Operation lookout
"Operation Lookout" is the first time that the Pacific Fleet changed from defense to attack. The Pacific Fleet will attack and occupy Raj Island and Guadalcanal Island with naval carrier units and marines. Fletcher was promoted to Lieutenant General in July 1942 and was appointed as Commander of 6 1 Force by General Nimitz. Under the command of Lieutenant General Robert L. gormley, commander of the South Pacific Theater, he was responsible for the landing operations of the two islands. Factor 6 1 includes two task forces (working groups), triglyceride 6 1. 1 is under the command of Major General Reynolds (Lei Nuowa), and includes three battle groups, namely Saratoga (Fletcher's flagship), Enterprise and Wasp (resume -8). Triglyceride 6 1.2 was commanded by Major General Kelly Turner (Richmond Wright Turner), and it was an amphibious landing fleet (Triglyceride 6 1.2 was reorganized into the 62nd factor, still under the command of Major General Turner).
Factor 6 1 assembled in Fiji on July 26th. On August 7, the Marine Corps 1 Division began to land on two islands, quickly annihilating the Japanese troops on both islands. The Japanese reacted quickly. On the 7th and 8th, Rabur launched a series of air raids, sank a transport ship and damaged two destroyers. The Japanese army was shot down 36 planes, and the American army lost 19 planes, including fighter planes 14 planes. Worried about the loss of fighter planes and the fuel condition of ships, Fletcher evacuated triglyceride 6 1. 1 from the waters of Guadalcanal on the evening of the 8th to refuel, leaving the landing troops and amphibious ships without air cover. Due to the lack of air support, tuna plans to unload its supplies as much as possible on the night of the 8th and leave the tulagi-Guadalcanal area the next day.
However, before the departure, Lieutenant General No.1 of Japan's Eighth Fleet led five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and 1 destroyers, and rushed into Shawo Bay on the night of the 8th to 9th, sinking four allied heavy cruisers and severely damaging 1 heavy cruisers and two destroyers, but the attack scope did not extend to transport ships and coastal defense forces. This battle was called the Battle of Savo Island (the first Japanese Battle of Solomon Sea), and the aircraft carrier left the tulagi-Guadalcanal area on the evening of the 9th.
After that, Factor 6 1 continued to patrol the southeast of Guadalcanal to protect the traffic line. However, the Japanese reconnaissance plane discovered the 6 1 factor on August 20th, so the Third Fleet (including fleet ships Xianghe, Ruihe and light ship Longxiang), under the command of Lieutenant General Nan Yunzhong, set off from Truck Island for the waters of Solomon Islands. On 23rd, an American enemy patrol plane first spotted the Japanese fleet, but due to the bad weather, Saratoga's attack fleet didn't find the Japanese. But on the afternoon of 23rd, the wasp left the battlefield to refuel, causing the US military to fight three Japanese ships with two ships. On the 24th, the dragon boat was sent to attack Guadalcanal Island, but it was discovered by a US reconnaissance plane. Saratoga's attack fleet found the dragon boat and sank it. At the same time, the Japanese reconnaissance plane also found the battle group of the Enterprise, launched an attack, and temporarily withdrew the Enterprise from the battlefield. This battle is called the Battle of East Solomon Islands (the second battle of Solomon Sea in Japan). In addition to the loss of 1 ship, the Japanese army also shot down about 75 carrier-based aircraft. In addition, the replenishment operation on the 25th was also stopped by the Marine Corps Air Force, so the US military won.
Commander of 13 Military Region and North Pacific Forces
1942 On August 3 1, Saratoga was hit by a torpedo fired by a Japanese submarine while cruising east of Guadalcanal, and had to return to Pearl Harbor for renovation. As Fletcher was also slightly injured, Nimitz gave him a leave of absence, and Martin Luther King ordered him to work in Washington for a short time to "observe him".
