The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Makin Atoll Raid (08/17-18/1942) - Nov. 13th, 2003

www.chinfo.navy.mil ^ | Edward C. Whitman

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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SUBMARINE COMMANDOS
"Carlson's Raiders" at Makin Atoll

After the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway brought a halt to the Japanese advance into the central and southern Pacific in mid-1942, the Allies were keen to seize the initiative and strike back. Since securing the eastern approaches to Australia remained a key imperative, the threat to Port Moresby from a southerly, overland thrust across Papua, with covering support from Japanese bases in the eastern Solomons, suggested a counter-move in that direction. The Allied high command was particularly concerned about the tenacious Japanese seaplane base at Tulagi and positively alarmed by an enemy initiative to build a new airstrip on Guadalcanal in late June. These developments provided the impetus for the first American offensive of the Pacific war, the amphibious assault on Guadalcanal and Tulagi by U.S. Marines on 7 August 1942.

The Makin raid was intended to draw Japanese forces away from the American attack on Guadalcanal in August 1942.

Guadalcanal was not fully secured until February 1943, and a key theme of the Solomons campaign was the seesaw struggle between the two sides to prevent the Japanese from reinforcing their island garrisons. Thus, to distract the Japanese resupply effort, Admiral Nimitz ordered a diversionary raid on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands over 1000 miles to the northeast. The Gilbert Islands had been a British colony since 1915, but the Japanese occupied them early in the war, established an auxiliary seaplane base on Makin's largest island, Butaritari, and installed a small garrison to defend it - 43 Japanese soldiers under the command of Sergeant Major Kanemitsu.


Carlson's Raiders landed near the Japanese seaplane base on Butaritari, the largest island of Makin Atoll

Selected to make the attack in mid-August 1942 were Companies A and B of the Marine Corps' 2nd Raider Battalion - "Carlson's Raiders" - under then-Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson, USMC. Carlson and his men were to be transported from Pearl Harbor to Makin onboard two large submarines, USS Nautilus (SS-168) and USS Argonaut (SS-166), and their objective was to destroy enemy installations, gather information, and divert Japanese attention from the Solomons.

Argonaut and Nautilus and were both unusual boats. Laid down originally as V-4 and V-6, respectively, the two submarines were second-generation members of the V class, conceived originally in the years after World War I as "fleet submarines" with sufficient speed and endurance to enable them to operate with the battle fleet. In the mid-1920s, the fleet submarine idea metamorphosed into the long-endurance submarine "cruiser," and the V-class design changed accordingly. V-4 and V-6 were thus very large ships for that time, with displacement in excess of 2,700 tons surfaced - 4,000 tons submerged - and an overall length of approximately 375 feet. Built originally as a minelayer, V-4 was commissioned in April 1928, but later re-named USS Argonaut and redesignated, successively, SM-1 and SS-166. V-6 was commissioned in July 1930 but renamed USS Nautilus a year later. Both were armed with two 6-inch deck guns and had been converted in the months preceding the raid to troop-carrying submarines by removing all torpedoes except those in the tubes and installing tiers of wooden bunks.


A battle-weary LT. Col Evans Carlson, USMC, back onboard Nautilus after the first blooding of "Carlson's Raiders."

Similarly, Carlson was an unusual officer. He lied about his age to enlist in the Army in the First World War and won a commission, but he arrived in Europe too late to see combat. Finding civilian life uncongenial, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1922, earned a second commission, fought guerillas in Nicaragua, and spent several tours in China. During the last of these, in 1937, he was an eye-witness to the Japanese takeover of Shanghai, and - detailed as an observer - he accompanied the Chinese Communist Eighth Route Army in their battles with the invader. During this time, he developed his own distinctive ideas about guerilla warfare, small-unit operations, and the importance of ethical indoctrination for cohesion in combat. Eventually moved to resign his commission because of his impolitic - but strongly-expressed - view that the United States should aid China in resisting the Japanese, he spent two years speaking and writing on the subject, until six months before Pearl Harbor when he was permitted to rejoin the Corps as a major. Ten months later - amid some controversy within headquarters - he created the 2nd Raider Battalion, adopting as his unit's motto the Chinese phrase, "Gung Ho" - meaning roughly, "work together."


USS Argonaut (SS-166) at sea on her way to Makin Atoll

Nautilus and Argonaut departed Pearl Harbor in great secrecy on 8 August 1942 and proceeded separately to the Makin Atoll. In command of Nautilus was LCDR John Brockman, and commanding Argonaut was LCDR Jack Pierce, with the task force commander, CDR John Haines, riding the former. Between them, the two boats carried 211 Marines - 13 officers and 198 men - with 90 on Nautilus and 121 on Argonaut, all in addition to the ships' crews. With so many men and their equipment crammed into so little space, living conditions for the eight-day transit were barely tolerable. Crowding was so severe that the troops could do little more than stay in their bunks except for brief exercise periods on deck. Ventilation was inadequate, the heat and smell were stifling, and seasickness took a heavy toll. Even so, with so many mouths to feed, the galleys had to work around the clock to keep up.


