James Woodley [So how many where shot down by AA fire from what Ive read they where all shot down by aircraft from the Lexington but other than that I have to agree that the US 5 inch DP guns where the best in the world ] Sixteen of the planes were destroyed, but since the element of surprise had been lost, TF 11 retired eastward. QUOTE [ The Personal story of Lieutenant JG John George Wallace during the Air Attack on the USS San Francisco November 12, 1942 as provided by his son Jack Wallace My Father, graduated from the Naval Academy with the class of 1942 early (due to the impending war) in December 1941! He reported aboard USS San Francisco in January 1942 at Pearl Harbor. He saw all the Battleships sitting in the mud. On the afternoon of 12 November 1942 we heard (from an Australian coast watcher) that about 30 Jap Mitsubishi type I G4M bombers - code named Betty - each carrying torpedoes were on their way from their air base in Rabaul, New Britain to attack us. We had plenty of time to prepare - about one hour - so we were ready for them when they came in. At the time of this air attack, my battle station was in main battery control - aft. Our duties were to serve as the backup battle station for firing the ships big three guns. (We are the backup for aiming the ships big guns). This station contained the after main battery director and suitable instrumentation and personnel to be able to fire all or a portion of the three big gun turrets (three - 8 inch guns per turret) whenever the Gunnery Officer, who was located in the forward part of the ship in main battery control - forward, chose to do so. I was in the ships after superstructure and another compartment was just forward of us. This compartment was called secondary conn and was the backup battle station for maneuvering the ship. It was manned by the Executive Officer who was the ships number two ranking officer. Off to the north of Guadalcanal lies Tulagi, an island of low lying hills. Over these hills came the 30 Bettys - fanning out to disperse the fire power from our ships. They skimmed down so that they were only a few feet from the water and when they got within range of the ships they dropped their fish, (aerial torpedo). By then the ships had opened fire, some, as did San Francisco, used their big 8 inch main battery guns as well as their anti-aircraft guns. Since the big 8 inch guns had contact shells, not shells with fuses in them that would explode in the air near an aircraft, we aimed the guns at a point in the water ahead of an incoming plane. We were hoping that when the shell struck the water, it would explode and disable the plane; or that the turbulence caused by the water splash would tend to make the planes drop into the water. No planes were shot down in this manner, but the Japanese pilots wiggled their planes to avoid the splashes. As the planes approached I was standing in the door looking out to starboard with communication headphones strapped over my head, ready to take control of the main battery guns should the forward station, containing the Gunnery Officer become disabled. I saw plane after plane drop torpedoes and for a while it didnt look as if we were going to shoot any of them down. Finally, planes got hit and started to drop in the water or skid on and flop over. One came in from our starboard bow and for the longest time it didnt get hit. It dropped its torpedo and I was sure the torpedo would hit San Francisco forward on the starboard side. About the time I expected that torpedo to hit, (it missed), our anti-aircraft 20 MM guns behind me, right outside my battle station started to really kick them out. I looked out toward the starboard quarter and what I saw was a Mitsubishi Betty bomber coming right at me with its starboard engine smoking. I just had time to duck inside the outer door when a tremendous explosion knocked me all the way up to the forward side of secondary conn and I lost consciousness. I awoke with the back of my khaki uniform trousers and shirt on fire, my hair and face burned from flaming gasoline. I looked around and found myself all alone. I jumped into a nearby motor launch life boat and rolled out my flames on the tarpaulin covering. Looking back, I saw flames were pouring out of both doors leading into main battery control - aft. Someone in there was screaming Help, please, Im burning! Without even knowing what I was doing, I dived through smoke and flames into the door to main battery control - aft and almost stepped on someone that was moaning. It was Pastrania, one of my Fire Controlmen. I got him over my shoulders with his clothes still smoldering and I half fell, half climbed down the port ladder and left him on the top of the hangar deck. Then I ran back up the ladder into main battery control and saw a man standing there with his clothes on fire and he couldnt seem to walk. His name was Simpson. I led him into secondary conn, and stripped him of all his smoldering/burning clothing. I asked him if he could walk and then pointed him out the door on the port side to the ladder. I made one more trip into main battery control and picked up a young small kid about 17 years old named Posh. He was burned horribly. His face was blackened. I carried him down to the deck below and got back to secondary conn just in time to get trapped when more fire came pouring out of both doors leading to main battery control. So, I jumped out of the window in the forward part of secondary conn onto the top of the hangar deck. It was a long drop. When I finally got on the hangar deck the repair parties were bringing up hoses to extinguish the fire. The big worry now was the fact that there was a 20 MM ammunition clipping room, (the room where individual ammunition shells are clipped onto belts or clips for use in 20 MM guns), immediately below the secondary conn, and if the gasoline from the plane ever dripped in there and a fire started, the 20 MM shells would take off. I grabbed the nozzle of the hose from someone and ran for the door, where we got the water in the starboard side. Not too many men wanted to negotiate the port side. So, again I took the lead. As we moved with the hose alongside a motor launch boat that sat in its skids on the port side, I heard a weak call for help. I looked into the boat, the gunwale of which was about at a level with my head, and saw Pastranini laying in there with nothing on but shorts. He was the first man I had carried down. How he got into the boat Ill never know. Large pieces of skin on his back were peeled half off. I yelled for him to climb out which he did into my arms and I half carried, half dragged him to a stretcher out on the forward part of the hangar deck. I gave him a shot of morphine. Then I ran to the door leading into the 20 MM ammunition clipping room on the starboard side and the man on the fire-fighting hose told me he thought there were a couple of men in the passageway inside the door. I told him to hold up the hose and I went in. There was Posh lying flat on his back, blackened and burned from head to feet. He must have crawled in from the port side when I left him at the foot of the ladder. I asked How are you doing Posh? He said, Im dying, but I sure dont want to. I breathed in the flames. I lied to him, Youre too young and too healthy. Here let me give you a shot in the arm so you will go to sleep. At first he wouldnt let me but with the help of a couple of men we peeled some shirt off his arm. Jabbing the morphine needle in his arm was like jabbing a board. There was no skin - just muscle - and none of the morphine went in. It just oozed back out. I tried three times with the same result. A stretcher finally arrived and we got Posh on with quite a bit of trouble. He was in agony. They carried him off to the mess hall where a temporary sick bay had been set up. By this time the fire was getting under control. Our anti-aircraft guns were shooting on and off. I walked out on the hangar deck and met the Executive Officer, Commander Mark Crouter, USN. (He was seriously burned from this air attack and elected to remain aboard the ship. He was killed convalescing in his bunk that night during the night surface naval action about twelve hours later.) He said nice going Wallace. You better go get yourself taken care of now. I started toward the ladder leading down to the mess hall, but the Captain of the embarked U. S. Marines, Captain Turner, USMC, who had been above me in sky aft when the plane hit, had just come up the ladder and yelled Lets get back up to sky aft. modelwarships/features/words/Wallace/Wallace.html QUOTE [ TF 11 — as part of Task Force 61 along with Task Force 16 — was involved in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in late August 1942, but Saratoga was again crippled by a submarine, and the task force shrank to just the carrier and some destroyers.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_Force_11
Posted on: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 02:01:41 +0000