing the area of brush, and on July 6, a 12 ship convoy delivered 2,000 Korean and Japanese construction workers plus 500 Japanese naval combat troops to conduct the airfield construction effort in earnest. The coastwatchers on Guadalcanal and Allied air reconnaissance observed the Japanese airfield construction efforts. Allied Catalinas and B-17s based at Port Moresby, Efate, Noumea, and Espiritu Santo frequently bombed the Japanese bases on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Gavutu over the next several months, but without causing significant damage. Several Japanese float fighters and one Allied bomber were destroyed in aerial combat during the missions. [Frank, "Guadalcanal", p. 31, Jersey, "Hell's Islands", p. 98–112. The B-17s were from the 19th Bombardment Group (later called the 19th Bomb Group) and 11th Bomb Group. Japanese records indicate that two crewmen from a shotdown B-17 were captured by Japanese personnel from Gavutu on August 5, 1942 but, if so, the crewmen's fates are unknown.]

The Allies were greatly concerned about the Japanese airfield construction effort on Guadalcanal because, when completed, the aircraft operating from the airfield would be a significant threat to Allied operations between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The two strategic victories for the Allies in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway provided an opportunity to take the initiative and launch an offensive against the Japanese somewhere in the Pacific. An Allied plan to attack the southern Solomons was conceived by U.S. Admiral Ernest King, Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. He proposed the offensive to deny the use of the southern Solomon islands by the Japanese as bases to threaten the supply routes between the U.S. and Australia, and to use them as starting points for a campaign. His goal was to isolate the major Japanese base at Rabaul while also supporting the Allied New Guinea campaign, with the eventual goal of opening the way for the U.S. to retake the Philippines. [Morison, "Struggle for Guadalcanal", p. 12.] U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz, Allied commander in chief for Pacific forces, created the South Pacific theater, with U.S. Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley in command, to direct the Allied offensive in the Solomons. [Murray, "War to be Won", p. 199–200.]

The failure of the Japanese to take Port Moresby and their defeat at Midway had the effect of "dangling" their base at Tulagi without effective protection from other Japanese bases. Tulagi was four hours flying time from Rabaul, the nearest large Japanese base. [Frank, "Guadalcanal", p. 17, 194–213.] On August 7, 1942, 11,000 U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal and 3,000 U.S. Marines landed on Tulagi and nearby islands. [Frank, "Guadalcanal", p. 51, and Morison, "Struggle for Guadalcanal", p. 15.] The Japanese troops on Tulagi and nearby islands were outnumbered and killed almost to the last man in the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu-Tanambogo while the U.S. Marines on Guadalcanal captured the airfield at Lunga Point without significant resistance. [Frank, "Guadalcanal", p. 61–62, 79–81.] Thus, began the Guadalcanal campaign that resulted in a series of large, combined-arms battles between Allied and Japanese forces over the next six months which, along with the New Guinea campaign, would decide the fate of Japanese efforts to secure the southern frontier of their empire in the Pacific.

Notes

References

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Further reading

*cite book
last = Hoyt
first = Edwin P.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2003
chapter =
title = Blue Skies and Blood: The Battle of the Coral Sea
publisher = I Books
location =
id = ISBN 0-7434-5835-4
*cite book
last = Henry
first = Chris
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2003
chapter =
title = The Battle of the Coral Sea
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-59114-033-1