page_title: Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo
section_title: Prelude
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo / Prelude
caption_attribution_description: English: Map in German language depicting the allied landings on Tulagi, Florida Island, Gavutu and Tanambogo (7 / 8 August 1942) during the Pacific War. It is based mainly on a sketch from the book: Joseph N. Mueller: Guadalcanal 1942 - The marines strike back, London 1992, p.27.
context_page_description: The Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, between the forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied ground forces. It took place from 7–9 August 1942 on the Solomon Islands, during the initial Allied landings in the Guadalcanal campaign.
  U.S. Marines of the 1st Marine Division, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, with the USMC invasion force under the direct command of Brigadier General William Rupertus, captured the islands of Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo among which the Japanese Navy had constructed a naval and seaplane base. The landings were fiercely resisted by the Japanese Navy troops who, heavily outnumbered and outgunned by the Allied forces, fought and died almost to the last man.
  While the landings on Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo were taking place, Allied troops were also landing on nearby Guadalcanal, with the objective of capturing an airfield under construction by Japanese forces. In contrast to the intense fighting on Tulagi and Gavutu, the landings on Guadalcanal were essentially unopposed.
context_section_description: Bad weather allowed the Allied expeditionary force to arrive in the vicinity of Guadalcanal unseen by the Japanese on the morning of 7 August. The Japanese detected the radio traffic from the incoming Allied invasion force and prepared to send scout aircraft aloft at daybreak. The landing force ships split into two groups, with one group assigned for the assault on Guadalcanal and the other tasked with the assault on Tulagi, Florida, and Gavutu–Tanambogo. Aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Wasp dive-bombed Japanese installations on Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo, and Florida and strafed and destroyed 15 Japanese seaplanes floating in the anchorages near the islands. Several of the seaplanes were warming their engines in preparation for takeoff and were lost with their aircrews and many of their support personnel.
  The cruiser USS San Juan and destroyers USS Monssen (DD-436) and Buchanan bombarded planned landing sites on Tulagi and Florida Island. To cover the assaults on Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo, U.S. Marines from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment made an unopposed landing on Florida Island at 07:40. They were guided to their objective by several Australians, such as Lieutenant Frank Stackpool (later Captain, British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force), who were familiar with the Tulagi-Florida area from having previously lived and worked in the area.
caption: Routes of Allied amphibious forces for landings on Florida, Tulagi, and Gavutu–Tanambogo, 7 August 1942
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