The Christmas Truce of 1914

It was an amazing spectacle and must arouse bitter thought concerning those high-born conspirators against the peace of the world, who in their mad ambition had hounded such men on to take each other by the throat rather than by the hand. 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's quote refers to an event that took place a century ago on this date in 1914. A remarkable "Christmas Truce" was unofficially observed between opposing soldiers of the Great War. It was a profoundly symbolic and poignant moment of peace in what was to become one of the worst conflicts in history.

In the fall of 1914, German armies invaded France through neutral Belgium. Britain was immediately drawn into the war to halt the German invaders. By that winter, both sides reached a stalemate and constructed 450 miles of trenches stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland. At points along the line, the 2 sides were as close as 100 feet or less, separated by a "No Man's Land" in between. At this point, World War I had been underway for less than 5 months, but already it had claimed a million lives. 

Exactly when and where the spontaneous cease-fire started is lost to history. But apparently, German troops started it. British soldiers noticed their German enemies decorating the tops of their trenches with candles and Christmas trees. Then followed the singing of "Stille Nacht." When British soldiers responded with "O Come, All Ye Faithful," the Germans joined in with the Latin words. And then, somewhere on Christmas Eve 1914, it began. A few at first, then 100,000 soldiers along the Western Front laid aside their arms, ignored orders, and met their counterparts in No Man's Land. The soldiers told jokes, exchanged food, and in one area even played a game of soccer. It was, as Doyle wrote, “one human episode amid all the atrocities which have stained the memory of the war.”

Nowhere was there an officially organized truce that Christmas, but many similar and spontaneous events took place along other fronts. The remarkable truce lasted through Christmas Day and even a few days longer in some sections. Men from both sides were reluctant to return to the business of war and had to be spurred to return to hostilities by firing artillery overhead.

Sadly, this amazing act of peace on Christmas 1914 was not to be repeated for the remainder of the war. In April 1917, America finally was pulled into the war in Europe, and, suffering over 100,000 of her own killed, was able to help tilt the balance in favor of the Allies. By the time the Great War ended in 1918, more than 7 million soldiers died. Overall, 16 million people perished, and another 20 million were injured.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, like countless other parents, lost a son in the "war to end all wars." In a generation before, American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, also had a son who served (was severely wounded) on another battlefield during the American Civil War. Longfellow reflected on war in his well-known poem, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Later set to music as a beloved Christmas carol of the same title, the words describe the narrator's despair at hearing Christmas bells, reminding him that "hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good-will to men." But he also sees beyond the despair to hope and comfort. The carol concludes with the bells ringing even more loudly with renewed hope in ultimate peace found in God's righteousness and justice:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Repair work on the San Jacinto

In 1944, during operations against Japanese air bases on Luzon, the Third Fleet's Task Force 38 encountered a devastating typhoon on December 18, resulting in 3 ships lost and many others damaged. On today's date in 1944, those damaged ships, which were sent ahead, began reaching their base at Ulithi for repairs. The remainder of the fleet arrived a few days later. Fleet repair ships and other auxiliaries began work immediately.*

One of those injured ships, the light carrier USS San Jacinto, came alongside the repair ship Hector, on which my dad, Frank Dolan, was stationed. Hector's crews began major repairs immediately for damage received from the typhoon. Much of the damage resulted from planes in the hanger deck breaking loose and destroying air intakes, vent ducts, and the sprinkling system. There also was widespread flooding and water damage to electrical, ventilation and power systems, and 2 doors had to be made watertight. Carriers were essential to the ongoing operation in the Philippines, and Hector labored to complete its work by December 29th.

USS San Jacinto, 1944
Source: NavSource

Launched in September 1943, San Jacinto arrived in the Pacific war zone in June 1944 to take part in the Marianas Campaign and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Throughout that summer, her planes struck targets in the Palaus, Bonins, and the Caroline Islands. During October, she participated in raids on Okinawa, Formosa, and the Philippines, and the famous Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was then part of the task group that continued the Western Pacific offensive against Japanese targets in the Philippines, Formosa, and throughout the South China Sea.

In the early months of 1945, San Jacinto's planes raided the Japanese home islands and assisted with the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Remaining off Okinawa, she battled suicide planes and helped destroy the final Japanese surface warship attack in the Pacific. She again struck targets in Japan during July and operated in the area through the final days of the war.

