California (BB 44) - Naval Cruise Book

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-Gr Q mf, Y! uCII'0S.S'IiIlg the Line HC.'6I'6I7ZlNIj' aboard the California. lC0urtesy of Captain B. V Burrowsl We carried the injured and dead to the quarter deck. As soon as possible they would be taken to the Naval Base. Many were saved from compartments where they were trapped and had to be cut out with acetylene torches. Late in the day when nothing more could be done. those of us who were still aboard were ordered to swim to Ford Island. The water was covered with burning oil, but tug boats used fire hoses to make a path for us to swim through. Rumors were all about that the Japa- nese were going to attack during the night. We were all issued BAR's lBrowning Automatic Riflesl and spent the night waiting in the dark- ness. During the night a flight of planes came in and we fired on them as did many others, with some being hit. They turned out to be our own carrier-based planes that ignored orders and came in on the wrong vector. REMEMBRANCES by Albert G. Melville It was the summer of l94 l, I can't remem- ber the exact date. I guess I was in the last group of rookie sailors from the San Diego Training Station to go aboard the Califorizia for duty. There was about 20 of us, I think. My memory of the event is very sketchy, at best, since all of this happened over a half a century ago. We all wore undress whites and we carried our sea bag and hammock all rolled up together on our shoulders. We boarded a 50 foot launch lsent out from the Californiaj and headed out into Long Beach Harbor. We were all full ofantici- pation and hope that we would not mess up getting on hoard. We knew we had to salute the flag and then the UD. and ask for permis- sion to come aboard. We pulled up to the accommodation lad- der, which looked like a polished mahogany staircase hooked up to the side of the ship. There was a landing at the bottom and thc top. The steps were about three feet wide. The rail- ing also seemed to be highly polished ma- hogany with all the fittings of bright brass. It was beautiful. I remember wondering if I would be able to carry my gear up and do all the necessary things without messing up. I felt much better standing on the quarter-deck wait- ing to be assigned my duty and division. I was assigned to the First Division which was lo- cated on the starboard Crightj bow and turret No. one. The deck was so clean, I think you could eat off of it. All of the general instructions, such as when to eat, when to be in a clean uniform of the day, reville, and taps, etc. were preceded by a bugle call. Each being different and very colorful. We prided ourselves on knowing what each call signified. Most of the crew slept in hammocks, only petty officers had cots. We ate family style and always at the same table with the same people. We lived out of our sea bags, not out of a locker. This routine was part of the old Navy. It seemed as though the rook- ies stood all the undesirable watches. I think 90'Zi of my watches were stood at night which left all day to work. Cf course, as part of the deck crew my jobs included scraping paint, painting, washing the decks and so forth. On the day of infamy, Dec. 7, l94l, I was on the 4:00 to 8:00 a.m. watch. That meant I was relieved after general mess was over. So I was asked to help clean up the mess with the mess cook. He went to the galley to get warm chow, I went to the garbage scow with a tu- reen ofgarbage from our mess table. The Cali- fornia was tied up to a key at Ford Island. The garbage scow was on our portside about midships. Our mess station was one deck be- low the maindeck, close to midship. As I was dumping the garbage, looked across the har- bor and watched a plane drop a bomb on the Ogalala, which was tied up at Maryls point across the channel from us. I only saw a black plane, but I knew it was a Japanese plane. tlt was common knowledge aboard ship that we would be at war with Japan before the year was out.J Just about the time I saw the bomb drop, general quarters was sounded, followed by the announcement this is no drill! . I don't know why but I took the tureen back to the mess table and headed for my battle station. My battle sta- tion was the magazine handling room for tur- ret irl . There were about a dozen of us, includ- ing one officer. Shortly after we arrived, we felt a jolt and the ship listed to the portside. We felt another jolt and started drawing water through the ventilating system. I remember the officer in charge estimated we were drawing in about 120 gallons a minute. The water was up to our waists when we tried to lift the hatch, with no luck. We had been jamming clothes into the openings, again with no luck. By the time the water and oil was about up to our arm- pits, someone opened the hatch and we were able to get out. When we reached topside we heard gun- fire and explosions. I headed for the port case- ment guns looking for a friend of mine, Billy Santo. We were both from the same area, joined the Navy at the same time and came aboard together and usually went on liberty together. We were both pretty good swimmers and had often