USS MEREDITH, DD-434 (cont.)
15-18 OCTOBER 1942
USS MEREDITH, DD-434 (cont.)
In ten minutes, all to be seen of MEREDITH was floating debris, life rafts, and the black heads of sailors bobbing in a thick mat of oil. VIREO (AT-144) escaped the attack almost unscathed, but the wind drove the abandoned tug far to the lee. LT Bates found himself in a liferaft with the medical officer, LT J.Z. Bowers, and some badly wounded sailors. Bowers allowed only the sickest aboard. One of the worst was the skipper, CDR Hubbard, who lay dazed and incoherent and would be one of the first to die in the hours to come. Those more able clung to the raft from the water, resting in brief rotations on the gunwale. An inventory of provisions revealed that the emergency rations were unfit, having been thoroughly soaked in oil. Only one box of provisions, five gallons of water and a first aid kit could be salvaged. In the rest of the boats the story was much the same. With a marathon effort one lifeboat was able to reach VIREO, but the abandoned tug drifted further away in the wind. Through the afternoon and night those in the water worked to stay together, while the wounded became delirious or quietly slipped away.
The following day dawned bright and clear. The thick coating of oil that had nauseated most now proved protective against the burning sun. A few sailors broke into the polluted rations, only to wretch all the harder. With no sign of rescue on the horizon, Bowers began rationing the water to one teaspoon per man per day. About noon the first shark attacked, taking the leg of a sailor who died shortly thereafter. In the coming days sharks would prove a constant problem. That afternoon a B-17 was sighted overhead but was too high to take notice. The next day was also sunny. Dehydrated sailors now began to hallucinate, requesting permission to “go below” to the scuttlebutt–never to be seen again. Some struck out chasing mirages of islands or rescue ships. The exhausted simply gave up. The sharks became bolder, one four-foot specimen jumped into Bowers’ boat and tore a giant gash in a sailor’s thigh. The shark was wrestled back; the sailor bled to death a few hours later. That night a brief shower brought some measure of relief to the parched survivors.
It was clear the third day would be the last for many who lingered. Even Bowers himself began to hallucinate. But when everyone saw the PBY Catalina dropping smoke markers, it couldn’t have been an illusion. Shortly the shadows of the destroyers GRAYSON (DD-435) and GWIN (DD-433) appeared. They and SEMINOLE (AT-65) rescued the seven officers and 56 men who survived the ordeal; 236 from MEREDITH and VIREO had been lost. VIREO was eventually recovered as well, after drifting for six days.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 22 OCT 22
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 4 “L-M”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1969, pp. 332-33.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 7 “T-V”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1981, p. 538.
Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol 5 The Struggle for Guadalcanal. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1948, pp. 179-80.
Parkin, Robert Sinclair. Blood on the Sea: American Destroyers Lost in World War II. New York, NY: Sarpedon, 1995, pp. 88-92.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: Hubbard’s actions are credited with saving the entire convoy (all of whom eventually reached Guadalcanal). Only Meredith was lost to the enemy. The Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer HARRY E. HUBBARD (DD-748) was commissioned later in the war on 22 July 1944. She saw action off Okinawa and remained in service through Korea and Vietnam. She and TICONDEROGA (CVA-14) earned the Navy Unit Commendation for action in the Gulf of Tonkin incident that opened our military involvement in Vietnam, 2-5 August 1964.
Our WWII destroyer escorts EDGAR R. CHASE (DE-16), ATHERTON (DE-169), NAIFEH (DE-352), COCKRILL (DE-394), DURIK, (DE-666), and ODUM (DE-670) were all named in honor of heroes of the Meredith disaster: LT Dan R. Cockrill; LT Edgar R. Chase; LTJG Alfred Naifeh; ENS John M. Atherton; FN1c Joseph Odum and SN Joseph E. Durik.
MEREDITH was the second of four US Navy destroyers to remember SGT Jonathan Meredith, USMC, a hero of the Barbary Wars who saved the life of his superior officer during fierce hand-to-hand fighting with Tripolitan pirates, 3 August 1805.
