Naval War #4

Oil on canvas painting by the artist Wayne Scarpaci showing the probable appearance of the Montana (BB-67) arriving in New York Harbor as flagship US Fleet with Flt Adm Nimitz aboard in the autumn of 1946 after the invasion and defeat of Japan.

The U.S. Navy Construction Battalion (Seabee) advance base in Iceland.

Black smoke pours from the Yorktown on June 4, 1942.

Shell bursts and splashes from the guns of the aircraft carrier Yorktown as Japanese torpedo bombers approach.

A firefighting detail works through a pall of smoke aboard the Yorktown after its bombing by Japanese aircraft.

Destroyer Hammon comes to the rescue of the listing Yorktown which was hit by Japanese bombs and torpedoes during the Battle of Midway, June 1942.

The Yorktown transfers crewmen to a destroyer after being damaged by Japanese bombs and torpedoes during the Battle of Midway.

U.S. troops stand at attention behind the flag-draped coffins of their countrymen killed in the Battle of Midway, Midway Island, June 1942.

SPAR (Women’s Reserve of the United States Coast Guard).

S.S. Elihu Yale (Liberty Ship) off the Anzio Beachhead, 2 March 1944, as men of Company B, 540th Engineers, salvage undamaged supplies from her forward holds. A German guided bomb had blown her stern off on 15 February. Note DUKW amphibious truck alongside the hulk.

Sub Chaser SC-772, Newport Beach, California, March 1943. Laid down 23 May 1942 by the Peyton Co., Newport Beach, California. Launched 7 September 1942. Commissioned SC-772, 15 April 1943. Displacement 95 t. Length 110.’ Beam 17.’ Draft 6' 6" (fl). Speed 21 kts. Complement 28. SC 772 was commissioned April 15, 1943, at the Peyton Company, Newport Beach, California. It initially did patrol duty near Seattle, Washington, Astoria, Oregon, Neah Bay, and the Columbia River area. In mid-August 1944 SC 772 was deployed to the South Pacific for patrol duty near Saipan and Tinian, where on June 8, 1945, it rescued two survivors from a downed plane. Decommissioned December 7, 1945 at Bellevue Washington.

Sub Chaser SC-772, Newport Beach, California, March 1943. Armament: One 40mm gun mount, one/two twin mount .50 cal. machine gun(s), two/three depth charge projector "K Guns," 14 depth charges with six single release chocks and two sets Mk 20 Mousetrap rails with four 7.2 projectiles. Propulsion: Two 1,540bhp General Motors (Electro-Motive Div.) 16-184A diesel engines, two shafts.

Sub Chaser SC-772, Newport Beach, California, March 1943.

The former SC 772 as USCGC Air Mallard (WAVR 437) off San Diego, California, circa 1946. After the war SC 772 was transferred to the US Coast Guard as an "Air Class" cutter, Air Mallard, hull WAVR 437. In 1948 it was sold and went through several owners and names; Joan Lindsay, Maplewood, and Lady Goodiver. For several years it operated in British Columbia as a live-aboard dive boat and later it was a party fishing vessel. It is now available for charter in Scappoose, Oregon, under its original name, SC 772.

PC 536 commissioned April 23, 1942, later reclassified as SC 536. Served in South Pacific, doing patrols in Saipan, Tinian and Guam. On February 19, 1946, SC 536 was transferred to the US Coast Guard as Air Cormorant (WAVR 415), an “Air Class” cutter to be used for air-sea rescue duties, one of 70 subchasers transferred. In 1951 the vessel was sold to Murray Suthergreen of Seattle, Washington and renamed Moonlight Maid. Eventually it was bought by Pat and Kelley Warga, a husband-wife team from Bainbridge Island, Washington. Each year from March to September they took her to Valdez, Alaska, where she was used in the fishing industry as a packer boat and tender. The Wargas kept Moonlight Maid in excellent working condition. It was later sold to Nathan R. Tueller of Girdwood, Alaska. On Sept. 20, 2012 the Moonlight Maid sank 30 miles south of Resurrection Bay, Alaska.

U.S. Navy Subchaser SC 718 swung out toward water by floating crane from deck of Liberty Ship “Willard Hall”.  Pollock Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland, October 7, 1943. SC 718 became a Norwegian Royal Navy vessel, the HNoMS Hitra. During the war the U.S. loaned three American-built subchasers to occupied Norway under the Lend-Lease program and late in the war transferred ownership of the three vessels to Norway permanently. Throughout the war they were used in an operation called the “Shetlands Bus”, a ferrying service between Norway and the Shetlands Isles which, at high risk, transported secret agents and communications equipment into Norway to enable them to keep track of German navy movements all along the Norwegian coast. On return trips the subchasers would take key Norwegian personnel back to the Shetlands and to freedom. After the war the three subchasers eventually disappeared. But in 1981 the 718 named Hitra was accidentally discovered half sunk in a Swedish ship’s graveyard. A movement began to restore her and this was eventually done. Today the Hitra operates as a full-fledged subchaser fitted out and equipped exactly as she was during the war, and used for exhibit, education, reunions, etc. Her ship’s bell still carries the faint engraving of “SC 718” as a reminder of her American roots. She is based in Bergen, Norway and is well worth visiting.

SC 1013 was built by Luders Marine Construction in Stamford, Connecticut, commissioned on September 21, 1942. It served in the South Pacific and was transferred to the US Coast Guard on October 23, 1945. For many years after the war SC 1013, converted to the Mount Independence, was a familiar sight as a sightseeing and tour boat on Lake Champlain in upstate New York. In 1989 Bruce P. Keller of Baltimore purchased the Mount Independence, her topsides in poor condition but her hull still sound, and brought her to Baltimore where, after refurbishing, she was kept moored. Since early 2007 the Mount Independence has been grounded near Baltimore in a dilapidated state; however, there is a campaign to raise and restore her.

