Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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12 I 57 Large groups of planes are circling us from 7 to I2 miles. 12:41 A single plane comes in to attack but is driven off by our guniire. 12:55 Two more planes begin a run on our ship and are driven off. One torpedo drop is reported but no wake observed. 1:27 A quartermaster Ctypical hardboiled Navy sea-dogj makes an entry on the log: 601:27 MooN SET THANK con 1 240 Radar reports all clear. The Captain orders me below to my quarters. I comply with what I feel must be a very tired grin. This day began for us with reveille at 4:30 in the morning . . . 21 hours ago. Getting down to my quarters, I find the Captain's Filipino stewards sitting in the galley, hud- dled together, their life jackets and tin hats still on. The expressions on their faces are like a mirror reflecting my own feelings and emotions during the last seven long fearsome hours that we have been under continuous attack. In broken English they say they do not understand what happened. I tell them, slowly and carefully, just what the Captain told the crew, that everything is all right now and the Iap planes are all gone. I open the door to my quarters and there is Iorgensen sound asleep on the couch in the oflice. I-Ie must have come down just as soon as the moon set, evidently he didn't relish the idea of those darkened gangways to his own quarters three decks below. I motion the stewards to have a look, when they see the cherubic sleeping Vic they grin broadly, take off their tin hats and life preservers and head for their own quarters. I slip into my room . . . hit the sack and it seems I have just fallen asleep when I hear reveille and it's 4:30 A.M. again. A dash of cold water and up to the bridge. It is still dark . . . we seem to be making good speed, judging by the stars we are steering a fair course. The shadowy shapes of the ships that the Admiral detailed as our special convoy last night gradually become visible, our ship is wounded, but we are not alone. Slowly the dawn slides towards the sunrise. Far, far back on the horizon, there stretches out a

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ll 56 o ' 9 BOGIES NOW CIRCLING PORT QUARTER 10,000 YARDS SAINT JO OUT EXECUTE TO FOLLOW BREAK BEND ON UNCLE PLUS 5 STAND BY EXECUTE CANEBRAKE ACKNOWLEDGE WILCO OUT OUR STEERING ENGINE ROOM WE ARE GOING TO PUT FIVE PUMPS TO TRY TO CLEAN IT IS NO FIRE ON THE SHIP COMES FROM THE SMOKE BOMBS AFT AND WE ARE GOING TO FIGHT OUR WAY OUT OF THIS THING OUT NICE GOING NICE GOING WE'RE WITH YOU STORK OUT THIS IS STORK THIS IS CANEBRAKE STORK THIS IS HANCOCK IS FLOODED SUBMERSIBLE OUT THERE THE SMOKE THIS IS STORK The men 1n the steer1ng engrne room have ach1eved therr m1ss1on, they have the rudder 1n the neutrald pos1t1on amrdship We are makmg zo knots, steermg Wrth our eng1nes It is 27 m1nutes s1nce we were h1t Nzce going Nzce gozng- You bet your hfe 1t,S n1ce go1ng The Captam orders the pumpmg operat1on speeded up and every effort he made to get the men out of that steermg control room Its entrance hatch 1S st1II under two feet of water I-Ie suggests that I stretch out on the cot 1n hrs sea cahm It 18 easy to follow th1s sug gest1on I take advantage of th1s moment to tell hrm what a fine thrng lt was to g1ve the men 1n the steerrng room the chance to make the1r own dec1s1on about rema1n1ng at the1r posts he comes back Wrth Of course 1f they had decrded for com1ng out I would have had no alternatrve but to order them to stay I am drmly consc1ous of more bOg1CS reported N and E and that another attack 1S 1n preparauon 11.58 . 11.5 . . . . . . . I 12114 ' ' ' . . ' ' 132

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long line of tiny specks . . . our ships . . . the entire task force is there behind us, spread wide in a long long line . . . a barrier fence between us and the enemy. I-Iigh overhead in the first glints of the sun, ride protecting formations of roaring planes . . . OUR planes from sister carriers. I-Iere is the same spine-tingling, goose-Hesh-raising sensation experi- enced as a boy, when in Genesis I first met the words: Let there be light. . ' This is the Navy. The climax of twenty-four hours of Navy tradition in combat action. I look into the faces of the men on the bridge, look for the emotion that is surging through me, it is not there, each man is carrying on with his job in the tradition of teamwork and of unity. The Navy is taking care of its own. . I We are still within reach of island-based enemy planes. Will they come after us? My Filipino friend brings up the Captain's breakfast and, as usual, an extra cup of coffee for me. I find out that it was not until four o,clock this morning that they were able to force open the hatch and get those boys out of the steering control room. The first man lifted out was Machinist Mate I f c A. M. Petty, still unconscious. Chief Electricianas Mate Lewis R. Baker, Quartermaster 2 f c Dale E. Woods, and Electrician's Mate 2 f c Ioe G. Rogers were taken to sick bay. I am amazed at the crisp fresh appearance of the Captain after over 24 hours on the bridge without sleep. I-Ie is kidding me about the camera and rubber-bag incident when our radar announces bogies on the screen. The Iap planes are busy again. We hear from radar plot that they are exploring the area we were in last night. Our intelligence, intercepting the talk between the Iap planes during the attack, heard one of them excitedly report that he had hit a big one, other planes claimed addi- tional hits and they are out there in force this morning looking for us. Our radar tracks them for hours as they fly widening squares combing and recombing the entire area for evidence of their victories, Tokyo radio will soon announce that their planes have sunk the new Lexington. We have a ship of tired tired men, the deck crew sprawled around the flight deck is sound asleep, still wearing their steel hats. They have had over 24 hours of strenuous flight deck chores and 134