In June+10/mid-October, 5438, Fletcher applied to return to the sea, which Nimitz supported, but Kim refused, and appointed him as the commander of the No.1 13 naval military region and commander of the northwest region (headquartered in Seattle). 1943,1/kloc-0 served as commander of the north Pacific forces in June, until the end of the war. 1944 and 1945, he commanded North Pacific forces (including army aviation and naval forces) to carry out bombing and shore bombing missions in the Kuril Islands. After Japan surrendered,1September, 945, he led 60 ships of the North Pacific Force to accept the surrender of the Japanese Navy's Northern Fleet in Luao Bay, Japan. In his speech to officers and men, he once mentioned a passage:
"Looking back at the Japanese atrocities in Nanjing, the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bataan's death March, and countless murders, torture, and the hunger and pain of our unfortunate captured partners, we will not do this to the Japanese. We have shown our superior combat effectiveness to Japanese soldiers and the world. Now we want to show the Japanese and people in other parts of the world the democracy and the rule of law we are fighting for. "
Retirement and honor
Lieutenant General Fletcher served as the chairman of the General Officers' Meeting in 1946, and retired in May 1947 and was promoted to general. Admiral Fletcher died on April 25th 1973 in the Bay of Biscay Naval Hospital and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The Pulang class destroyer Fletcher (Japan -992) was used to commemorate Admiral Fletcher.
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Admiral Fletcher was the commander of the US Navy who participated in the most battles from June194/kloc-0 to August 1942, including the first ship-to-ship battle in history. However, he is not as respected and even criticized as Haier Sai and Spran, and these criticisms are still regarded by many war history researchers as comments on General Fletcher's coffin. The main criticism is the lack of enterprise, which is not only the opinion of General Kim, but also the opinion of General Nimitz before the Battle of Midway. But after reading Fletcher's Battle Report 1942 on May 28th, Nimitz changed his mind from then on. He mentioned in his letter to Kim:
During Fletcher's three-day stay in Pearl Harbor, I finally had the opportunity to discuss the military actions in the Coral Sea with him, and clarified the wrong impression that his fleet lacked aggressive tactics ... My opinion: Fletcher was very competent in the recent Coral Sea campaign and made a good judgment. He is an excellent naval officer, adapted to the sea and good at fighting. I still hope he can be the commander of the task force in the future.
However, Kim does not accept this statement. Although Fletcher was finally promoted to lieutenant general, he found an opportunity to transfer him out of the sea. Someone once summed up Kim's dissatisfaction with Fletcher as the following three points:
Fletcher was appointed by Chimel, which made King suspicious of him.
Wake island's rescue failed.
Fletcher lost Lexington in the Battle of Coral Sea, and King was the captain of this ship for two years.
All three points make sense. For example, Isoroku Yamamoto served as the captain of Chicheng, and Yamamoto also hoped that Nan Yunzhong would do his best to rescue Chicheng in the Battle of Midway Island. Losing Lexington is a pity for Kim. The problem, however, is that the Lexington was commanded by Major General Fei Qu, and the captain was Colonel Frederick Sherman. Qu Fei later served as deputy military minister in charge of aviation business and dean of naval academy under British Wang En. Sherman served as commander of the fast ship force from 65438 to 0943 until the war broke out, and served as commander of the Fifth Fleet. King doesn't seem to criticize the two officers.
The reasons for the failure of rescue in wake island are complicated. Indeed, Fletcher's slow cooperation with the tanker speed of the fleet (about 12 knots) and the maritime refueling operations on February 2 1 day and February 22 were the main reasons why the rescue fleet could not provide wake island with garrison assistance before the 23rd, but if it really arrived in wake island before the 23rd, the Japanese Second Air Force (Commander). It is possible to directly launch the first warship battle with a factor of 17 after the Pearl Harbor campaign. History can't comment on what didn't happen, but for the US Army, which was experienced in combat at that time but relatively inexperienced, such a confrontation might be a worse disaster than Pearl Harbor. In addition, the rescue of wake island was decided by Chimel. After losing the warships of the Pacific Fleet, if he can successfully rescue wake island, his reputation will be restored. However, due to the pressure of public opinion, Chimel was removed from the post of commander of the Pacific Fleet on February 17, 2007. Pei Yi, who represented him, thought that wake island was not important (but President Roosevelt said that the fall of wake island was worse than the attack on Pearl Harbor) and that he would fall into the trap of the Japanese (it is possible, but there is no evidence that the Japanese set a trap to lure the American fleet). In addition, even if the warships arrived in the operational waters on 23rd, the reinforced 4th Marine Corps Defence Battalion was more than 500 miles away from wake island. When Paye cancelled the rescue operation in wake island on 23rd, King didn't blame Paye's decision, but accused Fletcher of obeying orders. Pei Yi is a classmate and close friend of Royal Naval Academy 190 1 class. So the reason why Fletcher is not trusted by Kim may not be these external problems, but purely caused by Kim's personal prejudice.
