USS Atik (AK-101)

Figure 1: Carolyn before her conversion to USS Atik (AK-101). Photo courtesy of SSHSA Collection. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: American Freighter S.S. Carolyn, 1912, in port circa 1917-1918, probably at the time she was inspected for possible U.S. Navy service. This steamer was assigned the registry ID # 1608, but was not taken over by the Navy during World War I. During World War II, however, she became USS Atik (AK-101), a "Q-ship" lost with all hands on 27 March 1942 as a result of an action with the German submarine U-123. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Asterion (AK-100) underway, date and place unknown. She was the USS Atik ‘s “sister ship” in the short-lived US “Q-ship” program. Fortunately, she did not suffer the same fate as the Atik. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII web site. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: American Freighter S.S. Evelyn, 1912, in port probably at the time she was inspected for possible U.S. Navy service on 9 January 1918. Though assigned the registry ID # 2228, Evelyn was not taken over by the Navy during World War I. In February 1942 she became USS Asterion (AK-100), which was employed as a "Q-ship" in 1942-1943. She also served on weather patrol duty from January-July 1944 as USCGC Asterion (WAK-123). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


One of the strangest ships in US Naval History was the USS Atik (AK-101). The Atik started its life as the 6,610-ton, steel-hulled, single-screw steamer Carolyn. The Carolyn was laid down on 15 March 1912 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia, for the A.K. Bull Steamship Lines. She was launched on 3 July 1912 and completed later that same year. The ship was approximately 382 feet long and 46 feet wide and had a top speed of 9 knots.

For its first 30 years, the Carolyn carried freight and passengers from the West Indies to various ports on America’s eastern seaboard. During World War I, the Carolyn was given a 3-inch and a 5-inch gun to defend itself from German U-boats, along with a detachment of Naval Armed Guard to operate the guns. But the Carolyn did not encounter any German submarines during the war.

After the United States entered World War II, though, there was yet another concentration of German U-boats off the coast of America. In January 1942, the Germans unleashed Operation “Paukenschlag,” or “Drumbeat,” its U-boat offensive against the United States. The sea routes to England had to be kept open, but the US Navy was desperately short of ocean-going escorts for its merchant ships. President Franklin Roosevelt, therefore, decided to establish a “Q-ship” program for the US Navy to help combat the U-boat threat.

The “Q-ship” was one of those naval oddities that, when it worked, it worked very well. But when it failed, it usually spelled disaster for the crew of the Q-ship. The Q-ship was a standard merchant ship that was armed with guns. But these guns were hidden under fake bulkheads and crates, giving the illusion that the ship was just a normal merchant ship. The Q-ship would act as a decoy and try to lure a U-boat to the surface and steam as close to the German submarine as possible. The Q-ship would then uncover its guns and fire on the unsuspecting U-boat, hopefully sinking it. This whole theory also depended on the assumption that the submarine would actually come to the surface and not just sink the Q-ship with a torpedo while it was submerged. The Royal Navy created the program during World War I and it met with some success, although the cost of these operations was very high. Many Q-ships were severely damaged or sunk and only a few German submarines were damaged or destroyed. But President Roosevelt thought that the concept still had some potential and so encouraged the US Navy to develop its own Q-ships.

The Carolyn was acquired by the US Navy on 12 February 1942 and was sent to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for conversion into a Q-ship. The Navy also acquired another old steamer, the Evelyn, for this same purpose. Both ships were given “AK” or cargo ship designations and the Carolyn was renamed the USS Atik (AK-101) and the Evelyn became the USS Asterion (AK-100). On the outside, the two steamers looked like ordinary merchant ships, but they had, in reality, been armed with several guns that were hidden from view. The Atik was armed with four 4-inch guns, four .50-caliber machine guns, four .30-caliber Lewis machine guns, and six depth charge projectors. The Atik also was given a crew of 141 officers and men. The Atik was commissioned on 5 March 1942, Lt. Commander Harry Lynnwood Hicks in command. The Asterion, which received a similar armament, was commissioned on 23 March 1942. Both ships left Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and went their separate ways.

From the start, the US Navy didn’t think either ship would last more than a month after starting their assignments. Atik’s holds were packed with pulpwood, in hopes that after she was torpedoed it would help keep her afloat. The Atik began steaming along the East Coast, hoping to lure a U-boat into attacking it. Because the situation was so desperate, the US Navy basically told the captains of each Q-ship that there was no help to send them if they were actually attacked by a U-boat. Every available escort was already committed to convoy duties, so the Q-ships were, basically, on their own.

