# Battle of Guadalcanal order of battle

This is the order of battle for the Guadalcanal Campaign, called Operation Watchtower, the first major Allied offensive in the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II. The campaign lasted from the initial American landings on 7 August 1942 until the final Japanese evacuation on 9 February 1943, a period of six months, far longer than was expected by Allied planners.
The 7 August landings on Guadalcanal itself and Tulagi across Savo Sound (the site of a Japanese seaplane base) were carried out by US Marines under the command of Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift. These were followed by units of the Naval Construction Battalions, known as CB's or Seabees.
Forces of the US Army began arriving to relieve the exhausted Marines on 13 October. On 8 December Vandegrift was replaced by Major General Alexander M. Patch, US Army, who was named commander of the XIV Army Corps on 2 January 1943. Patch declared the island secure on 9 February.
The high command of the Imperial Japanese Army did not take initially the Allied effort on Guadalcanal seriously and committed units piecemeal throughout the fall of 1942. Over the course of the campaign, the Japanese subjected two entire infantry divisions to massive attrition on the island.
The 1st Marine Division's struggle to take Guadalcanal achieved legendary status: the heat and mud, the malaria and dysentery, the giant tropical insects and the fanatical, often suicidal, resistance of the Japanese combined to create an immense amount of sheer suffering. Today, the unit's insignia features the word "Guadalcanal" superimposed on a large red numeral 1. Three future commandants of the Marine Corps fought on "The Canal": Alexander A. Vandegrift, Clifton B. Cates and Lemuel C. Shepherd. Vandegrift was awarded the Medal of Honor the following year in recognition of his courage and extraordinary leadership during the Corps's four-month struggle.
   Why does the mere mention of the southwest Pacific cause the men who fought there to shudder? Why does so genteel an author as Herman Wouk, whipped into a white-lipped rage at the mere thought of Guadalcanal, write that it "was and remains 'that fucking island'"? Why was combat there considered — correctly – worse than Stalingrad?
In addition to the action on the ground, the United States Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy fought several vicious and costly surface engagements at night in the waters of Savo Sound. Two nights after the initial landings, the US Navy experienced the worst open-water defeat in its history at the Battle of Savo Island. By the time the Japanese had given up on Guadalcanal, they had lost 2 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers and 7 destroyers; Allied losses included 5 heavy cruisers (one of which was Australian), 2 light cruisers and a destroyer. Each side had an admiral killed in combat. After the war, the area was renamed Ironbottom Sound in reference to the number of ships sunk there.

## United States
### Theater command

The roles of Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA) and Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC), were both exercised by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz from his headquarters at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Since the Solomons lie in the Southern Pacific, the landings of 7 August 1942 on Guadalcanal were the responsibility of the South Pacific Fleet, led by Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley from his headquarters at Nouméa, New Caledonia. Adm. Ghormley's pessimism, inadequate staff work and unwillingness to visit the front led Adm. Nimitz to replace him with the much more aggressive and hands-on Vice Admiral William F. Halsey on 18 October 1942.

### Operational command

Operational command of the invasion was assigned to Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. He also had direct command of the covering force, designated Task Force 61, where he flew his flag aboard fleet carrier Saratoga. The amphibious forces, Task Force 62, were led by Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner aboard attack transport McCawley.
Bitter disputes between Vice Adm. Fletcher and Rear Adm. Turner arose during both the planning and execution of the invasion. At issue was how long Fletcher's aircraft carriers would stay in the vicinity of Guadalcanal to provide air cover for Turner's support vessels in Savo Sound. The matter came to a head on D+1 (8 August), after two days of assaults by bombers from the Japanese base at Rabaul. These attacks convinced Fletcher that his crucial aircraft carriers could not be risked in the waters of the Solomons any longer and his task force departed the area that evening. Unsettled by the removal of air cover and rattled on the morning of D+2 by the discovery that his cruiser screen had been decimated at the Battle of Savo Island, Turner ordered his vulnerable, and still half-full, cargo ships back to Nouméa around sundown 9 August. The Marine Corps forces ashore were thus left without air cover or the planned level of food and ammunition. This suboptimal outcome was at least partially attributable to the decision to vest both overall mission command and carrier task force command in the same individual (Vice Adm. Fletcher).

