'Battle for Tarawa'
(See J. H. Alexander, pp. 10-35, December 2008 Naval History)
Murray L. Dear
New Zealand had good reason to be grateful for an American victory at Tarawa. When the Japanese seized that and other southern atolls in the Gilberts during September 1942, they captured 17 New Zealand coastwatchers. These prisoners of war were all executed on Tarawa following an air raid on 15 October 1942. While the perpetrators of this war crime may have escaped justice, they did not escape retribution.
Although the New Zealand authorities were fully cooperative, the nation's contribution to the conquest of the Gilbert Islands was of necessity modest. New Zealand's main contribution to the Pacific war at that time comprised naval, air force, and army involvement in the Solomons campaign. Royal New Zealand Navy Fairmile motor launches escorted U.S. Navy transports during amphibious assault exercises on lower North Island beaches. While there was a low risk of Japanese submarines operating in the Tasman Sea during this period, the German raider Michel prowled south of New Zealand during July 1943.
Three Royal New Zealand Navy Reserve lieutenants—James Forbes, Gordon Webster, and Stanley Page—served respectively as pilots on the minesweeper Pursuit (AM-108) and the destroyers Ringgold (DD-500) and Dashiell (DD-659), which entered Tarawa lagoon in support of the U.S. amphibian tractors and "Higgins" assault boats. Throughout the Tarawa operation these officers piloted destroyers and other vessels to their assigned positions. All three earned Bronze Stars from the United States for their contribution in the battle for Tarawa.
'A Bloody Proving Ground'
(See J. H. Alexander, pp. 10-17, December 2008 Naval History)
Captain Akihiko Yoshida, Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (Retired)
I greatly admire Colonel Alexander's excellent article, especially as he completely presents the difficulties facing the Japanese.
The photograph of Rear Admiral Keiji Shibasaki depicts a warrior whose many ribbons indicate the campaigns and combat he saw over a 28-year military career from World War I through the Japan-China conflict. In October 1943, the admiral had a small group of boy seamen put on board the last liaison submarine to leave Tarawa. One of these sailors later became a chief petty officer on a destroyer I commanded in Sasebo. In the fall of 1973, Mrs. Shibasaki attended a memorial held for Sasebo's 7th Navy Special Landing Battalion, a unit of the Third Base Defense Group that defended Tarawa. After the event, the chief, in tears, grasped her hand and said, "I am still living because of your husband's merciful discretion."
'Alliance—The Last Continental Navy Frigate'
(See L. A. Norton, pp. 60-65, August 2008 Naval History)
Kenneth R. Norling
The first two paragraphs need a one-word tweak: The Alliance launch site was Amesbury, not Salisbury, Massachusetts. This is from an old Amesbury boy, now a life member of USNI still living not far from the Merrimack River in Concord, New Hampshire.
Editor's note: Salisbury is cited as the launch site by the Navy in its Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, in The Sailing Navy 1775-1854 by Paul H. Silverstone, and Sailing Warships of the U.S. Navy by Donald L. Canney. When the Alliance was built, the area was called Salisbury Point and was part of the town of Salisbury. Now known as Point Shore, Salisbury Point was not incorporated into the town of Amesbury until 1886.
'The Battle That Had to Be Won'
(See M. Milner, pp. 12-21, June 2008 Naval History)
Brian Donald
As one of your Scottish readers, may I point out an error of fact in your otherwise excellent publication in the article about U-853 off the coast of Rhode Island. The last Allied ships sunk by U-boat action in World War II—the Canadian-registered but South Shields
based Avondale Park and the Norwegian freighter Sneland—were sunk by U-boat Kapitanleutnant Emil Klusmeier in U-2336 off May Island at the mouth of the Firth of Forth in Scottish territorial waters in the early hours of 8 May 1945, not off Newcastle-on-Tyne, England.The Firth of Forth was also the site of the first sinking of a warship by a torpedo from a U-boat when the light cruiser HMS Pathfinder was attacked by the U-21 on 5 September 1914.
Now, perhaps some of your American readers can help me.
Etched into a dungeon wall of Edinburgh Castle is the oldest extant depiction of "Old Glory" outside the United States. Complete with 13 stars, it was carved during the American War of Independence by a defiant American seaman who had been taken prisoner after his privateer was captured by the Royal Navy off the eastern coast of Scotland.
