As soon as we arrived in Hawaii we were besieged with orders to provide target services for all kinds of ships. Now we were part of the Service Force of the Pacific Fleet, which was then engaged in the Marianas campaign. The intensity of gunnery training exercises in the Hawaiian area can be judged by the Lamberton’s record for May 1944: she provided towing services for forty-one destroyers, two destroyer-escorts, one attack cargo ship, two high-speed minesweeps, four cruisers (the Indianapolis, Miami, Houston, and Vincennes), and three battleships (the North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington). One of the destroyers was the Sterett, but we were never in close proximity and I have no record or recollection of any exchange of messages.
After six months I began to grow restless. There were a lot of big Pacific operations on the horizon, and it looked as though I would not get a chance to participate. That did not seem like the best way for a line officer to fight a war. I began to look for a way to effect another move—this time to a first-line destroyer. Lt. Ed Hunt was the Lamberton’s executive officer; he was an exceptionally talented ship handler, and oftentimes I turned over the conn to him for coming alongside and close maneuvering. He was well qualified for command, a fact that I entered on the official record. I knew that having a qualified relief on board made my transfer more feasible from a detailer’s standpoint.
One morning as we moved out the channel with our target in tow, a whole squadron of new destroyers approached from the south at high speed. It was one of those magnificent Hawaiian days with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze. I watched the ships through binoculars, admiring their sleek lines and the white “bone in the teeth” that accentuated their speed and power. As they drew closer I was able to read the bow numerals of the lead ship and discovered that she was the Remey (DD 688), flagship of Destroyer Squadron 54—the one to which former Sterett skipper Jess Coward had been ordered. I prepared a message for transmission to the Remey by flashing light: “For Commodore Coward—Congratulations on your fine command. They look as ready as the Sterett was. New subject: Please get me back in the destroyer navy.—Cal.” The destroyers passed us rapidly, and by the time my message went out there was only time for the Remey to reply, “Roger. I’ll see what I can do.—Coward.”
We spent the next week towing targets for a number of cruisers and destroyers. On the way back to Pearl Harbor we sighted the ships of Squadron 54 again. As soon as we got within easy signaling range the Remey sent a message: “Have you gotten your copy of my letter yet?”
“Negative,” I replied.
“Check with the flag secretary at Commander Destroyers Pacific Fleet Headquarters. Good luck.—Coward.”
There was barely time to send “Thanks. Smooth sailing.—Cal” before the destroyers disappeared over the horizon. As soon as we anchored I made my way to ComDesPac headquarters, went to the office of the flag secretary, and asked if he had a letter from Commodore Coward about Calhoun. He did, and he gave it to me to read. It recommended that Lieutenant Commander Calhoun (I had been promoted while on the Lamberton) be reassigned to command a destroyer. I asked if the letter could be placed at the top of the admiral’s in-basket. “No sweat!” the secretary replied. I returned to the Lamberton, my hopes high.
The author, then a lieutenant commander, in September 1944. (Author’s collection)
On 28 August 1944 I was detached from the Lamberton and directed to proceed on the first available government flight to a U.S. port and to report to the Naval District Commandant there for temporary duty, pending further assignment. I left the next morning via a Navy patrol bomber and was in San Francisco that night. On 4 September the long-awaited additional orders arrived. I was sent to Seattle to take command of the USS Dewey (DD 349). At last I had my own destroyer. And once more the Sterett had acted as my guardian angel: without Jess Coward’s help, I would have towed targets for the rest of the war.
THE DEWEY AND HER MEN SPENT AN ACTION-PACKED YEAR with the Third and Fifth fleets in the western Pacific. She participated in the Philippine campaign as well as the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and she performed escort duties with logistic support forces. She and the Aylwin (DD 355) were the two Farragut-class destroyers that survived the typhoon of 17–18 December 1944; two others, the Hull and the Monoghan, capsized and sank. During the first few months of 1945 the Dewey also rescued survivors from LCI 600 when that craft struck a mine and rendered fire-fighting assistance to the USS Patuxent (AO 44) after an internal explosion and fire. In the course of her travels she once passed the Sterett at sea while Gordy Williams was the Sterett’s skipper. We exchanged messages of some sort, but apparently they contained no golden prose since I have no recollection of their exact content.
On 28 January 1945 the Dewey, then the flagship of Commander Destroyer Squadron 1 (Capt. Preston V. Mercer), moored alongside the Remey to expedite the relief of Commander Destroyer Squadron 54 (Capt. Jesse G. Coward) by Captain Mercer. It was a sad moment for me. Jess Coward was our guest in the wardroom that evening, and memories of the Sterett were reawakened when he told us about his squadron’s night torpedo attack against Japanese battleships in the Battle of Surigao Strait (24–25 October 1944). My old skipper was tired, and he suffered from severe arthritis. When I delivered him to the Ulithi airstrip the next day he was the picture of dejection. He did not want to relinquish his command, and Preston Mercer asked me to “talk sense” to the old warrior. I was able to convince him that he had to leave, but the experience was disturbing for all of us.
After the war ended I brought the Dewey through the canal and up to New York. She was decommissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 19 October 1945. I served for a few months at Purdue University’s NROTC unit and then transferred to the unit at the University of Mississippi. In June 1946 I became administrative aide to the commander of the Norfolk Naval Base, Rear Adm. Emmet P. “Savvy” Forrestel.
One morning a few months later I was in my office when Capt. Charlie Chillingworth, the chief of staff, came to the door and said, “Cal, the boss wants to see you.” I followed the captain into the admiral’s office. I could see that Admiral Forrestel had what looked like a letter in his hand. He looked up and said, “Cal, why didn’t you tell us that the Sterett won the war?” Then he began to read: “The Secretary of the Navy, Washington. The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Presidential Unit Citation to the United States Ship Sterett. . . .” (The full text of the citation appears in Appendix 1.)
When he finished he handed me my copy of the citation. I thanked him and remembered Captain Coward’s words after the battle, when he assured us that we would hear more about awards and decorations. This Presidential Unit Citation was exactly what he had envisioned. The only trouble was that the men of the Sterett had dispersed long before—some of them might never hear about the award. I also thought of the twenty-eight shipmates who had given their lives to earn it. No, the Sterett had not won the war, but she had certainly upheld the highest traditions of the naval service. Her reputation and her special spirit remain engraved in the hearts of all who had the honor to serve her.
APPENDIXES
APPENDIX 1
PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY WASHINGTON
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the
PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION
to the
UNITED STATES SHIP STERETT
for service as set forth in the following
CITATION:
“For extraordinary heroism in action against an enemy Japanese Task Force during the Battle of Guadalcanal on the night of November 12–13, 1942. Fighting boldly and with determination against units of the powerful enemy Fleet intent on bombarding our airfield at Guadalcanal, the U.S.S. STERETT successfully engaged three Japanese vessels at close range during the thirty-four minutes of furious action. Scoring numerous hits on an enemy light cruiser, she then closed range to 3000 yards and fired a full salvo of torpedoes to cause two larg
e explosions and assist in sinking a battleship. When an enemy destroyer was sighted at 1000 yards from her starboard bow, she immediately took it under fire and, with two torpedoes and two five-inch salvos, exploded and sank the vessel before it could open fire. With her after section severely damaged and burning and with both after guns disabled as the remaining enemy ships concentrated their gunfire on her, she fought desperately to control the damage and succeeded in retiring from the battle area under her own power. A gallant fighting ship, superbly handled by her officers and men, the STERETT rendered invaluable service in defeating a major enemy attack at this crucial point in the Solomon Islands Campaign.”
For the President,
Secretary of the Navy
APPENDIX 2
ROSTER OF PERSONNEL ATTACHED TO THE USS STERETT (DD 407), 15 AUGUST 1939–2 NOVEMBER 1945
Compiled by Joseph D. Jeffrey from the original ship’s logs as preserved in the National Archives, Washington, D.C., July 1988 (revised January 1990). His explanation of the roster follows.
At first this seemed like a straightforward task: to sort through the Sterett’s logs and itemize personnel movements. After all, the logs should show the exact date on which a member of the ship’s company reported aboard, and the exact date on which he was detached. But nothing is as simple as it appears.
Early on it became clear that the logs (and this compiler) were not infallible. Some people were never logged aboard, while others were never logged out when they transferred. Further discrepancies resulted when crew members left the ship temporarily for school or hospitalization and never came back for whatever reason. Other inconsistencies were the result of confusion among similar names and rates and must be attributed to fleet and yard personnel offices that apparently went out of their way to assign people that were stacked close together alphabetically. The great majority of errors and omissions, however, must be attributed to this compiler and his log transcriptions.
This summary shows that 832 persons called Sterett home during its short life of seventy-five months. For 171 of these, the record contains some blanks. It is disturbing that the transfer record is incomplete for some plank owners, and that the on-board date is missing for some of those who departed the ship on its last day. I particularly regret that I could not locate the on-board date for a few of those killed in action on 13 November 1942.
This roster purposely omits those who came aboard temporarily as observers or for transportation only. My apologies to any member of the ship’s company who were omitted by being mistakenly placed in that class.
The letters and symbols used in the roster are explained below. Some of this supplementary information is derived from sources other than the logs. Ranks and ratings are consistent with log nomenclature.
*Killed in action—night surface engagement, 13 November 1942
BAwarded Bronze Star Medal
CReceived Commanding Officer’s commendation
DDied under honorable conditions while serving aboard (not as a result of combat)
FFlag complement aboard Sterett as Commander Destroyer Division 15 and staff
MMissing after night surface engagement, 13 November 1942
NAwarded Navy Cross Medal
SAwarded Silver Star Medal
WWounded as a result of enemy action
Apparently no one served aboard for the entire life of the ship, but log entries indicate that some plank owners came close:
•Buford Daniels transferred on 8 September 1945 (less than two months before the Sterett was decommissioned)
•Willie “Red” Hammack transferred on 6 August 1945
•Fred Gibson and Charles McVicker both transferred on 31 July 1945
•Vernon Fray transferred on 25 May 1945
Of the four men lost over the side on 13 November 1942, Clarence Simmons returned to the ship and served aboard until transferred as chief gunner’s mate on the last day of the Sterett’s commissioned life, 2 November 1945. William H. Cartwright returned aboard and served until transferred as gunner’s mate, first class, on 12 March 1945. The logs contain no further entries for Hubert Godecker, bos’n’s mate, second class, or James Grann, seaman, first class.
From left to right, the columns read as follows: name, date first reported aboard, rank or rate on arrival, date last transferred or detached, rank or rate on detachment, and special comments. Plank owners are denoted by the on-board date of 15 August 1939; those detached when the ship was decommissioned have the departure date 2 November 1945.
The compiler welcomes corrections, clarifications, additions, or deletions to be included in a future updated edition. This revised roster was completed 8 January 1990 and includes twenty-four names omitted initially. These added names were kindly furnished by Felix Gebert, who is doing a valiant job keeping lists of reunion attendees and ever-changing current addresses.
† commendation by a senior unit commander.
INDEX
Aaron Ward (DD 483), 48, 74, 76, 89, 100, 112, 115
Adams (President liner), 48
Admiral Arleigh Burke, by E. B. Potter, 126
Admiralty Islands, 136
Ainsworth, Walden Lee, Rear Adm., 112, 116
Alabama (BB 60), 134
Alexander Hamilton (Coast Guard cutter), 26
Allied shipping, 20
Aloha Tower, 11–12
Altair (AD 11), 23
Anchor chain, 40
Andrews, Earl J., 158
Annapolis. See U.S. Naval Academy
Aola Bay, 68–69
Argentia, Newfoundland, 21, 25, 27
Arnold, Vernon J., 49
Astoria (CL 90), 54
Atlanta (CL 51), 1, 74, 76, 89, 95
Atomic weapons, 157
Attack teacher, 36
Aylwin (DD 355), 13, 14, 164
Bailey, James, 150–51
Bailey (DD 492), 28
Baker, J. William, 7–8
Barfleur (French cruiser), 24
Barrage balloons, 33
Barton (DD 599), 74, 89
“Battle of Greenock,” 42
Battle of Kolombangara, 116, 147
Battle of Surigao Strait, 165
Battle of Tarawa Island, 130
Battle of the Coral Sea, 51
Battle of the Marne, 7
“Battle of Vallejo,” 107
Battleship Row, 12
Bearne (French carrier), 24
Bellatrix (AK 20), 57–58
Bennett (DD 743), 148–49
Bermuda, 22, 57
Blackett Strait, 118
Blackwell, Ensign, 160
Blouin, Francis Joseph “Champ,” Lt. Comdr., 131, 133–35, 138–45
Board of Survey, 161–62
Boise (CL 47), 62
Bookbinder’s restaurant, 60
Book of Common Prayer, 97
Boudreaux, Preston, 94
Bougainville, 124, 129
Braisted, Frank Alfred, Rear Adm., 162
Bremerton, Wash., 152
Bremerton Navy Yard, 141
Bridge watch, 11
British destroyers, 36
British escorts, 21
British friends, 21
British garrisons, 21
British Home Fleet, 32, 34, 56
British men-of-war, 33
British tars, 35
British USO shows, 35
Brooklyn (CL 40), 20, 24, 46
Brooklynites, 155
Brooklyn Navy Yard, 28, 156, 165
Buchanan (DD 484), 47–48, 62
Buckner, Simon B., Gen., 146
Bunker Hill (CV 17), 129, 134
Burial-at-sea service, 97
Burke, Arleigh A., Capt., 126, 146
Burris, George G., 98, 130
Bush (DD 529), 143, 146, 147, 148
Byers, Robert O., 2, 17, 49, 60, 76, 78, 79, 96, 109, 116, 122, 123
“Cactus,” 58, 67, 100–101, 112–13, 118–19, 126
Callaghan, Daniel Judson, Rear Adm., 84, 89, 1
00, 126
Canadian destroyers and corvettes, 21
Canberra, HMAS, 54
Cape St. Vincent, 38
Casco Bay, Maine, 20, 24, 28, 31–32, 132
Chapman, Edward F., 46, 48, 71–72, 75, 109, 116, 121–24
Charleston, S.C., 3, 7–8, 13
Charleston Navy Yard, 20, 56
Chesapeake Bay, 30
Chillingworth, Charles F., Capt., 165
China Station, 4
Chinese fire drill, 41
Churchill, Winston, 40, 42
Cimarron (AO 22), 51
Cleere, Timothy, 35, 37, 40, 47, 50–51, 53
Cleveland (CL 55), 127–28
Clute, James M., Lt., 4, 6, 10, 12–15, 18, 20, 26–28
Coal City, Ill., 22
Cocktail boat, 139
Coco Solo, Canal Zone, 157
Cole (DD 155), 133
Colhoun (APD 2), 147–48
Columbia, S.C., 105
Columbus (German liner), 9
Combat Air Patrol (CAP), 147–50
Commandant, Sixth Naval District, 3
Commander Destroyer Division 15, 17
Commander Destroyers Pacific Fleet, 163
Commander Destroyer Squadron 1, 164
Commander South Pacific, 57, 60, 65, 110, 112
Condition Red, 71
Conn, Coleman E., 91, 94, 121, 151, 153
Coppola, Edward, 109
Coral Sea, 50, 57
Coward, Jesse G., Lt. Comdr., 13–15, 17–20, 26, 28, 31, 33–34, 41, 48, 50, 56, 61–62, 70–71, 80–81, 84, 93–98, 100–101, 104–7, 163–65
Cowdrey, Roy B., Jr., Lt. (jg), 129–30, 140, 143, 151, 153
Craven (DD 382), 118, 122
Crossing the equator, 12
CTF 31, 118
Delaware Bay, 20
Destroyer Division Able 1, 117
Destroyer Division Able 2, 117
Destroyer Division 15, 8, 11, 19, 24, 57, 119, 131
Destroyer Division 12, 118, 119, 126
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