Retiring Victory
26 MARCH 1943
RETIRING VICTORY
VADM Boshiro Hosogaya’s heavier force pursued the American cruiser/destroyer squadron of RADM Charles H. McMorris, gaining steadily. CAPT Bertram J. Rodgers in SALT LAKE CITY, with the longest-range US guns, kept up impressive fire from the end of the American line. Both RICHMOND and SALT LAKE CITY “chased salvos” (steered into the enemy shell splashes to subvert corrections). At 0945, SALT LAKE CITY took the destroyer ABUKUMA under fire as the latter positioned herself 18,000 yards off RICHMOND, an excellent vantage from which to spot. Eight salvos forced ABUKUMA into a 360-degree turn, to the cheers of Rodgers’ sailors. But the overpowering Japanese would not be denied. SALT LAKE CITY took her first hit at 0910, an 8″ shell that penetrated the fo’c’sle and chain locker but did not explode. Another shell wrecked the starboard aircraft and killed two crewmen. McMorris turned south and the Japanese followed, coursing inside his turn and cutting McMorris from his Aleutian base. McMorris now redirected northward in another parry at the transports.
SALT LAKE CITY’s impressive fighting drew the combined fire of the heavy cruisers NACHI and MAYA. She was holed below the waterline and worse, concussions from her own guns disabled her steering engine. The gallant cruiser next took a damnable hit in the engine room, and to make matters worse, her crew accidentally doused her boilers by mistakenly flooding the fuel lines with seawater. At 1155 she went dead in the water with the enemy charging at 30 knots from 17,000 yards astern! Rodgers’ gunners defiantly slugged away at the onrushing enemy, but disaster seemed assured. McMorris abandoned the freighters again and turned west, laying smoke. The destroyers BAILEY (DD-492), MONAGHAN (DD-354), and COGHLAN raced to launch a covering torpedo attack, expecting at any minute to see themselves, or the “sitting duck” cruiser, blasted. DALE (DD-353) closed to take off Rodgers’ crew, who were reciting prayers and exchanging final farewells. Miraculously however, working chest-deep in icy water in total darkness, SALT LAKE’s damage control parties stuffed their shirts into hull breeches and purged her fuel lines. Her boilers were re-fired, and after only six minutes her shafts began turning again!
Then in an queer twist of fate, Hosogaya inexplicably broke off the attack. Failing to sense the victory just off his bows, he apparently feared the arrival of overdue American land-based bombers. BAILEY and NACHI exchanged the final blows, but Hosogaya’s abrupt return to Japan (where he was relieved for cause) gave McMorris a strategic victory. Even the transports were forced to return later without landing.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 2 APR 24
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES: Retiring victories are not usually as impressive as offensive ones, but this scene–with SALT LAKE CITY firing from dead in the water, RICHMOND turning to her aid with guns blazing, and three destroyers in a suicidal torpedo charge–must have been memorable. SALT LAKE CITY’s OOD concluded her log entry with, “This day the hand of Divine Providence lay over the ship. Never before in her colorful history has death been so close for so long a time. The entire crew offered its thanks to Almighty God for His mercy and protection.”
Sakito Maru and Asaka Maru turned back after being spotted by PBY patrol planes. Americans on Adak indeed planned to send land-based B-25s after these freighters. But the bombers were delayed six hours installing auxiliary fuel tanks and reloading with armor-piercing bombs, many of which had to be chipped from frozen bomb racks.