Marine Raiders Carlson and Roosevelt

Nautilus arrived off Makin early on 16 August, and spent most of the daylight hours in periscope reconnaissance. After rendezvousing with Argonaut at dusk, Haines ordered preparations to disembark the Marines in their rubber boats at 0300 the next morning. The initial plan called for landing at two points on the seaward side of narrow Butaritari Island, about five miles northeast of Ukiangong Point and just opposite the principal settlement, which faced the lagoon.


Two Marines prepare to disembark from Nautilus early on 17 August.

In the week before Carlson's raid, Sergeant Major Kanemitsu had not been idle. In response to a general alert from the Japanese high command, he had been preparing defensive positions - machine gun nests and sniper posts - and drilling his small garrison. Thus, he was not entirely surprised when fighting broke out soon after Carlson's men came ashore quietly on the morning of the 17th.

Once in the objective area, things began to go badly. The subs surfaced in heavy rain and high seas. Due to the poor conditions, Carlson altered his plan at the last minute. Instead of each company landing on widely separated beaches, they would go ashore together. Lieutenant Oscar F. Peatross, a platoon commander, did not get the word; he and the squad in his boat ended up landing alone in what became the enemy rear. The main body reached shore in some confusion due to engine malfunctions and weather, then the accidental discharge of a weapon ruined any hope of surprise.


Marines "working out" on the USS Argonaut

In the event, despite the swamping of many of their outboard motors, 18 of the 19 boats made it to shore near the intended location by 0500 on 17 August.

First Lieutenant Merwyn C. Plumley's Company A quickly crossed the narrow island and turned southwest toward the known enemy positions. Company B, commanded by Captain Ralph H. Coyt, followed in trace as the reserve. Soon thereafter the raiders were engaged in a firefight with the Japanese. Sergeant Clyde Thomason died in this initial action while courageously exposing himself in order to direct the fire of his platoon. He later was awarded the Medal of Honor, the first enlisted Marine so decorated in World War II. The raiders made little headway against Japanese machine guns and snipers. Then the enemy launched two banzai attacks, each announced with a bugle call. Marine fire easily dispatched both groups of charging enemy soldiers. Unbeknownst to the Americans, they had nearly wipeout the Japanese garrison at that point in the battle.

At 1130 two enemy aircraft appeared over the island and scouted the scene of action. Carlson had trained his men to remain motionless and not fire at planes. With no troops in sight and no contact from their own ground force, the planes finally dropped their bombs, though none landed within Marine lines. Two hours later 12 planes arrived on the scene, several of them seaplanes. Two of the larger flying boats landed in the lagoon. Raider machine guns and Boys antitank rifles fired at them. One burst into flame and the other crashed on takeoff after receiving numerous hits. The remaining aircraft bombed and strafed the island for an hour, again with most of the ordnance hitting enemy-occupied territory. Another air attack came late in the afternoon.


USS Argonaut sailors at mail call

The natives on the island willingly assisted the Americans throughout the day. They carried ammunition and provided intelligence. The latter reports suggested that enemy reinforcements had come ashore from the seaplanes and from two small ships in the lagoon. (The submarines later took the boats under indirect fire with their deck guns and miraculously sunk both.) Based on this information, Carlson was certain there was still a sizable Japanese force on the island. At 1700 he called several individuals together and contemplated his options. Roosevelt and the battalion operations officer argued for a withdrawal as planned in preparation for the next day's landing on Little Makin. Concerned that he might become too heavily engaged if he tried to advance, Carlson decided to follow their recommendation.

This part of the operation went smoothly for a time. The force broke contact in good order and a group of 20 men covered the rest of the raiders as they readied their rubber boats and shoved off. Carlson, however, forgot about the covering force and thought his craft contained the last men on the island when it entered the water at 1930. Disaster then struck in the form of heavy surf. The outboard engines did not work and the men soon grew exhausted trying to paddle against the breakers. Boats capsized and equipment disappeared. After repeated attempts several boat-loads made it to the rendezvous with the submarines, but Carlson and 120 men ended up stranded on the shore. Only the covering force and a handful of others had weapons. In the middle of the night a small Japanese patrol approached the perimeter. They wounded a sentry, but not before he killed three of them.


After the Makin raid, in which eighteen marines were lost, Carlson's Raiders disembarked at their base. Makin, a small island in the South Pacific was swept from end to end by the hard hitting Raiders who destroyed every enemy installation and killed every Japanese.