talked about diving off the bow of the ship. We ran into each other about mid-ship and since the order had been given to abandon ship, we both thought this was an ideal time to dive off the bow. So we didjust that. The only problem was that there was about ll4 inch of heavy oil on top of the water, so when we came up we were dark-skinned people. We swam to the shore. Billy and I headed for the Ford Is- land boat dock where we knew they had a gas pump so we could wash the oil off of ourselves. I remember there was still some machine gun fire from the enemy planes and some tracer bullets came close to us. We made our way, I think, to an officer's club where they had past- ries and coffee for everyone and anyone, where we were told we could get clean clothes over at the hangar that had not been destroyed. We crossed the field and were issued clothes. We were also able to wash and take a bath. At that time they had me fill out a postcard that was preprinted with statements to be checked off. We were to sign it and address it, and leave it: It was to be mailed home, but my mother never received it. I had cut my knee, I don't know where or when, but since it didn't seem serious, I never had it cared for. We returned to our ship. Mon- day morning I was put in a working party that went below decks and helped bring dead bod- ies out, open up passageways and generally try to clean things up. It wasn't easy, the ship was still listing about l0 or 15 degrees to the port and down by the bow. We were able to eat at Ford Island in the main building. On the 9th of Decemberl was offered a job in a boat crew to help clean up the harbor, pick up trash, wood, bodies, clothing or anything that was in the harbor. By the l0th, my leg was hurting me and I decided to limp a little. As time went on. it got worse. By the morning of the l2th, I needed help to walk. So I was sent to the Na-

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the boat deck above that. The splintering ef- fect of the blast plastered bell bottom clad bod- ies against bulkheads, decks, and overheads all the way from the magazine to the boat deck. Buming fuel oil escaping from the ruptured tanks below caught the flame of the explosion A fireball formed and shot through the hatch throwing fiery debris in all directions: up, down, and sideways. It killed, bumed, maimed and plastered everything in its path on bulk- heads nearby Dave and I scraped their burned and mu- tilated bodies off the melted, peeling paint the next day. We scraped them off with putty knives when the clean up work began. Put chunks of burned and blasted flesh and bones in Navy blankets, tied the ends when it was full, and canied it to the main deck above where the burial detail took it to the mainland for an un- marked punch bowl grave. Dave mentioned at the time, f'Man, was I lucky to be in the rec room when it blew. There is no way I could have survived that terrible impact ten feet closer. Fourteen of us, who made up the Four- Port repair crew found ourselves on a torpe- doed and sinking battleship with death and destruction everywhere, bracketed by three torpedoes: one aft, two forward, and a 500 LB bomb bursting above us. We had nothing to do but wait until someone brought relief. We were four decks below the main deck, sealed in by watertight doors. The ship began to shiver and shake like a dog passing razor blades, as she settled deeper into the mud The ole Prune Barge was like a behemoth, a floating steel behemoth, torn and shaken by the fury of battle that caused her to settle un- der fire, mud, and oil-covered debris. Some of that debris still floated in the waters of Pearl Harbor for months and years after. Oil still seeps from the USS Arizona fifty years after the battle, where all of the Arizona Band mem- bers expired in the bowels of the explosion that broke her in two. The Calqfornia groaned and strained at hawsers which held her fast to fox three. The two 50 foot islands of concrete proved their rooted strength for holding fast to a sinking ship. Fire bumed forward, starboard, and heavy on the portside where three torpedoes hit. One followed another forward, and one tore into port the side aft. The second one forward fol- lowed the first, unerringly, almost immediately after the first blast, into the bowels of the ship where it destroyed everything in its path. Explosions broke the watertight seal in our compartment. A mixture of fuel oil and water seeped through a break in the forward door. The smell was awful, like kerosene and burn- ing gunpowder. Manley, breathing fumes seep- ing into the compartment, became very sleepy and stretched out on the steel deck covered by the brick red battleship linoleum. Water and oil licked at his feet and legs as it began to gather along the corner where the deck met the bulkhead. The deck soon became very slippery. It was not easy to slip and skid around on the greasy surface I shook Manley, but he didn't respond. We rolled him up a little higher. When that man sacked out you couldn't wake him. The deck had some slant to it now. We pushed Manley up a little higher to get him out ofthe water and oil. Didn't move him high