### Marine forces

The D-Day (7 August) landings on Guadalcanal were carried out by the 1st and 3rd Battalions/5th Marines at 0910 hours, followed by the 1st Marines at 0930. Landings on the Florida Islands across Savo Sound were carried out earlier that morning by the 2nd Battalion/5th Marines, the 1st Parachute Battalion, and the 1st Marine Raider Battalion. The 7th Marines and 1st Battalion/11th Marines arrived 18 September. The division began withdrawal from the island 12 December.
1st Marine Division Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift (CMoH recipient) Asst. Div. Cmdr.: Brigadier General William H. Rupertus
    Division staff
       Chief of staff: Col. William C. James (to 24 Sep); Col. Gerald C. Thomas
       Asst. CoS for Personnel (D-1): Col. Robert C. Kilmartin Jr.
       Asst. CoS for Intelligence (D-2): Lt. Col. Frank B. Goettge (to 12 Aug); Lt. Col. Edmund J. Buckley
       Asst. CoS for Operations (D-3): Lt. Col. Gerald C. Thomas (to 24 Sep); Lt. Col. Merrill B. Twining
       Asst. CoS for Logistics (D-4): Lt. Col. Randolph M. Pate
    1st Marine Regiment
       Colonel Clifton B. Cates
       Exec. ofc.: Lt. Col. Julian N. Frisbie (to 23 Sep); Lt. Col. Edwin A. Pollock
          1st Battalion: Lt. Col. Leonard B. Cresswell
          2nd Battalion: Lt. Col. Edwin A. Pollock (to 23 Sep); Lt. Col. William W. Stickney
          3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. William N. McKelvy Jr.
    5th Marine Regiment
       Colonel Leroy P. Hunt (to 21 Sep) ; Colonel Merritt A. Edson
       Exec. ofc.: Col. William J. Whaling (to 25 Sep); Lt. Col. Walker A. Reaves (to 12 Oct); Lt. Col. William S. Fellers
          1st Battalion: Lt. Col. William E. Maxwell (to 30 Aug); Maj. Donald W. Fuller (to 13 Oct); Maj. William K. Enright
             CMoH recipient: Cpl. Anthony Casamento
          2nd Battalion: Lt. Col. Harold E. Rosecrans (to 11 Sep); Capt. Joseph J. Dudkowski (1-17, 25-30 Sep); Lt. Col. Walker A. Reaves (18-24 Sep); Maj. David S. McDougal (1-8 Oct); Maj. William J. Piper (8-11 Oct); Maj. Lewis W. Walt
          3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. Frederick C. Biebush (to 22 Sep); Maj. Robert O. Bowen
    7th Marine Regiment
       Colonel James W. Webb (to 20 Sep); Colonel Amor L. Sims
       Exec. ofc.: Col. Amor L. Sims (to 20 Sep); Lt. Col. Julian N. Frisbie
          1st Battalion: Lt. Col. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller
             CMoH recipient: Sgt. John Basilone
          2nd Battalion: Lt. Col. Herman H. "Hard-Headed" Hanneken
             CMoH recipient: Lt. Mitchell Paige
          3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. Edwin J. Farrell (to 24 Sep); Lt. Col. William R. Williams
    11th Marine Regiment (Artillery)
       Colonel Pedro del Valle
       Exec. ofc.: Lt. Col. John A. Bemis (to 17 Oct); Lt. Col. Robert B. Luckey (to 28 Nov); Lt. Col. Thomas B. Hughes
          1st Battalion: Lt. Col. Joseph R. Knowlan (to 19 Oct); Lt. Col. Manley L. Curry (to 28 Nov); Lt. Col. Donovan D. Sult (to 2 Dec)
          2nd Battalion: Lt. Col. Edward G. Hagen (to 14 Sep); Maj. Forest C. Thompson
          3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. James J. Keating
          4th Battalion: Lt. Col. Melvin E. Fuller (to 28 Oct; from 7 Dec); Maj. Carl G.F. Korn (28-31 Oct); Capt. Albert H. Potter (to 6 Dec)
          5th Battalion: Lt. Col. E. Hayden Price (to 18 Oct); Maj. Noah P. Wood, Jr.
    Other Marine units
       3rd Defense Battalion (landed 7 Aug): Col. Robert H. Pepper
          Executive officer: Lt. Col. Harold C. Roberts
          Operations officer: Maj. Samuel G. Taxis
       1st Parachute Battalion: Maj. Charles A. Miller (to 18 Sep); Capt. Harry Torgerson (19-26 Sep); Maj. Robert H. Williams (from 27 Sep)
       1st Raider Battalion: Col. Merritt A. Edson (CMoH recipient) (to 21 Sep); Lt. Col. Samuel B. Griffith (22-27 Sep)
          CMoH recipient: Maj. Kenneth D. Bailey (KIA 26 Sep)
       1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion: Lt. Col. Walter W. Barr
       1st Aviation Engineer Battalion: Maj. Thomas F. Riley
       1st Pioneer Battalion: Maj. James G. Frazer (to 25 Oct); Maj. Henry H. Crockett
       1st Medical Battalion: Cmdr. Don S. Knowlton, USN
       1st Special Weapons Battalion: Maj. Robert B. Luckey (to 6 Oct); Maj. Richard W. Wallace
       1st Tank Battalion: Maj. Harvey S. Walseth
2nd Marine Division Brigadier General Alphonse DeCarre
The 2nd Marines reinforced by the 3rd Battalion/10th Marines were part of the initial 7 August landings. The reinforced 8th Marines landed on 2 November and the reinforced 6th Marines on 4 January 1943.
    Division staff
       Asst. to commanding general: Col. Leo D. Hermle
       Chief of staff: Col. George F. Stockes
       Asst. CoS for Personnel (D-1): Maj. Lawrence C. Hays Jr.
       Asst. CoS for Intelligence (D-2): Maj. Thomas J. Colley
       Asst. CoS for Operations (D-3): Lt. Col. John H. Coffman
       Asst. CoS for Logistics (D-4): Maj. George N. Carroll
       Division special troops: Col. Maurice G. Holmes
    2nd Marine Regiment
    Colonel John M. Arthur
    Exec. ofc.: Lt. Col. William S. Fellers (to 9 Oct); Lt. Col. Cornelius P. Van Ness
       1st Battalion: Lt. Col. Robert E. Hill (to 10 Nov); Maj. Wood B. Kyle
       2nd Battalion: Maj. Orin K. Pressley
       3rd Battalion: Maj. Robert G. Hunt
    6th Marine Regiment
    Colonel Gilder D. Jackson Jr.
    Exec. ofc.: Lt. Col. Alfred A. Watters (to 15 Dec); Lt. Col. Lyman G. Miller
       1st Battalion: Lt. Col. Russell Lloyd
       2nd Battalion: Maj. Raymond L. Murray
       3rd Battalion: Maj. William A. Kengla
    8th Marine Regiment
    Colonel Richard H. Jeschke
    Exec. ofc.: Lt. Col. James P. Riseley
       1st Battalion: Lt. Col. Miles S. Newton (from 15 Jan. to 15 Nov, 1942); Maj. Joseph B. McCaffery
       2nd Battalion: Lt. Col. John H. Cook Jr.
       3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. Augustus H. Fricke
    10th Marine Regiment (Artillery)
    Colonel Thomas E. Bourke
    Exec. ofc.: Lt. Col. Ralph E. Forsyth
       1st Battalion: Lt. Col. Presley M. Rixey
       2nd Battalion: Maj. George R. E. Shell
       3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. Manly L. Curry (to 18 Oct; from 28 Nov); Lt. Col. Donovan D. Sult (18 Oct-28 Nov)
       4th Battalion: Lt. Col. Kenneth A. Jorgensen
    Other Marine units
       2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion: Maj. Henry C. Drewes
       9th Defense Battalion (landed December 1942)
          Commanding officer: Col. David R. Nimmer
          Executive officer: Lt. Col. William J. Scheyer
          Operations officer: Capt. William C. Givens
       2nd Raider Battalion ("Carlson's Raiders"): Lt. Col. Evans F. Carlson
       2nd Special Weapons Battalion: Lt. Col. Paul D. Sherman
       2nd Tank Battalion: Maj. Alexander B. Swenceski
       6th Naval Construction Battalion: Lt. Cmdr. Joseph L. Blundon, CEC (Started landing on 27 August)
       3rd Battalion 18th Marines (started landing on 12 December)