With the enemy apparently still full of fight and his raiders disorganized and weakened, Carlson called another council of war. Without much input from the others, he decided to surrender. His stated reasons were concern for the wounded, and for the possible fate of the president's son (who was not present at the meeting). At 0330 Carlson sent his operations officer and another Marine out to contact the enemy. They found one Japanese soldier and eventually succeeded in giving him a note offering surrender. Carlson also authorized every man to fend for himself -those who wished could make another attempt to reach the submarines. By the next morning several more boatloads made it through the surf, including one with Major Roosevelt. In the meantime, a few exploring raiders killed several Japanese, one of them probably the man with the surrender note.



With dawn the situation appeared dramatically better. The two-man surrender party reported that there appeared to be no organized enemy force left on the island. There were about 70 raiders still ashore, and the able-bodied armed themselves with weapons lying about the battlefield. Carlson organized patrols to search for food and the enemy. They killed two more Japanese soldiers and confirmed the lack of opposition. The raider commander himself led a patrol to survey the scene and carry out the demolition of military stores and installations. He counted 83 dead Japanese and 14 of his own killed in action. Based on native reports, Carlson thought his force had accounted for more than 160 Japanese. Enemy aircraft made four separate attack during the day, but they inflicted no losses on the raider force ashore.


Return to Pearl Harbor

The Marines contacted the submarines during the day and arranged an evening rendezvous off the entrance to the lagoon, where there was no surf to hinder an evacuation. The men hauled four rubber boats across the island and arranged for the use of a native outrigger. By 2300 the remainder of the landing force was back on board the Nautilus and Argonaut. Since the entire withdrawal had been so disorganized, the two companies were intermingled on the submarines and it was not until they returned to Pearl Harbor that they could make an accurate accounting of their losses. The official tally was 18 dead and 12 missing.

[SAMWolf]

Convinced that all the surviving Marines were on board, the two boats departed for the long return to Pearl Harbor. The thirty men who did not make it back were all assumed to have been killed in action. One of these, Sergeant Clyde Thomason, was the first enlisted Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II.



Only after the war would the Marine Corps discover that nine of the missing raiders had been left alive on the island. These men had become separated from the main body at one point or another during the operation. With the assistance of the natives the group evaded capture for a time, but finally surrendered on 30 August. A few weeks later the Japanese beheaded them on the island of Kwajalein.



To an American public hungry for good news, the Makin raid was proclaimed a brilliant exploit by the Navy and Marine Corps, and many of the participants were highly decorated, among them Carlson, Roosevelt, and CDR John Haines, who received the Navy Cross. In retrospect, there is little evidence that the attack succeeded in Japanese how tenuously they held the Gilbert Islands, it led directly to subsequent reinforcements that exacted a terrible price from the Marines at Tarawa somewhat over a year later. As part of that same campaign, however, the U.S. Army's 165th Regimental Combat Team wrested Makin from the Japanese on 23 November 1943. Today, Makin Atoll is part of the island nation of Kiribati.



There are a number of other postscripts. Nautilus and Argonaut returned safely to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 25 and 26 August, respectively. Ultimately, Nautilus ended the war with 14 successful war patrols, including several in which she landed troops and supplies for operations similar to the Makin raid. Argonaut was less fortunate. Later in the year, her base of operations was transferred to Brisbane, Australia, and in late December, still under the command of Jack Pierce, she was diverted for a patrol near Bougainville in the northern Solomons. On 10 January 1943, Pierce attacked a heavily-escorted convoy of five freighters. The encounter was seen from a U.S. Army aircraft that happened to be overhead, and it ended tragically with Argonaut, apparently mortally wounded by depth charges, breaking the surface steeply and falling back again. She was lost with all hands.


Admiral Chester W. Nimitz pins Carlson's Second Navy Cross on him for the Makin Island raid. Carlson won his third Navy Cross for his successful campaign on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.

Despite Carlson's careful withdrawal, nine Marines were, in fact, left alive on Butaritari and captured by the Japanese. They were treated humanely at first and transferred to Kwajalein, with the intention of sending them on to Japan. However, after a murderous change of heart by the Japanese commander of the Marshall Islands, Vice Admiral Kose Abe, they were ceremoniously beheaded on 16 October, despite the objections of several of his officers. After the war, Admiral Abe was convicted of war crimes and hanged at Guam.



After an extensive search in 1998 and 1999 and an ensuing forensic investigation, the remains of 19 Marines killed on Butaritari Island were recovered, identified, and returned to the United States for burial just last year - nearly six decades after their being declared Missing in Action. An additional search effort will now attempt to find the remains of the nine Marines who were executed on Kwajalein, despite the fact that the island has been drastically transformed both by and since the war.


Nautilus returns to port

Carlson's Raiders fought again on Guadalcanal, where they operated behind enemy lines for 31 days in November and December 1942, apparently the longest such patrol in the Second World War. Carlson himself left the raiders in 1943 to become the Operations Officer of the 4th Marine Division and participated in the assaults on Tarawa, Kwajalein, and Saipan. He was severely wounded on Saipan dragging his radio operator from the line of fire, retired from the Marine Corps after the war, and died of heart trouble in May 1947. His successes on Makin and Guadalcanal and his seminal ideas on unconventional warfare have left a living legacy in the tradecraft and traditions of our Special Forces today. And the pioneering role of Nautilus and Argonaut in projecting power "...From the Sea" at Makin Atoll during 1942 was a clear forerunner of many of the expeditionary missions for which the U.S. Submarine Force is prepared even now.