enough. Water kept coming through space in the lower edge of the forward door. Manley kept slip- ping into it. We wanted to secure the water- tight door, and stop the leak with a dog wrenchg but it didn't work. Others slipped on the deck some more, un- able to get enough leverage to tighten the bend in the steel door caused by the explosion. Mix- tures of water and oil kept coming in, not in a gushing quantity, but enough to let us know our compartment would fill before too long, with us in it. There was no way for us to get out. Nobody said much. One shipfitter striker, an unrated apprentice, found a guitar under the conveyor belt, and began to strum a few chords. He was skilled enough to get our attention. Music broke the silence, and we even sang a few choruses of f'You are my sunshinef' ZERo ATTACK by Marvin B. Graham One aftemoon we had just set condition Zebra-Easy, which meant we could open any hatch marked with Z or E. I could hear an air attack going on topside and just could not help going up to see it. When I came topside I was standing on the starboard quarter deck watching a Japanese plane flying low over the water heading our way. He just kept coming but so much flak was going at him I knew he could not make it to us. I could see 5 shells hit the water in front of him and even see steam from his engine when he flew through the water thrown up by the shells. I decided maybe I had better be someplace else. So I went around the super structure, pulled on my flash gear and leaned or. Ester ffl. l was looking at the big til on the boat I looked down and saw the little uteel cove Bible sent to me by my grandmother I tnougn l was safe as could be but w hen l sam that I'5i'ii: I yelled loudly 'Runfl As l ran through 'ne hatch to safety in the super structure I near.. the plane explode and saw firejust behind me That was lesson number one on how, 3 stay on your battle station and keep your none out of air attacks. I later went back out to the quarter deck after things were squared avi ay. I could not believe the big til on the lifeboat was bloxerr away, leaving only a large hole. I had no idea to yell and run till I looked at my Bible, and Ilm smart enough to know who made me do itg to this day I still praise ine Lord for saving my life. It was a very exciting time for a teenager from Missouri. TORPEDO HIT by John W Burden I was in the shipfitter shop on the third deck portside when the torpedo hit. All void covers had been removed so compartments could air out for inspection on Monday. Water gushed into the shop andl was up to my knees by the time I reached the door. The force of the water helped me pull the water-tight door shut. I dogged it down although the water pres- sure from the other side was sealing it tightly I immediately went to my damage control sta- tion on the starboard side and had my party start opening the flood valves for counter flood- ing. The ship came slowly back toward an even keel and settled down in the mud with a list of five degrees and 20 minutes. While we were doing this the ship had been hit by bombs. One large one hit on the armored deck right above us. Smoke was everywhere and everything was a mess. u. I9-13-1946 USS C'r1liforr1ir1 f?lP.XflIAQ Imni. lt'i'1ii1'rmjx'of'tI!,vtfr' Sg'lIfg'!',N'vl L l l' 'X MJMM.

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val hospital at Pearl Harbor. I filled out another one of those postcards, dated Dec. 12, 1941. My mother got that one around Christmas time, but she had already been notified that I had been killed. They fixed me up and I was able to get out on the 19th. I put in for the first ship out to fight the Japanese. That ship was the Salt Lake Ciry. So ended my short but unfor- gettable experience on the USS Calyfornia 544. ABOARD THE CGN-36 by Murray Penhollow Early in 1993, I had the opportunity to go aboard the USS Calnfornia CGN-36, for an eight day trip. This included a few days in the operation area and then up the coast to their Home'Port, Bremerton, Washington. As we passed the San Diego entrance buoy Captain Ray A. Wallace got on the horn and announced they had passengers aboard includ- ing a crew member of the Battleship Calyfor- nia BB44. He gave the crew my name, retired rank and further stated I had been on the Battle- ship when it was sunk in Pearl Harbor. He ended by stating that he was sure I would be glad to talk to anyone about my duties and ex- perience. Believe me the only time I was alone on that trip was when I was in my stateroom and I enjoyed every minute of the attention. USS Calnfornia CGN-36 is a Nuclear Powered Guided Missile Cruiserg they allowed me to go anywhere except the power plant. They let me take the helm, fire some of the guns and join in the operations. Being an ex- signalman they encouraged me to send and receive semaphore and light. I was amazed at how much of that ability I had retained. I went aboard May 31, 1993, and our arrival in Bremerton June 8th came too soon. I will never forget Capt. Wallace, his officers and men. On December 6th the Executive Officer Cmdr. Hamilton called. They had learned the Morning Colors had been delayed Dec. 7, 1941, by the attack