Replies

Although the U.S. convoy included three battleships, destroyers and an escort carrier, to retain the element of surprise no preinvasion naval bombardment was ordered. Consequently, when the bulk of the Northern Force landed just west of Holtz Bay at 4:15 p.m. on May 11, the troops encountered no opposition. At 6:30 p.m. the force began moving toward its first objective, a series of small hill peaks collectively known as Hill X, located on the shelf west of Holtz Bay. The hill controlled the western arm of the bay. The first peak of the hill mass was only 800 yards to the south, there was still plenty of daylight left, and while it was foggy, the fog was very thin.

Southern Landing Force Disembarking at Massacre Bay - Landing boats pour scores of soldiers onto sandy beach, May 11, 1943." (George Smith)

Yet soon after the Northern Force started moving, it came into contact with four Japanese soldiers who were manning a beach defense site. The force killed two, but the other two managed to escape to their main camp. Not much later, Japanese anti-aircraft batteries around Holtz Bay opened up on the beach. Having already moved inland, the Americans took no casualties, but the Northern Force's advance was halted. Approaching nightfall, coupled with the lack of proper maps, persuaded Colonel Hartl to halt his men and have them dig into the soft, wet Aleutian muskeg.

Down at Massacre Bay, intense coastal fog forced postponement of the Southern Force's landings from 7:40 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. When the landing craft finally came ashore, the weather had turned sunny and warm. Although the American landing was unopposed, the artillerymen found that moving their guns across the mucky muskeg was extremely difficult. Finally the gunners were forced to emplace their 105mm howitzers only 75 yards from the beach.

Scene at Beach, Massacre Bay - Americans bring ashore captured Jap landing boat at Attu." (George Smith)

By 5:30 p.m., the Southern Force had begun its advance through Massacre Valley, a wide, gradually rising valley flanked by high ridges. The plan was to advance north for three miles, proceed through Clevesy and Jarmin passes, and join up with the Northern Force at Holtz Bay.

Although fog enshrouded the ridges around Massacre Valley, the valley floor was clear, and American troops advanced easily for about a mile. When the lead companies were well into the valley, however, Japanese soldiers hidden on the ridges opened fire with machine guns and mortars and rapidly mowed down GIs who tried to run for cover; other Americans twisted ankles in potholes in the muskeg and fell. As the advance bogged down, General Brown and his headquarters staff came ashore at Massacre Bay.

The west arm of Holts Bay viewed from the ridge over which the troops advanced onto Attu. Note the crashed Japanese Zero. ( P. Clancey)

While the GIs received support from the 105mm guns back on the beach, naval bombardment was impossible because of the thick fog. With nightfall approaching, the two U.S. battalions tried to dig in around a small ridge that bisected the valley. Some soldiers, unable to find cover, lay down in the mud or crouched behind stream banks in the valley.

In the long daylight and short nights of spring in the Aleutians, evening on Attu began after 10 p.m. and ended just after 1 a.m. Although brief, the night was bitter for both the Northern and Southern forces. The Americans froze in their lightweight uniforms, while the Japanese, bundled in fur-lined coats, huddled around their kerosene stoves. Some of the GIs who had spent the night on the floor of Massacre Valley were later found frozen stiff, having burned the stocks of their rifles in a futile attempt to keep warm.

"The Infantryman's foxhole view of Jarmin Pass, leading from Massacre Valley across to Holtz Bay. Jap trenches, sniper and machine-gun positions, cleverly camouflaged in the mottled tundra folds, swept the valley floor from the nose of Black Mountain and the low plateau (right center of photo) stretching across the mouth of Jarmin Pass. Mortars emplaced in low ground behind...the plateau pounded the Americans who were dug into the valley mud. Heavy continuous pressure by our forces compelled the Japs to abandon these positions the night of May 16. The following day the pass was occupied, thus joining the Northern and Southern landing forces and restricting the Jap garrison to the northeast corner of Attu."