Several days after the Atik left Portsmouth, she was spotted by the German submarine U-123. The U-boat happened to be steaming on the surface when she spotted the Atik at 2200 on 26 March 1942. The submarine shadowed the cargo ship for a while and then fired a torpedo at the Atik shortly after midnight on 27 March. The torpedo hit the Atik on her port side, underneath the bridge. The explosion caused a fire to break out and the ship started to list. The Atik sent out a distress signal that was picked up at radio stations at Manasquan, New Jersey, and at Fire Island, New York. The Atik stated that she was approximately 300 miles east by south from Norfolk, Virginia, and that there was a “Torpedo attack; burning forward; require assistance.”

The U-123 moved around the stricken freighter’s stern and noted that a lifeboat was being lowered from the starboard side of the ship. But the Atik had not given up the fight. When U-123 turned to starboard, the Atik began firing her guns at the German submarine. The Atik’s cannon shots fell short of the submarine, but her .50-caliber machine guns scored a number of hits on the U-boat, killing a young midshipman who was standing on the bridge. The U-boat gradually moved away from the Atik and submerged. At 0229, the U-123 fired another torpedo at the Atik and scored a hit. But the tough merchant ship stubbornly clung to life. Even though she had settled by the bow and her single screw was out of the water, the Atik still would not go down. The U-123 surfaced at 0327 to see why the Atik was still afloat and at 0350 a huge explosion ripped through the merchant ship. What was left of the Atik went down, taking the bulk of her crew with her.

Shortly after this battle, a strong storm blanketed the area, preventing ships and planes from searching for survivors. No survivors from the Atik were ever found. The U-123 left the area after burying its only casualty at sea. It was not until after the war that translated German documents from the U-123 showed what had actually happened to the Atik.

In one of those many ironies in military history, the Atik’s sister ship, Asterion, was steaming in the same area when she heard the Atik’s distress call. The Asterion’s captain, Lt. Commander Glen W. Legwen, Jr., tried to come to the Atik’s assistance, but with a top speed of only 10 knots there was no way the Asterion could get there in time. By the time the Asterion got to the Atik’s last reported position, the battle was long over. The Asterion searched the area for 24 hours before a mechanical problem with her steering gear forced her to return to Hampton Roads for repairs.

The Asterion continued working as a Q-ship for a few more months but never encountered a German U-boat. On 14 October 1943, the entire program was officially canceled. The Asterion was assigned to the US Coast Guard and converted into a weather ship. The US Navy, along with President Roosevelt, decided to cut their losses and terminate this program, placing a greater emphasis on constructing more ocean-going escorts, such as destroyers, destroyer escorts, and corvettes. Unfortunately, this decision did not come in time to save the Atik or her crew.

USS LST-767

Figure 1: USS LST-767 beached with a bulldozer preparing a causeway from her bow ramp to the shore, circa 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: LST-767’s commissioning crew, photographed circa September-October 1944. She had a U.S. Coast Guard crew. Her Commanding Officer, Litutenant R.B. Seidman, USCGR, is seated in the front row, center. Arrows point to Ed Huttenhoff (near the back, just to right of center) and Jean Stewart Reynolds (center row, near the right). Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS LCT-749 on board LST-767. LSTs often carried smaller landing craft on their decks and then launched them next to an enemy-held beach. The LCT-749 was loaded on the LST at Pearl Harbor on 10 December 1944 and launched off Okinawa on 3 April 1945. The pontoon causeway sections visible on LST-767's sides were loaded on 14 December 1944 and launched during the night of 2-3 April 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: LCT-749 is launched from the side of LST-767 off Okinawa on 3 April 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: LST-767 landing personnel via breeches buoy, after she had been driven ashore on Okinawa by a storm on 1 December 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: LST-767 beached on Okinawa, after being wrecked by a hurricane on 1 December 1945. Courtesy of Dr. Herbert F. Gabriel, DDS, 1987. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: LST-767 wrecked on a rocky Okinawa beach, after being driven ashore by a storm on 1 December 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: LST-767 wrecked on a rocky Okinawa beach, after she had been driven ashore by a typhoon on 1 December 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


The USS LST-767 was a 2,366-ton LST-511 class tank landing ship and was built at Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The LST-767 was approximately 328 feet long and 50 feet wide, and had a flat-bottomed, sloping keel that had a maximum draft of about 8 feet forward and 14 feet aft. Her full-load displacement was approximately 4,080 tons and she usually had a crew of 104 officers and men. Armament on LSTs varied widely during the war, with all of the ships trying to get as many defensive guns on them as possible. Because the LST-767 was built towards the end of the war, she probably carried one 3-inch gun on her stern, approximately seven 40-mm guns and twelve 20-mm guns. Additional .50 and .30 caliber machine guns also were located throughout the ship.

