To Be: First Seabees on Guadalcanal

The landings of the 1st Marine Division (Reinforced) occurred on 7-9 August 1942 at Guadalcanal (code name Cactus) and Tulagi as Operation WATCHTOWER. The Marine's 1st Engineer Battalion took on the majority of the work at the partially completed Japanese air strip named Henderson Field by Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift, USMC. Work at the field allowed a PBY (Lieutenant W. S. Sampson, USN) to land on 12 August. On 16 August the first element of CUB-1, an advance fuel and supply base, landed. This element, under Ensign George S. Polk, USN, consisted of five officers and 118 enlisted personnel, all navy petty officers of aviation support ratings.

On 20 August Lieutenant Commander Joseph P. Blundon, CEC, USNR, who was Officer-in-Charge of the 6th NCB, arrived in a PBY which landed off Lunga Point. He immediately called on General Vandegrift and his planning was directed at work on Henderson Field. Lieutenant Commander Blundon requested two companies from his NCB at Esprito Santo be sent forward with a few extra men trained for special details such as water purification and machinery repair. Early in the week of August 24th, directions were received from Commander, South Pacific Amphibious Force (Task Force 62, Rear Admiral R. K. Turner, USN) to transfer four hundred personnel to Cactus, two hundred each on the transport USS Fuller (AP-14) and the cargo ship USS Betelgeuse (AK-28). Companies A and D were designated and boarded the USS Betelgeuse on Saturday.

This first contingent landed on 1 September 1942 and consisted on 357 men and five officers under Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Thomas L. Stamp, CEC, USNR. Lieutenant Commander Blundon had departed by aircraft to Esprito Santo on 27 August and returned on 29 August with Commander James P. Compton, USN, who was Commanding Officer of CUB-1. Lack of transportation shipping, enemy action and the need for other priority unit and supply shipments caused the 6th NCB to arrive in elements. The second element of 156 men from the 6th NCB departed Esprito Santo on 29 August and arrived on Guadalcanal on 26 September. The third, fourth and fifth elements arrived on 2, 9 and 12 October resulting in 1,002 men, including 17 officers, on Guadalcanal-Tulagi by mid-October. Formed in July 1942 at Camp Allen and had moved to Port Hueneme, California. It departed on 9 September for Noumea, New Caledonia, and arrived on 29 September. Rear Admiral Turner, Commander, Amphibious Forces South Pacific, had proposed a plan of action on 3 July 1942 to Admiral Nimitz (in response to a plan request from Admiral Ernest King) to include the "occupation of Ndeni Island." This island is located about 300 miles west of Tulagi and had been used by the Japanese for a temporary air base during war games in 1940. After Turner's proposal the Ndeni operation gained approval from Nimitz and those above up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Read Admiral Turner issued his plan for the operation, code name HUDDLE, on 20 August. However, after the Guadalcanal operation needed additional resources and, after General Vandegrift and others at the operational level in the theater spoke against the use of valuable resources at Ndeni, the operation was canceled by Admiral Halsey on 20 October 1942. After that decision Turner urged that the troops last earmarked for that operation (and staged at Noumea) be switched to Aola on Guadalcanal where he envisioned the construction of an airfield. The 14th NCB was organized as part of ACORN-1, a land plane advanced base. The landing occurred on 4 November under the direction and control of Turner's Task Force 65. Transport Divisions Eight and Twelve disembarked the following units from USS Neville (AP-16), USS Fomalhaut (AK-22) and USS Heywood (AP-12) in an amphibious landing at Aola (about 50 miles to the east of Lunga and the developing Naval Operating Base there):

Lieutenant Colonel E. F. Carlson's Second Marine Raider Battalion, C and E companies as the advance landing party and the main body force
1st Battalion, 147th Infantry, US Army, Colonel W. B. Tuttle, Commanding Officer

ACORN-1 personnel - about 100 Navy personnel

14th NCB personnel - about 500 Seabees and 2000 tons of supplies and equipment

Artillery batteries for the Army's Americal Division

5th Marine Defense Battalion detachments

Marine Corps AA batteries and coastal defense guns (155-millimeter howitzers)

The main body force consisted of approximately 1700 personnel. The second section of the 14th NCB arrived in two elements on 29 November and 23 December. In addition, other NCBs arrived on Guadalcanal and Tulagi during the battle period of 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943. The 18th NCB was formed at Camp Allen on 11 August and transferred to Davisville, R. I. On 6 September, C Company was transferred to the C. B. Replacement Group, Fleet Marine Force, San Diego, California. The remainder of the battalion was transferred to the FMF Base Depot, Norfolk, and embarked on 11 September 1942 as part of the Second Marine Division arriving at Noumea, New Caledonia, on 11 November. B Company landed on Guadalcanal on 6 December with A, D and Headquarters companies arriving on 12 December. More 18th NCB elements arrived on December 19 and 25.

to be continued.

Copied from Seabeecook.com