Lt. (j.g.) George H. W. Bush

One of the more famous men to serve on the San Jacinto was future President George H.W. Bush. Bush's first assignment after finishing flight training was with a torpedo squadron based on the San Jacinto in 1944. San Jacinto was part of Task Force 58 that participated in operations against Marcus and Wake Islands in May, and then in the Marianas during June. On June 19th, the task force triumphed in one of the largest air battles of the war, the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Three months later, Bush piloted one of the aircraft that attacked the Japanese installations on Chichi Jima. His plane was hit, although he was able to complete the attack. The crew was forced to bail out several miles from the island, although, sadly, his other 2 crewmen were killed. After 30 days on his rescue sub, USS Finback, Bush was returned to San Jacinto. He saw action in the Philippines before returning to Guam, where his squadron, which had suffered heavy losses, was replaced. Bush flew 58 combat missions and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for the Chichi Jima raid. He also earned 3 Air Medals.

After Japan's surrender, San Jacinto returned to the U.S. She was decommissioned 1947. In 1959, while still in the Reserve Fleet, she was reclassified as an aircraft transport. Finally in 1971, the ship was sold for scrap. The USS San Jacinto earned a Presidential Unit Citation, 5 battle stars, and other medals for her WWII service.

*While the Hector was repairing the San Jacinto, the repair ship Ajax worked on the escort carrier Altamaha and the fleet tug Jicarilla. The destroyer Dewey was tied up to the destroyer tender Prairie for repairs. The destroyer tender Cascade had the destroyer Buchanan alongside, and the destroyer tender Dixie was repairing the destroyer Dyson.

Sources: USS Hector War Diary, December 1944; Short History of the USS San Jacinto, 3 May 1944 15 August 1945; USS Hector AR7- Ship's Log (WWII); Naval History and Heritage: Biographies in Naval History; Military Wiki Encyclopedia

Halsey's Typhoon Cobra

On today's date in 1944, the Third Fleet, commanded by naval hero Admiral William Halsey, encountered the full force of Typhoon Cobra northeast of Samar in the central Philippines. Disaster soon followed for many of the ships in its path.

A few days earlier on the 11th, Task Force 38 of the Third Fleet had departed the U.S. Navy base at Ulithi Atoll for the Philippines to provide carrier air cover for the army's Mindoro Invasion. The fleet sailed from the harbor in clear weather, little knowing that a typhoon was beginning to form about 175 miles northeast.¹ On the 16th, the center of the storm passed north of the atoll, heading west toward the Philippines in the direction of the fleet.

Halsey's Task Force was comprised of 7 fleet carriers, 6 light carriers, 8 battleships, 15 cruisers, and around 50 destroyers. The carrier aircraft had been successful in conducting raids against Japanese airfields on Luzon, and now planes and ships now were trying to refuel about 300 miles east of Luzon. It was there that the worst of the storm hit. In spite of earlier warnings of severe weather, the admiral had led his force into the center of a severe typhoon, the worst of which hit the fleet on this date.

The damage was severe. One hundred mile per hour winds, high seas, and torrential rain battered the fleet. Three destroyers—Hull, Monaghan, and Spence—capsized and sank with almost all hands.

Twenty-one other ships were damaged. Fires broke out on 3 carriers² when planes broke loose in their hangars. Some 146 aircraft were lost or damaged by fires, destroyed by impact, or were simply swept overboard. Even more tragically for the fleet, 793 officers and men were lost in the storm, and at least 80 more were injured.

USS Cowpens experiencing the effects of Typhoon Cobra, December 18, 1944.
Some ships experienced even greater rolls, while 3 capsized and sank.

Concerning the typhoon's destructive impact Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz remarked that it "represented a more crippling blow to the 3rd Fleet than it might be expected to suffer in anything less than a major action."

Destroyer escort USS Tabberer, December 1944

Tabberer lost her mast and radio antennas in the typhoon. Although damaged and unable to

radio for help, she remained on the scene to rescue 55 of the 93 survivors of the 3 sunken ships.

By Christmas Eve, most of the returning fleet had arrived at Ulithi, the most crippled arriving first. The USS San Jacinto was one of the carriers damaged in the storm. Hangar deck planes broke loose and destroyed air intakes, vent ducts, and sprinkling system, which caused widespread flooding. The injured carrier was taken alongside my dad's repair ship, Hector, whose crews worked until December 27th repairing the ship.

