Some Interesting Military Data

[Timerover51]

I read about Gunnery Sergeant John "Manila John" Basilone in a book on Gudalcanal.

That is where he won the Medal of Honor while serving in Chesty Puller's battalion of the 7th Marines during the October japanese offensive.

 

[Timerover51]

The American 37mm antitank gun was valued throughout the Pacific War by American soldiers, Marines, and sailors, even though is was rapidly viewed as obsolete in the Mediterranean and European Theaters. Up to the end of the war it was still an effective weapon against Japanese tanks, was mounted on PT Boats for barge-busting when the 40mm Bofors High-Explosive round was discovered to be somewhat effective against Japanese landing barges, and its canister round was greatly prized as an anti-Banzai charge weapon, along with being excellent at brush-clearing. The following is an description of the action of the canister round.

Canister fired by a 37-mm gun proved effective against such a defense. Its balls tore through the jungle growth for 150 yards, delivering a cone of fire about 30 yards wide at 100 yards range, sufficient to hit both the bunkers and its protecting riflemen with the same charge.

The quote comes from the Military Intelligence Service publication TACTICAL AND TECHNICAL TRENDS No. 31 12 August 1943, page 32.

A nice tidbit to add to my weapon effects data base.

 

[JimMarn]

I beleive the 37mm canister round is mentioned in the Gudalcanal book I have.

 

[Condottiere]

Japanese tanks were mostly crap, but I think it was either something that could deal with a T-34 or warships.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I took the following from a site called Axis history, but it it confirmed by both US Naval Archives and the old "Rest of the Story" radio show hosted by the late Paul Harvey.

21 August 1945
Two Chinese junks (Lieutenant Livingston Swentzel Jr., USNR) manned by 7 Americans and 20 Chinese guerrillas are attacked by Japanese junk (with a crew of 83 men) while enroute from Haimen to Shanghai, China. In a 45-minute action, the Chinese craft, directed by Lieutenant Swentzel, engage the enemy with bazookas, machine guns, and grenades. Upon boarding the Japanese craft, the Allied force finds 45 dead and 35 wounded; the victory has been achieved at the cost of four Chinese killed, and one American and five Chinese wounded. For his heroism above and beyond the call of duty, Lieutenant Swentzel is awarded the Navy Cross in what probably proves to be the last surface action of World War II.

What this abstract doesn't tell you is that according to Paul Harvey's account, Swentzel and his crew engaged the Japanese in a boarding action with fixed bayonets, and Swentzel himself allegedly duked it out with the Japanese CO using a saber against the Japanese CO's katana.

Pretty interesting stuff. If you can find the full account, then I highly recommend reading it.

*EDIT*
p.s. you can find the story on Page 62, of the July 1946 issue of the US Navy's "All Hands", found here; http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah194607.pdf

 

[Timerover51]

I took the following from a site called Axis history, but it it confirmed by both US Naval Archives and the old "Rest of the Story" radio show hosted by the late Paul Harvey.


What this abstract doesn't tell you is that according to Paul Harvey's account, Swentzel and his crew engaged the Japanese in a boarding action with fixed bayonets, and Swentzel himself allegedly duked it out with the Japanese CO using a saber against the Japanese CO's katana.

Pretty interesting stuff. If you can find the full account, then I highly recommend reading it.

*EDIT*
p.s. you can find the story on Page 62, of the July 1946 issue of the US Navy's "All Hands", found here; http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah194607.pdf

Terrific, Blue Ghost. Any and all contributions, adequately supported by references, gladly welcomed.

 

[warwizard]

PARKER, Alton E., Comdr., USN, Baltimore,
Md.: While on picket duty as CO
of the uss Mammert L. Abele off Okinawa
on 12 Apr 1945, his ship was suddenly
attacked by approximately 20 hostile
planes. Comdr. Parker’s ship opened flre
on the Japanese planes as they came
within range, shooting down two before
a third crashed into the after engineroom.
Seconds after the crash, a piloted
Jet-propelled suicide bomb hit the ship
at the waterline at a speed of 400 knots,
exploding and breaking the ship in two.

from that same issue.

