KONGO

In November of 1944, the USS SEALION was patrolling in the East China Sea just north of Formosa, now called Taiwan.  We were in contact with the USS TANG and rendezvousing with her frequently.  She failed to show one night and we learned after the war that she had been sunk by an erratic running torpedo she had fired at an enemy ship. Nine people, including the skipper, Dick O'Kane, survived but were unreported until the end of the war.  We tried unsuccessfully on subsequent nights to rendezvous but she didn't show. We reported this to Pearl Harbor HQ by radio.

On this night, I relieved the watch at fifteen minutes to midnight and Dan Brooks took the watch in the conning tower.  We would alternate with one hour on the bridge and one hour in the conning tower for a four-hour watch.  It was a dark night with a moderate sea.  We were steaming south toward Taipei when Dan reported a radar contact at 40,000 yards, a range well beyond the normal capability of our radar.  Protocol called for stationing the tracking party which, as the OOD (officer of the deck) I did immediately.  Eli was on the bridge in a flash still in his blue pajamas.

"Whaddaya got, Shorty?"  Target at 40,000 yards, Captain!  He talked a bit to Dan and concluded we were picking up the very high mountain on the north end of Formosa.  He secured the tracking party and returned to his bunk.  Dan kept tracking his target and soon told me that "mountain" was headed toward us at about 14 knots.  I called the captain and once again stationed the tracking party. We soon had four targets on the PPI (plan position indicator).  Later we picked up an additional three targets which proved to be destroyers escorting the four battleships.  Eli relieved me on the bridge and I went to the TDC (torpedo data computer) which was my tracking party station.  We soon went to battle stations, surface.

The seas were kicking up slightly and the task force was heading northeast toward Japan.  They were limping home from the defeat Halsey had handed them in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.  Eli set a course to put us dead ahead of them at about 8000 yards and then turned bow on.  Since there were two destroyers on their starboard side, he went to their port side.  We slowed to steerageway and waited for them to come by.  All torpedo tubes were made ready and we swung slowly to the left as the destroyer went by.  We had decided to shoot the second and third ships in the column because they gave the biggest radar return. We learned later that the first ship in the column which we let go by was their newest and most powerful battleship the IJNS YAMATO!  Its design was lower and more sleek and had less flat plate area to return radar energy.  This irony haunted me for some YEARS after the war.

As soon as the destroyer was clear we fired all six bow tubes with a tight spread. We swung to the right to bring the stern tubes to bear and waited for the third ship in column.  At this point the target could actually be seen from the bridge and was about 1000 yards away.  We fired all four stern tubes and about that time the bow shots found their mark.  We got one or two hits with the stern shots as well.

We turned away to reload for more shooting and to get the hell out of there!

They opened up with anti-aircraft fire and the sky was lighted with tracers and star shelled mostly fired off their starboard, away from us.  The seas were increasing and the reload was done under hazardous conditions with no injuries. We turned back toward the task force which was now about 8000 yards away. The second ship, KONGO, had stopped and was now dead in the water.  Eli headed for her to finish the job but before we reached shooting range she blew up in one tremendous bang.  The destroyer alongside her, presumably assisting, went down from the explosion as well.  The explosion was so great Eli described it later as a sunset at midnight.  It sucked all loose clothing, charts and loose gear out of the conning tower and up through the hatch to the bridge.

We turned immediately toward the others who had stopped some distance away. Since survivors were most unlikely they got underway toward home and went to a speed of 16 knots.  We were now well behind them and making all speed we could to close the range.  The seas were now getting quite heavy and we began taking water over the bridge and, worse, one big slug went over our main induction air valve which immediately pulled a vacuum in the boat and shut the engines down.  We had no chance to catch them now so we secured from battle stations and general quarters where we had been for about four hours.  We submerged and flaked out for a rest.

In my navy file there is a copy of the official patrol report which contains more specific detail and may vary from what I remember.  It should be preserved for posterity.  Pierre Kuga, a Mitsubishi man who later became my good friend, was at this time a recon pilot stationed in Taipei.  He had been sent out the next morning to reconnoiter the area!  We pieced this irony together 25 years later in a Tokyo hotel one night after much sake.  He obtained the official Japanese archival report of the incident and translated it for me.  That is in my file as well. I made copies for several of my shipmates.  Pierre always refers to the sinking as "Joe's big catch."  He sent me a blue necktie with ship silhouettes in white of their large ships that had been sunk by enemy fire and the KONGO is on the tie. He called the tie a sort of "morgue" but I think he meant “memorial.” 

Several books have been written about naval warfare and they say that this is the only time a modern battleship has been sunk by a single naval unit.  Eli got the Navy Cross and I got the Silver Star for our roles.  Definitely a night to remember.