Allied Naval Forces
Vice Admiral Herbert F. Leary was appointed Commander, Allied Naval Forces in April 1942. In February 1942, Leary had been appointed to command Anzac Force, the naval forces in the Anzac Area to the east of Australia. He was answerable directly to Admiral King. The most important force under his command was Rear Admiral John Gregory Crace's Anzac Squadron. When SWPA and the Allied Naval Forces were formed in April 1942, Leary also became Commander, Southwest Pacific Force (COMSOUWESPAC), while Crace's Anzac Squadron became Task Force 44. In June, Crace was succeeded by another Royal Navy officer, Rear Admiral Victor Crutchley.
With the agreement of the Australian government, Leary was succeeded as Commander, Southwest Pacific Force, and Commander, Allied Naval Forces, by Vice Admiral Arthur S. Carpender on 11 September 1942. Like his predecessor, he reported to King in the former role, and MacArthur in the latter. Also like Leary, Carpender was not the most senior naval officer in the theatre, as the Royal Australian Navy Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Sir Guy Royle, and the Royal Netherlands Navy′s Vice Admiral Conrad Helfrich were both senior to him. However, Royle agreed to serve under Carpenter as Commander, South West Pacific Sea Frontier, which was formed on 16 March 1943.
The Southwest Pacific Force was renamed the Seventh Fleet on 15 March 1943, and its task forces were renumbered to match, so Task Force 44 became Task Force 74. Another important component was Task Force 76, the Amphibious Force, Southwest Pacific, which had been formed under Rear Admiral Daniel Barbey on 8 January 1943. It became the VII Amphibious Force later in the year. A training centre, HMAS Assault was established at Port Stephens, New South Wales, and another at Toorbul Point, Queensland. The VII Amphibious Forces initially consisted of the Australian Landing Ships, Infantry HMAS Manoora, Westralia and Kanimbla and the American attack transport USS Henry T. Allen, but gradually grew in size as additional landing craft and landing ships arrived.
MacArthur was annoyed at the way that Royle, a Royal Navy officer, communicated directly with the Admiralty. MacArthur was also aware that Royle had been critical of SWPA's command arrangements, and of some of his decisions. MacArthur proposed that an Australian officer, Captain John Collins, replace Royle as CNS, an appointment that Carpender also supported. Over the Admiralty's objections, Curtin appointed Collins to replace Crutchley as Commander, Task Force 44 in June 1944, at the rank of commodore, with the intention that Collins would replace Royle when his term expired. This did not occur, because Collins was seriously wounded in Leyte Gulf on 21 October 1944.
MacArthur did not get along with Carpender, and twice asked for him to be replaced, only to be embarrassed in November 1943 when King replaced Carpender with Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid without informing MacArthur or seeking the approval of the Australian government. However, a face-saving formula was agreed upon. For the invasion of Leyte, the Seventh Fleet was massively reinforced by ships from the Pacific Fleet. Cover was provided by Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Fleet, which remained under Nimitz. At the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the divided command brought the Allies to the brink of disaster when misunderstandings arose between Kinkaid and Halsey. Allied Naval Forces was abolished, along with SWPA, on 2 September 1945.
Read more about this topic: South West Pacific Area (command)
Famous quotes containing the words allied, naval and/or forces:
“How much atonement is enough? The bombing must be allowed as at least part-payment: those of our young people who are concerned about the moral problem posed by the Allied air offensive should at least consider the moral problem that would have been posed if the German civilian population had not suffered at all.”
—Clive James (b. 1939)
“The world was a huge ball then, the universe a might harmony of ellipses, everything moved mysteriously, incalculable distances through the ether.
We used to feel the awe of the distant stars upon us. All that led to was the eighty-eight naval guns, ersatz, and the night air-raids over cities. A magnificent spectacle.
After the collapse of the socialist dream, I came to America.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“The popularity of disaster movies ... expresses a collective perception of a world threatened by irresistible and unforeseen forces which nevertheless are thwarted at the last moment. Their thinly veiled symbolic meaning might be translated thus: We are innocent of wrongdoing. We are attacked by unforeseeable forces come to harm us. We are, thus, innocent even of negligence. Though those forces are insuperable, chance will come to our aid and we shall emerge victorious.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)