on Pearl Harbor and they planned to reenact that ceremony on their ship December 7, and asked me to participate. I was honored. A BRIEF ACCOUNT by Ervin O. Schmidt A brief account of what happened to me before, during and after the attack. The USS Calbfornia is tied up at Fox 3 Ford Island. It is 7:55 a.m. A shipmate, Herb Curtiss, and I are about ready to go to Hono- lulu on liberty, first to church service then to Waikiki beach for the day. The band comes rushing in from the quarter deck, We are be- ing machine gunned, Battle Stationsf' This is no drill!! The klaxon is going, sailors rushing to their battle stations, a torpedo slams into us as the klaxon is still going, all the lights go out, we turn on some battle lamps. Oil starts coming into our compartment, another sailor and I start dogging down the covers to the oil tanks that were uncovered for admirals inspec- tion to be held on Monday. Everyone from our we r- It M ' V., ' . f C, V t . - . wif lf .. Rv ' L P 7 A' , .H 'I 'fn '1 Q B' . , , Z qfawlls 'V fl . saw I 'BEARS BL 2 I f V -P5495 4 X f if ' .var I Q , r VVVVV X ' f . , ,g if If - V, f Q fm 0 , V m,,,,,,,11-,'- .aw f L' , '- 'A wwf' V a ' I , ' 'WW df ' M' ,ai . raw The CalU'ornia 's 1939 baseball team in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. lCourresy of Earl Nelzl. ,I compartment is passing out from the oil fumes. Another torpedo explodes, the ship starts list- ing to port rapidly. I wake up on an upper deck hearing 4'Abandon Ship repeated over and over. Other sailors coming from other compartments car- ried 22 of us out. I can see all this oil on the water and fire sweeping down the channel from the Arizona. I stay aboard rather than swim to Ford Island. It is now about 9:00 a.m., I help pass fire extinguishers to the ships office that was hit by a 500 pound bomb. A new wave of planes is coming in. I get three sailors to go with me to the 37 magazine near the keel of the ship, we each pick a box of 4-37 shells weighing about 135 lbs and head for my secondary battle station above the bridge. Ilm the pointer on this 3l' anti-aircraft gun. We fire off ll rounds, no hits. These are the last Japanese planes we four sailors see over the base. I spend the rest of the day in- specting compartments and dogging shut all hatches. I spend the night in a hangar on Ford Island. I am wakened by a terrific barrage of anti-aircraft firing at planes coming in from one of our carriers. We are positive the Japa- nese have returned and are invading the is- land. CAt least four or five of our planes were shot down.j Later I leamed my parents had received a telegram of my death and it was two weeks later that they heard otherwise. Epilog: About five days later, 150 of us Calnfornia sailors were taken aboard the USS Chicago CA-293 a fast, heavy, 8 gun cruiser. We dashed out of Pearl Harbor about 1 200 a.m. I did not get back to Pearl until April of 1943. By then I had volunteered for submarine duty aboard the USS Saury SS 189. Cmdr. Drop was my skipper for the next five war patrols. our Exec. was W. Hazzard. After the 4th war pa- trol and a two week rest period at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, I was given leave and travel- ing orders for new construction to Portsmouth, NH, Navy Yard to commission the USS lin-slr SS423. Our 2nd patrol was in the Sea of Japan with a wolf pack of three other submarines. We sank four ships on this patrol run. I was on the S.J. radar in the conning tower when we sank two of Tojo's 780 ton submarine defense vessels the night of Aug. 14. 19-15. in the Sea of Japan, the 3rd sub Chaser decided to head for the far horizon. My ship. the Torsk. fired the last torpedoes of WWII. We had been sub- jected to some very heavy depth charging by these two vessels. I give credit to the Good Lord, our skipper Cmdr. B.E. Lewellen and our Exec. Roy Werthmuller who made some very decisive and timely evasive decisions in this last encounter with the enemy. SEA SToRY by James R. Wzndiver It was in early December 194-1. The USS Caljornia, since its return to the Pacific War Theater in June. had successfully engaged the Japanese at Saipan. Guam. Tinian. Leyte Gulf. and the naval battle at Surigao Strait. It had been a busy five months when the ship and crew were given a short respite to catch its breath and add a few coats of new paint. The anchorage chosen was in the Palau Island chain just off the island ofBabelthauap. The Marines were winding up a successful campaign and had secured air fields nearby. It had not been deemed necessary to wrest the .Japanese from all of the islands and atolls but simply to iso- late them and make their presence there redun- dant. Evidently there were several Japanese still on Babelthauap who did 1101 haye the full ap- preciation forthe American strategy. Seeing a sizable American fleet anchored nearby. they gathered some of their better swimmers with the intent to swim out with parcels of explo- sives forthe purpose of blowing holes in the hulls of as many ships as possible. They suc- ceeded in doing some minor damage but w ere viewed more as a nuisance than a major threat. It was in this setting that I was interrupted