Next to the flag, this sassy Yankee Sailor also carved a depiction of a scaffold with British King George III dangling from it.
Can anyone tell me the name of the American POW's privateer?
'Battling the Pacific's Most Deadly Force'
(See T. Webb, pp. 16-25, October 2008 Naval History)
Frank E. Weingart
The author describes his experience of surviving Halsey's Typhoon with the note that "We were told tales by crewmen in the surviving destroyers of rolling over sometimes as much as 72 degrees." In his book, Typhoon: The Other Enemy (Naval Institute Press, 1981), Captain C. Raymond Calhoun notes that while in the USS Dewey (DD-349), "On at least three occasions, the officer of the deck, other bridge watch personnel, and I observed the inclinometer go over against the limit of its scale, which on the bridge was 73 degrees, and still the ship rolled. Engine room personnel later reported that they had witnessed their inclinometer swing against its stop at 75 degrees, while the ship rolled even farther."
When their ship later returned to Ulithi for repairs, an "80-Degree Rollers" certificate was presented to each crew member to commemorate their experience in the horrific storm.
This is not to detract from the crews of the other ships who experienced the storm because they have their own memorable stories to tell and hopefully many more will put them in writing.
'Historic Aircraft'
(See N. Polmar, pp. 8-9, December 2008 Naval History)
Rear Admiral P. K. Cullins, U.S. Navy (Retired)
The caption—"The final catapult launch of a U.S. floatplane from a battleship occurred on 27 February 1948"—beneath the photograph of a floatplane launch from the Missouri (BB-63) jogged my memory. I pulled out an 8mm movie (now converted to VHS), that I took during my youngster cruise on BB-63 in the summer of 1948. There are clear pictures of a floatplane landing and being retrieved plus a good shot of a floatplane launch. I'm not into "gotchas," but I thought you'd like to know.
'Museum Report'
(See Kay Nishimura, p. 72, December 2008 Naval History)
Commander Louis D. Chirillo, U.S. Navy (Retired)
The description of the Kure Maritime Museum is fascinating, and just the mention that the "third floor is focused on current shipbuilding technology" is tantalizing to those of us who worked to disclose the logic and principles of the world's most effective shipbuilding system that evolved in Kure. The latter was precipitated in 1951 when National Bulk Carriers of New York leased the former naval dockyard, having been attracted by the undamaged facility where the Yamato was built.
Of course the availability of a skilled force that readily absorbed, applied, and further developed the best of what Americans introduced helped. When their very effective shipbuilding approach was publicized by the U.S. Maritime Administration's National Shipbuilding Research Program, starting in 1979, a few U.S. shipyard managers were quick to respond and greatly improved safety, efficiency, and quality, particularly for building naval auxiliaries. The citizens of Kure should be proud.
'A Dozen Navy Classics'
(See T. Cutler, pp. 42-47, December 2008 Naval History)
Captain Jim Rabideau, JAGC, U.S. Navy Reserve (Retired)
This was an enjoyable piece, and I was somewhat surprised to see that I had in fact read all the historical fiction but had missed a few in other categories. They will soon be acquired/checked out/sucked up.
Recognizing that these were U.S. Navy stories, I only have one book that I always include for folks who want examples of the working, wartime Navy and leadership: The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat (Cassell & Co., 1951). I know it isn't USN, but I recommend it—along with the Caine Mutiny and Mr. Roberts—as what "it" is all about, especially leadership. I'm a World War II veteran and recalled reservist for Korea in 1950, so some of these bring back memories.
'How Civil War Sailors Lived'
(See E. H. Joyner, pp. 64-67, October 2008 Naval History)
William R. Deeble
That spoon salvaged from the USS Cairo was initialed to distinguish it from those of the owner's messmates. Usually kept in their common mess chest, he wanted to eat with his own spoon. It is unfortunate that the crew's less durable mess cloth could not have survived also. This large square of fabric, perhaps appropriately decorated, would by old Navy custom have been spread on the deck in some desirable spot for the members of the mess to gather around. One of them would then bring from the galley their portion of whatever the cooks had prepared. The tar did not eat alone "wherever he could find a spot," but in an accustomed place with his friends.
A mess was not merely a feeding unit. To a Sailor, far from home and family, the dozen or so men with whom he shared a meal three times a day for weeks on end were all he had in the way of close emotional support during times of personal difficulty. No wonder that one synonym for dying was "to lose the number of your mess."