SC 1372 at launching, Terminal Island, California, June 8, 1943. SC 1372 was placed in commission at Fellows & Stewart Shipyard (Terminal Island, California) on November 1, 1943 and was used for patrol and escort duty on the west coast before departing for Pearl Harbor in August 1944. From Pearl she escorted a convoy to Eniwetok and from there picked up another convoy to Kwajalein and then another for Guam. She spent the remainder of the war in patrol and escort duty among the islands of Guam, Saipan and Tinian. On October 9, 1945 she went aground during the big typhoon at Okinawa but suffered no damage and was refloated when the tide rose and proceeded under her own power. In 1949 SC 1372 emerged as a company yacht named Cairdeas (Gaelic for Friend or Friendship) for General Construction Company. Then in 1967 she was sold to Patrick and Maureen Dickson, who lavished twenty years of loving care on her while making her available for charter in the San Juan Islands area. Actress Julie Andrews and her family used Cairdeas several summers for relaxing and fishing in Desolation Sound. The Dicksons sold Cairdeas to George Baxter (circa 1987), a hands-on builder and restorer of wooden boats on Orcas Island. Mr. Baxter remodeled the interior quarters extensively, adding a library room, a dining salon, a main salon, five staterooms each with heads and showers, and crew’s quarters forward with six single bunks. A helipad was mounted on her afterdeck. For causes not known the interior of Cairdeas was apparently gutted or destroyed.  It happened either in the late 90’s or early 2000s. In June 2005 Cairdeas was sold to Rod and Pam Stroud of Santa Paula, California. The Strouds brought her to Bellingham, Washington for purposes of refinishing it for charters and personal use. As of September 2008 Cairdeas is still moored at Seaview North, a boat building firm, in Bellingham.

PC 815, trial trip, Columbia River.

An American torpedo boat marksman behind his machine gun off the coast of New Guinea, July 1943.

Troop transport USAT Acadia (pictured on May 29, 1942. Acadia was originally built as the steamship SS Acadia by the Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia—the vessel was launched on February 13th, 1932. During Acadia's civilian career, the ship was operated by Eastern Steamship Lines (1932- ~1940) and the Alcoa Steamship Company (1941). From 1941, the vessel was handed back and forth between the two companies with occasional voyages for other services until October 1942 (running VIP transports, special passengers, etc., alongside the usual civilian customers). On the 16th, the ship was acquired by the U.S. War Department and designated "USAT Acadia" for troop transport duties. Come June 5th, 1943, Acadia was converted into a military hospital ship with the "USAHS" designation and served in that role until February 1946. After World War II, the vessel was returned to the (now) Eastern Steamship Company where it carried out civilian operations until being sold to a Belgian location in May 1955. The ultimate fate of the vessel is unknown.

The American ship Robert Rowan explodes after being attacked by a German bomber off the coast of Gela, Sicily on July 11, 1943.

Original caption: “Seaman Barrett C. Benson who was a Methodist minister with two churches at Dalton and LaFayette, Georgia, saw the men of his churches going off to war. Deciding to follow them, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard.” Note his flat cap with Coast Guard band, the distinctive USCG shield on the sleeve of his winter jumper, classic 13-button trousers, 10-pocket M1910 belt with M1905 bayonet hanging from its side, and an M1903 rifle with stripper clip of .30-06 M2 ball at the ready. If you are curious, the photo even caught the rifle’s serial number (587211) which makes it a circa 1914 Springfield Armory-made weapon. While there is no date on the photo, the craft behind the good SN (Rev.) Benson is, judging from the number and the shape of the wheelhouse, likely the 38-foot “cabin cruiser” type picket boat CG-38387, or possibly CGR-387, a Coast Guard Reserve “Corsair Fleet” picket boat (formerly the 37-foot pleasure craft Contact, #22H158) taken into service in the 8th Coast Guard District in February 1942 and then disposed of in June 1946. As both vessels were active throughout World War II, that doesn’t narrow it down very much, but, judging from the uniform and equipment, the image was likely snapped in the winter months of 1942.

Original caption: “An alert Coast Guardsman leaps into action as he covers his patrol. The anti-saboteur patrolmen of the Coast Guard also protect vital cargoes on the piers awaiting shipment to the far-flung battle lines.” Note the shore duty leggings, M1903 Springfield, and its attached 20-inch M1905 bayonet. Formed from scratch in 1942, the Coast Guard Beach Patrol employed about 24,000 men, aged 17 to 73, protecting 3,700 miles of coastline from potential enemy invasion during World War II.

Original caption: On the target are these alert, fighting Coast Guardsmen aboard a Coast Guard ‘Sub-Buster’ somewhere on the Atlantic. Discharged shells fall to the deck from their spitting gun. From the looks of that bronze one-piece deckhouse and the water-cooled .50 cal, the vessel in question is one of the early 83 footer “Jeep of the Deep” patrol boats used by the Coast Guard in World War II.

Official Caption: Sunday Services on board a Coast Guard destroyer escort in the Atlantic, during the Easter Season, in 1944-45. Here, the ship’s Chaplain leads the crew in prayer. For reference, among the myriad of Army- and Navy-owned vessels the USCG operated during World War II in addition to their own, the Coasties ran no less than 30 destroyer escorts in five divisions, including the ill-fated USS Leopold DE-319, the first of its type to be lost in combat.

Four black American soldiers from the US Coast Guard Equestrian Patrol are riding along the beach in New Jersey. Left to right: 1st class sailor C. R. Johnson; Jesse Willis; Joseph Washington; Frank Garcia.

A formation of aircraft led by Douglas TBDs followed by Northrop BT dive bombers flies over U.S. Navy ships during exercises at sea, 1938-1939.

Aerial photograph from 2500 feet altitude, looking southward, showing the U.S. Fleet moored in the harbor on 3 May 1940. This was soon after the conclusion of Fleet Problem XXI and four days before word was received that the Fleet was to be retained in Hawaiian waters. There are eight battleships and the carrier Yorktown (CV-5) tied up by Ford Island, in the center of the harbor. Two more battleships and many cruisers, destroyers and other Navy ships also present, most of them moored in groups in East Loch, in the foreground. A few of the destroyers are wearing experimental dark camouflage paint. In the distance, center, is Hickam Army Air Field. The Pearl Harbor entrance channel is in the right distance.