 

[Timerover51]

PARKER, Alton E., Comdr., USN, Baltimore,
Md.: While on picket duty as CO
of the uss Mammert L. Abele off Okinawa
on 12 Apr 1945, his ship was suddenly
attacked by approximately 20 hostile
planes. Comdr. Parker’s ship opened flre
on the Japanese planes as they came
within range, shooting down two before
a third crashed into the after engineroom.
Seconds after the crash, a piloted
Jet-propelled suicide bomb hit the ship
at the waterline at a speed of 400 knots,
exploding and breaking the ship in two.

from that same issue.

That also shows up in Morrison's history of the US Navy in World War 2. The Little Boys on Radar Pickett duty really paid a price for that.

 

[JimMarn]

That also shows up in Morrison's history of the US Navy in World War 2. The Little Boys on Radar Pickett duty really paid a price for that.

First I saw his books I couldn't afford them. Later on I found a condensed version which I did buy. Decades later I found them on sale at a cheap price per volume and bought all of them.

The Taffy 3 battle probably influenced me to join the US Navy.

 

[Timerover51]

First I saw his books I couldn't afford them. Later on I found a condensed version which I did buy. Decades later I found them on sale at a cheap price per volume and bought all of them.

The Taffy 3 battle probably influenced me to join the US Navy.

The Taffy 3 fight has to be just about the most courageous action in naval history.

"small boys attack"

 

[Blue Ghost]

I believe Taffy 3 charged a superior Japanese naval force which included one of the Japanese SBBs, either the Yamato or Musashi. Incredible stuff.

That whole issue is filled with derring do.

When I first heard Swentzel's story, it was conveyed by Paul Harvey like a pirate story from the 18th century. And when mister Harvey stated that it was the last naval engagement of WW2, and told who the combatants were, and how they fought, it fired my imagination.

I hope everyone enjoys the read.

 

[Timerover51]

I believe Taffy 3 charged a superior Japanese naval force which included one of the Japanese SBBs, either the Yamato or Musashi. Incredible stuff.

That whole issue is filled with derring do.

When I first heard Swentzel's story, it was conveyed by Paul Harvey like a pirate story from the 18th century. And when mister Harvey stated that it was the last naval engagement of WW2, and told who the combatants were, and how they fought, it fired my imagination.

I hope everyone enjoys the read.

One of the destroyer captains, I would have to look up which one, announced to his crew that they were engaging a major portion of the Japanese surface fleet, which included the Yamato, the Nagato, the Haruna, and the Kongo, all battleships, along with heavy cruisers and destroyers.

 

[JimMarn]

Some of the escort carriers, tasked with ground support, had one 5" gun. Most of thm had only 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft weapons.The planes had small anti-personnel bombs. The destroyers had 5" and 3" guns.

Yamato, 18.1" guns. A heavy cruiser division, a number of destroyers.

The Admiral in charge signalled 'general attack'. It saved the US Navy ships as the IJN ships kept getting in each others way

The only thing Taffy 3 could do to sink or severaly damage was fire torpedoes. They had to get within, I think, 2 miles, to fire them.

The IJN ships could fire and hit the USN ships miles before they could return fire even with their 3" and 5" guns. The USN ships chased salvoes. Some of those deck guns had no enclosed turrets, just splinter shields.

That captain was a full blood Cherokee. He was last seen at after steering, which means manual control of the rudder, heading back towards the IJN ships to support other ships. Two of his 3 gun turrets were out of action.

As the IJN ships turned away, someone on one of the carriers said, 'Hey ! They're getting away !'

This engagement is one of the few times an IJN ship went past USN survivors, didn't fire at them, and actually rendered honors.

Its worth a read if you can find a copy.

 

[Timerover51]

Some of the escort carriers, tasked with ground support, had one 5" gun. Most of thm had only 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft weapons.The planes had small anti-personnel bombs. The destroyers had 5" and 3" guns.

Yamato, 18.1" guns. A heavy cruiser division, a number of destroyers.

The Admiral in charge signalled 'general attack'. It saved the US Navy ships as the IJN ships kept getting in each others way

The only thing Taffy 3 could do to sink or severaly damage was fire torpedoes. They had to get within, I think, 2 miles, to fire them.

The IJN ships could fire and hit the USN ships miles before they could return fire even with their 3" and 5" guns. The USN ships chased salvoes. Some of those deck guns had no enclosed turrets, just splinter shields.

That captain was a full blood Cherokee. He was last seen at after steering, which means manual control of the rudder, heading back towards the IJN ships to support other ships. Two of his 3 gun turrets were out of action.