May 12 dawned with the Southern Force still under enemy fire. Supporting U.S. artillery on the beach shelled suspected enemy positions for 40 minutes, then the Americans attacked nearby Jarmin Pass in an attempt to link up with the Northern Force. Their advance ran into heavy fire, most of it coming from the nearby Black and Cold mountains to the north. Further bombardment by the U.S. Navy did little to displace the Japanese, who thwarted a second American assault. When Colonel Earle went forward to see what was holding up the men, the Southern Force commander was killed by a sniper.

With little progress being made, Brown brought in additional manpower. Even reinforced with the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, the Southern Force spent four unsuccessful days trying to destroy the Japanese emplacements that surrounded Jarmin Pass. Artillery fire did little but leave craters in the snow, while three Navy fighters attempting to bomb Japanese positions crashed as a result of heavy winds. Movement was only a few yards per hour, with men holding on to the jackets or cartridge belts of the men to their front in order not to be separated. On the evening of the 14th, a frustrated Brown reported to higher headquarters that "progress through passes will, unless we are extremely lucky, be slow and costly, and will require troops in excess to those now available to new command."

Meanwhile, on the morning of May 12, the Northern Force suffered its first casualties. While moving south down the western arm of Holtz Bay, one company of Americans began to climb up a small hill in an effort to secure the nearby ridge. As the men entered a gully, they were fired upon by enemy troops who had occupied the ridge only the night before. For 12 hours the company was pinned down by Japanese machine guns, mortars and artillery. Two other companies, supported by artillery and close air support, vainly tried to eliminate the Japanese. It was not until 5 p.m., however, after a massive naval bombardment, that the Americans began to slowly advance, eventually taking the ridge and forcing the enemy down the far side. The Japanese quickly turned and counterattacked. As they advanced, their artillery fire fell indiscriminately on friend and foe alike. In a fierce battle that lasted only about 20 minutes, the Americans staved off the Japanese and took firm control of the ridge thereafter known as Bloody Point.

The next day, the Northern Force was reinforced by the 3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry, and a battery of coast artillery. This addition was soon further augmented by the 4th Infantry Regiment, which had arrived from Adak Island. American commanders then resumed their attack to clear out a Japanese camp south of Holtz Bay.

When the Americans reached the camp on May 15, however, the enemy had already sneaked away in the fog and moved to a ridge that separated the western and eastern arms of the bay. As the GIs moved down the western arm, U.S. fighter pilots sent to strike the new Japanese positions mistook the advancing Americans for enemy soldiers and proceeded to bomb and strafe them. This tragic misidentification resulted in numerous casualties and delayed the advance for two hours.

Finally, an American rifle platoon managed to fight its way to the ridge's highest point. No sooner had GIs secured the position than they were attacked by about 45 Japanese, led by a saber-wielding officer. The Americans quickly cut down the attackers and completed their occupation of the ridge.

The Northern Force now overlooked Holtz Bay, and as soon as heavy weapons were brought up to Bloody Point, all Japanese positions on the rest of the ridge could be destroyed. Doing so would free the Southern Force, still pinned down in Massacre Valley, and allow it to link up with the Northern Force at Clevesy and Jarmin passes.

Despite this success, Brown's superiors had grown impatient with the 7th's slow progress and the general's continued call for additional reinforcements. On the 16th Brown was replaced by Maj. Gen. Eugene M. Landrum.

Realizing the predicament that his troops were now in, Colonel Yamazaki quietly withdrew them from Jarmin Pass early on the morning of May 17. He placed most of his soldiers at the Chichagof Harbor defenses, but he also reinforced some of his positions around Clevesy Pass, which was the principal route to the harbor. The next day the two American forces linked up at Jarmin Pass.

"Clevesy Pass, on the northeast side of upper Massacre Valley, led across to Sarana Valley and the distant heights of Prendergast and Fish Hook ridges. Strong Jap trenches, machine-gun and mortar emplacements held the slopes of Cold Mountain and the ridge leading up to Point A (Point Able). Deadly fire swept the exposed slopes leading up to the pass. On May 19 the 2d Battalion of the 17th Infantry, and the 2d Battalion of the 32d Infantry, successfully assaulted these positions and opened the gate for a drive against Sarana Valley and the Chichagof heights."

