THE SACRIFICE OF VT-8

Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) from HORNET (CV-8) flew an early version of the TBD Devastator.  A three-seater, behind the pilot a navigator/radioman sat ahead of a rear-most gunner operating the only defensive weapon, a .30 caliber Browning machine gun.  The TBD was designed to attack under a fighter escort, a shortcoming that would prove fatal this day.

Aware of the Japanese battle plans, Pacific commander ADM Chester W. Nimitz “hid” the three carriers of Task Force 16 at “Point Luck” northeast of the anticipated enemy position off Midway.  TF 16’s commander, RADM Raymond A. Spruance, learned of the enemy’s arrival this morning.  HORNET now launched the 15 TBDs of VT-8 along with 35 dive bombers and LCDR Samuel G. Mitchell’s ten Wildcat fighters.  Overall command of HORNET’s aircraft fell to CDR Stanhope C. Ring of the dive bomber group.  But heavy cloud cover prevented Ring from correctly grouping the squadrons over HORNET.  LCDR John C. Waldron’s Devastators became separated.  To complicate matters, within an hour of HORNET’s launch the Japanese changed course, moving to the northwest away from Midway.  Waldron’s squadron, now flying without its fighter escort, arrived at the target site to find the Japanese gone.  Ring had arrived a few minutes earlier but gambled incorrectly by turning toward Midway.  Waldron on the other hand, guessed correctly and shortly spotted smoke on the horizon.

Estimates vary as to the number of Japanese Zeros that jumped Waldron’s naked Squadron.  Even before they were within flak range, four Devastators had been splashed.  The remaining eleven now began their slow, deliberate run toward the carrier Akagi.  The result was suicidal.  Five more Devastators went down, one even attempted to crash dive into Akagi’s bridge but missed.  The heavy anti-aircraft fire spurred Waldron to redirect his surviving pilots to the center carrier, Soryu.  Yet the Zeros mercilessly chewed through the squadron.  Waldron himself, was observed to struggle unsuccessfully in his flaming cockpit.  Only a single plane piloted by LTJG George H. Gay survived to launch its torpedo, which Soryu dodged.  Gay’s crewmen were already dead by this time, and as he pulled up, a flak burst disabled the TBD’s rudder pedal, and a Zero shot off a wing.  He belly-flopped the plane and jumped.  With his 29 buddies of VT-8 wiped out, Gay bobbed in the water amidst the enemy fleet, concealing himself under a seat cushion.

The sacrifice of VT-8 did not go for naught.  Distracted by the torpedo bombers, the Japanese fighter CAP completely missed LCDR C. Wade McClusky’s Dauntless dive bombers high overhead.  These unloaded on Akagi, Soryu, and Kaga, ultimately sinking all three!

Watch or more “Today in Naval History”  9 JUN 24

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Miller, Nathan.  The Naval Air War 1939-1945.  USNI Press, Annapolis, MD, pp. 80-88, 1980.

Morison, Samuel Eliot.  History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol 4  Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions.  Little, Brown and Co., Boston, MA, pp. 116-21, 1949.

Stephen, Martin.  Sea Battles in Close-up: World War 2.  USNI Press, Annapolis, MD, pp. 170-71, 1988.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  To complicate what was a dangerous practice at face value, the Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber was itself a death trap for pilots–skimpy armor, poorly maneuverable, weak defenses, and painfully slow.  The TBD began its torpedo approach at 200 mph and could not release the torpedo above 115 mph.  (The Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” cruised at 270 mph).  In addition, the faulty Mark 13 torpedo the TBD carried often failed to detonate.  Of the 41 Devastators launched in the battle of Midway, none scored a torpedo hit, and only six returned to their carriers.  The Navy withdrew the Devastator from service after the battle of Midway to be replaced by the Grumman TBF Avenger.

LCDR Waldron received the Navy Cross for his actions this day, and “Torpedo-8” was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.  The WWII Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer WALDRON (DD-699) remembers the Commander.  RMC Horace F. Dobbs in Waldron’s 2^nd seat was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. 