### Army forces

Americal Division
Major General Alexander M. Patch
    Arrived in echelons beginning 13 October:
       132nd Infantry Regiment (Illinois National Guard)
       164th Infantry Regiment (North Dakota National Guard)
    Landed 13 October:
       182nd Infantry Regiment (Massachusetts National Guard)
    Landed 12 November:
       147th Infantry Regiment (Separate) (Ohio National Guard)
       97th Field Artillery Battalion
       214th Coast Artillery (United States)
       244th Coast Artillery Regiment
          221st Field Artillery Battalion
          245th Field Artillery Battalion
          246th Field Artillery Battalion
          247th Field Artillery Battalion
          57th Engineer Combat Battalion
25th Infantry Division
Major General J. Lawton Collins
    Arrived in echelons beginning 17 December:
       27th Infantry Regiment
          CMoH recipient: Capt. Charles W. Davis
       35th Infantry Regiment
          CMoH recipients: Sgt. William G. Fournier (MW 10 Jan 1943), Tech. Lewis Hall (KIA 10 Jan 1943)
       161st Infantry Regiment (Washington National Guard)
    Battalion-level units:
       8th Field Artillery Battalion
       64th Field Artillery Battalion
       89th Field Artillery Battalion
       90th Field Artillery Battalion
       65th Engineer Combat Battalion
Service Command, South Pacific Theater of Operations Brigadier General Raymond E. S. Williamson
    70th Coast Artillery
    Engineer units
    Supply units
    Military Police units

## Japanese
### Seventeenth Army

Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake
2nd Infantry (Sendai) Division Lieutenant General Masao Maruyama
    Landed between 5 September and 4 October:
       4th Infantry Regiment
       16th Infantry Regiment
       29th Infantry Regiment
       2nd Artillery Regiment
       2nd Engineer Battalion
38th Infantry Division Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano
    The depleted 38th Division landed 5–15 November
       228th Infantry Regiment
       229th Infantry Regiment
       230th Infantry Regiment
       38th Mountain Gun Regiment
       38th Engineer Battalion
35th Brigade Major General Kiyotaki Kawaguchi
    Landed 29 August–5 September; included a late-arriving battalion of the 28th Infantry Regiment.
       124th Infantry Regiment
       Kitao Battalion / Ichiki Detachment
          4th Artillery Regiment
       10th Mountain Gun Battalion
       20th Mountain Gun Battalion

### Other units

    28th Infantry Regiment
    Arrived 6 July to begin construction of an airstrip:
       11th Construction Unit
       13th Construction Unit