The west flank of Clevesy Pass, leading to mountain peaks overlooking Chichagof Bay, was dominated by Cold Mountain. The east flank, which led to the Sarana Valley, was overlooked by Engineer Hill and an escarpment named Point Able. All these positions were occupied by the Japanese, and the Americans spent the next four days trying to take them.

The first attacks against Point Able and Cold Mountain, led by the 32nd and 17th infantries, respectively, were stopped by enemy machine guns. The second assault on Cold Mountain was preceded by heavy artillery fire. The Americans swiftly wiped out a series of Japanese positions along the lower edges of the mountain, but were soon stopped by heavy Japanese fire. In the meantime, a company of the 17th Infantry had managed to secure a high point within Clevesy Pass, thanks in part to a smoke screen laid down before the assault. Thinking it was poison gas, the Japanese either donned masks or fled from their positions. Those who remained did not begin returning fire until the Americans had occupied that section of the pass.

Colonel Wayne C. Zimmerman (now Brigadier General), commander of the Southern Force, and Lieutenant Winfield H. Mapes, 17th Infantry, in an OP on the north slope of the Hogback. Colonel Zimmerman is directing the Southern Force's attack against Clevesy Pass on May 19th, 1943. (From "The Capture of Attu")

From their newly won position, two platoons of Americans were able to seize the closest enemy position on Engineer Hill. While Japanese soldiers farther up the hill fired down on the two platoons, U.S. artillery pounded the enemy positions, spraying shell fragments over the heads of American soldiers, but also blowing the Japanese out of their trenches. Despite continued artillery support, the Americans came under increasing enemy fire and were unable to move farther up Cold Mountain.

By the afternoon of May 19, companies from the 17th and 32nd regiments had begun a slow ascent up the snowy slope of Cold Mountain. Despite heavy fire from above, the Americans gradually moved up the slope that faced Massacre Valley. The Japanese attempted to stay in their holes, but the GIs ousted them using grenades and bayonets. American attempts to reach the north side of the mountain, however, were held up until high explosives and smoke rounds were fired into the enemy positions. Again mistaking the smoke for gas, the Japanese were either killed while putting on their masks or simply fled toward Chichagof Harbor.

The first heavy-duty highway from Blue Beach, Massacre Bay. Tractors which often bogged down in the tundra used this gravelly stream bed entirely during the first week and partially thereafter. This "cat" with trailer is coming downstream empty for another load. To the men on the front lines flowed a real stream of supplies. (From "The Capture of Attu")

Just before the peak of Cold Mountain was finally taken on the morning of May 20, the Americans on Engineer Hill were able to directly assault the northern slopes. The last obstacle, Point Able, was slowly climbed by companies of the 32nd Infantry just after Engineer Hill was taken. The snow was thick, the cold bitter and the night so bright that soldiers silhouetted against the whiteness could be seen for 200 yards.

As the Americans reached the lower positions of the enemy strongpoint, the Japanese lobbed grenades down the hill, their explosions mingling with the flat crack of small arms. The Americans found cover among some rock outcroppings while a Japanese officer yelled insults at them in English. Following a few moments of chaos, more GIs reached the strongpoint and destroyed it. After a mortar section chief directed fire at the crest of the peak, the Americans secured Point Able on the morning of May 22. The last Japanese defender, after killing two Americans, hurled himself off the peak, screaming. While the final assaults on Cold Mountain and Point Able were being made, the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry, along with the 3rd Battalion, 17th Infantry, cleared the ridges surrounding the entrance of Chichagof Valley.

