Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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Took a heavy lisT To The porT. She had been badly hiT by several Torpedoes in The opening aTTaclc. Incendiary of horizonTal bombers aT an alTiTude oT abouT l0,000 TeeT. Some sixTy enemy planes were diving aT our ships. Then a very greaT many Things happened in a very shorT Time. The Japanese planes sTruclc Time and bombs sTarTed Tires which Tilled her declcs and super- sTrucTure wiTh Tlame and smolce. ln The midsT oT all This Turmoil, The NEVADA, The nexT ship asTern oT The blazing ARlZQNA goT under way and headed Tor The channel. As she moved dawn sTream The vessel was a TargeT oT many enemy planes unTiI badly crippled by a Torpedo, and aTTer ThaT she ran aground To prevenT sinlcing. The nexT picTure was a desTroyer, name unlcnown, leaving The harbor under a wiThering Tire Trom Japanese planes. BuT To reTurn To The TENNESSEE, The real sTory oT This ship lies in The splendid manner in which The ohficers and men on board arose To The emergency. When General QuarTers was sounded all hands dashed To Their baTTle sTaTions. There was no panic. The shoclc Tound each and every man ready Tor his iob. AnTi-aircraTT and machine guns were guiclcly manned, The TirsT gun geTTing inTo acTion in less Than Three minuTes aTTer The alarm. For The nexT TorTy minuTes The TENNESSEE was The cenTer oT a whirlwind oT bombs and bulleTs. The Japanese planes bombed our ship and Then bombed again. They opened up wiTh machine guns in low Tlying aTTaclcs. The ship's gun crews ToughT wiTh uTmosT gallanTry, and in a mosT Tenacious and deTermined manner. They had no ThoughT Than To lceep The guns going and Thereby annihilaTing Those slanT-eyed sons- OT-biTches Trom The land oT The Rising Sun. l-losTile planes swooping down on whaT They ThoughT an easy prey. were greeTed wiTh volleys Trom our anTi-aircraTT and machine guns. ATTer such a warm recepTion The Japanese airmen gave The TENNESSEE a wide berTh. So TerriTic Was The noise oT The explosions and our own anTi-aircraTT guns ThaT one could noT hear himselT speak and had TO shouT in anybody's ear. The air seemed To be Tull oT TragmenTs and Tlying pieces. ln The general din There was The whoosh, Tollowed by a 1 X X .K R ' -1 :J QJ 9, -J' Q! inf -- 'rgfhr , y 'iwiin . X Q -. ii' ' :t N133 in X - 'L N X 'i i E--.12 E'.:' ' X n

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Field area. The sky was Tull oT planes bearing The Rising Sun emblem oT Japan. Overhead droned a TlighT Time again To geT in The killing blows. FirsT came aerial Torpedoes, Then heavy bombers and dive bombers. Wifhin a Tew minuTes oT The commencemenT oT The aTTack we were hiT direcT Two Times by bombs. One bomb bursTing on The Torward TurreT dis- abled one gun, and a TragmenT Trom iT peneTraTed The shield on The bridge above killing a sailor, and severely wounding an oTTicer. The commander oT The WEST VlRGlNlA, CapTain Mervyn S. Bennion, was morTally wounded by a porTion oT This bomb when he emerged Trom The conning Tower To The bridge oT his ship. The second, a l5- or I6-inch proiecTile, which The enemy was using as a bomb, hiT The aTT TurreT, buT TorTunaTely iT did noT explode, buT pierced The Top, killing Two men under The poinT oT impacT. AT abouT 8:00 a.m,, a Terrific explosion Took place in our new asTern, ARIZONA, which Tairly liTTed us in The waTer. She blew up in an enormous Tlame and a :loud oT black smoke when her Torward magazine ex- ploded aTTer a Japanese bomb had dropped down her Tunnel. Her