USS Antietam (CV-36) underway off Philadelphia Navy Yard, 2 March 1945.

Patrol yacht USS Argus (PY-14). Argus originally started out as the American yacht Haida, built in Germany by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in 1929. The vessel was under the ownership of yeast manufacturer Charles Fleischmann. In October of 1940, Haida was transferred to the U.S. Navy and renamed USS Argus. The ship was used for patrolling the U.S. West Coast, primarily in the waters around San Francisco, CA. Briefly in 1941/42, Argus was transferred to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey as USC&GS Pioneer. After a short career of survey work, the yacht was returned to the U.S. Navy as Argus and would operate until 1946. During this time, the vessel would help pick up merchant sailors torpedoed by Japanese submarines and also perform meteorological duties. After 1946, Argus returned to civilian yacht duties and would pass from a number of different hands. The ship was renamed quite a few times, but is currently named "Haida 1929". The yacht continues to run today, and is based in England.

Vertical aerial photograph from 17,200 feet altitude, looking directly down on East Loch and on the Fleet Air Base on Ford Island. Taken on 3 May 1940, after the conclusion of Fleet Problem XXI, and just prior to the 7 May receipt of word that the Fleet was to be retained in Hawaiian waters. There are eight battleships and the carrier Yorktown (CV-5) tied up along the island's southeastern side (toward the top), with two more battleships alongside 1010 dock at top right center. Two light cruisers and two destroyers are among the ships moored along Ford Island's northwestern side. Seventeen other cruisers and over thirty destroyers are also visible, mainly in East Loch. At the seaplane base, at the southern (top right) tip of Ford Island, are at least 38 PBY patrol planes.

USS Augusta at anchor in Bermuda waters, September 1941, while serving as flagship of the Atlantic Fleet. 

USS Augusta in a Far Eastern harbor, circa 1936.

USS Augusta “dressed overall” in honor of King George VI’s coronation while at Hankow, China, May 12-14, 1937, while serving as flagship, U.S. Asiatic Fleet.

USS Augusta anchored off Pootung Point, Shanghai, China, during Sino-Japanese hostilities, circa August 1937. Fires from combat action are burning ashore, beyond the ship.

USS Augusta steaming off Portland, Maine, on 9 May 1945.

Augusta anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, at the time of the Navy Day Fleet Review, circa late October 1945.

Asiatic Fleet Change of Command, 25 July 1939. Admiral Thomas C. Hart, incoming Commander in Chief Asiatic Fleet (left center), his predecessor, Admiral Harry E. Yarnell (right center), and members of their staffs salute as Yarnell’s flag is taken down and Hart’s is raised, during ceremonies on board Augusta off Shanghai, China. Black armbands are worn in mourning for the late Secretary of the Navy, Claude A. Swanson, who had died on 3 March 1939.

View looking toward Augusta’s bow from her foremast, with a rangefinder and her two forward triple eight-inch gun turrets in the lower half of the image, circa 1936. Augusta is dressed with flags for a holiday or other celebration.

USS Boxer CV-21.

USS Buchanan (DD-131),one of six destroyers leaving Boston 6 September 1940 for delivery to Great Britain, under Lend-Lease.

USS Buckley (DE-51).

USS California (BB-44) taken on 25 January 1944 after her overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard.

USS Charger was an escort aircraft carrier during World War II. In 1949 the USS Charger was converted to a passenger ship, called the Fairsea with the intention of transporting people from Europe to Australia.

USS Colorado (BB-45) in action off the Philippines, October 1944.

Liberty ship USS Crater (AK-70).

USS Higbee (DD-806).

Bombs rip through the decks and explode deep inside aircraft carrier the USS Hornet. Painting by Tom Lea.

On 21 October 1942, Lea left the Hornet, pulling away on a fleet oiler that would land him back at Pearl Harbor. The cleared sketches would appear in Life in March and April 1943, sadly, after the carrier had been sunk. The ship in which Lea had spent those hectic two months was sent to the bottom, sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26 October 1942– just five days after he left. Back at Pearl Harbor, Lea showed Admiral Nimitz some of his drawings. One of them was the one above. Underneath the drawing, he inscribed a quotation from Deuteronomy: “Moreover the Lord thy God shall send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.” Admiral Nimitz looked at the drawing for a long time, then turned his head to Lea, and said: “Something has happened to the Hornet.” That was how Lea found out that the aircraft carrier he had been on, together with his friends, perished.

A captured member of the crew of the sunk German submarine U175, the senior motor engineer Otto Herzke (maschinengefreiter Otto Herzke), lifted out of the water, aboard the US Coast Guard Cutter Duane. Atlantic, April 20, 1943.

With ships out to the horizon as far as the eye can see, landing craft of the massive U.S. invasion armada pour out supplies and military equipment onto the beach at Okinawa in April 1945. From late 1944 into 1945, U.S. naval forces unleashed a “dazzling display of maritime power” while advancing toward Japan “with hardly a pause and without an important defeat.”

At the Battle of Tassafaronga, last of the night battles off Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy suffered the loss of a number of ships—but succeeded nonetheless in thwarting the Japanese goal of resupplying troops on shore. (John Hamilton, Battle Of Tassafaronga, Navy Art Collection, Naval History And Heritage Command)

The ships of Task Force 64 vie for dominance with the Imperial Japanese Navy off Guadalcanal in the 11 October 1942 Battle of Cape Esperance—one of a series of challenging nocturnal engagements. While the U.S. Navy could claim victory, the battle failed to thwart Japanese control of the sea. (Rodolfo Claudus, Battle of Cape Esperance, Navy Art Collection, Naval History and Heritage Command)

Admiral Chester Nimitz (left) awards the Navy Cross to Messman Third Class Doris “Dori” Miller. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

Admiral Nimitz, Sandy Walker, and Admiral Raymond Spruance at a party in the naval yard. In Makalapa, Nimitz was required to entertain VIPs, both civilian and military, with dinners often stretched late into the night. Having Sandy and his wife, Una, to round out his dinner table ensured lively conversation.