Additional Sources:

www.hlswilliwaw.com
history.amedd.army.mil
www.cr.nps.gov

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on July 27:
1612 Murad IV, sultan of Turkey (1623-40)/conquered Baghdad
1768 Charlotte Corday assassin of Jean-Paul Marat
1812 Thomas Lanier Clingman, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1897
1820 John Franklin Farnsworth, Brig General (Union volunteers)
1824 Alexandre Dumas fils France, playwright/novelist (Camille)
1840 Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1857 Jos‚ Celso Barbosa Puerto Rico, found Federalist Party in 1900
1870 Joseph Hilaire Belloc England, author (Path to Rome)
1880 Donald Crisp Scotland, actor (How Green Was My Valley, Pollyana)
1880 Joseph Tinker baseball Hall of Famer, 1/3 of fame double play combo
1906 Leo (the lip) Durocher, baseball manager (Brooklyn Dodgers, NY Giants)
1916 Kennan Wynn NYC, actor (Dr Strangelove, Absent Minded Professor)
1922 Norman Lear TV writer/producer/leftwing loonytoon...I mean activist(PFTAW) (All in The Family)
1924 Vincent Canby critic (NY Times)
1931 Jerry Van Dyke Danville Ill, actor (My Mother the Car, Coach)
1937 Don Galloway Brooksville Ky, actor (Arrest & Trial, Ironside)
1939 Irv Cross NFL sportscaster (CBS-TV)
1939 James McGee, pathologist/professor (Morbid Anatomy at Oxford)
1944 Bobbie Gentry Mississippi, what did Billi-Jo throw off the bridge
1947 Betty Thomas St Louis Mo, actress (Lucy Baines-Hill Street Blues)
1948 Peggy Fleming San Jose Cal, ice figure skater (Olympic-gold-1968)
1949 Maureen McGovern Youngstown Oh, singer (Got to be a morning after)

Deaths which occurred on July 27:
0082 Joseph of Arimathea, dies & is buried in tomb he once lent to Jesus
0432 Celestine I, Italian Pope (422-32), dies
1101 Koenrad, RC-German king (1087-98), dies
1498 Vespasiano da' Bisticci, Italian book seller/writer, dies at about 77
1811 Miguel Hidalgo y Castilla, Mexican priest/freedom fighter, executed
1844 John Dalton, Engl physicist/chemist (molecular theorist), dies at 77 (any relaation to the Dalton brothers http://www.gunslinger.com/dalton.html )
1863 William Lowndes Yancey one of the South's strongest voices of states' rights.
1883 Montgomery Blair lawyer (Dred Scot V Sandford), dies at 70
1921 Engelbert Humperdinck (The Original), composer (Hansel und Gretel), dies at 66 (never played Vegas)
1946 Gertrude Stein, US/Fren author/poet (Ida, Tender Buttons), dies at 72
1970 Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, dictator of Portugal (1932-68),
1974 Lightning Slim blues singer, dies at 61
1976 Ray Brennan becomes 1st to, die of "Legionnaire's Disease"
1980 Shah Mohammed Reza Pahavala of Iran, dies in Cairo at 60
1984 James Mason actor, dies at 75 of a heart attack
1990 Bobby Day rocker (Rockin' Robin), dies of cancer at 60
1997 Mohammed Mahdi al-Jawahri Iraqi poet dies in exile

2003 Bob Hope (b.1903), master of the one-liner and favorite comedian of servicemen and presidents alike
A National Salute to Bob Hope and our Military.
http://www.hopetribute.org/

GWOT Casualties

Iraq
27-Jul-2003 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Heath A. McMillin Al Haswah - Babil Hostile - hostile fire - RPG attack
27-Jul-2004 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant DeForest L. "Dee" Talbert Balad Ruz (near, ~30 mi. E Ba’qubah) - Diyala Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Afghanistan
A Good Day

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging. If you don't you'll be plagued with purple naval lint!
http://www.taps.org/
(subtle hint SEND MONEY)

On this day...
0432 St Celestine I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1214 At the Battle of Bouvines in France, Philip Augustus of France defeats John of England.
1298 Albert I, son of Rudolf of Habsburg, crowned Holy Roman Emperor
1360 Danish King Waldemar IV destroys Visby Gotland
1501 Copernicus formally installed as canon of Frauenberg Cathedral
1586 Sir Walter Raleigh brings 1st tobacco to England from Virginia (The HORROR, The HORROR!)
1643 Cromwell defeats Royalist at Battle of Gainsborough
1655 Jews of New Amsterdam petition for a Jewish cemetery
1661 Parliament confirms the Navigation Act
1663 British Parliament passes a second Navigation Act, requiring all goods bound for the colonies be sent in British ships from British ports.
1689 Jacobite Scottish Highlanders defeat royal force at Killiecrankie
1694 Bank of England chartered

