Block Island (CVE 106) - Naval Cruise Book

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The rudder jtlllllllt'll to port 201 and lllc vessel was out ol' control. Escort destroyers welll to llank spccd. ri-va-rscul their courses and In-auli-il toward the carrier. XII power was lost and connnunicalions willi scrccn- ing destroyers failed. Xl 202i a pcriscopc was sighlcd from the Bllllilx ISLAND bridge. Because of power failure. gulls could not bc brought to bear on the target in time. although efforts lo train manually wcrc made. Witll the BLOCK ISLAND dead in the water and sinking fast. orders were given to prcluzrc to abandon ship. The executive ollicer ordered all men in the hangar deck crews to go topside and this undoubtedly is responsible for the small number of casualties. At 2023 the carrier was hit again by another torpedo which blew a thirty foot hole in the aft end of the hangar deck. There was an opening of about 18 inches completely across the Hight deck and down the side to the hangar deck. All salvage steps that could be taken were of no avail. Not only was there danger of the ship breaking in two but there was an ever present threat of another torpedo hit. The ship was abandoned at 2038. It had settled about 20 feet by the stern. Oflicers and crew left the ship on the starboard side. which was the windward side. Captain Hughes and the last of the personnel abandoned ship at 2145 after a man. pinned in the wreckage, had died while being extricated. A heavy explosion. probably of the remaining depth charges. occurred at 2208 and brought to an end the CVE 21. In this disaster, six men were lost, only a few injured. Wlithin an hour the crew, which had left their ship in an orderly manner. were kept close together on rafts. The stronger swimmers aided the injured and placed them with the weaker men in rafts. There was no disorder or confusion among these well trained naval men and many of them displayed high heroism the full story of which will never be known. That not one man was lost in this evolution although some were in the water over two hours until well after darkness had set in and during underwater explo- sions. demonstrates the discipline and character of all hands. Most of the personnel were picked up by the USS AHERXQS and USS PAINE. The USS ELMORE took the USS BARR in tow after it had been damaged bv the submarine which was fighting like a trapped animal. The AHERNS and the PAINE, after all men were rescued. stood clear of the area for the night while the ELMORE and the BARR stood by. In the morning the ships made a rendezvous and searched the area for any possible additional survivors. It is believed that 29 May at 2127 the submarine which had made the attack was exploded and sunk by hedgehogs from the USS ELMORE. After probably causing the demise of eleven submarines, the crew of the USS BLOCK ISLAND came into Casablanca 1 ,Iune at 1230. Although they had lost their ship, the crew was not without high honor. L u 34 Z 1-find, H 411911 401 FBI SURYIVORS AT CASABLANCA U.S.S. AHERNS ARRIVES AT CASABLANCA CAPTAIN HUGHES AND HIS OFFICERS WITH SURVIVOPS AT CASABLANCA

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-Q f , r E 5-4 3 l-E CVE 21 MORTALLY WOUNDED ' ROUND UP Nearly every day there was a periscope feather or other alarm and then on 23 May the flattop sailed out from Casablanca on another mission of destruction. A U-Boat, known to be headed south from the Bay of Biscay was its target. The FBI task force conducted round the clock air and surface operations. 27 May, 0225, Lt. jg Calvin E. Mansell, in a regular TBM scouting flight, made radar contact in 34O00' N., 22O40' W., on a target evaluated to be a submarine. As he started his approach the ICS went out and the plane passed over the contact before the pilot could ascertain the submarine's position. Lt. Mansell was unable to regain con- tact. Lt. J ack Littlefield was vectored to the scene of contact and relieved Lt. Mansell. Lt. Littlefield started square search and picked up blip, holding contact intermittently for one hour. The destroyer escorts were ordered to investigate contact but obtained only negative results. 29 May, 0255, Lt. John W. Magee saw the wake of a submarine, prepared to launch depth charge attack and then his flare went out. Lt. Magee once more illuminated area but sighted nothing. Several more planes were vectored out but the submarine, apparently alerted by the flare, sub- merged and the contact was lost. The task force, determined to locate the wolf, change its course and backtracked to the north at about 1958. It is probable that the CVE passed very close to the Nazi which thought itself corneredand launched a suicidal attack. At 2013 without warning of any kind a torpedo struck the USS BLOCK ISLAND QCVE-21j approximately at frame 12, near the bow, probably on the port side. Four seconds later another torpedo struck farther aft, travelling through several frames of the ship and exploded in an oil tank through the shaft alley and up through five inch ammunition magazines. E some D my BX THIQ HFPRN

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n iflivmnriam A i ,Q When the USS BLOCK ISLAND was torpedoed six men aboard were lost. The demise of these shipmates depressed everyone al- though each man was thankful that the casualties in so great a - disaster were so few. 3 tv JAMES O'NEIL FRANKS, COX, USNR JAMES PETER KIBASH, MM3c, USNR .E PETER TYCH, Slc, USN-I HENRY ALFRED MEYER, EM2c, USNR JAMES BYROL OWEN, AMM1c, USNR JOHN J. SCHLINKER, Slc, USNR Six fighting planes were in the air at the time their carrier was destroyed. Having nowhere to land, they flew to the nearest islands. Only two of the planes made successful landings although when setting their planes down on Portugal possessions, they knew the reception would not be cordial. They were rescued as soon as pos- sible by planes from Casablanca. To the four aviators of the FIGHTING BLOCK ISLAND who were lost, we make a final salute. 15 l LIEUTENANT ROBERT P. BUELL, USNR P LIEUTENANT JG JULIAN L. PITTS, USNR -y LIEUTENANT JG ROBERT W. WYATT, USN R . I ENSIGN ROBERT E. INNIS, USNR I 757573t1F2'ff f1'f7?if '?W ,XVI e1r7W '7Wsr'f:'r-'A - r'-N--we f-f--V Exp? 10 -.ftifgsffw f Wx f - fi K- 'ij' 1 5 , ' if .mzfv fa ff, 1415! gs , +1 . ff - .1 - g z A zo s ,jg f- K E 1 I WN, f f 'f N fifi fi ' ' if X A 7 v f 1 27 3' Fifteen other men were injured and taken to the U S N covered and most of them e U I I u , .r. aval Base Hospital nt CZISIIIDIHIHYQI. where they re- if r , I 1,1,, , gamer tlelr full strength, rf,m,.ning lo amiws dmv in HH, Nam, Q.. ' -1 . ' if Auf.. 6 Y V 3,314