N a v a l O r d e r o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s – S a n F r a n c i s c o C o m m a n d e r y Mission: History Studiorum Historiam Praemium Est

Volume 1, Issue 2 HHHHHH 1 March 1999 1943: Bismarck Sea - 1941: Rules the Med MacArthur’s Air Corps Sinks Entire Jap Convoy After Routing Modern Italian Fleet The Battle of the Bismarck Sea, fought on 2, 3 and 4 March in 1943, involved for the most part only one navy, the Japanese, and at the end of the battle, even the Japs weren’t in- volved. At the end of the battle, eight Japa- nese transports and half of their eight- destroyer escort were on the bottom and they were put there by Army Air Corps

THE ONLY DAMAGE done by Vittorio Veneto’s big guns at C ape Matapan was to her own obser- vation plane. No one thought to secure or stow the aircraft before a parting salvo was fired from the after turret as the left the scene. National Geographic 1898: ’s Famous Night Action off Matapan B-25 Mitchells trying something new 14,000-Mile ‘Dash’ to Cuba Costs Axis Three , called “skip bombing.” While the world’s attention was riv- On 19 March 1898, USS Oregon, a Costs its Will to Fight eted on Guadalcanal, an even more new “big gun” battleship, steamed bitter battle was being fought on New through the Golden Gate, taking her 13- By March 1941 the British had been Guinea, the last stepping stone in the inch guns to war on the other side of the at war for 18 months and were alone. Japanese planned conquest of Australia. nation. The French had fallen and the Italians At a place called Wau, an isolated Aus- When word had come that the battle- had recently joined Germany in its sie garrison had fought off repeated ship Maine had been sunk, Oregon was conquest of the world. assaults and the Jap commanders called in something of a fix. She was in Brem- The balance of naval strength had for more troops. erton, where coal was hard to get be- (Continued on page 3) The Japanese decided a division- cause of demands of the Klondike gold sized reinforcement would be sufficient rush and her ammunition was in San to settle the New Guinea issue once and Francisco. The ship finally had enough for all and plans were laid to move coal to leave Puget Sound on 3 March about 7,000 troops from Rabaul to Lae and she arrived in three across an unnamed patch of water, par- days later, where the crew set to work alleling the north coast of the island of loading coal and ammunition. New Britain. The convoy sailed under On 18 March, orders were received cover of an approaching storm. for Oregon to proceed to Peru, and the Major General George Kenney’s B- next day she set out on her famous trip National Geographic (Continued on page 4) (Continued on page 2) PAGE 2 MISSION: HISTORY VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 1943: W here the Hell are the Kom andorski Islands, Anyway?

The Komandorski Islands are 850 destroyer escort. McMorris concen- and hit the Jap several more square miles of Russia, off the Kam- trated his force. times with single shells. She then chatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea. At the same time Jap lookouts spot- shifted her attention to Maya, the other They are a little less than 300 miles ted the masts of the Americans and the Jap 8-incher and, for her efforts, got hit from Attu — west northwest. One of two fleets, about 13 miles apart, herself for the first time. the oddest sea battles of World War II steamed toward each other. McMorris For the next hour or so the battle was fought there on 26 March 1943. turned into a running gun duel fought Rear Admiral Charles H. McMorris’ mostly at about 20,000 yards, with the task group, if it can be called that, con- Japanese sacrificing their physical su- sisted of Salt Lake City, an 8-inch periority to caution. Salt Lake City lost cruiser commissioned in 1929, Rich- her steering hydraulics at 1002, but a mond, 6 inches, commissioned in 1923, diesel substitute was rigged permitting and four destroyers . 