1777 The Marquis of Lafayette arrives in New England to help fight the British.

1789 Congress establishes Dept of Foreign Affairs (State dept)
1809 Arthur Wellesley leads British troops to defeat Spanish King Joseph Bonaparte at Talavera de la Reina. He is named Lord (the Duke of) Wellington
1816 US troops destroy Ft Apalachicola, a Seminole fort, to punish Indians for harboring runaway slaves
1836 Adelaide, South Australia founded
1837 US Mint opens in Charlotte, NC
1844 Fire destroys the US mint at Charlotte, NC
1861 Battle of Mathias Point, VA - Confederate forces repel a Federal landing
1861 Battle of St Augustine Springs, NM Terr
1861 Confederate troops occupy Fort Fillmore, New Mexico
1861 Union Gen George McClellan took command of Potamic Army
1862 Hurricane hits Canton; about 40,000 die
1862 Steamer "Golden Gate" burns & sinks off west coast of Mexico
1864 Battle of Darbytown, VA (Deep Bottom, Newmarket Road) (Strawberry Plains)
1866 Cyrus W. Field finally succeeded, after two failures, in laying the first underwater telegraph cable between North America and Europe.(1,686 miles long)
1897 14.75" of rainfall, Jewell, Maryland (state 24-hr record)
1898 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of The Dancing Men" (BG)
1909 Orville Wright tests 1st US Army airplane, flying 1h12m
1919 Chicago race riot (15 whites & 23 blacks killed, 500 injured)
1920 Resolute beats Shamrock IV (England) in 14th running of America's Cup
1931 Grasshoppers in Iowa, Nebr and SD destroyed thousands of acres of crops
1932 Paul Gorgoulov, French president Doumer's assassin, sentenced to death

1940 Bugs Bunny's debut, in Warner Bros. cartoon "A Wild Hare".

1940 Billboard magazine starts publishing bestseller charts
1941 Japanese forces land in Indo-China
1942 Benny Goodman and his Orchestra and vocalist Peggy Lee recorded "Why Don't You Do Right"
1944 1st British jet fighter used in combat (Gloster Meteor)
1944 US regains possession of Guam from Japanese
1944 Soviet Army liberates Majdanek concentration camp
1946 Red Sox Rudy York hits 2 grand slams in 1 game
1947 Yogi Berri starts record 148 game errorless streak
1948 Otto Skorzeny escapes anti-nazi camp at Darmstadt
1949 Havilland Comet 40-passenger airliner makes maiden flight
1953 Armistice signed ending Korean War
1954 Armistice divides Vietnam into two countries
1955 Israeli passenger plane shot down above Bulgaria, 58 die
1955 Austria regains full independence after 4-power occupation
1955 Goethe Link Observatory discovers asteroid #1751 Herget
1960 VP Nixon nominated for pres at Republican convention in Chicago
1962 Mariner 2 launched to Venus; flyby mission
1962 Martin Luther King Jr jailed in Albany Georgia
1964 President Lyndon Johnson sends an additional 5,000 advisers to South Vietnam.
1965 Pres Johnson signs a bill requiring cigarette makers to print health warnings on all cigarette packages about the effects of smoking
1967 President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to assess the causes of the violence.
1968 Race Riot in Gary Indiana
1969 Pioneer 10 launched
1972 NHL star Maurice "Rocket" Richard signs with WHL Quebec Nordiques
1974 House Judiciary Committee votes 27-11 recommends Nixon impeachment
1976 Japanese ex-premier Tanaka arrested (Lockheed Affair)
1976 8.2 Tangshan earthquake kills estimated 240,000 Chinese
1977 John Lennon is granted a green card for permanent residence in US
1980 Palestinian terrorist throws hand grenade at Jewish children in Antwerp, 1 dead
1987 John Demjanjuk, accused Nazi "Ivan the Terrible" testifies in Israel
1988 Boston's worst traffic jam in 30 years (until today)
1988 Tommy John commits rec 3 errors on 1 play as Yanks rout Brewers 16-3
1988 Radio Shack announces the Tandy 1000 SL computer
1990 Zsa Zsa Gabor begins a 3 day jail sentence for slapping a cop
1991 TV Guide publishes it's 2000th edition
1995 The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington by President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam.
1996 A pipe bomb was set off at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. Eric Rudolph was later charged with the bombing. He was arrested May 31, 2003
1997 5-7 thousand marchers rally in Belarus to condemn Pres. Lukashenko. Within hours activists were detained by the government
1999 Binney & Smith Inc., makers of Crayola crayons, adopted the name "chestnut" to replace "Indian red."
2002 Iranian court outlaws the leading reform-minded opposition party, the Freedom Movement, and gave its leaders jail terms of up to 10 years and fines of more than $6,000.
2003 Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France, for the 5th consecutive year.

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

Puerto Rico : Jos‚ Celso Barbosa Birthday (1857)
Virgin Islands : Hurricane Supplication Day
Gilroy, California : Garlic Festival (Friday)
National Parents Day.
Day of Hatshepsut (Egyptian).
Take Your House Plants for a Walk Day
57 Varieties Day
National July Belongs to Blueberries Month

Religious Observances
RC : Commem of St Pantaleon, martyr/patron of medicine
Orth : Feast of Vladimir, evangelizer of Russia (7/15 OS)
Ang : Commemoration of William Reed Huntington, priest

Religious History
1741 Birth of Fran‡ois H. Barth‚l‚mon, French Swedenborgian composer. Two of his manyworks later became hymn tunes: AUTUMN (Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus) and BALERMA (Oh, fora Closer Walk with God).
1861 Birth of Cyrus H. Nusbaum, an American Methodist clergyman who penned the hymn,'Would You Live for Jesus, and Be Always Pure and Good?' (aka 'His Way With Thee').
1901 Death of B.F. Westcott, 76, English N.T. scholar. In 1881, he and colleague F.J.A.Hort published the most precise critical text of the Greek New Testament ever compiled --still in use today.
1903 Death of Caroline (Lina) V. Sandell Berg, 71. Known as the 'Fanny Crosby of Sweden,' her most beloved hymns (in their English translation) include 'Day by Day' and'Children of the Heavenly Father.'
1913 In Oxford, PA, the first Victorious Life Conference closed. Founder Robert C.McQuilkin, inspired by England's Keswick Movement, emphasized in these meetings anattainment of spiritual freedom from the power of every known sin.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

MONSTER TORNADO
10,000 CHINESE DIED IN SECONDS AND...
IT WILL HAPPEN HERE, SAY EXPERTS

By DICK SIEGEL

SHANGHAI, China -- Last week, what the Chinese government is secretly describing as "a super-monster tornado the size of a mountain" ripped through the Hunan Province in China.

It generated a path of death and destruction unparalleled in history. Worse, scientists predict it will happen here!

UN rescue teams and scientists from the Federal Oceanic Atmospheric Administration have pieced together the story from the few citizens who escaped the deadly vortex.

"I was just finishing dinner when I heard a thunderous roar," miracle survivor Hubei Ma Chu, a Shashon villager told Weekly World News through a translator. "The weather had been oppressive all day -- the air was so humid you could actually feel the weight of the water.

"Suddenly, a violent thunderstorm then erupted over the Wuling Mountains. Lightning crashed against the peaks. And then I saw it -- a gigantic swirling vortex, a monster tornado the size of a mountain! The funnel was 10 kilometers wide and it was heading right at me!"

Giant hailstones began raining from the skies, utterly destroying barns and killing livestock. Ma Chu and his family hurriedly barricaded themselves in the basement, praying the tornado would safely pass over them.

But the monster tornado was unforgiving. It moved across the farm, splintering every structure, and scooping the terrified family from the cellar. Ma Chu blacked out as he went spinning up into the turbulence.