back broken by The explosion, The enTire Torward porTion oT The ship canTed away from Thr- aTT porlion as The ship began To seTTle on The bcTToin. lT was a :crane which cannoT easily be TorgoTTen- 'iw ATQTQTONA was a mass oT Tire Trom bow To Tore- maiT, on divck and beTween decks, and The surface of This waTrr Toi a large dis.Tance around was a mass oT Tlaming oil Trom millions oT gallons oT Tuel oil. Over a Tlaifiuand dead men lay in her TwisTed wreck, Among Thom who perished were Rear Admiral lsaac C. Kidd, and Capmin Franklin Van Valkenburgh. A Tew momenTs aTTer This disasTer our aTTenTion fi' abucrbcd in The OKLAHOMA. STabbed several Timex in her porT side by Torpedoes, she heeled very genTly over, and capsized wiThin nine minuTes. The waTer was doTTed wiTh The heads oT men. Some swam aihcre, covered Trom head To TooT wiTh Thick, oily rum, buT hundreds oT men Trapped in The vessel's hui! were drowned. VJe had only been in The aTTack a Tew minuTes -sfrieri The VVEST VIRGINIA. abouT 20 TeeT on our porT beam. began slowly To seTTle by The bow, and Then are it .- f- ,- ,- -,il f --'T ' 7 T TTL' 'T KM, 1 -,:. ' ,Nw- f ,,.!.3m ? A- ' , j f - -M 2 4 Tie Q se. ....-- f7 'QgaX.'3 0 , 'IL-FF ,6 'C+-as 'f e -ff-T , ,Q t':?nK s , f T We X lv

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NTT duII whoomph oT huge expIosives which sTrucIc so close To The ship ThaT she shivered Trom end To end. During The TirsT aTTacIc a Iow-TIying Torpedo carry- ing pIane coming in asTern oT us was blown inTo in- TiniTesimaI pieces by a direcT hiT Trom our anTi- aircraTT baTTeries. IT happened, Ii+eraIIy speaking, in a TIash: one momenT There was an aT'TacIcing plane: The nexT momenT iT was a puTT oT smoke. When This cIeared There was noThing To be seen save dusT seTTIing on The waTer. The Marines were sTaTioned on The 5-inch broad- side guns numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, and IO. They had noThing acTive To do aT The beginning oT The acTion-any Tiring by The broadside baTTeries was absoIuTeIy ouT oT The guesTion as The porT guns Trained on The adiacenT WEST VIRGINIA, while The sTarboard guns aimed aT Ford Island. They had simply To sTand-by under a heavy aerial assauIT unable To repIy, or To puT iT in The vernacular oT The Marines in casemaTe No. IO, iVVe TeIT like basTards aT a Tamily reunion. CapTain Chevey S. WITiTe INorTon, Kan.I, in com- mand oT The Marines, seeing ThaT iT was no use Iceep- ing The Marines on The broadside baTTeries senT a vcIunTcer crew To man The 3finch gun on The sTar- beard side oT The guarTer-deck, and The surpIus were givin a chance To TighT iT ouT wiTh ancienT Lewis inaciwiiwcf guns pIacod in advanTageous posiTions abouT TIW- Thin There was an inTervaI oT comparaTive calm, which ,L'4fVITl',fI a good opporTuniTy To ascerTain The casuaITies uTTi iced by The Marines and maI4e a reporT To CapTain Wnifr, AccordingIy I began a Tour oT The assumed riaTTIc f.TaTion's checking The men by The rosier which I had broughT wiTh me. I counTed 75, There had been 9 I My nexT job Then was To Take a IooIc around The 'hip Tor The men missing. NaTuraIIy, my TirsT ThoughT was To fee iT They were among The wounded. I wenT f1'3IC2'iJ To second deck, where sick bay was IocaTed. The C-aii-age-way OuTside The ward was covered wiTh men Iving on maTTresses or on coTs. STepping care- 'eIT,f beTs-'Teen The rows oT maimed. burned, and bleed- ing I gropeo my way To The surgeons oTTice. A hos- c7TaI cerpsman 2nTormed me ThaT no Marines appeared on The casuaITy IisT. T XI ii? we Ti T X X XTX 3