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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks PJ-Comix. |
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Posted on 08/07/2012 3:18:37 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
Welcome aboard, PINGEE #6.
Welcome aboard, PINGEE #7.
Welcome aboard, PINGEE #8.
Welcome aboard, PINGEE #9.
Welcome aboard, PINGEE #10.
Woo hoo! Finally I can say "Top Ten!"
We have a metal bracelet inherited from my wife’s grandfather. It bears a 1944 Australian florin, and states: “USN Milne Bay/New Guinea”. He had been on a destroyer in Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. It is not clear how he was at Milne Bay; most histories do not indicate the presence of any USN forces except possibly Seabees. He was a gunner.
Geez, and this was my dearly departed father..........
The battle has often been described as a "barroom brawl after the lights had been shot out". Due to confusion in the American ranks (the senior admiral's flagship did not have radar) they allowed the Japanese to get to almost point-blank range before the battle began. The two formations actually penetrated each other's lines, resulting in one of the most confusing naval engagements in history. There were several occasions when US ships would be engaging multiple Japanese warships on all sides.
The US destroyer Laffey got so close to the Japanese battleship Hiei that the Japanese could not depress their guns low enough to engage her, and she shot up the battleship's bridge with her machine guns.
One of the great tragedies of the battle was when the heavy cruiser San Francisco accidentally shelled the light cruiser Atlanta, hitting her over twenty times with 8-inch rounds, mortally wounding Rear Admiral Norman Scott, and inflicting such heavy damage that the ship had to be scuttled the next day to prevent capture.
In the end, the US force was successful in turning back the Japanese bombardment fleet, but at high cost. The heavy cruisers San Francisco and Portland were heavily damaged, the light cruisers Atlanta and Juneau (sunk by a submarine while limping home) were lost, the light cruiser Helena was lightly damaged, four destroyers (Cushing, Laffey, Barton,and Monssen) were sunk, three (Sterett, O'Bannon, and Aaron Ward) were heavily damaged, and the brand new destroyer Fletcher actually managed to weave through the entire battle without a scratch. Rear Admirals Daniel Callaghan and Norman Scott were killed, as was Captain Cassin Young, who'd received the Medal of Honor at Pearl Harbor.
The Japanese had taken quite a pounding as well. The battleship Hiei was so badly damaged that she was unable to escape and was sunk by US aircraft the next day (some reports suggest that she might have been scuttled), two destroyers were sunk, and most of the other ships were damaged to one degree or another.
As you know, Milne Bay is on the eastern end of New Guinea. My bay is in the central part of the northern shore of New Guinea. If you look on the map we are just west of Vanimo, in PNG, then Jayapura, which used to be called Hollandia, and then Tanah Merah and the village on the inside of the bay is Depapre.
That is so cool about the bracelet. I bet he accompanied the SeaBees because while they built, they needed protection. The fighting was fierce!
BTW, the Japanese even today are regarded with distrust and suspicion by the older people here.
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks PJ-Comix. |
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