Admiral Nimitz enjoys some time on the beach with the Walker’s daughters, Maile and Sheila, who Nimitz nicknamed Major and Minor Gremlin spent so much time at Muliwai that he became more like family than a friend.

Closing in on the finish line: With the wall map of the Pacific Ocean and East Asia as a backdrop, Nimitz is seated in his office at CINCPAC Advanced Headquarters, Guam, in July 1945. National Archives.

November 1943: On an inspection tour of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands in the wake of the hard-fought U.S. success there, Nimitz is shown the damage done by U.S. naval gunfire. In the fight for the Gilberts, “surprise and deception had enabled another crucial victory.” (Naval History And Heritage Command)

Nimitz points on the map to the unwavering ultimate goal of the hard-fought trek across the Pacific: Tokyo. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

2 May 1942: Nimitz inspects the defenses at Midway during the buildup to the decisive battle that at last would curtail the Japanese juggernaut. The admiral’s “calculated risk” of concentrating his forces along this line would change the trajectory of the war. (National Museum Of The Pacific War)

Throughout his celebrated leadership during the largest-scale naval war in history,  Admiral Chester W. Nimitz cannily relied on “an aggressive theory of combat . . . to shape the conflict in the Pacific.” (Nimitz Library, U.S. Naval Academy)

British Army reinforcements arrive in the Middle East having been transported by the liner QUEEN ELIZABETH, 22 July 1942. (Imperial War Museum photo E 14706)

A Valentine tank making its way up the beach after being unloaded from a landing craft, 9 February 1942. (Imperial War Museum photo E 8174)

25-pdr field guns and 'Quads' being unloaded from a ship into a landing craft for transport ashore, 9 February 1942. (Imperial War Museum photo E 8161)

A Matilda tank coming ashore from a tank landing craft, 9 February 1942. (Imperial War Museum photo E 8173)

Field Marshal Smuts with Rear Admiral Sir Philip Vian, KBE, on board Rear Admiral Vian's flagship HMS CLEOPATRA, 16 May 1942, Alexandria Harbour. Field Marshal Smuts visited ships of the Royal Navy and South African Naval Forces in the Middle East. (Imperial War Museum photo A 9106)

Field Marshal Smuts with Vice Admiral Sir Henry Pridham-Wippell, KCB, CVO, acting C in C Eastern Mediterranean, and Senior Naval officers. (Imperial War Museum photo A 9103)

Field Marshal Smuts on board HMS CLEOPATRA chatting to South African Naval personnel serving with the Royal Navy. (Imperial War Museum photo A 9107)

Field Marshal Smuts inspecting Royal Marine Guard of Honour on board the cruiser HMS CLEOPATRA. (Imperial War Museum photo A 9105)

Italian prisoners, captured in Libya, on board ship on route to the United Kingdom. One of the ship's gun emplacements can be seen in the foreground. (Imperial War Museum photo A 10602)

British paratroops marching away after disembarking from a troopship on quayside in Allied-occupied Algiers, Operation Torch, 12-13 November 1942. Note the French liner VILLE D'ORAN in the background. (Imperial War Museum photo NA 89)

A sailor aboard an anti-submarine patrol vessel off the North African coast mans a Lewis Mk III machine gun on an anti-aircraft mounting, 13 April 1942. (Imperial War Museum E10583)

Motor Launches for the Royal Navy were built in the Middle East, August and September 1942: Fairmile Motor Launches were built for the Royal Navy by the Anglo-American Nile Transport Co in their Shubra Yard, Cairo. Following the launch and commissioning, the boats were taken in tow from Cairo to Port Said by way of the Ismalia Canal, a journey of three days. At the end of the Ismalia Canal the boats entered Lake Timsah and proceeded via the Suez Canal to Port Said for fitting out. The keel is shown with part of the hull supports in position. (Imperial War Museum A15763)

A general view of the work in progress. (Imperial War Museum A15766)

Native laborers working on the bows, riveting. (Imperial War Museum A15765)

A native laborer driving home one of the thousands of copper nails used in the construction of these craft. (Imperial War Museum A15764)

A dirty job! Natives man-handling chunks of mud for laying down the slipway. (Imperial War Museum A15769)

Egyptian workers carving out large chunks of mud by hand to prepare the ground for laying down a slipway. Original Second World War caption issued with this photograph: Up to their thighs in mud are natives hewing out chunks of mud by hand prior to laying down a slipway. (Imperial War Museum A15770)

Mrs Wilkinson, wife of Captain Wilkinson, RN, about to perform one of the launching ceremonies. (Imperial War Museum A15771)

The Motor Launch being "Piped" down the slipway. (Imperial War Museum A15772)

A Motor Launch enters the waters. Note the natives on the bows calling for the Blessings of Allah. (Imperial War Museum A15774)

A general view of a launching ceremony. (Imperial War Museum A15775)

The late Lord Moyne, right, Deputy Minister of State for the Middle East, watching one of the launching ceremonies. (Imperial War Museum A15773)

A boat made fast alongside after launching. (Imperial War Museum A15776)

The commissioning ceremony. The Commanding Officer, right, addresses his crew. (Imperial War Museum A15779)

The commissioning ceremony. Officers salute the White Ensign. (Imperial War Museum A15778)

The commissioning ceremony. The White Ensign is hoisted aft with the crew facing it while the officers salute. (Imperial War Museum A15777)

After the commissioning ceremony the crew bring aboard cooking utensils, buckets etc. (Imperial War Museum A15780)

Festooned with old car tyres (to prevent the sides being damaged) the Motor Launch leaves the shipyard on her journey from Cairo to Port Said. (Imperial War Museum A15781)

A Motor Launch in the Sweet Water Canal en route. (Imperial War Museum A15789)

In the Sweet Water Canal en route. (Imperial War Museum A15791)

In the Sweet Water Canal en route. (Imperial War Museum A15790)

Waiting for the bridge to open at Bilbeis. (Imperial War Museum A15785)

The lock gates opening at Bilbeis. (Imperial War Museum A15786)