As the IJN ships turned away, someone on one of the carriers said, 'Hey ! They're getting away !'

This engagement is one of the few times an IJN ship went past USN survivors, didn't fire at them, and actually rendered honors.

Its worth a read if you can find a copy.

I need to check if there is a good online account.

 

[MThompson016]

Not online, but the book "Last Stand of the Tincan Sailors" is pretty good.

 

[Condottiere]

Surprisingly, the Japanese liked to overthink and overcomplicate their plans.

 

[Timerover51]

Surprisingly, the Japanese liked to overthink and overcomplicate their plans.

That was true of both the Japanese Army and Navy throughout the entire war. If you think the Battle for Leyte Gulf was a complicated plan, read about their planning for the Midway Operation. And for the landing, they had allocated one regiment, and provided for only about 2 hours of pre-invasion bombardment. The regiment that was to be landed was decimated by the Marines on Guadalcanal at the Battle of the Tenaru (or Ilu) River on August 20th, 1942. In the course of researching in the US National Archives with an English author, we found evidence that the Japanese were apparently planning to use gas during the invasion of Midway as well.

Too full of his mission to wait for the rest of his regiment and sure that he faced only a few thousand men overall, Ichiki marched from Taivu to the Marines’ lines. Before he attacked on the night of the 20th, a bloody figure stumbled out of the jungle with a warning that the Japanese were coming. It was Sergeant Major Vouza. Captured by the Japanese, who found a small American flag secreted in his loincloth, he was tortured in a failed attempt to gain information on the invasion force. Tied to a tree, bayonetted twice through the chest, and beaten with rifle butts, the resolute Vouza chewed through his bindings to escape. Taken to Lieutenant Colonel Edwin A. Pollock, whose 2d Battalion, 1st Marines held the Ilu mouth’s defenses, he gasped a warning that an estimated 250–500 Japanese soldiers were coming behind him. The resolute Vouza, rushed immediately to an aid station and then to the division hospital, miraculously survived his ordeal and was awarded a Silver Star for his heroism by General Vandegrift, and later a Legion of Merit. Vandegrift also made Vouza an honorary sergeant major of U.S. Marines.

At 0130 on 21 August, Ichiki’s troops stormed the Marines’ lines in a screaming, frenzied display of the “spiritual strength” which they had been assured would sweep aside their American enemy. As the Japanese charged across the sand bar astride the Ilu’s mouth, Pollock’s Marines cut them down. After a mortar preparation, the Japanese tried again to storm past the sand bar. A section of 37mm guns sprayed the enemy force with deadly canister. Lieutenant Colonel Lenard B. Cresswell’s 1st Battalion, 1st Marines moved upstream on the Ilu at daybreak, waded across the sluggish, 50-foot-wide stream, and moved on the flank of the Japanese. Wildcats from VMF-223 strafed the beleagured enemy force. Five light tanks blasted the retreating Japanese. By 1700, as the sun was setting, the battle ended.

Colonel Ichiki, disgraced in his own mind by his defeat, burned his regimental colors and shot himself. Close to 800 of his men joined him in death. The few survivors fled eastward towards Taivu Point. Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka, whose reinforcement force of transports and destroyers was largely responsible for the subsequent Japanese troop buildup on Guadalcanal, recognized that the unsupported Japanese attack was sheer folly and reflected that “this tragedy should have taught us the hopelessness of bamboo spear tactics.” Fortunately for the Marines, Ichiki’s overconfidence was not unique among Japanese commanders.

From the 50 Year Commemorative Brochure, First Offensive: The Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal, by Henry I. Shaw. This can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg here, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48807.

For a PDF version of this book and the longer US Marine Corps history of the Guadalcanal battle, you may download here.

https://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/Pages/Staff/Publications.aspx

 

[Timerover51]

The USS Johnston at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, located here on the Internet.

http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs.html

For the first 20 minutes, Johnston was helpless as the enemy cruisers and battleships had her in range. But the destroyer's 5-inch guns could not yet reach them. She charged onward to close the enemy: first a line of seven destroyers; next, one light and three heavy cruisers, then the four battleships. To the east appeared three other cruisers and several destroyers.

As soon as range closed, Johnston opened her 5-inch battery on the nearest cruiser, scoring damaging hits. About this time an 8-inch shell landed right off her bow, its red dye splashing the face of Johnston's gunnery officer, Lt. Robert C. Hagen. He mopped the dye from his eyes while remarking: "Looks like somebody's mad at us!" In 5 furious minutes Johnston pumped 200 rounds at the enemy, then Comdr. Evans ordered, "Fire torpedoes !" The destroyer got off 10 torpedoes then whipped around to retire behind a heavy smoke screen. When she came out of the smoke a minute later, Japanese cruiser Kumano could be seen burning furiously from torpedo hits. Kumano later sank. But Johnston took three 14-inch shell hits from a battleship followed closely by three 6-inch shells from a light cruiser: "It was like a puppy being smacked by a truck. The hits resulted in the loss of all power to the steering engine, all power to the three 5-inch guns in the after part of the ship, and rendered our gyro compass useless." Through "sheer providence" a rainstorm came up; and Johnston "ducked into it" for a few minutes of rapid repairs and salvage work.

At 7:50 a.m., Admiral Sprague ordered destroyers to make a torpedo attack. But Johnston had already expended torpedoes. With one engine, she couldn't keep up with the others: "But that wasn't Comdr. Evans' way of fighting: 'We'll go in with the destroyers and provide fire support,' he boomed." Johnston went in, dodging salvos and blasting back. As she charged out of blinding smoke, pointed straight at the bridge of gallant Heerman (DD-532), "All engines back full!" bellowed Comdr. Evans. That meant one engine for Johnston who could hardly do more than slow down. But Heerman's two engines backed her barely out of the collision course, Johnston missed her by less than 10 feet. Now there was so much smoke that Evans ordered no firing unless the gunnery officer could see the ship. "At 8:20, there suddenly appeared out of the smoke a 30,000-ton Kongo-class battleship, only 7,000 yards off our port beam. I took one look at the unmistakable pagoda mast, muttered, 'I sure as hell can see that!" and opened fire. In 40 seconds we got off 30 rounds, at least 15 of which hit the pagoda superstructure.... The BB belched a few 14-inchers at us, but, thank God, registered only clean misses."

Johnston soon observed Gambier Bay (CVE-73) under fire from a cruiser: "Comdr. Evans then gave me the most courageous order I've ever heard: 'Commence firing on that cruiser, draw her fire on us and away from Gambier Bay'." Johnston scored four hits in a deliberate slugging match with a heavy cruiser, then broke off the futile battle as the Japanese destroyer squadron was seen closing rapidly on the American escort carriers. Johnston outfought the entire Japanese destroyer squadron, concentrating on the lead ship until the enemy quit cold, then concentrated on the second destroyer until the remaining enemy units broke off to get out of effective gun range before launching torpedoes, all of which went wild.

Johnston took a hit which knocked out one forward gun, damaged another, and her bridge was rendered untenable by fires and explosions resulting from a hit in her 40mm. ready ammunition locker. Evans shifted his command to Johnston's fantail, yelling orders through an open hatch to men turning her rudder by hand. At one of her batteries a Texan kept calling "More shells! More shells!" Still the destroyer battled desperately to keep the Japanese destroyers and cruisers from reaching the five surviving American carriers: "We were now in a position where all the gallantry and guts in the world couldn't save us, but we figured that help for the carrier must be on the way, and every minute's delay might count.... By 9:30 we were going dead in the water; even the Japanese couldn't miss us. They made a sort of running semicircle around our ship, shooting at us like a bunch of Indians attacking a prairie schooner. Our lone engine and fire room was knocked out; we lost all power, and even the indomitable skipper knew we were finished. At 9:45 he gave the saddest order a captain can give: 'Abandon Ship.'... At 10:10 Johnston rolled over and began to sink. A Japanese destroyer came up to 1,000 yards and pumped a final shot into her to make sure she went down. A survivor saw the Japanese captain salute her as she went down. That was the end of Johnston."

From Johnston's complement of 327, only 141 were saved. Of 186 lost, about 50 were killed by enemy action, 45 died on rafts from battle injuries; and 92, including Comdr. Evans, were alive in the water after Johnston sank, but were never heard from again.

Commander Evans, the captain of the Johnston, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

 

[Timerover51]

A brief account of the Battle of Leyte Gulf may be found here.

http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-...-ii-naval-aviation/victory-at-leyte-gulf.html

 

[kilemall]

Kurita thought he was fighting cruisers and fleet carriers given the ferocity of the desperate responding attacks.