[SAMWolf]

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY,
Arlington, Va. (August 17, 2001)

On this date in 1942, two companies of Marine Raiders attacked the Japanese on the Makin Atoll, and 30 of them didn't return.

Today, at Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps paid its respects with a ceremony it had been waiting and hoping to give for 59 years.

When the Makin Raiders gave their lives, they proved that they were "always faithful to each other, always faithful to the Corps, and always faithful to their country," said the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James L. Jones.



General Jones addressed a standing-room-only crowd of approximately 700 people in Ft. Myer Chapel during a service that preceded today's graveside ceremony.

"Marines of today draw inspiration from the 'Greatest Generation,'" Gen. Jones said. "We learn from their courage."

General Jones recounted how the raid lifted American morale early in the war and reassured everyone that America was ready and willing to take the fight to the enemy.

The "fog of war" was very much a factor during the raid. That's why 19 Marines disappeared for 57 years, nine Marines were captured and executed, and two Marines remain missing.

The remains of all of the Marines had seemed hopelessly lost, especially after an unsuccessful search in the late 1940s.


Marines overlook the flag-draped caskets holding the remains of 13 U.S. servicemen who died at Makin Atoll in 1942.

However, what Gen. Jones referred to as "the spirit of Semper Fidelis" is a two-way street. When U.S. Army technicians got a lead in 1999 on where island natives might have buried 19 of the bodies, it was only a matter of time before this group of missing Makin Raiders would get their belated homecoming. They had been faithful to the Corps, and the Corps would be faithful to them.

The Army's Central Identification Laboratory, with assistance from many other government agencies, conducted exhaustive identification procedures at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. Finally, the checks were complete, and the time had come to show gratitude.

The families of six of the Marine Raiders elected to have private burials. The remains of the other 13 Raiders arrived for burial at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday. A Marine Corps KC-130 transport plane flew the remains from Hawaii to Edwards Air Force Base in Maryland.


Body bearers from Marine Barracks 8th and I, Washington, D. C. raise the casket containing the group remains of the Makin Raiders above their heads before laying it to rest beside the other remains.

The Marine Band, more popularly known as "The President's Own," and a detachment of Marines from the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C. participated in a ceremony on the tarmac.

"Thank God they're home," said Col. Joe Griffith, USMC (Ret.). Colonel Griffith is the oldest surviving participant of the Makin raid. He had just been promoted to captain at the time of the mission.

Colonel Evans Carlson was the architect behind the Marine Raider concept as well as the raid on Makin. His son, Evans Carlson, who retired as a Marine colonel, also attended Thursday's tarmac ceremony.

"I'm awfully glad to be here," Col. Carlson said. "For me, it's a very moving experience."

Colonel Carlson said his famous father would have been pleased as well. "Dad regretted every casualty, however they were caused, wherever they occurred," he said. "His feelings about this were extremely strong."


(Left to Right) Karen Carlson-Loving, daughter of Col. Evans Carlson, Jr. USMC (Ret.) and his wife Regina Carlson watch the C-130 carrying the remains of 13 Makin Raiders as it taxis down the runway. Carlson Jr. is the son of Col. Evans Carlson who held command of the Makin Raiders.

Friday's ceremony, which also featured the Marine Band and a detachment from the Marine Barracks, showcased the appreciation the Corps has for its fallen warriors.

A 21-gun salute climaxed the ceremony for these Marines:

Capt. Gerald P. Holtom, Palo Alto, Calif.;
Sgt. Clyde Thomason Atlanta, Ga.;
FM1 Vernon L. Castle, Stillwater, Okla.;
Cpl. Daniel A. Gaston, Galveston, Texas;
Cpl. Edward Maciejewski, Chicago, Ill.;
Cpl. Robert B. Pearson, Lafayette, Calif.;
Pfc. William A. Gallagher, Wyandotte, Mich.;
Pfc. Kenneth M. Montgomery, Eden, Wis.;
Pfc. John E. Vandenberg, Kenosha, Wis.;
Pvt. Carlyle O. Larson, Glenwood, Minn.;
Pvt. Robert B. Maulding, Vista, Calif.;
Pvt. Franklin M. Nodland, Marshalltown, Iowa;
Pvt. Charles A. Selby, Ontonagon, Mich.

Sergeant Thomason distinguished himself during the raid as the first enlisted Marine to earn the Medal of Honor in World War II.

Melvin D. Heckt, the president of the United States Marine Raider Association, had these words for the Raiders lost during the attack: "We salute you, comrades. We salute you as Raiders, as Marines, as Americans, as men."