Entering Bilbeis lock. (Imperial War Museum A15787)

Maneuvering past barges on leaving the lock at Bilbeis. (Imperial War Museum A15788)

An Indian sentry stands guard as the boat enters Shubra lock. (Imperial War Museum A15782)

The boat in Shubra lock, the first of many locks on her journey from Cairo to Port Said. In the background is the River Nile. (Imperial War Museum A15783)

Leaving one of the locks just outside Cairo. (Imperial War Museum A15784)

Protecting the boats' side as she comes alongside at Port Said. (Imperial War Museum A15793)

The Motor Launches safely berthed at Port Said. (Imperial War Museum A15794)

Piecing together the awning. (Imperial War Museum A15768)

Piecing together the awning. (Imperial War Museum A15767)

Mounting the forward Gun at Port Said. (Imperial War Museum A15795)

Lowering the after gun on board at Port Said. (Imperial War Museum A15797)

Mounting the after gun at Port Said. (Imperial War Museum A15796)

Arriving at Port Said. (Imperial War Museum A15799)

The Motor Launch at speed during her acceptance trials at Port Said. (Imperial War Museum A15798)

The Gallant Destroyers of D-Day. The big-gun battleships softened the German defenses and made for dramatic newsreel footage 60 years ago. But the spunky destroyers in the Normandy Invasion—including the Emmons (left) and Doyle (background right) in Dwight Shepler’s dramatic combat art—came within less than 1,000 yards from the shore, providing direct gunfire support for troops on the beach.

Battle of the Coral Sea, 8 May 1942: A U.S. Navy Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless of Scouting Squadron 2 (VS-2) passes through the "screen" for the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) during the anti-torpedo plane patrol action of that day. The plane may be that of Lieutenant Junior Grade William E. Hall (who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day) or Ensign John A. Leppla (who was awarded a Navy Cross). Previous captions state that this is a Japanese plane. The silhouette matches that of an SBD, however. U.S. Navy photo 80-G-7390 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command.

Aerial view of the Allied invasion fleet for the invasion of Leyte, Philippines, in Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island on 6 October 1944.

Leslie Cole’s 1943 painting of the Allied amphibious attack on Pantelleria depicts the scene from the cruiser HMS Newfoundland, from which Admiral C.H.J. Harcourt flew his flag. (Imperial War Museum photo Art.IWM ART LD 3555)

The Tirpitz constituted a “fleet in being” that tied up British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force resources delegated to countering the threat of the battleship sortieing from her Norwegian lair.

Tirpitz firing her main guns.

In addition to her own guns, the Tirpitz was protected by multiple antiaircraft batteries and antisubmarine and anti-torpedo netting.

Obscured by camouflage netting, the German super battleship Tirpitz was nevertheless caught in the lens of a RAF reconnaissance aircraft while anchored in Aas Fjord in February 1942.

A prototype X-craft churns along during trials. The British sent 10 X-craft midget submarines against the Tirpitz in September 1943. Two succeeded in depositing mines that damaged the battleship.

Prototype midget submarine X-3 or X-4 gets underway during trials in 1942.

British seamen operate their X-craft in the cramped space available for the four-man crew.

Midget submarine HMS XE8 'Expunger', plies the waters of the harbor at Sydney, Australia, in 1945, built by Broadbent, sunk as target 1952, recovered 1973 and preserved at Chatham Historic Dockyard, on loan from the Imperial War Museum.

British midget submarine XE9.

Midget submarine HMS Sprat.

Midget submarine HMS Stickleback X51.

Midget submarine HMS Shrimp.

British midget submarine XE7.

Kongo class battleship.

The Japanese super battleship Yamato, with 18.1-inch main guns, stirs a wake as it maneuvers during the battle off Samar. A Japanese heavy cruiser is visible of the Yamato’s port quarter.

During the opening minutes of the Battle off Samar, the escort carrier USS Gambier Bay and others make smoke to disrupt the aim of Japanese gunners aboard the heavy cruisers and battleships that were poised to wreak havoc with the American troops and transports at Leyte.

The destroyer USS Heermann brews up a smokescreen off Samar and fights to defend the escort carriers of Taffy 3.

Heavy-caliber shells from Japanese ships bracket the escort carrier USS Gambier Bay during the battle off Samar. Already hit and on fire, the little escort carrier eventually rolled over and sank.

After sustaining torpedo damage during the battle off Samar on October 25, 1944, the Japanese cruiser Chikuma maneuvers violently to avoid more damage.

The escort carrier USS St. Lo was struck by a Japanese kamikaze suicide plane on the same day of the battle off Samar. The small carrier was wracked by explosions and later sank.

Nagato in its original configuration undergoing sea trials shortly after completion in 1920 (Taisho 9). It was the first battleship to be equipped with the world's largest 41cm (16-inch) guns at the time, and achieved a speed of 26.7 knots (49.4 km/h).

A veteran of Operations Torch (North Africa), Husky (Sicily), and Avalanche (Salerno, Italy), HMS Roberts fires on German positions in the vicinity of Sword Beach with its 15-inch guns.

A British landing craft burns after being hit by a German shell off Sword Beach.

Returning to Pearl Harbor aboard the submarine USS Nautilus following the Makin raid, these members of the 2nd Raider Battalion await the opportunity to go ashore.

On D-Day at Tarawa amphibious landing craft head for the reef-encircled north beaches of Betio, smoking from air and surface bombardment.

Extending far into the distance, U.S. Navy ships of the Third Fleet steam toward Tokyo Bay in August 1945.

USN destroyer carrying Japanese envoys pulled up alongside the battleship USS Missouri for the official signing of the unconditional surrender of Japan held in Tokyo Bay, Japan on September 2, 1945.

Post-war view of USS New Jersey while anchored in Tokyo Bay. The Japanese battleship Nagato can be seen in the right background in this image, 30 December 1945.

Original caption: The Invasion Stream Floods the Beaches of France. Bulging with reinforcements from the liberation waves that struck the French beaches and breached the vaunted Atlantic Wall, Coast Guard landing barges ferry the flood of fighting men who are spreading over Normandy. They are transferred from a Coast Guard assault transport in the English Channel. In the distance, a Rhino loaded with ambulances easing toward the beach.

