Tin Can Titans
Page 33
Antisubmarine actions, November 12, 1944
1945
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
Corregidor-Bataan assault, February 14–28, 1945
Operations in the southern Philippines, February–March 1945
Borneo operations, April–May 1945
Okinawa operations, May–June 1945
Operations off Japan, July–August 1945
USS Fletcher
1942
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 12–15, 1942
Seizure of Guadalcanal, November 12, 1942–January 19, 1943
Battle of Tassafaronga, November 30–December 1, 1942
1943
Antisubmarine actions, February 11, 1943
Actions in the southern Solomons, March–June 1943
Gilbert Islands assault, November 1943
1944
Marshall Islands assault, January–March 1944
Hollandia operations, April–May 1944
Escort and antisubmarine operations with Task Group 30.4, May–June 1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Leyte operations, October–December 1944
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
1945
Corregidor-Bataan assault, February 14–28, 1945
Operations in the southern Philippines, February–March 1945
Borneo operations, April–May 1945
USS De Haven
1942
Seizure of Guadalcanal, November 12, 1942–January 19, 1943
USS Taylor
1943
Rennell Island, January 29–30, 1943
Actions in the southern Solomons, March–June 1943
Antisubmarine actions, July 11, 1943
New Georgia operations, including the Battles of Kula Gulf, July–October 1943
Gilbert Islands assault, November 1943
1944
Hollandia operations, April–May 1944
Escort and antisubmarine operations with Task Group 30.4, May–June 1944
Antisubmarine actions, July 10, 1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Leyte operations, October–December 1944
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
1945
Corregidor-Bataan assault, February 14–28, 1945
Operations in the southern Philippines, February–March 1945
Borneo operations, April–May 1945
Okinawa operations, May–June 1945
USS Jenkins
1942
North Africa landings, November 1942
1943
Actions in the southern Solomons, March–June 1943
New Georgia operations, including the Battles of Kula Gulf, July–October 1943
Gilbert Islands assault, November 1943
1944
Marshall Islands assault, January–March 1944
Hollandia operations, April–May 1944
Escort and antisubmarine operations with Task Group 30.4, May–June 1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Leyte operations, October–December 1944
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
1945
Antisubmarine actions, January 31, 1945
Corregidor-Bataan assault, February 14–28, 1945
Operations in the southern Philippines, February–March 1945
Borneo operations, April–May 1945
USS Radford
1943
Seizure of Guadalcanal, November 12, 1942–January 19, 1943
Actions in the southern Solomons, March–June 1943
Antisubmarine actions, June 1, 1943
New Georgia operations, including the Battles of Kula Gulf, July–October 1943
Gilbert Islands assault, November 1943
Antisubmarine actions, November 25, 1943
1944
Marshall Islands assault, January–March 1944
Hollandia operations, April–May 1944
Escort and antisubmarine operations with Task Group 30.4, May–June 1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
1945
Corregidor-Bataan assault, February 14–28, 1945
USS La Vallette
1943
Rennell Island, January 29–30, 1943
Marcus Island raid, August 31, 1943
Gilbert Islands assault, November 1943
1944
Marshall Islands assault, January–March 1944
Hollandia operations, April–May 1944
Escort and antisubmarine operations with Task Group 30.4, May–June 1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Leyte operations, October–December 1944
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
1945
Corregidor-Bataan assault, February 14–28, 1945
USS Strong
1943
Actions in the southern Solomons, March–June 1943
New Georgia operations, including the Battles of Kula Gulf, July–October 1943
USS Chevalier
1943
Rennell Island, January 29–30, 1943
Actions in the southern Solomons, March–June 1943
New Georgia operations, including the Battles of Kula Gulf, July–October 1943
USS Hopewell
1944
Marshall Islands assault, January–March 1944
Hollandia operations, April–May 1944
Escort and antisubmarine operations with Task Group 30.4, May–June 1944
Seizure of the northern Solomons, June–August 1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Leyte operations, October–December 1944
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
1945
Corregidor-Bataan assault, February 14–28, 1945
Operations off Japan, July–August 1945
USS Howorth
1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Leyte operations, October–December 1944
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
1945
Assault of Iwo Jima, February–March 1945
Okinawa operations, May–June 1945
APPENDIX II
LOCATION OF SHIPS AT WAR’S END
O’Bannon
Tokyo Bay
Nicholas
Tokyo Bay
Taylor
Tokyo Bay
Elsewhere
Hopewell
Sailing from Guam
Howorth
Returning to Pacific after repairs
Sunk
De Haven
February 1, 1943: aerial bombs sink her off Savo
Strong
July 5, 1943: torpedo sinks her
Chevalier
October 6, 1943: torpedo sinks her
In United States from Damage
La Vallette
February 14, 1945, to United States after mine damage
Radford
February 1945, to United States after mine damage
Fletcher
May 13, 1945, to United States for overhaul
Jenkins
June 18, 1945, to United States after mine damage
NOTES
PROLOGUE
1. William F. Halsey and J. Bryan III, Admiral Halsey’s Story (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1947), 275, 277.