Additional Sources:

www.csp.navy.mil
www.cilhi.army.mil
www.janeresture.com
www.usmc.mil
starbulletin.com
www.history.navy.mil
www.ibiblio.org

[SAMWolf]

The raid itself had mixed results. Reports painted it as a great victory and it boosted morale on the home front. Many believed it achieved its original goal of diverting forces from Guadalcanal, but the Japanese had immediately guessed the size and purpose of the operation and had not let it alter their plans for the Solomons. However, it did cause the enemy to worry about the potential for other such raids on rear area installations. On the negative side, that threat may have played a part in the subsequent Japanese decision to fortify heavily places like Tarawa Atoll, the scene of a costly amphibious assault later in the war . At the tactical level, the 2d Raiders had proven themselves in direct combat with the enemy. Their greatest difficulties had involved rough seas and poor equipment; bravery could not fix those limitations. Despite the trumpeted success of the operation, the Navy never again attempted to use submarines to conduct raids behind enemy lines.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

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[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS South Carolina (BB-26), America's first dreadnought.

South Carolina class dreadnought battleship
displacement. 16,000 t.
length. 452' 9"
beam. 80' 2 1/2"
draft. 24' 6"
speed. 18 k.
complement. 751
armament. 8 12", 22 3", 2 3-pdr., 2 21" tt.

The USS South Carolina was designed before the HMS Dreadnought, however the Dreadnought was completed and comissioned first, thereby giving her name to all of the all big gun battleships that followed her. (If the South Carolina had been completed first, would all subsequent big gun battleships have been called South Carolinas?)

The USS South Carolina (Battleship No. 26) was laid down on 18 December 1906 at Philadelphia by William Cramp & sons; launched on 1 July 1908; sponsored by Miss Frederica Ansel; and commissioned on 1 March 1910, Capt. Augustus F. Fechteler, in command.

South Carolina departed Philadelphia on 6 March for shakedown, cruised to the Danish West Indies and Cuba, and then visited Charleston, S.C., from 10 to 15 April. After conducting trials off the Virginia Capes and off Provincetown, Mass., the dreadnought visited New York City on 17 and 18 June on the occasion of a reception for former President Theodore Roosevelt. Voyage repairs at Norfolk, naval militia training duty, and Atlantic Fleet maneuvers off Provincetown and the Virginia Capes occupied her time from the end of June until the beginning of November. Between 1 November 1910 and 12 January 1911, she voyaged to Europe and back with the 2d Battleship Division. This visit took her to Cherbourg, France, and Portland, England. Upon her return to No rfolk, she entered the navy yard for repairs, and then conducted tactics training and maneuvers off the New England coast.

Following a short visit to New York, she steamed east with the 2d Battleship Division for a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; and Kronstadt, Russia. During the return from Kronstadt, she reached Kiel Germany on 21 June in time to join in the Kiel Yachting Week, hosted by Kaiser Wilhelm II. On 13 July 1911, she arrived off Provincetown, Mass., and engaged in battle practice along the coast to the Chesapeake Bay.

Late in 1911, she took part in the naval review at New York and maneuvers with the 1st Squadron out of Newport, R.I. On 3 January 1912, she departed New York for winter operations in the vicinity of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. South Carolina returned to Norfolk on 13 March and, until late June, cruised the east coast as far north as Newport. In June, she joined in the welcome receptions at Hampton Roads and New York given in honor of the visiting German Squadron, comprised of battle cruiser Moltke and two small cruisers, Bremen and Stettin. On 30 June, she entered the yard at Norfolk for overhaul.

Just over three months later, she sailed to New York for a four-day visit, from 11 to 15 October. Next came a month of exercises off the coast of New England and the Virginia Capes. From mid-November until mid-December, South Carolina steamed with the Special Service Division on visits to Pensacola, New Orleans, Galveston, and the Mexican port, Vera Cruz. She returned to Norfolk on 20 December and remained there until 6 January 1918, when she sailed to Colon, Panama, where her crew saw the newly-completed canal. After maneuvers in the area of Guantanamo Bay, she reentered Norfolk on 22 March; then cruised north as far as Newport, stopping at New York from 28 to 81 May for the dedication of a memorial to the battleship Maine.

After a brief period training midshipmen in the Virginia Capes area, South Carolina embarked upon a 16-month period during which she carried the "Big Stick" to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. From late June until mid-September 1913, she cruised the eastern coast of Mexico protecting American interests at Tampico and Vera Cruz. She was overhauled at Norfolk from late September 1913 until early January 1914, and then headed for maneuvers off Culebra Island.

On the 28th, the dreadnought landed marines at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to guard the United States legation and to establish a field radio station during that period of political convulsions. She departed Port-au-Prince on 14 April after the restoration of some order under General Orestes Zamar, the new Haitian President. She coaled at Key West, then steamed to Vera Cruz where she sent a landing force ashore to join in the occupation of that city until her departure a month later. South Carolina spent the troubled summer of 1914 investigating conditions in Santo Domingo and Haiti.