10-degree rudder. Then, at 1010 she McMorris, with his flag in Rich- was hit by an 8-inch armor-piercing mond, had been patrolling a north-south shell that penetrated her main deck and line west of Attu for about a week to passed out below the waterline. Now, interdict any Japanese efforts to rein- McMorris’ objective was saving his force their positions in Attu. was sailing to meet two 8-inch and two ships. At 0730 on 26 March his ships were 6-inch cruisers, two heavily armed The battle had carried the Americans strung out in a six-mile-long scouting merchant cruisers and two destroyers. closer to than to the United line 180 miles west of Attu and only While the two forces were still States, so McMorris broke off to the 100 miles from the Russian Komandor- 20,000 yards apart the shooting began south and then turned east. Salt Lake ski Islands. As dawn general quarters with the Japs firing first on Richmond. City took another hit at 1103, which was being sounded, radar on the flag- They then shifted to Salt Lake City and flooded the engine room. Even so, she ship Richmond and the van destroyer, stayed there for the rest of the battle. maintained speed and kept up her accu- Coghlan, picked up a force of perhaps Salt Lake City scored the first hits on rate fire which prevented the Japs from five ships, probably transports with a Nachi with her third and fourth salvos closing the range to less than 9 miles. At 1150, sea water got to Salt Lake City’s burners and steam pressure was Oregon Averages 11.5 Knots on Voyage ‘Around Horn’ lost. She was dead in the water, still Straits of Magellan and two days later shooting but a sitting duck herself and put in at Punta Arenas for three days of McMorris prepared to take off her crew resupply and routine maintenance. with Richmond and the destroyers. But In the Atlantic now, Oregon sailed the the Japanese were still cautious, so 2,248 miles to , where three U.S. destroyers broke off to de- news was waiting that the United States liver a torpedo attack on the heavies, and Spain were at war. With a new 17,000 yards away. sense of urgency, the ship steamed an- As the Japs oddly broke off the action other 2,970 nautical miles to Barbados, and turned toward home, Salt Lake City which because of neutrality laws, al- had purged her fuel lines and cut in (Continued from page 1) lowed her only a 24-hour stay. Leaving fresh bunkers — she was making 15 knots. She was ready to fight some “around the horn.” during the night, Oregon steamed an- more but McMorris signaled a course For the 4,112-mile leg to Callao, other 1,670 miles to Jupiter Inlet in for Dutch Harbor. Peru, Oregon could not make her best Florida, marking the end of its 14,000- For all this action, the Americans speed unless fresh water were con- mile “dash. suffered only 7 killed, 7 hospital cases served for her boilers. Captain Charles Oregon made the voyage at an aver- and 13 minor injuries. The battle can’t Clark broached the matter to the crew age speed of 11.5 knots without a be called a victory over the Japs but it and the men cheerfully agreed to drink breakdown. She was available for im- was a victory over two-to-one odds, boiler condensate — it was warm, it mediate service in the North Atlantic though Salt Lake City shortened those wasn’t fresh, but it was potable — even Squadron. odds some. though the ship would be steaming in equatorial waters Your Ideas—and Help—would be Nice The next leg of the voyage took Ore- Many of you probably have favorite knowledge of them. Please tell us about gon 2,549 nautical miles to Port Tamar, maritime stories that could be reported in them, so that they may be shared with all Chile. On 16 April, she entered the these pages, and may even have special of our readers. VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 MISSION: HISTORY PAGE 3 1862: Ironclads Introduce New Era of Sea Warfare In Duel at Hampton Roads

When Confederate Commodore Franklin Buchanan steamed out of Nor- folk Navy Yard on 8 March 1862, it was in Merrimac, a Federal steam frig- ate that had come with the captured real estate. The rebels had cut her down to the waterline, built a flush deck and placed a huge deckhouse on that, cov- ered with two layers of railroad iron. IRONCLADS SLUG IT OUT on the second day of the Battle of Ham pton Roads during the Am eri- Her mission was to break the Union can C ivil W ar. Though Monitor (foreground) and Merrim ac ham m ered each other for seven hours, neither did the other m uch hurt. But Merrim ac had proved the superiority of an arm ored blockade in Chesapeake Bay. steam ship over a wooden sailing ship and Monitor showed the value of a revolving turret. As she entered Hampton Roads, Merrimac was met by fire from the Congress, 50 guns, and the Matapan: It Was Heart of Oak Against Marshmallows sloop Cumberland, 30, but the shot (Continued from page 1) Veneto with a torpedo. The damage was bounced off her