'03 Springfield Picture of the Day

[CapnJohn]

USS Wasp(CV-7)/Captain Forrest Sherman

16 September 1942
A spread of four torpedoes, fired from the tubes of the Japanese submarine I-19, churned inexorably closer. Wasp put over her rudder hard-a-starboard, but it was too late. Two torpedoes smashed home in quick succession while a fourth passed ahead. Both hit in the vicinity of gasoline tanks and magazines.
In quick succession, fiery blasts ripped through the forward part of the ship. Aircraft on the flight and hangar decks were thrown about as if they were toys and dropped on the deck with such force that landing gears snapped. Planes triced up in the hangar overheads fell and landed upon those on the hangar deck. Fires broke out almost simultaneously in the hangar and below decks. Soon, the heat of the intense gasoline fires detonated the ready ammunition at the forward antiaircraft guns on the starboard side, and fragments showered the forward part of the ship. The number two 1.1-inch mount was blown overboard and the corpse of the gun captain was thrown onto the bridge where it landed next to Capt. Sherman.
Water mains in the forward part of the ship proved useless, since they had been broken by the force of the explosions. There was no water available to fight the conflagration forward; and the fires continued to set off ammunition, bombs, and gasoline. As the ship listed to starboard between 10 and 15 degrees, oil and gasoline, released from the tanks by the torpedo hit, caught fire on the water.
Sherman slowed to 10 knots, ordering the rudder put to port to try to get the wind on the starboard bow. He then went astern with right rudder until the wind was on the starboard quarter, in an attempt to keep the fire forward. At that point, some flames made central station untenable, and communication circuits went dead. Soon, a serious gasoline fire broke out in the forward portion of the hanger, within 24 minutes of the initial attack, three additional major gasoline vapor explosions occurred. Ten minutes later, Capt. Sherman consulted with his executive officer, Comdr. Fred C. Dickey. The two men saw no course but to abandon, as all fire-fighting was proving ineffectual. The survivors would have to be gotten off quickly if unnecessary loss of life was not to be incurred.
Reluctantly, after consulting with Rear Admiral Noyes, Capt. Sherman ordered "abandon ship" at 1520. All badly injured men were lowered into rafts or rubber boats. Many unwounded men had to abandon from aft because the forward fires were burning with such intensity. The departure, as Capt. Sherman observed it, looked "orderly," and there was no panic. The only delays occurred when many men showed reluctance to leave until all the wounded had been taken off. The abandonment took nearly 40 minutes, and, at 1600 — satisfied that no one was left on deck, in the galleries, or in the hangar aft — Capt. Sherman swung over the lifeline on the fantail and slid into the sea.
Although the submarine hazard caused the accompanying destroyers to lie well clear or to shift position, the "tin cans" carried out the rescue efforts with persistence and determination until USS Laffey (DD-459), USS Lansdowne (DD-486), USS Helena (CL-50), and USS Salt Lake City had 1,946 men embarked. The abandoned ship drifted with her crew of remaining dead. The fires greedily traveled aft; four more violent explosions boomed as night began to fall. Lansdowne drew the duty of destruction, and she fired five torpedoes into the dying ship's fire-gutted hull. Three hit, but she remained afloat. By now, the orange flames had enveloped the stern. The carrier literally floated in a burning pool of gasoline and oil. She sank at 2100 by the bow.
Wasp received two battle stars for her World War II service.

From: Dictionary of American Fighting Ships, published by the Naval Historical Center

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Bob S]

I have to wonder if the rifles are really '03's. They all have an obvious pistol grip: the Marine Corps did not favor the Type C stock, and there were not a lot of 03A1 service rifles out there. Zooming in on the private to the corporal's left, the shape seems to be that of an M1, but of course the resolution is poor. One has to wonder if the caption is correct as to date and vessel.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[CapnJohn]

Argue with the US Navy on the caption. See my photos on 3/18 for a reference to US Coast Guard using 03A1's. Also see the history of the US Marines and their use of '03s at the time.

[Loy Hamilton]

I have to wonder if the rifles are really '03's. They all have an obvious pistol grip: the Marine Corps did not favor the Type C stock, and there were not a lot of 03A1 service rifles out there. Zooming in on the private to the corporal's left, the shape seems to be that of an M1, but of course the resolution is poor. One has to wonder if the caption is correct as to date and vessel.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

think I gota agree with Bob. Look close at Marine second from the right end, directly below the word Wasp, those are Garands.

[Jim Tarleton]

I just enhanced the photo, and those are defimitely Garands.

Jim

[kragluver]

Back to the original story though -- thanks for sharing. I've read in great detail on the Pacific War, but I had not read that account of the sinking of the Wasp. Thank you very much.

[Jim Tarleton]

I agree. It is a moving story, and one with which I was not familiar.

Semper Fidelis,
Jim

[Rick the Librarian]

I have a picture of King George VI of Great Britain inspecting U.S. Marines on the battleship Washington in early 1942 and the rifles are definitely M1s. Seems kind of strange that they found M1s for Marine ship detachments while FMF Marines carried M1903s on Guadalcanal.

As for the "rest of the story", the Washington's sister ship, the North Carolina was torpedoed at the same time as the Wasp. A gutsy performance by the Japanese skipper of the I-19 and the deadly Japanese torpedoes.

[Loy Hamilton]

I have a picture of King George VI of Great Britain inspecting U.S. Marines on the battleship Washington in early 1942 and the rifles are definitely M1s. Seems kind of strange that they found M1s for Marine ship detachments while FMF Marines carried M1903s on Guadalcanal.

As for the "rest of the story", the Washington's sister ship, the North Carolina was torpedoed at the same time as the Wasp. A gutsy performance by the Japanese skipper of the I-19 and the deadly Japanese torpedoes.

The U.S.Washington was the only US battleship to sink another battleship in battle during WWII. Her Captain was awarded the Navy Cross for that action. The Washington did not suffer any KIA in that action. That Jap battleship now resides at the bottom of IronBottom Sound.

[Rick the Librarian]

I'm an Honorary Life Member of the USS Washington Reunion Group. I take great pride in her accomplishments.