Days later, Ma Chu was found clinging to a tree some 20 miles away. The rest of his family is still missing.

"I don't know how I managed to stay alive," he said, choking back tears.

"It registered a staggering and unprecedented F-7 on the Pearson- Fujita scale, which is like the Richter scale for earthquakes," FOAA scientist Dr. Gardner F. Thompson told WWN. "The wind speeds were more than 600 m.p.h. -- that's nearly double the most powerful tornado ever recorded.

"According to the path of destruction -- and the few surviving eyewitnesses -- the super tornado followed the Yangtze River and swept through the Xuefung mountains to the West, sucking up village after village."

It was finally stopped when it reached the Convergence of Four Rivers at Lake Dongting, the largest body of water in the province. "It sucked up kilo-liters of lakewater," said Thompson. "Overwhelmed by the weight of the liquid, the tornado collapsed and then dissipated as fast as it had been created."

But the damage had already been done. More than 10,000 people died in 20 minutes. The Chinese government declared a state of emergency and sent a global SOS for relief. The International Red Cross and UN were soon on the scene, though all of the agencies agreed to keep news of the storm quiet.

"The reason is simple," Dr. Thompson said. "Due to global warming, the El Nino effect -- the heating of the world's oceans -- will grow more powerful. As it does, warm air from the seas and frigid air from the poles will produce more and more of these super-twisters. Computer models suggest that similar unstable weather patterns will strike parts of Spain, Mexico -- and the American Midwest, sometime this August.

"I suggest we begin preparing for the unthinkable now," Dr. Thompson concluded. "Underground shelters need to be dug deeper and heavily reinforced, and a satellite-triggered early warning system needs to be put into place

"Most of all," he added, "we have to cut back on the burning of fossil fuels and stop global warming. Otherwise, our society may well be gone with the wind!"

Thought for the day :
"I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren't any rules, how could you break them?"
Leo Durocher

Today's classic warship, USS Richmond (CL-9)

Omaha class light cruiser

Displacement: 7,050 t.
Length: 555’6”
Beam: 55’4”
Draft: 20’10”
Speed: 34.7 k.
Complement: 512
Armament: 12 6”; 4 3”; 2 3-pdrs.; 6 21” torpedo tubes

The USS RICHMOND (CL-9) was laid down on 16 February 1920 by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.; launched 29 September 1921; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth S. Scott; and commissioned on 2 July 1923, Capt. David F. Boyd in command.

On completion of a 3-month shakedown cruise to Europe, Africa, and South America, RICHMOND underwent post-shakedown availability and in December departed Norfolk for New Orleans. There, at the end of 1923, she became flagship of the Scouting Force.

In early January 1924, she got underway to participate in Fleet Problem III which tested Caribbean defenses and transit facilities of the Panama Canal. On the 19th, she arrived off Vera Cruz, rescued survivors of protected cruiser TACOMA (C-18), wrecked on Blanquilla Reef, then proceeded to Tampico to stand by as political tension rose. On the 26th, she headed for Galveston, only to return to Mexico on 3 February to evacuate refugees from Puerto Mexico and transport them to Vera Cruz. On the 17th she headed east and joined in exercises off Puerto Rico.

In May, RICHMOND returned briefly to New Orleans, then steamed for the northeast coast and further exercises. Toward the end of July she departed Newport, R.I., for duty as a station ship along the route of Army planes making a round-the-world flight then, from September through December, she underwent overhaul at the New York Navy Yard.

In January 1925, RICHMOND, flagship of Light Cruiser Divisions, U.S. Scouting Fleet, again participated in Caribbean exercises. In February, she transited the Panama Canal and during March trained off the California coast. In April, she steamed to Hawaii for joint Army-Navy maneuvers, after which she joined the Battle Fleet for a good will cruise to Australia and New Zealand.