with a clang. Merrimac shifted in the Mediterranean. Mussolini quickly repaired, but Iachino feared then opened fire on Cumberland with had a modern fleet of mostly new ships, more of the same, knew he would get her bow gun and on Congress with her including two new 15-inch , no help from the Aeronautica Militare broadside, doing significant damage. and Hitler had fallen heir to the French and turned back to . Then a Then Buchanan steered directly at fleet, including the new battleship third attack damaged the cruiser Pola, Cumberland, stove in her side with his Richelieu and the as-yet-to-be- stopping her dead in the water. Iachino heavy bow ram, and sank her. He then completed Jean Bart. The battleship sent two cruisers, Fiume and Zara to turned on Congress, setting her afire Strasbourg was at , with numer- help their stricken sister. and forcing her to surrender. Merrimac ous cruisers and destroyers. The British battlefleet continued to- then retired for the night and Buchanan, Under extreme German pressure, Ital- ward the Italians, not knowing that two wounded, turned command over to a ian commander Iachino sailed on 27 cruisers were headed toward them. It Lieutenant Jones. March to intercept a British convoy was dark now, but Valiant’s radar could During the night, there arrived in the thought to be on its way to Alexandria. see and picked up the Italians. Roads the Union ironclad Monitor, At the same time, steaming northwest The Italians had never trained for which anchored behind Merrimac’s from Alexandria was a British fleet night action and, as the unseen British intended prey for the next day, the Un- under Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunning- drew closer, did not have their turrets ion frigate Minnesota. Monitor was ham with three battleships manned -- their guns were trained fore commanded by a Lieutenant Worden, and the carrier Formidable. and aft as ABC steamed parallel to and who had been specially named captain. “ABC’s” flagship, Warspite, was ac- within 3,000 yards of the Italians. The When Jones took Merrimac out the companied by Barham and Valiant, the guns of Warspite, Barham and Valiant following morning, Monitor emerged latter equipped with something new were manned and trained and as soon as from behind the target and the two called radar. Four cruisers were already searchlights lit up the Italian cruisers, ships joined in the first battle between far ahead, off Crete, where they would began firing. It took only three minutes armored, steam-powered warships. It engage Italian cruisers the next day to sink Fiume and Zara and a pair of showed mostly that they couldn’t harm with neither side scoring a hit. destroyers for good measure. About each other, even though at one point Shortly before noon, the cruisers hap- 2,300 Italian sailors were lost. Merrimac ran aground. pened upon the battleship Vittorio Ve- Before sinking Pola, the British took neto, which began firing. The cruisers off her crew and found that following By mid-afternoon, the two ships had turned tail and radioed a message the torpedo attack, seamen had broken hammered at each other for seven hours picked up by the main fleet. Planes into the ship’s liquor locker and were in and their crews were exhausted. The from Formidable, launched earlier to no condition to fight. Vittorio Veneto tide was on the ebb, which concerned look for the Italians, now arrived and fled the carnage, firing a parting salvo Jones because of Merrimac’s 22-foot attacked Vittorio Veneto, doing no dam- from her after turret. . Worden had been wounded when age but saving the cruisers. A photograph of the battleship’s ob- the small doghouse on Monitor’s fore- Formidable’s aircraft struck again, servation plane, blown off its catapult deck had been hit. The battle ended as this time coincident with an attack by by the muzzle blast, shows the only if by mutual consent. land-based RAF planes, hitting Vittorio damage done by the ship’s guns. PAGE 4 MISSION: HISTORY VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 1811: At the , Nelson Protégé Takes the Measure of the French had served under pleased his mentor. attack under all possible sail.” Hoste Horatio Nelson as a and at He was using the island of Lissa formed his four ships in a compact line, numerous battles. His greatest achieve- (now ) off the coast of Dalmatia in to greet the bows of the attacker with ment was a victory against superior the Adriatic as a base for his squadron, broadsides. Hoste flew one signal: forces, fought by Hoste with his com- Active, 38 guns, Cerberus, 32, Volage, ‘Remember Nelson.’ The captain of modore’s pennant flying in Amphion, a 22 and Amphion. While lying off Lissa Volage recorded “it was worth a thou- 32-gun frigate given him by Nelson, to on 13 March 1811, Active signaled at sand cheers.” a decisive conclusion that would have first light that she had seen a strange As Dubordieu bore down, unable to fleet to windward. use his broadsides, he was stopped “by The strange fleet was a combined the well-directed fire and compact or- French and Venetian squadron of six der of our line,” in Hoste’s words. The and five lesser ships under the French then tried to round the end of French commodore Dubordieu whose the British line in order to bring it un- orders were to defeat Hoste and occupy der fire from both sides, as Nelson had Lissa. He had what should have been done to the French at the Nile. Am- overwhelming superiority in Favorite, phion greeted him so “warmly” that “in Flore, Danae and Carona, all 44 guns, the act of wearing he went on shore on Bellona, 32 and Carolina, 28. the rocks of Lissa in the greatest possi- Dubordieu formed in two divisions ble confusion,” Hoste reported. and, in Hoste’s words, “bore down to In the following melée, superior National Geographic British seamanship and gunnery more Bism arck Sea: B-25 Mitchells Vindicate Billy Mitchell than made up for the disparity in

(Continued from page 1) either sunk or sinking. Four undam- 17s attacked the convoy on 2 March as aged escorts fished out as many survi- it broke out of the weather off the west- vors as they could before fleeing north. ern tip of New Britain, sinking one The sea was dotted with life rafts, men transport and damaging two others, but clinging to wreckage and swimmers. it was just a taste of what was to come, There had been no time for the ships to and the Japanese pressed on through launch their boats. Vitiaz Strait during the night. The night of 3-4 March brought no On 3 March the B-25s came, with surcease for the Jap survivors. U.S. the Jap convoy strung out in a loose Navy PT Boats from Milne Bay arrived formation on a sunlit sea, about to to find only one abandoned transport round Cape Cretin on New Guinea’s THE BRITISH SQ UADRON, including a cap- Huon Peninsula. The planes were “on and two crippled destroyers afloat. The tured prize, watches Dubordieu’s ship burn the deck” and the Japs, fearing torpe- boats dispatched the transport with two on Lissa — it was his funeral pyre. does, turned to meet them bow-on, just torpedoes and after daybreak the Air strength. At the end of the action, four what the fliers wanted. Corps returned to send the destroyers frigates had defeated six, captured two The noses of the B-25s had been to the bottom. and driven the enemy leader ashore modified, and where once a bombar- Now the PT Boats and Air Corps where he perished. Hoste himself was dier had worked, were eight .50-cal. wounded but would not quit the deck machine guns. After strafing the ships had the grisly task of mopping up the stem to stern, the planes banked grace- survivors — for these were Japanese until the battle was won. fully around and came at them on soldiers still in sight of their objective. at deck height. The day was spent machine gunning Bomb bay doors opened and the anything on the surface. pilots released 500-pound bombs, fitted How to Get in Touch Prior to the battle, the patch of ocean Mission: History has been asked to provide with delayed-action fuses, which enclosed by the Bismarck Archipelago an address for reader communications. E-mail skipped across the water and holed the may be sent to this address: sides of the enemy ships. Of 37 bombs had had no name, but news reports [email protected] dropped in the first wave, 28 hit their have to tell where events take place. Submissions are not encouraged because of targets. By noon, another 150 bombs constraints on the time available for editing. If For that reason, those waters became such are sent, they should be sent as e-mail had been skipped into the unfortunate the Bismarck Sea in headlines, reports attachments in Microsoft Word 6.0. convoy. and on maps. Quite welcome, however, are suggestions of The carnage kept up all afternoon events for coverage. Please offer suggestions two until, at dusk, all of the transports were months ahead of the anniversary of an event.