Gerald W. Haddon, seaman second class, has been under the fire of battle and is a veteran of 13 landings on the Normandy beach. Granted to be the youngest invader in the Allied Forces, “The Kid” enlisted when he was 14 and celebrated his 15th birthday under a German bombing attack in the Mediterranean. The truth of his age came out after Normandy, when he failed to report for morning muster aboard a Coast Guard-manned LST. He was found fast asleep in his bunk, too tired to “hit the deck.” But Coast Guardsman Haddon, now in England, is fighting to stay in the fight.

Off Okinawa, Third Fleet commander Admiral William Halsey arrives aboard the New Mexico (BB-40) prior to relieving Admiral Raymond Spruance (right), commander of the Fifth Fleet.

USS LST-831 approaching the beachhead at Okinawa on D-Day, 1 April 1945. Note the unauthorized letters “USCG” stenciled on her inner hull above the main ramp. By 1943, the Coast Guard had evolved to manning larger LCI(L)s and LSTs, running 28 of the former and no less than 77 of the latter. Besides this, some 288 of the Army’s ships—AMRS (Army Marine Repair Ship), TY (tankers), LT (large tugs), FS (freight and supply vessels), and F (Freight vessels)—were manned by the Coast Guard and were responsible for keeping those chains of islands in the Pacific as well as ports along the Mediterranean supplied and running. By 1945, with the Coast Guard counting 171,192 officers and enlisted (including 8,877 women in the SPARS), the service was more than pulling its own. If it came across a beach in any theatre, odds are the Coasties had a hand in putting it there.

Kamikazes target the USS Tennessee and a U.S. destroyer (far left) off Okinawa on 12 April 1945. Commander Samuel Eliot Morison had his closest World War II brush with death when one of the planes barely missed the Tennessee’s bridge before crashing on the ship’s starboard side. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

Black smoke pours from the Yorktown on June 4, 1942.

Destroyer Hammon comes to the rescue of the listing Yorktown which was hit by Japanese bombs and torpedoes during the Battle of Midway, June 1942.

The Yorktown transfers crewmen to a destroyer after being damaged by Japanese bombs and torpedoes during the Battle of Midway.

Japanese cruiser Mikuma smolders after being attacked by American dive bombers.

Smoke pouring from  the sinking battleship California and the capsized Oklahoma in right background, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.

The destroyer Shaw explodes at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack, December 7, 1941.

In a still from movie camera footage, the Arizona explodes during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.

The battered remains of the battleship Arizona lies in the mud of Pearl Harbor, December 1941.

Aerial view of Battleship Row, Pearl Harbor, during the Japanese attack, December 7, 1941.

In a flooded dry dock in Pearl Harbor, the destroyer Cassin lies partly submerged and leaning against the destroyer Downes. The battleship Pennsylvania in the background remained relatively undamaged after the Japanese attack, December 1941.

Japanese carrier under attack by B-17's, June 4, 1942.

USS Arizona looking forward. Rear gun turret and superstructure details, after her sinking, are easily visible.

USS Arizona, 17 February 1942.

USS Arizona salvage operation, September 20, 1943.

Allied warships of Bombarding Force 'O', supporting the landings in the Omaha area. The column is led by USS Texas (BB-35) (left) with HMS Glasgow, USS Arkansas (BB-33), FFS Georges Leygues and FFS Montcalm following.

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, October 1942: USS South Dakota firing her anti-aircraft guns at attacking Japanese planes during the action, 26 October 1942. A Japanese Type 97 Shipboard Attack Aircraft ("Kate") is at right, apparently leaving the area after having dropped its torpedo.

USS West Virginia (BB-48) En route to the west coast after she had been salvaged and given preliminary repairs at Pearl Harbor. 20 April 1943.

USS South Dakota (BB-57) underway with Task Force 17 in 1942.

USS Iowa (BB-61) raising her anchor, as she prepares to move from Bayonne, New Jersey, to Gravesend Bay, 29 March 1943.

Armor cross-sections of the US fast battleships – USS North Carolina, USS South Dakota and USS Iowa.

USS Hornet (CV-8) view taken 3 March 1941, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, quarter bow view, in drydock, under construction.

Taken from USS Hornet (CV-12) on 14 May 1945. Japanese plane exploding after being struck by gun fire of Task Group 58-1. USS Bennington in foreground.

USS Stoddert (DD-302) (left) operating under radio command, circa 1931, following conversion to a target ship. Her control ship, USS Dent (DD-116), is steaming astern.

USS Swordfish (SS-193) at San Francisco Navy Yard, June 13, 1943.

USS Hollandia (CVE-97) arrives at Naval Air Station Alameda, on 29 November 1945. She was transporting 1100 servicemen home from Eniwetok and Kwajalein, in the Marshall Islands, as part of Operation Magic Carpet.

Omaha Beach secured shortly after D-Day, dozens of ships unload hundreds of vehicles and thousands of troops, June 1944.

A firefighting detail works through a pall of smoke aboard the Yorktown after its bombing by Japanese aircraft.

The listing USS Yorktown after being hit by Japanese bombs and torpedoes.

Shell bursts and splashes from the guns of the aircraft carrier Yorktown as Japanese torpedo bombers approach.

Aerial view of Naval Air Station Ford Island, Oahu, US Territory of Hawaii, 10 December 1941; note damaged PBY aircraft, USS Curtiss, and USS Shaw.

Anti-aircraft gunners, center foreground, pour a deadly stream of fire into an already-burning Japanese Kamikaze plane plummeting toward the flight deck of the USS Sangamon, a Navy escort carrier, during action in the Ryukyu Islands near Japan, on May 4, 1945. This suicide plane landed in the sea close to the carrier. Another Japanese aircraft later succeeded in hitting the ship deck, inflicting heavy damage.

USS Maryland, BB-46, during construction.

