Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942)

The invasion of Tulagi, on 3–4 May 1942, was part of Operation Mo, the Empire of Japan’s strategy in the South Pacific and South West Pacific Area in 1942. The occupation was intended to cover the flank of and provide reconnaissance support for Japanese forces advancing on Port Moresby in New Guinea. It was also intended to threaten and interdict the supply and communication routes between the United States and Australia and New Zealand.

About Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942) in brief

The invasion of Tulagi, on 3–4 May 1942, was part of Operation Mo, the Empire of Japan’s strategy in the South Pacific and South West Pacific Area in 1942. The occupation was intended to cover the flank of and provide reconnaissance support for Japanese forces that were advancing on Port Moresby in New Guinea. It was also intended to threaten and interdict the supply and communication routes between the United States and Australia and New Zealand. Without the means to effectively resist the Japanese offensive in the Solomons, the British Resident Commissioner of the Solomon Islands protectorate and the few Australian troops assigned to defend Tulagi evacuated the island just before the Japanese forces arrived on 3 May. The next day, however, a U. S. aircraft carrier task force en route to resist theJapanese forces advancing onPort Mores by struck the Japanese Tulagi landing force in an air attack, destroying or damaging several of the Japanese ships and aircraft involved in the landing operation. The Japanese troops successfully occupied Tulagi and began the construction of a small naval base. Over the next several months, the Japanese established a naval refueling, communications, and seaplane reconnaissance base on Tulagi. The Allied forces counter-attacked with landings of their own on Guadalcanal and Tulagi on 7 August 1942, initiating the critical Guadal canal campaign that, along with the New Guinea campaign, decided the course of the war in theSouth Pacific. In launching this war, Japanese leaders sought to neutralize the American fleet, seize possessions rich in natural resources, and obtain strategic military bases to defend their far-flung empire.

In the first few months of 1942 Japanese forces also attacked and took control of the Philippines, Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, the Netherlands East Indies, Wake Island, New Britain, the Gilbert Islands, and Guam. Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue believed that the capture and control of these locations would provide greater security for the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. The Imperial Japanese Army supported the idea of taking Port Morsby in April 1942, and developed a plan for the attack that was titled “Operation Mo” The plan also included the seizure of Tulaga, a small island in the southern Solomon Islands, where a seaplane base would be set up for potential air operations against potential Allied forces and forces in the Allied territories and South Pacific. Although concurrently planning an operation that he hoped to lure the U.S. Pacific Fleet into a decisive showdown, he detached some of his large warships to support the operation and placed the Mo operation in charge of his naval portion of the operation. He also planned to seize Nauru, Ocean Island,. New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa, and thereby cut the supply lines between Australia and the U.,S., with the goal of reducing or eliminating Australia as a threat to Japanese positions in the south Pacific. The operation was called Operation Mo and took place in April and May 1942.

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Guadalcanal campaign Matanikau Offensive Actions along the Matanikau Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo