Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/01/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Greg: > I would like to cruise across the Atlantic on a passenger ship like the > Queen Mary II someday. far too big for my taste. > The down side to an old sea salt (not me) is the new Queen Mary cannot > be considered a "lucky ship" given the gangway collapse that killed 15 > or 16 people in France last month. You are right about that. Curiously, my old ship, U.S.S. Intrepid, keel laid Dec. 1, 1941 (!), launched April 26, 1943, commissioned Aug. 16, 1943, the third of the WWII Essex class aircraft carriers, was considered a lucky ship until 11 minutes past midnight 17 Feb 1944. Warning: the lengthy account that follows is largely from the book, Twenty Intrepid Years, her history published in 1963. Read on only if you have time and interest. It is far longer than I meant. On 17 February 1944, Intrepid was hit in her starboard quarter by a Japanese torpedo, jamming her rudder. For some time she was incapable of being steered, mainly because of the large "sail area" of a carrier. Her crew devised a sail, literally, that enabled her to get back to Pearl Harbor and drydock for temporary repairs by 24 February, then back to Hunter's Point California for full repairs and return to combat in August. By October 24, 1944, Intrepid had been continuously engaged in search and destroy operations against elements of the Japanese Imperial Fleet. At 0812 that morning in Leyte Gulf, one of her aircraft located the Japanese Center Force, 5 battleships including Admiral Kurita's flagship Yamato, the largest battleship in the world, 2 cruisers and 15 destroyers. The pilot radioed Admiral Halsey, commander of Task Force 38 and so began the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the most significant naval battle of the Pacific war. On 29 October, while Intrepid aircraft were attacking Japanese airfields on Luzon, a single Japanese Jill bomber got through fighter cover and, while closing was destroyed by anti-aircraft fire, nevertheless striking Intrepid's flight deck from the starboard quarter, killing nine sailors manning a 20mm gun tub there. On 25 November while engaged in a search and destroy for three heavy cruisers, a Zeke got through the CAP - combat air patrol - and, badly damaged, struck Intrepid's flight deck from astern, her 500 lb bomb piercing the flight deck and exploded below deck in a pilot ready room. A second Zeke approached from the port side and, destroyed by AA fire, did a wingover just catching Intrepid's flight deck, her bomb also piercing the flight deck into Hangar Bay #2. 65 officers and sailors were killed and Intrepid's aircraft that had been engaged were diverted to other carriers. The attacks this day on Intrepid and other carriers were the first real indication of the new kamikaze tactics of trying to kill the American carriers with suicide bombers (how that phrase now sounds). Intrepid returned to Pearl Harbor on 11 December for assessment of her damage. Most, looking at the extent of the damage, were astonished that she had survived at all. She left Pearl on Dec 16 for Hunter's Point California, arriving on 20 December in time for Christmas. Repairs were completed on February 11, 1945, shortly thereafter she embarked Air Group 10, including for the first time a squadron of 36 F4U-1D Corsair fighter-bombers and stood out for Pearl Harbor, arriving March 2. She then participated in the attacks designed to eliminate Japanese air and sea capability on and around Okinawa and the Japanese home islands, in preparation for the Okinawa landings. Kamikaze stuff was not over. On March 18, while Intrepid aircraft were destroying 35 enemy aircraft at their base, another Betty bomber approached her starboard quarter from astern; a 5-inch gun made a direct hit, taking off the plane's tail, splashing her 50-100 feet off Intrepid's starboard beam. The splash and her exploding bombs showered Intrepid with debris and flaming gasoline but causing no serious damage. From 18 March to 16 April Intrepid's flight deck personnel averaged about 4 hours' sleep per 24 hours. On 7 April she located once again Yamato, the 68,000 ton dreadnought flagship of the Imperial fleet, and sank her (by way of comparison, the American Iowa class battleships displaced, I seem to recall, 45,000 tons). Intrepid's bomber squadron VB-10 dropped 27 bombs on Yamato and her torpedo squadron VT-10 put a torpedo into Yamato's port side. On 16 April Intrepid was again a kamikaze target. Four kamikaze aircraft aimed at her were destroyed in the air; the fifth struck her flight deck near elevator #3, starboardside aft. Her bomb pierced the flight deck and exploded in the hangar bay, creating an enormous gasoline fire. Damage control had the fires out in 50 minutes and happily no personnel losses but 40 aircraft were so badly damaged that they had to be jettisoned. Two additional Zekes then approached on the starboard quarter to finish the kamikaze job. Both were destroyed by Intrepid's anti-aircraft fire. Flight deck repairs were accomplished with sufficient speed to allow Intrepid to recover her own returning aircraft three hours later. There followed the usual return to Hunter's Point for repairs. She sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge on May 19. Repairs and trials were completed by mid-June and she sailed again for Pearl Harbor on June 29, arriving July 5 and departing on July 29 for Eniwetok, anchoring there on August 6 just after the attack on Hiroshima. Early on, Intrepid might have been called the Hungry "I" - after four direct kamikaze hits that might well have destroyed lesser ships, she was for a time called the Evil "I". She was also called "Drydock I" because of her propensity to absorb enough damage to require extensive dry-dock repair. Japanese fleet command had reported Intrepid sunk several times. It is said that many Japanese naval officers called her a ghost as she kept coming back from the dead. She was placed on inactive fleet status in December 1945. All of that said, by the time I reported on board in October 1956, she had been recommissioned and in service during the Korean conflict and was in Brooklyn Navy Yard for a complete overhaul and conversion (angle-flight deck and enclosed hurricane bow), following a Sixth Fleet cruise in the Mediterranean. She was a very happy and lucky ship, several times winning the "E" for Excellence given each year by COMAIRLANT, Commander Atlantic Fleet, for excellence and safety. Owing to a fine Supply Officer, she was also the best "feeder" in the Atlantic Fleet. I apologize for having kept awake those of you who have read this far. Can't imagine why I did this. Guess I just got started and it brought back lots of recollections, not of this combat history of course but of my almost two years aboard this great ship, now a museum in New York. Worth a visit too. And I apologize again to B.D. if he's still with us in this post. And to Jack, if necessary; and anyone else whom I may have offended, saving only one. Seth LaK 9 - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html