Returning to Norfolk on 23 November, RICHMOND operated off the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean through 1926. On 1 February 1927, she again transited the Panama Canal, conducted exercises in Hawaiian waters, then continued on to China, arriving at Shanghai on 3 April. She remained on the China Station for a year, with only infrequent diversions to the Philippines for repairs and exercises. On 14 April 1928, she sailed eastward and less than 3 months later departed San Pedro, Calif., for Corinto, Nicaragua with a Navy Battalion embarked. On 25 July, she retransited the Panama Canal and for the next 6 years operated off the New England and mid-Atlantic coasts and in the Caribbean with occasional interruptions for fleet problems and exercises in the eastern Pacific.

From September 1934 to December 1937, RICHMOND operated off the west coast as a unit of the Scouting Fleet. After 21 December 1937, she served as flagship of the Submarine Force, U.S. Fleet; and on 10 May 1938 she headed back to the east coast. On 26 August, she returned to San Diego and resumed her previous duty with the Submarine Force. In the winter of 1939 and the fall of 1940, she returned to the Atlantic for fleet and submarine exercises, and, at the end of December 1940, hauled down the flag of the Submarine Force.

With the new year, 1941, RICHMOND shifted to Pearl Harbor; and, from January to June, served as flagship, Scouting Force. Into October, she remained in Hawaiian waters, operating with Cruiser Division 3, then she returned to California and in November began Neutrality Patrols off the west coasts of the Americas. On 7 December she was en route to Valpariso, Chile.

Recalled from her original mission, she took up patrol off Panama and in 1942 commenced escorting reinforcement convoys to the Galapagos and Society Islands. Later, returning to patrols from Panama to Chile, she put into San Francisco for overhaul in December and in January 1943 sailed for the Aleutians.

RICHMOND arrived at Unalaska on 28 January 1943. On 3 February, she became flagship of TG 16.6, a cruiser-destroyer task group assigned to defend the approaches to recently occupied Amchitka. On the 10th, she underwent her first enemy air raid and on the 18th she participated in the initial bombardment of Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor, Attu.

The force then resumed patrols to enforce the blockade of enemy installations on Attu and Kiska. In March, the Japanese decided to run the blockade and on the 22d dispatched a force of two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, four destroyers, and three transports from Paramushiro. TG 16.6, one light cruiser, one heavy cruiser, and four destroyers, intercepted the Japanese on the 26th approximately 180 miles west of Attu and 100 miles south of the Komandorski Islands.

The Japanese sent the transports and one destroyer on, then turned to meet RICHMOND's force. At 0840, the Battle of the Komandorski Islands began.

Initially firing on RICHMOND, the Japanese soon concentrated on SALT LAKE CITY (CA-25), the only American ship with the firing range to reach them. In the running, retiring action which ensued and lasted until shortly after noon, SALT LAKE CITY went dead in the water, but continued firing. RICHMOND went to her aid as the American destroyers closed the Japanese for a torpedo attack. The enemy, however, low on fuel and ammunition did not press their advantage. Changing course, they headed west, pursued by the American destroyers. SALT LAKE CITY regained power after 4 minutes and RICHMOND joined the destroyers, but the action was broken off as the Japanese out-distanced TG 16.6.

The transports sent ahead by the Japanese turned back for the Kuriles before reaching Attu. TG 16.6 had succeeded in its mission. In May, a week-long struggle resulted in the reoccupation of Attu by American forces.

In August, Kiska became the target; and RICHMOND joined in the preinvasion bombardment. The landings took place on the 15th and met no resistance. The Japanese had pulled out undetected, before the end of July.

On 24 August, RICHMOND departed the Aleutians, underwent overhaul at Mare Island; then returned to Kiska. Through the remainder of the year, she conducted patrols to the west of the outer Aleutians. On 4 February 1944, she began bombardment missions in the Kuriles which continued, alternated with antishipping sweeps, for the remainder of World War II.

With the end of hostilities, RICHMOND covered the occupation of northern Japan. On 14 September 1945, she departed Ominato for Pearl Harbor, whence she was routed on to Philadelphia for inactivation. Decommissioned on 21 December 1945, RICHMOND was struck from the Navy list on 21 January 1946 and was sold on 18 December 1946 to the Patapsco Scrap Co., Bethlehem, Pa.

RICHMOND (CL-9) earned two battle stars during World War II.