2. Destroyer Squadron 21, “World War II in Quotes,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=4210&pid=4213, accessed June 30, 2015. This and subsequent quotes from this website are used courtesy of Meredith McComb, widow of Dave McComb, Destroyer History Foundation.
3. James D. Horan, Action Tonight: The Story of the American Destroyer O’Banno
n in the Pacific (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1945), vii.
CHAPTER 1: THE DESTROYERS GO TO WAR
1. “Reminiscences of Rear Admiral Donald J. MacDonald, U.S. Navy (Retired),” United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, Interview Number 1, May 22, 1974 (hereafter “MacDonald Reminiscences, May 22, 1974”), 2–3, 9.
2. Ibid., 13–14.
3. Ibid., 17, 35–37.
4. Ibid., 47, 54, 58–59, 67.
5. “Reminiscences of Rear Admiral Donald J. MacDonald, U.S. Navy (Retired),” United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, Interview Number 2, July 23, 1974 (hereafter “MacDonald Reminiscences, July 23, 1974”), 126, 157.
6. Letter from Donald MacDonald to Dad and Family, February 25, 1941, in Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 1, Folder 7, “Correspondence, 1930, 1936–1942,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
7. Frederick J. Bell, Condition Red: Destroyer Action in the South Pacific (New York: Longmans Green, 1944), 176.
8. Bernard Brodie, A Guide to Naval Strategy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1944), 65–66.
9. “Recollections of Rear Admiral MacDonald,” Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 5, Folder 7, “Historical Material, Writings by MacDonald, Unidentified Draft [Written First Half of 1944],” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (hereafter “MacDonald Recollections”).
10. Ibid., 2.
11. Diary of Virgil Wing, USS Nicholas, June 4, 1942, found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/index.asp?r=44905&pid=44932, accessed July 7, 2015 (hereafter “Wing Diary”).
12. “Reminiscences of Rear Admiral Donald J. MacDonald, U.S. Navy (Retired),” United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, Interview Number 3, August 6, 1974 (hereafter “MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974”), 188; Donald J. MacDonald, “They Went to Hell and Back with Me,” American Magazine, July 1944, 24.
13. MacDonald, “Hell and Back,” 25.
14. “Oral History of Rear Admiral Joseph C. Wylie, USN (Ret.),” Naval War College, Oral History Program, interview conducted by Dr. Evelyn M. Cherpak on December 17, 1985 (hereafter “Wylie Oral History”), 60.
15. MacDonald Recollections, 3; MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 189.
16. Author’s interview with James Setter, July 21, 2015.
17. MacDonald Recollections, 3–4.
18. “Command Summary of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, 7 December 1941–31 August 1945,” September 10, 1942 (hereafter “Greybook”).
19. Fred Gressard, “Reminiscences,” found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ussfletcher/index.asp?r=44500&pid=44504, accessed December 4, 2014.
20. Wylie Oral History, 65.
21. MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 200.
22. C. Raymond Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor: Life Aboard the USS Sterett, 1939–1945 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1993), 62.
23. MacDonald Recollections, 6.
24. MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 204.
25. Wing Diary, September 11, 1942.
26. Ibid., September 19, 1942.
27. Greybook, October 1, 1942.
28. Charles Hurd, “Jungle Island Becomes the Heart of Great Battle for the Pacific,” New York Times, October 18, 1942.
29. Hanson W. Baldwin, “Solomons Action Develops into Battle for South Pacific,” New York Times, September 27, 1942; Hanson W. Baldwin, “South Pacific War Develops on a Vast Scale,” New York Times, October 4, 1942.
30. Masuo Kato, The Lost War: A Japanese Reporter’s Inside Story (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), 82.
31. Matome Ugaki, Fading Victory: The Diary of Admiral Matome Ugaki, 1941–1945 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991), 177.
32. MacDonald Recollections, 6.
CHAPTER 2: INITIATION AT GUADALCANAL
1. Wing Diary, October 1, 1942.
2. Quote found at http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/desron21/index.asp?r=4210&pid=4213, accessed September 23, 2015.
3. Charles Hurd, “Ships Sunk by Foe,” New York Times, October 22, 1942; Hanson W. Baldwin, “Fighting for Outposts in Pacific Is Prelude to Greater Struggle,” New York Times, October 11, 1942, E4.
4. A. A. Vandegrift, Once a Marine (New York: W. W. Norton, 1964), 181.
5. Ibid., 175.
6. Ibid., 177–178.
7. Matome Ugaki, Fading Victory: The Diary of Admiral Matome Ugaki, 1941–1945 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991), 232.
8. Ibid., 240; Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, volume V, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942–February 1943 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1949), 287.
9. “Reminiscences of Hanson Weightman Baldwin, U.S. Navy (Ret.),” interview by John T. Mason, United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland, 1976, 345.