The Navy soon convened an 8-day court of inquiry at Ulithi and found Halsey had committed an error in judgment in heading into the storm, the "preponderance of responsibility" resting on him. However, it stopped short of recommending discipline. It cited "errors of judgment committed under stress of war operations" rather than "offenses." Admiral Nimitz was satisfied that any mistakes Halsey may have committed were done so "under stress of war operations and stemming from a commendable desire to meet military requirements." Therefore, no action was taken against him.

Amazingly, only 6 months later, Halsey again sailed the fleet into the path of a typhoon. While ships again sustained crippling damage from Typhoon Viper, none of them were lost. Six men were killed and 75 planes were lost or destroyed, with almost 70 badly damaged. Another court of inquiry was convened, and it suggested that Halsey be reassigned. However, Admiral Nimitz again chose not to take action against Halsey.

¹ The Mighty90 webpage, the Official Website of USS Astoria CL-90, provides a very helpful chart and description of the path of Typhoon Cobra.

LCDR Gerald Ford

38th U.S. President

² One of the light aircraft carriers to be damaged was the USS Monterey. The carrier suffered a hangar deck fire as aircraft broke loose, crashed into each other and the ship’s structure, and ignited aviation fuel. On board was future President, Lieut. Gerald Ford, who assumed responsibility to go below to assess the conflagration and report back to the captain. Although the fire killed 3 sailors and injured nearly 40, and the ship went dead in the water for more than an hour because of smoke being sucked into the engineering spaces, the crew extinguished the fire and got the damaged ship underway to Ulithi, and then on to the West Coast.

At one point or another during the war in the Pacific, my dad's path crossed with those of 3 future U.S. presidents: Ford, Bush, and Kennedy.

Sources: Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue, Bob Drury & Tom Calvin; Sea Cobra: Admiral Halsey's Task Force and the Great Pacific Typhoon, Buckner F. Melton, Jr.; Naval Historical Foundation: "Lieutenant Gerald Ford and Typhoon Cobra"

Mindoro Campaign, 1944

Having begun his invasion of the Philippines with the landing on Leyte, October 20, 1944, Gen. Douglas MacArthur now set his sights on the main Philippine island of Luzon. But first he needed a closer base of operations, a stepping stone to a successful land invasion. For that he chose the smaller island of Mindoro, directly south of Luzon.

Task Force 38 of Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet sailed from Ulithi on December 11th. Sailors, like my father, Frank Dolan, on the repair ship Hector, cheered as the 90-ship flotilla steamed out of the harbor, west toward the Philippines. Halsey's fleet will hit enemy air bases on Luzon, thus providing additional protection for Vice Admiral Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet's amphibious invasion on Mindoro.

On December 13, the Japanese detected the Seventh Fleet convoy, and their fighters attacked. The light cruiser Nashville was badly damaged by a kamikaze, with 133 killed and over 150 wounded. In another attack wave, a kamikaze hit the destroyer Harden, killing 14 and wounding 24. On the 14th, Japanese aircraft made a full-blown attempt to destroy the invasion force, but suffered heavy casualties instead, losing 46 aircraft.

Crewmen cleaning up the port side gun battery after a kamikaze hit on
December 13, 1944, while en route to the Mindoro invasion
Source: NavSource.org

As the amphibious forces sailed toward Mindoro, Task Force 38 arrived in the Philippine Sea, east of Luzon. From its position, carrier aircraft covered enemy air bases in Luzon. By continuously patrolling the air over these airfields the Japanese were prevented from launching any serious sorties toward the invasion force. American carrier planes continued to control the air corridors over Luzon, destroying per 270 enemy aircraft, sinking 18 ships, and damaging 37 more.*

On today's date in 1944, the Allied land invasion of Mindoro began. Completely surprising the Japanese defenders there, the invasion force quickly overcame the weak resistance without the loss of a single Allied soldier. Engineers soon began construction of an airfield, which was operational within a couple of weeks.

By the 16th, Task Force 38 was low on fuel. Halsey ordered it 400 miles east into the Philippine Sea to refuel so it could return to guard the skies over Luzon. However, on the 18th a violent typhoon struck the Task Force while it was attempting to refuel. The fleet experienced devastating damage and loss, and was forced to return to Ulithi.

In the days ahead, the Japanese responded to the invasion with air and sea attacks. While American carrier aircraft flew above, a few kamikaze pilots slipped their planes through and attacked Allied forces en route to the Mindoro beachhead. Many of these suicide pilots tried hitting the escort carriers but were shot down or otherwise missed their targets. Others got through to the invasion force and destroyed 2 LSTs (tank landing ships).