Another part of Fletcher's criticism is "habitual" refueling. This was the case in the rescue operation in wake island, and it was also the case in the observation deck operation. Fletcher's critics believe that this just proves that he is not active enough and just wants to keep the ship. Supporters retort that in the rescue operation in wake island, Fletcher refueled because Paye ordered the factor 17 to stop waiting for Brown's factor 1 1, while the offshore refueling technology at that time was not skilled enough and needed more time [25]. Moreover, judging from the situation of the US military at that time, it can be said that preserving the combat power of ships is the most important task. Otherwise, it will be the American army, not the Japanese army, that will lose freedom of movement. As for the landing operation between Tulaji Island and Guadalcanal Island in the "Lookout" operation, supporters believe that Fletcher's action order is to ensure the landing operation and wait for an opportunity to destroy the air combat power of the Japanese navy. 1942 completed the landing operation on August 7 and 8, and he was ready for the Japanese fleet to counterattack. Opponents believe that it is an unforgivable mistake to let the Marine Corps and the transport fleet have no air force protection and let the US military suffer a fiasco on Savo Island. The former can be discussed, but even if American warships stay in Savo Bay, it is impossible for them to take off fighter jets at night to attack the Japanese, and they may also be directly attacked by Japanese surface warships. In the battle of East Solomon Sea, the US military found the Japanese fleet and sent the aircraft carrier Wasp to the south to refuel, which really put the US military in a weak position. But the result of the battle was that the American army won, and the more reprehensible part may be that it didn't win enough.
Enterprise can be said to be the core of all criticism, but interestingly, this "enterprise" is comparable to Haier. Halsey had unparalleled fighting ambition and leadership, and was also the most famous American navy general in World War II. As the commander of the South Pacific theater and the commander of the Third Fleet, except for the disasters caused by two typhoons, his outstanding performance enabled the US military to win many victories. But as a task force commander, besides making news and boosting morale, his military achievements are not good. Others think that if halsey commands the Battle of Midway, four Japanese ships may be sunk, but it is also likely to be defeated by General Yamamoto's surface fleet. On the contrary, compared with Haier, Spree's enterprises are completely inferior, but Spree has the full support of King. Therefore, it is unfair to criticize Fletcher and Haier for their lack of initiative.
Despite these criticisms, Fletcher was still the naval general who sank the most Japanese ships in World War II. If the losses of Lexington and Yorktown are recorded in his name, then under his command, a total of five ships were sunk, including Xiangfeng (the first capital ship lost by the Japanese army), Chicheng, Kaga, Canglong (Fletcher handed over the command to Sparland on the afternoon of June 4) and Longxiang. Haier Sai sank four ships at a time in the naval battle of Ray Taiwan Province, but the Northern Army (the Third Fleet) at that time was originally the bait. Haier Sai used 12 ships against four ships, and Fletcher fought in equal numbers at most. Major General Thomas Kincaid, who succeeded Fletcher as the commander of Factor 6 1 (later promoted to general and commander of the US Seventh Fleet), not only failed to sink a Japanese warship, but also lost two ships, Bumblebee and Bumblebee, but he did not affect his career because of such losses in the future. Fletcher not only preserved the strength of the American navy, stopped the Japanese advance for the first time, but also changed the direction of the American Pacific War in the first half of the most difficult year, but he didn't get the praise he deserved.
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