10. E. B. Potter, Nimitz (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1976), 192.
11. William F. Halsey, “Life of Admiral W. F. Halsey,” undated typewritten memoirs dictated by Halsey after the war (copies distributed by the Virginia Historical Society), 367 (hereafter Halsey, “Life”); William F. Halsey and J. Bryan III, Admiral Halsey’s Story (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1947), 109.
12. Robert Trumbull, “All Out with Halsey!” New York Times, December 6, 1942, 14, 35.
13. Gilbert Cant, America’s Navy in World War II (New York: John Day, 1943), 359.
14. Los Angeles Times, October 26, 1942; New York Times, October 25, 1942.
15. “Patch of Destiny,” Time, November 2, 1942, 29–31.
16. Foster Hailey, “Halsey Defends Battleship’s Role,” New York Times, November 19, 1942, 8; Halsey, “Life,” 403.
17. “Third Fleet Operation Highlights, 1943–1945,” Third Fleet War Diary, in the Admiral William F. Halsey Collection, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
18. “Face to Face,” Time, November 9, 1942, 17.
19. C. Raymond Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor: Life Aboard the USS Sterett, 1939–1945 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1993), 65.
20. Author’s interview with Robert Whisler, October 15, 2015.
21. Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (New York: Harper Collins, 2000), 458.
22. Author’s interviews with Robert Whisler, July 10, 2015, and July 22, 2015.
23. MacDonald Recollections, 7.
24. Wing Diary, October 24, 1942.
25. Ibid., October 25, 1942.
26. Ugaki, Fading Victory, 255; Dan Kurzman, Left to Die: The Tragedy of the USS Juneau (New York: Pocket Books, 1994), 88.
27. Ugaki, Fading Victory, 261.
28. Tameichi Hara with Fred Saito and Roger Pineau, Japanese Destroyer Captain (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1967), 3.
29. Greybook, November 3–8, 1942.
30. Ibid., November 9, 1942.
31. Halsey and Bryan, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 125.
32. Halsey, “Life,” 383, 389.
33. Whisler interview, October 15, 2015.
34. Author’s interview with Donald Holmes, October 14, 2015.
35. Wylie Oral History, December 17, 1985, 67, 69–70.
36. Hanson W. Baldwin, “Showdown in Solomons,” New York Times, November 16, 1942.
37. Donald J. MacDonald, “They Went to Hell and Back with Me,” American Magazine, July 1944, 25; MacDonald Recollections, 7a.
38. Carl F. Pfeifer and Jack S. McDowell, “Lucky Mike Plays for Keeps,” True, the Man’s Magazine, May 1944, 26.
39. MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 208; MacDonald Recollections, 7a.
40. Pfeifer and McDowell, “Lucky Mike,” 27.
41. Executive Officer to Commanding Officer, “Report of Action,” November 15, 1942. This and all other vessel action reports are at the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.
42. USS O’Bannon War Diary, No
vember 12, 1942.
43. Pfeifer and McDowell, “Lucky Mike,” 28.
44. MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 209–210; MacDonald, “Hell and Back,” 25.
45. Commanding Officer to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, “Report of Engagement with Japanese Units on Morning of November 13, 1942,” November 17, 1942 (hereafter “Wilkinson Action report, November 17, 1942”).
46. Author’s interview with Donald Holmes, October 22, 2015.
47. MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 211; MacDonald, “Hell and Back,” 25.
CHAPTER 3: NAVAL SLUGFEST OFF GUADALCANAL
1. Tameichi Hara with Fred Saito and Roger Pineau, Japanese Destroyer Captain (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1967), 130.
2. Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, volume V, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942–February 1943 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1949), 244; Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 126.
3. Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 131.
4. MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 211.
5. C. Raymond Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor: Life Aboard the USS Sterett, 1939–1945 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1993), 77.
6. Donald J. MacDonald, “They Went to Hell and Back with Me,” American Magazine, July 1944, 25, 89.
7. Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 133.
8. MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 213.
9. MacDonald, “Hell and Back,” 89; MacDonald Reminiscences, August 6, 1974, 213.
10. Executive Officer to Commanding Officer, “Report of Personal Impressions and Recollection of the Night Action with Japanese Units in Guadalcanal–Florida Island Area, November 13, 1942,” November 16, 1942, 2 (hereafter “MacDonald Action Report, November 16, 1942”).
11. “How Pounds Won the Battle,” U.S.S. O’Bannon Shipmates Association Newsletter, June 1980, found in the Papers of Donald J. MacDonald, Box 5, Folder 4, “O’Bannon, Historical Material, Newsletters,” Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
12. Whit Richardson, “Maine-Made USS O’Bannon ‘Led the Way’ at Guadalcanal,” Portland, Maine, Press Herald, November 15, 2014.
13. Whisler interview, October 15, 2015.
14. Carl F. Pfeifer and Jack S. McDowell, “Lucky Mike Plays for Keeps,” True, the Man’s Magazine, May 1944, 28.