Several days later on the evening of December 26th, a Japanese naval task force attempted an ambitious bombardment of Allied shore installations. However, during its approach to the beachhead, the enemy force lost a destroyer and received damage to other ships by the Allied response. The Japanese also made several attempted torpedo strikes against American ships at anchor, but they were not effective. This was the last time that major units of the Japanese fleet tried to interfere with Allied shore operations in the Philippines.

USS LST-738 burning after she was hit by a kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches,
December 15, 1944. Smoke in the left distance may be from LST-472, which was also
hit by the kamikaze attack
Source: Naval Historical Center

The Mindoro Campaign continued through January 1945, when MacArthur's forces invaded the main Philippine island of Luzon, and then began their advance on Manila.

*Tragically, unknown to Halsey's pilots, one of the Japanese ships struck by navy bombers was the cargo ship, Oryoku Maru, in whose hold were crammed 1,620 POWs, survivors of the Bataan Death March, awaiting shipment to Japan as slave laborers. Around 270 men died, either from the appalling conditions, or were killed in the bombing or shot in the water as they tried to escape. Experiencing even greater deprivations and death in the months ahead, only 403 of the original 1,620 POWs survived to be liberated from camps at the war's end 9 months later.

Sources: The Two-Ocean War, Samuel Eliot Morrison; Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue, Bob Drury & Tom Calvin; The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia; Reports of General MacArthur: The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific

Pearl Harbor Day

Seventy-three years ago, Americans relied on the assumption that an enemy would announce its intentions before it attacked. On this date in 1941, however, they were to be disabused of that notion.

Frank Dolan, 1941

On that Sunday morning, just as the flag was to be raised on my father's repair ship, USS Vestal, the Japanese attack came without warning. At 7:55 AM, the first wave of enemy aircraft began hitting the U.S. Navy ships anchored in Pearl Harbor and the army air base there. Dad's ship was one of the many that were hit.* Torpedoes also passed under his ship to strike the battleship Arizona, to which Vestal was tied alongside. Several other ships were destroyed along with hundreds of lives lost.

Even while Japanese envoys were negotiating in Washington, their high command had directed its fleet to launch the strike. The American people were outraged beyond the comprehension of the policy makers in Tokyo. A generation of Americans brought up on peace was going to war.

The day after the attack, the president delivered his famous speech to Congress and to the American people. About that address, author Walter Lord wrote: "The speech was over in six minutes and war was voted in less than an hour, but the real job was done in the first ten seconds. 'Infamy' was the note that struck home, the word that welded the country together until the war was won."

USS Arizona Burning

*My dad, Frank Dolan, recounted his personal experience of the attack in his narrative, Pearl Harbor: As I Remember.

Sources: Day of Infamy, Walter Lord; Frank L. Dolan's Service Records and oral account

The Battle of Franklin at 150

Some of the grimmest and most vicious fighting of the War Between the States took place on today's date in 1864, in the village of Franklin, Tennessee.

Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood had a plan to defeat Union Gen. John Schofield’s army outside of Spring Hill on the 29th. However, the Federals were able to escape under cover of darkness. But now, Hood believed that he was presented another opportunity while the Federal army was waiting to cross the Harpeth River at Franklin. Determined not to let his enemy get away again, Hood unleashed a daring but foolish frontal assault against the entrenched Federal defenders. Although managing to break through a part of the Union's center in vicious hand-to-hand fighting, Hood’s forces were driven back with heavy losses. The Battle of Franklin cost Hood 1,750 killed and 5,800 wounded. Among the Confederate dead were 6 generals, including the commander of my great grandfather's division, Patrick Cleburne.

The battle was the bloodiest 5 hours of the war, and its result hastened the doom of the Confederacy.

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To follow my blog about my great grandfather, Nathan Oakes, and the

32nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment in which he served in the Army of Tennessee,

please visit: http://32ndmississippi.blogspot.com

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Great Grandfather Nathan R. Oakes, cir. 1889 

The American Tradition of Thanksgiving Proclamations

U.S. Presidents have been making proclamations of thanksgiving since our first president, George Washington, in 1789. Many of these proclamations are quite famous and compelling, like Abraham Lincoln's during the Civil War, or Franklin D. Roosevelt's during WWII. Other presidents, in war and in peace, have added their own pronouncements, a tradition that continues through Barack Obama.

But officially the tradition precedes even our first president. In 1777, the Continental Congress, during the War for American Independence, issued its first Thanksgiving Proclamation and continued the custom through 1784.