LTJG Gay’s attempt to hide beneath a seat cushion succeeded; he was rescued later, the sole survivor from the squadron and an eye-witness to the entire battle.

In our early days of carrier aviation the squadrons embarked adopted the hull number of the ship as their designator.  Thus, we have squadrons VT-8, VB-8, and VF-8 above.

The post The Sacrifice of VT-8 appeared first on Today in Naval History.

                                             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.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 1 “A-B”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1959, p. 84.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 2 “C-F”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1977, pp. 138, 234.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 4 “L-M”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1969, p. 306, 413.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 6 “R-S”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1976, pp. 269-70.

Lorelli, John A.  The Battle of the Komandorski Islands, March 1943.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1984.

Love, Robert W.  History of the US Navy, Vol 2  1942-1991. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1992, pp. 137-40.

Morison, Samuel Eliot.  History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol 7  Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls.  Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1951, pp. 22-36.

Potter, E.B.  Sea Power: A Naval History 2^nd ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1981, p. 310.

Purdon, Eric.  “War in the Arctic:  The Battle of the Komandorskis.”  Sea Classics, Vol 31 (11), November 1998, pp. 34-42.

Sweetman, Jack.  “Great Sea Battles of World War II:  The Komandorskis”.  Naval History, Vol 9 (3), June 1995, pp. 39-40.

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.

The post Retiring Victory appeared first on Today in Naval History.

                                 BATTLE OF THE KOMANDORSKIS

One Japanese success at the battle of Midway was an effort intended only to be a diversion.  As Yamamoto’s Combined Fleet closed on Midway Island, a smaller force of two carriers and supporting ships attacked Dutch Harbor, the main settlement in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.  Here the attackers overpowered the paltry American forces and captured two islands at the far end of the Aleutian chain, Attu and Kiska.  These bleak and desolate islands held little value to either side, but after the embarrassing defeat at Midway, Japanese propagandists recognized the value of holding US territory.  To our embarrassment, they dug in.  Initially a minor annoyance, Japan’s garrisons on Attu and Kiska grew increasingly troubling as the US began ferrying planes to Russia via Siberia.  A Japanese presence in the Aleutians could no longer be tolerated by 1943.

Preliminary US efforts isolated the enemy garrisons from resupply.  RADM Charles H. McMorris was sent to patrol the approaches to Kiska with Task Group 16.6 composed of the aging light cruisers SALT LAKE CITY (CL-25) and RICHMOND (CL-9) and four destroyers.  Just after breakfast on this day, on glassy seas in unusually clear weather, the lead destroyer, COGHLAN (DD-606), made radar contact with five enemy ships on the same northerly course.  What followed was anachronistic, the last naval battle in history that did not involve aircraft, missiles, or submarines–a classic surface action in keeping with turn of the 20^th century navalism.

The ships COGHLAN had spotted were the trailing end of VADM Boshiro Hosogaya’s Northern Force escorting two armed marus to Attu.  Smarting from earlier losses to US submarines, Hosogaya was employing the full strength of his four cruisers and four destroyers in escort.  Against this enemy force that outnumbered him two to one, McMorris prepared to do battle.  Lookouts were sent aloft, gunners took up station, prisoners were released from the brig, messmen sliced bread for sandwiches, and coffee was put to boil.  An American line-ahead formed on COGHLAN, McMorris hoping to make a quick strike at the freighters then retire.

But Hosogaya, aware he was being followed, sent the freighters ahead and reversed course.  The enemy opened at 0840 from nearly five miles distant, straddling RICHMOND with salvos.  Two minutes later SALT LAKE CITY brought her long-range forward turret to the action.  Her third and fourth salvos struck the heavy cruiser NACHI, starting a fire worse in appearance than in fact.  From a range of 20,000 yards SALT LAKE CITY was accounting herself well, scoring hits to NACHI’s bridge and torpedo room–and getting drenched by near misses in the process.  But with the full weight of the stronger enemy force now approaching head-on, McMorris abandoned the freighters, rang up a flank bell, and turned away in a fighting withdrawal to the west.

