attempt, Admiral King was hostile to Pye. Vice Admiral Ghormley had last held sea command in 1938 on the battleship Nevada and had not been back to a sea command since. And, in addition, he had never commanded a carrier. On May 3, the Japanese occupied the island of Tulagi and its seaplane base, in the Solomon Islands. On May 4–8, the Battle of the Coral Sea was fought and ended in a tactical victory for the Japanese but a strategic victory for the Allies. In early May, Vice Admiral Ghormley conferred with Admiral Nimitz at Pearl Harbor and then, on May 17, moved to Naval Base Noumea at Nouméa, New Caledonia, to assume his new command. South Pacific command and Guadalcanal In early July, a U.S. reconnaissance flight observed that the Japanese were building an airfield on Guadalcanal, across Ironbottom Sound from Tulagi. Thus, on July 10, Admiral Nimitz ordered the undertaking of Operation Watchtower, to immediately attack, seize, and hold the Solomon Islands of Guadalcanal and Tulagi. As COMSOPAC, Ghormley would command the operation, with the landing on Guadalcanal to take place on August 7. Forces assigned to Ghormley for Watchtower included the 1st Marine Division (11,000 men) commanded by Marine Major General Alexander Vandegrift and three carrier groups under Vice Admiral Fletcher: , , and . They were joined by the South Pacific Amphibious Force of escorts and transports commanded by Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner. They were supported by Land-Based Air, South Pacific Force, under Rear Admiral McCain, and Allied Air Forces, Southwest Pacific, under General Douglas MacArthur and Lt. General George Kenney. Ghormley's performance in command appeared to be lackluster and pessimistic, as reflected in his continuing reports to Admiral Nimitz at Pearl Harbor, to which Admiral King took exceptional note. Ghormley had been directed through original operational orders by Admiral King to "personally oversee" the Guadalcanal/Tulagi attacks by U.S. forces, meaning he was expected to be on site or in the immediate area of conflict. However, Ghormley was either absent in the early planning phases and subsequent invasions or else holed up in his headquarters once he finally moved to Nouméa, more than from Guadalcanal. He apparently was overwhelmed by the quick developments of the overall operation as well as lack of immediate resources, paperwork, myriad details and petty political squabbling caused by New Caledonia's French government hosts, rather than being present in the