Recently, I read through all of these Congressional Proclamations. The second one of 1778 was especially memorable:

It having pleased Almighty God, through the course of the present year, to bestow great and manifold mercies on the people of these United States; and it being the indispensable duty of all men gratefully to acknowledge their obligations to Him for benefits received: 

Resolved, That it be, and hereby is recommended to the legislative or executive authority of each of the said states, to appoint Wednesday, the 30th day of December next, to be observed as a day of public thanksgiving and praise, that all the people may, with united hearts, on that day, express a just sense of his unmerited favors; particularly in that it hath pleased him, by his overruling providence, to support us in a just and necessary war, for the defense of our rights and liberties, by affording us seasonable supplies for our armies, by disposing the heart of a powerful monarch [i.e., King Louis XVI of France] to enter into alliance with us, and aid our cause; by defeating the councils and evil designs of our enemies, and giving us victory over their troops; and, by the continuance of that union among these states, which, by his blessing, will be their future strength and glory. 

And it is further recommended, that, together with devout thanksgiving, may be joined a penitent confession of our sins, and humble supplication for pardon, through the merits of our Savior; so that, under the smiles of Heaven, our public councils may be directed, our arms by land and sea prospered, our liberty and independence secured, our schools and seminaries of learning flourish, our trade be revived, our husbandry and manufactures encreased, and the hearts of all impressed with undissembled piety, with benevolence and zeal for the public good. 

And it is also recommended, that recreations unsuitable to the purpose of such a solemnity may be omitted on that day. 

Done in Congress, this 17th day of November, 1778, and in the third year of the independence of the United States of America.

It is instructive to trace the development of Thanksgiving proclamations throughout our history.* From the start until well into the 20th century, American leaders understood that the true object of all our thanksgiving is Almighty God. Praise was offered to him for his providence and blessing in the affairs of the American people. And until recent history, American leadership also acknowledged that God's special blessing was connected to his mercies of salvation from sin and acts of repentance on the part of his people.

In modern presidential proclamations, it is hard to find even an oblique mention of a personal God, let alone that he should be the object of our thanks and deserving of our praise. And don't even hope to find any reference to our dependence upon him for salvation from sin or our need to seek his gracious pardon, which faith so permeated our American forebearers.

It would be prudent for us today to reflect on Congress's second Thanksgiving Proclamation (or any of them), and join with our wise and esteemed forefathers in

penitent confession of our sins, and humble supplication for pardon, through the merits of our Savior; so that, under the smiles of Heaven, our public councils may be directed, our arms by land and sea prospered, our liberty and independence secured, our schools and seminaries of learning flourish, our trade be revived, our husbandry and manufactures encreased, and the hearts of all impressed with undissembled piety, with benevolence and zeal for the public good.

*The Pilgrim Hall Museum website has generously posted all the Thanksgiving Proclamations through 2012. They are worthwhile and enriching readings.

National Thanksgiving Day, 1944

On today's date in 1944, Dad's ship, the USS Hector, spent another holiday far from home. For Hector's crew, work continued on the battle damaged Houston, in addition to the USS Wintle, and probably other ships anchored in the Ulithi lagoon in the Caroline Islands.

But at some point on this date, the crew enjoyed a festive Thanksgiving turkey feast provided by the talented members of the cook's staff. The USS Hector (AR-7) Association has been kind enough to post a copy of the Thanksgiving menu for the ship for this date.

USS Hector Thanksgiving Day menu cover, 1944

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Proclamation 2629 - Thanksgiving Day, 1944

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

In this year of liberation, which has seen so many millions freed from tyrannical rule, it is fitting that we give thanks with special fervor to our Heavenly Father for the mercies we have received individually and as a nation and for the blessings He has restored, through the victories of our arms and those of our allies, to His children in other lands.

For the preservation of our way of life from the threat of destruction; for the unity of spirit which has kept our Nation strong; for our abiding faith in freedom; and for the promise of an enduring peace, we should lift up our hearts in thanksgiving.

For the harvest that has sustained us and, in its fullness, brought succor to other peoples; for the bounty of our soil, which has produced the sinews of war for the protection of our liberties; and for a multitude of private blessings, known only in our hearts, we should give united thanks to God.

To the end that we may bear more earnest witness to our gratitude to Almighty God, I suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scriptures during the period from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas. Let every man of every creed go to his own version of the Scriptures for a renewed and strengthening contact with those eternal truths and majestic principles which have inspired such measure of true greatness as this nation has achieved.