Continued tomorrow….

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 1 “A-B”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1959, p. 84.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 2 “C-F”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1977, pp. 138, 234.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 4 “L-M”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1969, p. 306, 413.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 6 “R-S”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1976, pp. 269-70.

Lorelli, John A.  The Battle of the Komandorski Islands, March 1943.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1984.

Love, Robert W.  History of the US Navy, Vol 2  1942-1991. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1992, pp. 137-40.

Morison, Samuel Eliot.  History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol 7  Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls.  Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1951, pp. 22-36.

Potter, E.B.  Sea Power: A Naval History  2nd ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1981, p. 310.

Purdon, Eric.  “War in the Arctic:  The Battle of the Komandorskis.”  Sea Classics, Vol 31 (11), November 1998, pp. 34-42.

Sweetman, Jack.  “Great Sea Battles of World War II:  The Komandorskis”.  Naval History, Vol 9 (3), June 1995, pp. 39-40.

The post Battle of the Komandorskis appeared first on Today in Naval History.

                                                   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 for the possibility of war.  In October 1939, in rural North Dakota, Ralph McMaster Rich was so inspired and traveled to Minneapolis to enlist in the Navy.  He was shortly selected for aviator training which he completed in July 1940.  Four months later he embarked on USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6) with fighter squadron VF-6.  The Pearl Harbor attack found Rich and ENTERPRISE at sea, ferrying planes to Wake Island.  As the carrier entered this new Pacific war, Rich participated in the raids on the Marshall Islands, in which he is credited with destroying a Japanese bomber on the ground.  He flew as well, in the February 1942 raid on the Japanese on Wake Island.

His promotion to LTJG came on 28 May 1942, and only a week later Japan staged an attack on Midway Island.  In a daring gamble, and with secret intelligence as to the enemy’s target, ADM Chester Nimitz arrayed our forces in a potential ambush.  On the afternoon of June 4^th, Rich found himself escorting dive bombers against the Japanese fleet as the enemy readied their aircraft for a second wave against Midway.  His “capable and aggressive leadership” on this mission resulted in a highly successful attack.  A day later Rich was flying Combat Air Patrol (CAP) over YORKTOWN (CV-5) when a flight of enemy torpedo bombers appeared.  Rich’s slashing attack sent one of those bombers into the sea in flames.  On Rich’s behalf, his commanding officer forwarded an award nomination.

The squadron was completing a transition to the Grumman F-4F “Wildcat,” and two weeks after Midway, Rich was practicing aerial gunnery over Hawaii.  From 5000 feet, as he pushed his Wildcat into a simulated diving attack, the air was split with the shrieking sound of ripping metal.  The right wing of Rich’s fighter tore free!  Such is always a fatal event.  The intact left wing still provides lift, now unopposed by the missing right wing.  The plane is pitched into a violent, unrecoverable, corkscrew spin.  There was nothing that could be done.  Rich’s plane hit the ground at full speed, killing him instantly.

Rich’s award nomination continued to work through channels, being approved ultimately for the Navy Cross.  As with several heroic sailors lost in WWII, the Navy named a destroyer escort for the aviator.  RICH (DE-695) fought at D-Day where she struck mines and was lost.  The Navy transferred her name to another destroyer then building, however RICH (DD-820) was not launched until October 1945, the month following Japan’s surrender.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  25 JUN 23

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 6 “R-S”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1976, pp. 93-94.

Stafford, Edward P.  The Big E: The Story of the USS Enterprise.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1962, p. 119.

The post LTJG Ralph Rich appeared first on Today in Naval History.