By the time she returned to Norfolk on 24 September, World War I had already been raging for almost two months. A little less than a month later, on 14 October, the dreadnought entered the yard at Philadelphia. She emerged revitalized on 20 February 1915 and headed south for the usual battle practice in the vicinity of Cuba. The exercises took on new meaning since they were held on the heels of the diplomatic crisis triggered by Germany's declaring the waters around England to be a war zone. However, cooler heads prevailed and not even the sinking of Lusitania could provoke the United States to belligerency. Accordingly, for almost two years, South Carolina continued her routine of winter and spring exercises out of Guantanamo Bay, summer operations off Newport, and periodic repairs at Philadelphia.

The entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Allies in April 1917 did not presage dramatic events for the Navy. Except for U-boats and an occasional disguised commerce raider, the Royal Navy had already cleared the seas of German naval might at such battles as Jutland and the Falkland Islands. Therefore, South Carolina continued to operate along the east coast through 1917 and for the first eight months of 1918.

On 9 September 1918, she joined the escort of a convoy bound for France. A week later, she turned the convoy over to other escorts in mid-ocean and steamed back to the United States. After a brief repair period at Philadelphia, she returned to gunnery training service and was so employed at the time of the Armistice, 11 November 1918.

From mid-February until late July 1919, South Carolina made four round-trip voyages between the United States and Brest, France. By 26 July, when she entered Hampton Roads at the end of the last of these voyages, she had returned over 4,000 World War I veterans to the United States. Following an overhaul at the Norfolk Navy Yard, she embarked midshipmen at Annapolis for a cruise to the Pacific. She departed Annapolis on 5 June 1920, transited the Panama Canal, sailed to Hawaii, and then to the west coast. She visited Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego as she sailed down the western seaboard. South Carolina cleared San Diego on 11 August, retransited the canal, and sailed for Annapolis on 2 September; then she headed on to Philadelphia, where she remain ed for seven months.

In early April of 1921, she cruised to Culebra Island in the West Indies for training, and then operated in the Chesapeake Bay. On 29 May, the dreadnought embarked another complement of midshipmen at Annapolis. She called at Christiana, Norway, and Lisbon, Portugal, before heading to the Guantanamo Bay area to round out the midshipmen's summer training cruise. She debarked the midshipmen at Annapolis on 30 August and steamed to Philadelphia where she arrived the following day. South Carolina was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 15 December 1921 and remained there until her name was struck from the Navy list on 10 November 1923. Her hulk was sold for scrap on 24 April 1924 in accordance with the terms of the Five-Power Naval Treaty of Washington.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Memorial erected in Thailand to U.S. 'Flying Tiger' aviators -AP Breaking News
DANIEL LOVERING, Associated Press Writer
(11-13) 03:27 PST BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- A memorial has been erected in northern Thailand to the Flying Tigers -- a group of volunteer U.S. pilots who attacked Japanese bases in Thailand during World War II, a U.S. official said T...

[Valin]

On This Day In History


354 St Augustine of Hippo Numidia, Algeria, convert/Christian philosopher
1312 Edward III king of England (1327-77)
1792 Edward John Trelawney England, traveler/author (Adv of Younger Son)
1831 James Maxwell Edinburgh Scot, physicist (Treatise on Electricity)
1833 Edwin Thomas Booth US, US Hall of Fame/actor (Hamlet)
1838 Joseph F Smith 6th President of Mormon church
1850 Robert Louis Stevenson Scotland, author (Treasure Island)
1854 George Whitefield Chadwick Lowell MA, composer (Judi Van Winke)
1856 Louis D Brandeis Massachusetts, Supreme Court Justice (1916-39)
1882 John Lowry Mount Vernon NY, NYC builder (Radio City Music Hall)
1898 Earl Sande jockey (Hall of Famer)
1906 Conrad Thibault Northbridge MA, singer (Jacques Fray Music Room)
1906 Hermione Baddeley England, actress (Camp Runamuck, Maude, Good Life)
1915 Howard Cooke Jamaica, (1991 Mico Gold Medal Award)
1916 Jack Elam Miami AZ, actor (The Dakotas, East Street, Rio Lobo)
1917 Robert Sterling Newcastle PA, actor (George Kirby-Adv of Topper)
1922 Jack Narz Louisville KY, TV gameshow host (Dotto, Video Village)
1922 Madeleine Sherwood Montreal, actress (Mother Superior-Flying Nun)
1922 Oskar Werner film actor/director (Shoes of the Fisherman, Das Ekel)
1923 Linda Christian Tampico, Mexico, actress (Athena, VIPs, Battle Zone)
1930 Fred Harris (Sen-D-Oklahoma)
1932 Olga Fikotova Czech, discus thrower (Olympic-gold-1956)
1932 Richard Mulligan Bronx NY, actor (Soap, Empty's Nest, Big Bus)
1933 Adrienne Corri Glasgow Scotland, actress (River, Dr Zhivago)
1938 Jean Seberg Marshaltown Iowa, actress (Breathless, Paint Your Wagon)
1941 Dack Rambo Delano CA, actor (Guns of Will Sonnett, Dallas)
1941 Mel Stottlemyre Wash, pitcher (NY Yankee)/pitching coach (NY Met)
1942 Beth Brickell Camden Arkansas, actress (Gentle Ben)
1943 John Paul Hammond NYC, blues singer (So Many Roads)
1947 Joe Mantegna Chicago IL, actor (House of Games, Weeds)
1948 Sheila Frazier NYC, actress (Gloria-Lazarus Syndrome)
1949 Terry Reid guitarist (River, Bang Bang You're Terry Reid)
1949 Whoopi Goldberg [Caryn Johnson], NYC, actress (Color Purple, Burglar)
1953 Tracy Scoggins Galveston TX, actress (Colbys, Gumshoe Kid)
1963 Vinny Testaverde (football: Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, NY Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: quarterback; Heisman Trophy winner: University of Miami [1986])
1971 John Francis Zingg Boston MA, rocker (4 Fun-Unbelievable Fun Boys)
1972 Shom-Rock rocker (Young Nation)
1972 T-Haxx rocker (DYC)

