Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, Commander, South Pacific Area, issued his Operation Plan No. 1–42 on 16 July 1942. It was to govern the execution of Task One which was to be divided into three phases. The first would be a rehearsal in the Fiji Islands; the second would be the seizure and occupation of Tulagi and Guadalcanal (Operation Watchtower). Additionally, the task force executed Operation Cleanslate on the Russell Islands in August 1942. The projected occupation of Ndeni in the Santa Cruz Islands would be the third and final phase.