                                      CAPT FLEMING vs. MIKUMA

Under ADM Isoroku Yamamoto’s complex plan to capture Midway the four cruisers of RADM Takeo Kurita’s Cruiser Division 7 were tasked with a pre-invasion bombardment of the island.  On June 4^th these warships closed within 90 miles of Midway from the east.  American scout planes sortying from Midway discovered Kurita’s ships that same day, however the Marine pilots sent to attack them were working at a disadvantage.  They had not yet trained in their newly received Vought SB2U “Vindicator” dive bombers (an outdated design already being replaced in Navy squadrons).  Thereby unable to employ the more accurate but more difficult technique of dive bombing, these pilots resorted to a gently sloping “glide bombing” approach.  As one might expect, their accuracy was woeful on the 4^th, and worse, the long, shallow glide made them easy targets for merciless anti-aircraft fire.  Many did not return.  But fortune smiled on their follow-up efforts.

The sinking of four of his carriers convinced Yamamoto on June 5^th that the battle was lost.  Kurita was recalled, but as his ships turned away from Midway the heavy cruiser MOGAMI collided with her sister MIKUMA, wrecking the former’s bow.  MIKUMA was less severely damaged and lingered behind to assist.  MOGAMI’s mangled bows limited the pair’s speed to 12 knots, and sensing the vulnerability of what had been mis-identified as two battleships, the Vindicator pilots from VMSB-241 took off in pursuit.  The Marines followed the trailing oil slick and glided in.  Yet again they were subjected to a murderous anti-aircraft barrage.

Leading the squadron was CAPT Richard Eugene Fleming, USMC, whose plane was already smoking as he initiated his glide.  He steadied his aircraft regardless toward MOGAMI.  In moments, black smoke and flames emerged from his engine cowling and the craft began bucking and pitching.  By the time he reached his release point flames engulfed the cockpit.  Burned himself, and now recognizing his Vindicator to be doomed, Fleming elected a final act of heroism.  He coaxed his crippled plane into a dive for the bridge of MIKUMA.  His suicidal crash impacted the cruiser’s after gun turret.  Burning fuel spread across the deck and was sucked down the air intakes to the starboard engine room.  The resulting explosions and fire killed everyone there.  The two hobbled cruisers limped on but by the morning of the 6^th had still not escaped the range of Midway’s planes.  Subsequent attacks finished MIKUMA, the fifth enemy ship to be sunk in this pivotal battle.  For his supreme sacrifice, Fleming was awarded the Medal of Honor.  He was remembered later in the war in the naming of the destroyer escort FLEMING (DE-32).

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  10-14 JUN 22

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Buell, Harold L.  Dauntless Helldivers:  A Dive-Bomber Pilot’s Epic Story of the Carrier Battles.  New York, NY: Orion Books, 1991, p. 45.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 2 “C-F”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1977, p. 414.

Fuchida, Mitsuo and Masatake Okumiya.  Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1955, pp. 189-91, 194-97.

Morison, Samuel Eliot.  History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol 4  Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions.  Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1949, p. 145.

Prange, Gordon W.  Miracle at Midway.  New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1982, pp. 322-26.

Taylor, Michael J.H.  Jane’s American Fighting Aircraft of the 20th Century.  New York, NY: Mallard Press, 1991, p. 316.

United States Congress.  United States of America’s Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients and their Official Citations.  Columbia Heights, MN: Highland House II, 1994, p. 313.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The Vought-Sikorsky SB2U “Vindicator” was one of several scout-bomber designs developed for the Navy in the 1930s.  As only about 100 were manufactured and deployed between 1937-38, Vindicators did not see a great amount of action in the war.  Its older design still called for portions of the fuselage to be fabric-covered, and the 14-cylinder Pratt and Whitney “Twin Wasp Junior” engine drove the bomber only to 235 knots.  By the outbreak of WWII, Vindicators were already being replaced in Navy squadrons with the Douglas SBD “Dauntless.”

The post CAPT Fleming vs. MIKUMA appeared first on Today in Naval History.