USS Maryland entering drydock at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard 10 July 1944, for torpedo (aerial) damage repair and the replacement of her bow after being struck by a Japanese aerial torpedo at Saipan.

Bow view of USS Maryland (BB-46) off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, 5 August 1945.

USS Tennessee (BB-43) training her guns on Okinawa, Ryukyu Island, defenses during invasion, as landing craft scurry to shore.

Ex-USS New York (BB-34) is towed from Pearl Harbor to be sunk as a target, 6 July 1948. USS Conserver (ARS-39), at left, is the main towing ship, assisted by two harbor tugs on New York's port side.

USS Enterprise (CV-6) operating in the Pacific, circa late June 1941. She is turning into the wind to recover aircraft. Note her "natural wood" flight deck stain and dark Measure One camouflage paint scheme. The flight deck was stained blue in July 1941, during camouflage experiments that gave her a unique deck stripe pattern.

USS Enterprise at Ford Island in late May 1942 being readied for the Battle of Midway.

USS Yorktown (CV-5) shown shortly after completion in 1937. The three sisters – USS Yorktown, USS Hornet, and USS Enterprise – bore the brunt of the early battles of the war in the Pacific.

USS Yorktown (CV-5) in Dry Dock # 1 at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 29 May 1942, receiving urgent repairs for damage received in the Battle of Coral Sea. She left Pearl Harbor the next day to participate in the Battle of Midway. Note the raised 20-mm/70-cal Oerlikon AA mounts beneath the forward edge of the flight deck. The CXAM radar antenna is in the "down" position, and is therefore out of sight. USS West Virginia (BB-48), sunk in the 7 December 1941 Japanese air attack, is being salvaged in the left distance.

When the Yorktown was damaged, Fletcher transferred his flag to the USS Astoria (CA 34). Here he is seen boarding the cruiser.

View of the underside of USS Yorktown’s flight deck structure, showing the impact hole made by the Japanese bomb that struck the ship amidships during the Battle of the Coral Sea. A patch over the flight deck’s broken wooden planking is visible within the hole. Note structural beam in lower part of the photo, distorted by the bomb’s passage.

View of damage on the third and fourth decks, amidships, aboard the USS Yorktown. This view looks forward and to starboard from the ship’s centerline at frame 110. The photographer is in compartment C-301-L, shooting down through the third deck into compartment C-402-A. The large hole in the deck was made by the bomb’s explosion. Many men were killed or badly injured in C-301-L, a crew’s messing space that was the assembly area for the ship’s engineering repair party.

Pre-war appearance of USS West Virginia, August 1935. Note the open-mounted 5-inch L/51 gun and the minesweeping gear abreast her B turret, also the awning stanchions and stretchers, and the bow anchor.

USS West Virginia after her total reconstruction. She was the only ship of this class reconstructed to the design of the earlier Tennessee class. Her camouflage painting is in accordance with Measure 32. She is equipped with a SK antenna.

USS West Virginia, October 1944, as rebuilt, rejoining the fleet off the Philippines.

USS Essex departing San Francisco Naval Shipyard, California, United States, 15 April 1944.

The launching of the USS Robalo at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States, 9 May 1943.

USS South Dakota in Puget Sound, Washington, United States, 21 August 1944.

USS Enterprise being pushed by tug boats, New York, United States, 17 October 1945.

USS Missouri in the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal, 13 October 1945.

Miles Davis King carrying a loaded magazine for a 20-mm gun aboard CVE USS Tulagi en route to France, August 1944.

USS Langley in heavy seas in the South China Sea in the morning of 13 January 1945. Note the trailing USS Washington riding the storm much better.

New Mexico class battleship USS Idaho, 1943: she was fortunate in not being at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, but as a result was not as extensively modernized as those ships requiring significant repair. She served throughout the Pacific campaign, mainly in shore bombardment roles.

The Iowa (BB-61) and Indiana (BB-58) (background) underway, possibly during the Marshall Islands Campaign. This 1944 photo shows Iowa in her anti-submarine camouflage measure, applied in December or in early January 1944 with Navy Blue (5-N) and Light Grey (5-L) and Deck Blue (20-B) horizontal surfaces. Highly visible in this view are the fine forward hull lines for a higher speed than the preceding South Dakota-class battleships. Consequently her #1 turret had little depth for torpedo protection. Note the 20mm gallery atop #2 turret.

Japanese aircraft being shot down as it attempted to attack escort carrier USS Kitkun Bay, near Marianas Islands, June 1944.

USS Enterprise gunnery crews practice with their 20mm anti-aircraft guns off Hawaii, May 1942.

Replacement aircraft for Espiritu Santo crowd the flight deck of the escort carrier USS Kwajalein as she steams from San Pedro, California, United States, 19 July 1944.

USS Missouri (left) and USS Iowa (right) off Japan, 20 August 1945.

USS Missouri and USS Iowa en route to Japan, August 1945.

Diagram of U.S. battleship 16-inch gun turret.

The Stars and Stripes flutters in the Pacific breeze over the flight deck of the USS Lexington (CV-16). 1944.

USS Hornet (CV-8), as completed, 27 October 1941.

USS Hornet (CV-8) photographed circa late 1941, soon after completion, probably at a U.S. east coast port. Note flight deck overhang and large crane stowed in the small boat area. A ferry boat and "Eagle Boat" (PE) are in the background.

The damaged U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) with the destroyer USS Mustin (DD-413) alongside, during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, at 1155, 26 October 1942. The photo was taken by a cameraman on a TBM Avenger from Hornet.

USS Hornet after commissioning, Norfolk Navy Yard, 19 November 1941.

USS Hornet, Norfolk Navy Yard, 28 February 1942.

USS Hornet, Norfolk Navy Yard, 28 February 1942, looking forward from island along starboard side of flight deck with Grumman F4F fighters and Curtiss SBC dive bombers.

USS Hornet arriving at Pearl Harbor after the Doolittle Raid, April 1942.

USS Hornet entering Pearl Harbor, 26 May 1942.

USS Hornet being abandoned 26 October 1942 as seen from Russell (DD-414).

USS Hornet being abandoned 26 October 1942 as seen from Russell (DD-414).