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Deaths which occurred on November 13:
867 St Nicholas I (the Great) pope (858-67), dies
1460 Henry the Navigator prince of Portugal, dies at 66
1687 Nell [Eleanor] Gwyn, mistress of Charles II of England, dies at 37
1770 George Grenville, British premier (1763-65)/Stamp Act, dies at 58
1779 Thomas Chippendale, English furniture maker, dies at 61
1829 Sam Patch loses his life in a 125' dive into Genesse Falls
1868 Gioacchino (Antonio) Rossini composer (Barber of Seville), dies at 76
1961 Wally Brown actor (Jed Fame-Cimarron City), dies at 57
1974 Karen Silkwood killed in a car crash under suspicious circumstances
1983 "Alvin" Junior Samples country singer (Hee Haw), dies at 56
1984 Dorothy Arnold actress, dies at 66

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1964 BLOOM DARL R.---MORRISDALE PA.
[AIR COLLISION NO PARA SEEN]
1965 JENKINS HARRY T.WASHINGTON DC.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DECEASED
1968 ERSKINE JACK D.
[VC SKETCHES OF ERSKINE FOUND]
1969 RAY RONALD E.---PORT ARTHUR TX.
1970 BANCROFT WILLIAM W.---INDIANAPOLIS IN.
1970 WRIGHT DAVID I.---ANNAPOLIS MD.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
867 St Nicholas I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1002 English king Ethelred II launches massacre of Danish settlers
1474 In the Swiss-Burgundian Wars, Swiss infantry shatters the army of Charles the Bold at Hericourt near Belfort, countering his march to Lorraine.
1775 American Revolutionary forces capture Montreal
1789 Ben Franklin writes "Nothing . . . certain but death & taxes"
1830 Oliver Wendell Holmes publishes "Old Ironsides"
1839 1st US anti-slavery party, Liberty Party, convenes in NY
1835 Texans officially proclaim independence from Mexico, and calls itself the Lone Star Republic, after its flag, until its admission to the Union in 1845
1843 Mt Rainier in Washington State erupts
1849 Peter Burnett elected 1st governor of California
1854 "New Era" sinks off NJ coast with loss of 300
1865 PT Barnum's New American museum opens in Bridgeport
1865 US issues 1st gold certificates
1868 American Philological Association organized in NY
1875 Harvard-Yale game is 1st college football contest with uniforms
1875 National Bowling Association organized in NYC
1878 New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace offers amnesty to many participants of the Lincoln County War, but not to gunfighter Billy the Kid. Billy the Kid's Great Escape.
1895 1st shipment of canned pineapple from Hawaii
1900 Baltimore Orioles (now NY Yankees) enter baseball's American League
1907 French cyclist Paul Cornu flies a twin rotor helicopter
1909 259 miners die in a fire at St Paul Mine at Cherry Ill
1914 The brassiere, invented by Caresse Crosby, is patented
1921 "The Sheik," starring Rudolph Valentino, is released
1921 US, France, Japan & British Empire sign a Pacific Treaty
1927 NY-NJ Holland Tunnel, 1st twin-tube underwater auto tunnel, opens
1931 Hattie Caraway (D-AK) appointed 1st US woman senator
1933 1st modern sit-down strike, Hormel meat packers, Austin, MN
1937 NBC forms 1st full-sized symphony orchestra exclusively for radio
1940 Walt Disney's "Fantasia" released
1940 U.S. Supreme Court rules in Hansberry v. Lee that African Americans cannot be barred from white neighborhoods.
1941 A German U-boat, the U-81 torpedoes Great Britain's premier aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal. The ship sinks the next day.
1942 Minimum draft age lowered from 21 to 18
1946 1st artificial snow produced from a natural cloud, Mt Greylock, MA
1955 1st live telecast from non-contiguous foreign country-Havana Cuba
1956 Supreme Court strikes down segregation of races on public buses
1960 Fire in movie theater kills 152 children (Amude Spain)
1960 Sammy Davis Jr marries Swedish actress May Britt
1964 Bob Petit (St Louis Hawks) becomes 1st NBAer to score 20,000 points
1965 "Yarmouth Castle" burns & sinks off Bahamas, killing 89
1967 Carl B Stokes sworn-in as 1st major city black mayor (Cleveland Oh)
1969 VP Spiro T Agnew accused network TV news depths of bias & distortion
1970 Cyclone kills estimated 300,000 in Chittagong Bangladesh
1970 Lt Gen Hafez al-Assad becomes PM of Syria following military coup
1970 VP Spiro Agnew calls TV executives "impudent snobs"
1971 Mariner 9, 1st to orbit another planet (Mars)
1973 Oakland A's Reggie Jackson wins AL MVP unanimously
1977 25th Islander shut-out Resch 6-0 Gilles scores on 5th penalty shot
1978 NASA launches HEAO
1979 Ronald Reagan in NY announces his candidacy for President
1981 Ringo releases "Wrack My Brains"
1982 Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim fatally injured when KOed by Ray Mancini
1982 Vietnam War Memorial dedicated in Washington DC
1985 Dwight Gooden, youngest 20 game winner, wins Cy Young award
1985 Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupts in Colombia, kills 25,000
1986 US violates Iran arms boycott
1986 NASA launches space vehicle S-199
1989 Paul McCartney releases "Figure of 8" & Ou Est Le Soleil"
2000 Lawyers for George W. Bush failed to win a court order barring manual recounts of ballots in Florida. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris announced she would end the recounting at 5 p.m. the next day - prompting an immediate appeal by lawyers for Al Gore.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Grenada, New Zealand : Rememberance Day
Laos : King's Birthday
West Germany : Repentance Day (Wednesday)
England : Lord Mayor's Day (Saturday)
US : Winter Weather Awareness Day
Peanut Butter Lover's Month