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, in consonance with the joint resolution of the Congress approved December 26, 1941, do hereby proclaim Thursday the twenty-third day of November 1944 a day of national thanksgiving; and I call upon the people of the United States to observe it by bending every effort to hasten the day of final victory and by offering to God our devout gratitude for His goodness to us and to our fellow men.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this first day of November in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-ninth.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Repairs to USS Wintle

In November of 1944, crews from my dad's repair ship, Hector, performed some work on the destroyer escort, USS Wintle. Wintle had developed evaporator and other mechanical problems while performing patrol and escort duties in the Palau Islands, and these issues needed attention.

Arriving at Ulithi on the 16th, Wintle was assigned to the destroyer tender USS Cascade,* but quickly learned that other ships rated a higher priority for service and repair. Some jobs that could be carried manually to the Cascade were tended to.

Finally on today's date in 1944—Thanksgiving Day in the Carolines—Wintle was taken into the drydock ARD-15. Hector repaired her sonar equipment, while crews from the 3 ships mended the rudders and repainted the hull's bottom.

Wintle's repairs were completed by the 26th, and the next day she was back in service escorting a cargo ship to Guam.

USS Wintle

The USS Wintle was launched in February 1943. She safely escorted numerous oilers, cargo ships, and convoys, supported the Invasion of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, performed search and rescue, and engaged in anti-submarine warfare. The ship served her entire career in war service in the Pacific. She was decommissioned in November 1945, and sold for scrap in 1947. The USS Wintle distinguished herself during the war by earning 3 battle stars.


*Within a month, the USS Cascade, will become the scene of a naval court of inquiry to investigate the loss of 3 ships and almost 800 men in Typhoon Cobra, which struck Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet in the Philippine Sea on December 18, 1944. Among other high ranking admirals, will be the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester A. Nimitz.

Sources: USS Wintle War Diary, November 1944; Destroyer Escort USS Wintle DE-25 Home Page; Wikipedia

Human torpedo attack at Ulithi

Throughout the month of November in 1944, my dad's repair ship, USS Hector, continued its extensive repair work on USS Houston for combat damage received earlier in October. So far the work had been hampered by bad weather, the most serious of which was a typhoon that hit the area from November 6th to the 8th.

Back on the repair job early on today's date in 1944, Hector's crew heard a huge explosion and saw fire and billowing black smoke from another ship anchored in the lagoon. It was the fleet oiler, USS Mississinewa, just attacked by a human torpedo, a Japanese suicide mini-submarine called a "Kaiten."

Earlier that morning 2 enemy tender submarines near Ulithi, I-36 an I-47, launched 4 mini-subs toward the anchored fleet.* After the attack on the Mississinewa, U.S. destroyers began dropping depth charges throughout the anchorage. The Case rammed 1 in the early morning hours. At 6:25 the cruiser Mobile reported that a torpedo had passed under its bow. The destroyer escorts Rall, Halloran, and Weaver attacked and sank a mini-sub.

Source: Naval History and Heritage Command

The Hector's Log reported that it was in "Condition One" from the time of the attack until after 2 PM. The crew manned its guns, and boats were launched to patrol the water around the vessels. No contact was made, but sailors witnessed 2 underwater explosions in the atoll, which indicated the presence of additional torpedoes.

The sinking Mississinewa, November 20, 1944
She was the first ever victim of a Japanese human torpedo attack.
Source: National Archives

The explosion on the Mississinewa had ignited thousands of gallons of diesel and aviation fuel. Flames spread forward to the magazine, which caused a heavier explosion than the first. Nearby ships sent boats to rescue many of the men who escaped into the flaming waters, but after burning for several hours, the ship rolled over and sank to the bottom of the lagoon, taking 60 crewmen with her to her grave.

Kaiten Type 1
Source: Wikimedia Commons

* The Kaiten Type 1, was essentially a modified, 48-foot long torpedo, loaded with explosives, and controlled by a single man sealed inside. Once ensconced within, the pilot could not unlock the hatches. It was a 1-way mission.

Five of these suicide torpedoes were launched on Ulithi that morning from 2 subs lurking outside the lagoon. The I-47 launched her Kaitens, but none was successful in hitting a target. Three of the manned torpedoes on I-36 were unable to launch due to mechanical problems, but the remaining one successfully struck the Mississinewa with catastrophic results. This won't be the last time that the I-36 will launch a similar attack on Ulithi.

Sources: USS Hector AR7- Ship’s Log (WWII); USS Hector War Diary Nov 1944; Pacific Wrecks