The heavy cruiser USS Northampton (CA-26) (right) attempting to tow the aircraft carrier USS Hornet after the latter had been damaged by Japanese air attacks on 26 October 1942 during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

USS Hornet, severely listing, is abandoned by her crew at about 17:00 on October 26, 1942.

USS Idaho photographed in 1934, following modernization.

USS Idaho in 1936 following her 1931-34 modernization at the Norfolk Navy Yard.

USS Idaho underway at sea, circa the mid-1930s.

USS Idaho before World War II with New Mexico in the background. Note the searchlights on the platforms beside the funnel.

USS Idaho anchored in Hvaeldefjord, Iceland, October 1941.

USS Idaho after her first wartime modification, December 1942. She looks similar to the Mississippi, but her casemate guns have been removed.

USS Idaho after her modification, seen on 3 January 1943. She carries her SK radar antenna on the foremast. Her SRa antenna is mounted on top of her aft tower superstructure. Note the single 5-inch turrets amidships. Only Idaho was so armed.

USS Idaho in 1943 after her last modifications. Note the enlarged structure carrying the 5-inch L/38 single-mounts. The SRa radar antenna is mounted above the bridge. She has a very narrow base for her stabilized rangefinders. Note the unusual funnel cap.

USS Idaho bombarding Iwo Jima, circa late February 1945. For the full story of the Idaho, see The Big Spud: The U.S.S. Idaho in World War II: A War Diary by a Member of its VO Squadron by William Schumann, published by Merriam Press, 2008.

USS Wisconsin alongside the hulk of the Oklahoma (BB-37) at Pearl Harbor, 11 November 1944.

The Iowa class (BB-61 / 66) inboard profile.

Commissioning ceremonies on the Iowa's after deck, at the New York Navy Yard, NY, 22 February 1943. Note: Mark 38 main battery director with Mark 8 fire control radar on top, 16”/50 triple gun turret, freshly raised National Ensign, and incomplete condition of some features of the ship’s after superstructure. 

The launching of the USS Robalo at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States, 9 May 1943. 

The Iowa class (BB-61 / 66) design model shows the kinship between this class and the South Dakotas. Note the hull slot, which was fared over when the ships were built. The model also shows the usual prewar compliment of 12-foot navigational range finders (including one atop No.3 turret) and range clocks (the forward one is just visible under the platform atop the forward fire control tower). Note, too, the usual pair of boat cranes. They were never fitted, and the planned boat stowage was replaced by three quadruple 40mm mounts on each side, on high platforms. When the New Jersey (BB-62) was being refitted in 1982, workmen found the original boat skids under these platforms. The object atop the conning towers is a spotting glass, which actually was installed aboard the South Dakotas but not aboard these ships. 

The Iowa class (BB-61 / 66) design model. 

View of damage on the third and fourth decks, amidships, aboard the USS Yorktown. This view looks forward and to starboard from the ship’s centerline at frame 110. The photographer is in compartment C-301-L, shooting down through the third deck into compartment C-402-A. The large hole in the deck was made by the bomb’s explosion. Many men were killed or badly injured in C-301-L, a crew’s messing space that was the assembly area for the ship’s engineering repair party. 

USS Hawaii (CB-3) leaving the launching ways at the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, NJ on 3 November 1945.

USS West Virginia after her total reconstruction. She was the only ship of this class reconstructed to the design of the earlier Tennessee class. Her camouflage painting is in accordance with Measure 32. She is equipped with a SK antenna. 

The USS Nevada (BB-36) beached and burning after being hit by Japanese bombs and torpedoes. Thanks to the actions of Ensign Joseph K. Taussig Jr., the Nevada was able to get underway during the attack. (National Archives photo)

Joseph K. Taussig Jr. as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy U.S. Naval Academy. 

A map of the Battle of Midway. (Manila American Cemetery photo)

Soldiers line the docks at Pearl Harbor and prepare to embark on the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) on 15 October 1945. The carrier was one of the many ships in the U.S. Navy’s Operation Magic Carpet to return veterans to the United States from the Pacific after Japan’s surrender. (U.S. Navy photo)

USS Bougainville (CVE-100) crewmen celebrate after listening to the announcement of Japan’s surrender, 14 August 1945. Unfortunately, it would take several months to return all U.S. service members home from the Pacific. (National Archives photo)

Spectators and photographers crowd the USS Missouri’s superstructure to witness the formal ceremonies marking Japan’s surrender, 2 September 1945. (National Archives photo)

Location of Magic Carpet ships, 17 November 1945. To view larger version, click on image. (Naval History and Heritage Command photo)

Hundreds of men crowd aboard the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-12) as she prepares to sail for the United States from Pearl Harbor on 16 October 1945 as part of Operation Magic Carpet. The larger fleet carriers could accommodate up to 8,000 passengers at a time. (U.S. Navy photo)

Where hulking warplanes once awaited the call to action, bunks and cots now pack the hangar deck of the USS Salamaua (CVE-96). A Casablanca-class escort carrier, the Salamaua was one of the many warships converted into a troopship to serve in the Navy’s Magic Carpet fleet. Conditions were cramped, but no one seemed to mind if it meant getting home. (U.S. Navy photo)

From left: Jack Lemmon, James Cagney, Henry Fonda, and William Powell in 1955’s tragicomic Mister Roberts, one of the most beloved Navy movies ever.

Henry Fonda (left) and Robert Burton in the stage production of Mister Roberts. The dramatization added more overarching plot to the source material’s vignettes, and Fonda would star in some 1,700 performances of the play, both on Broadway and on the road. (Arthur Zinn photo)

Memorable, colorful characters: Jack Lemmon (left) as the ne’er-do-well Ensign Pulver and Ward Bond as the sturdy, reliable Chief Petty Officer Dowdy.

Though only a lieutenant, Mister Roberts (Henry Fonda, right) is really the de facto leader of the USS Reluctant, while Captain Morton (James Cagney) is a dysfunctional tyrant (but he’s such a bantam rooster that he’s as comedic as he is villainous).