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Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of St Didacus, confessor
RC-US : Memorial of St Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin, (1850-1917)

---

Religious History
0354 Birth of St. Augustine of Hippo, greatest of the Early Latin Church Fathers. Of his many writings, two have endured: "Confessions" describes the circumstances leading to his conversion to the Christian faith, and "The City of God" was written as a Christian view of the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths in the year 410.
1564 Pius IV ordered his bishops and scholars to subscribe to "Professio Fidei," the Profession of the Tridentine Faith recently formulated at the Council of Trent (1545_63) as the new and final definition of the Roman Catholic faith.
1618 In the Dutch commune of Dordrecht, the Synod of Dort convened to discuss the Arminian controversy vexing the Reformed faith. In the end, about 200 Arminian (Remonstrant) ministers were deposed and fifteen were placed under arrest and later expelled from the country.
1804 Anglican missionary to Persia, Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'God and eternal things are my only pleasure.'
1962 The name of St. Joseph was added to the canon of the Roman Catholic mass. It constituted the first alteration made to this canon since the seventh century.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Additional information supplied by the author. Contact via E-mail: William D. Blake. (pilgrimwb@aol.com)

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Thought for the day :
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -- it is the illusion of knowledge."

---

Question of the day...
When sign makers go on strike, is anything written on their signs?

---

Murphys Law of the day...
All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

---

WOW I never knew...
Camel's milk does not curdle.

[SAMWolf]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[Pippin]

GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Snippy.

Snippy is having cable problems this morning.

[Valin]

Somehow the "age of the South Carolinas" just doesn't have the same...ring to it as the "age of the Dreadnoughts".

[manna]

Present!

[SAMWolf]

Morning aomagrat. I wonder what the total number of BB's we scrapped due to the Naval Treaties were.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the link to the Flying Tiger story.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!!

[Colonel_Flagg]

Mornin', all!

Hope this finds you well. Sam, another fine job this morning, sir.

[ladtx]

Mornin' SAM. Thought I would duck into the Foxhole for a moment or two. I was just listening to some archive music on the net from WSM in Nashville and heard Darrly Worley's "Have You Forgotten" and thought I would post a link here for the song. Even though I have one son over there it is still easy to forget the primary reason we are carrying on this war. It's a good song to listen to every once in a while.

You guys a doing a great service by carrying on this thread, I salute you.

SCOUTS OUT!

[SAMWolf]

1941 A German U-boat, the U-81 torpedoes Great Britain's premier aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal. The ship sinks the next day.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Pippin!

[SAMWolf]

Hi Manna!