The Allied plan called for a two-pronged landing at several beaches to the east and west of the peninsula, followed by an advance north towards the airfields at Cape Gloucester. Final rehearsals were carried out on 21 December after which the troops embarked on their vessels early on Christmas Day at Oro Bay and Cape Cretin, near Finschhafen. The convoy, designated Task Force 76 under Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey, consisted of nine APDs, 19 Landing Craft Infantry (LCIs), 33 Landing Ship Tank (LSTs), 14 Landing Craft Mechanized (LCMs) and 12 Landing Craft Tank (LCTs), escorted by 12 destroyers as well as the task force flagship "Conyngham", three minesweepers and two rocket-carrying DUKWs that were carried aboard the LCMs. These two amphibians would support the western landings, while two LCIs had been similarly modified to support the eastern landing.