19 MARCH 1945 LUCKY 13 By this date in the Pacific war, the Iwo Jima invasion was well underway, and plans were being made to assault the next island on the path to Japan–Okinawa. American naval forces had begun striking targets Read More
19-20 JANUARY 1942 PT-31 Matters had run afoul for LT Edward G. DeLong and the 12-man crew of PT-31 soon after splitting company with PT-34. The fuel strainers of his wing engines clogged, and the center engine failed shortly with an Read More
18–19 JANUARY 1942 ACTION IN SUBIC BAY The first five weeks of our involvement in World War II found US forces battling a Japanese onslaught in the Philippines. On Luzon we were pushed farther and farther down the Bataan Peninsula, cut Read More
4 JANUARY 1945 USS OMMANEY BAY The twin-engine Japanese medium bomber, converted into a flying bomb herself, dove toward USS OMMANEY BAY (CVE-79). To the American crew it was a complete surprise! Screened by the numerous small Philippine islands nearby, Ommaney’s Read More
3 DECEMBER 1941 ISABEL’S SECRET SORTIE The 245-foot USS ISABEL (PY-10) was left over from WWI, built in 1917 to be the personal yacht of millionaire John North Willys (of Willys jeep fame). She had been requisitioned on the ways by Read More
3 OCTOBER 1944 THE TRAGEDY OF SEAWOLF The Sargo-class fleet submarine SEAWOLF (SS-197) was a veteran of the Pacific war by this date, having served nearly continuously since the Pearl Harbor raid. The 71,608 tons of enemy shipping she had sent Read More
3 OCTOBER 1944 THE LOSS OF SHELTON (DE-407) On this day, Task Unit 77.4.3, affectionately known as “Taffy 3,” centered around the escort carriers FANSHAW BAY (CVE-70) and MIDWAY (CVE-63), was operating north of Morotai. The island had been taken quietly Read More
2 SEPTEMBER 1944 PILOT DOWN! By September of 1944 the Allied advance across the Pacific reached the Bonin Islands, an 1800-mile-long chain that includes Iwo Jima. At 0715 this morning, a squadron of Grumman TBF Avengers took off from USS SAN Read More
9 AUGUST 1942 USS JARVIS The morning of August 7th, 1942, saw the US Marines make their first landings on Japanese held Guadalcanal in the Solomon Island chain. The enemy counter attacked with airstrikes, the second coming around noon on the Read More
18 JUNE 1942 LTJG RALPH RICH With Hitler’s 1 September 1939 invasion of Poland, the citizenry of the United States remained divided over whether or not we should become involved. However, enlistments in our military went up as men prepared Read More