
Lat
9° 0' 0S Long 160° 10' 0E Largest island in
the Florida Island Group, surrounding the island of Tulagi. The Japanese garrisoned
these islands located just to the north of Guadalcanal in
April of 1942, and established a seaplane base at Gavutu (near
Tulagi).
Haleta
This was the first US Marine
Corps landing during the August 7, 1942 attack. Its goal was
to provide flank cover to the nearby landing at Blue Beach on Tulagi.
The Haleta landing met no resistance. Not a single landing craft
of the first wave was able to set its passengers directly ashore.
All of them
hung up on coral at distances from 30 to well over 100
yards from
the beach
line, and the assault personnel waded ashore against
no opposition, through water initially from waist to
armpit deep.
Balava
After the American liberation, this was the site of an American
seaplane base, on shore were many large fuel tanks and
of shore moorings for PBYs and other seaplanes.