The LST-767 was commissioned in September 1944. After steaming down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, Louisiana, she traveled south and reached the Panama Canal. The LST-767 transited the canal and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in mid-December 1944, where she picked up a cargo of men, equipment and vehicles. Also loaded on board the ship were pontoon causeway sections and LCT-749, a smaller amphibious assault ship that was to be launched off the side of the LST-767 after it arrived at its final destination. Towards the end of December, the fully loaded LST-767 left Hawaii and headed for Leyte in the Philippine Islands. She arrived there in February 1945 and, during the next two months, traveled south to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The ship then turned north and stopped at Ulithi in the Caroline Islands before reaching Okinawa in early April. She arrived there shortly after the American assault began on the island.

LST-767 launched LCT-749 off Okinawa on 3 April 1945 and then unloaded the rest of her cargo of men and vehicles. She left Okinawa and transported additional cargo to destinations in the central, south and western Pacific. The LST-767 was in the Solomon Islands when Japan surrendered in August 1945. She was ordered to return to Okinawa and arrived there in September. LST-767 remained at Okinawa until 1 December 1945, when a major typhoon struck the island. While beached at Kana Wan, Okinawa, the LST-767 was tossed onto the rocks during the storm and was severely damaged. After determining that the ship could not be salvaged, the Navy declared her a total loss and ordered it to be stripped and disposed of. The LST-767 was decommissioned in early March 1945 and was stricken from the Navy list that same month. What was left of the ship after it was stripped was sold for scrap and the hulk was finally removed and disposed of in May 1947.

Amphibious assault ships, especially the LSTs, played an enormous role during World War II. None of the many amphibious assaults that were made during the war (both in Europe and in the Pacific) could have been accomplished without these ships. They transported vast amounts of men, equipment and vehicles all over the world and took part in some of the most dangerous beach landings in history. They were vulnerable to air attacks (which explains all of the anti-aircraft guns placed on board these ships) and they didn’t handle very well in rough seas due to their flat bottoms. A large number of the crews that manned LSTs were from the US Coast Guard and not from the regular Navy, since many Coast Guardsmen had experience in handling ships in shallow coastal waters. Coast Guard personnel also were assigned to most of the cargo ships during the war, thereby freeing up Navy personnel for warships. But it certainly was a challenge sailing on an LST since they were basically large, slow targets that didn’t do very well in rough weather. Fortunately, there were brave men out there who accepted that challenge.

Konigsberg

Figure 1: German Light Cruiser Königsberg moored in a German harbor, circa 1936. Note the ship's crest on her bow and what appear to be old torpedo boats tied up in the right distance. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: Königsberg visiting Gdynia, Poland, circa 1935. Note her forward 5.9-inch triple gun turret, rangefinders, jack and heraldic shield. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: Königsberg visiting Gdynia, Poland, circa 1935. Note the offset arrangement of her after 5.9-inch triple gun turrets. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: Photograph taken on the Königsberg's after superstructure deck, looking aft, circa 1931. Crewmen are examining two of the ship’s 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. Her Number Two 5.9-inch triple gun turret is in the background, with a plaque on its face bearing the inscription "Lutzow". U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken on board the Königsberg, circa 1930, looking forward from the stern with her after 5.9-inch triple gun turrets trained out on the starboard quarter. Note the marked offset arrangement of these turrets, and the capstan and open hatch in the foreground. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: Königsberg off Gdynia, Poland, circa November 1935. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: "Conquest of Bergen by German Light Cruisers." Artwork by Adolf Bock, 1941, published in a book on the German Navy by Erich Klinghammer, Berlin, during World War II. It depicts the light cruisers Köln and Königsberg landing troops at Bergen, Norway, on 9 April 1940. Courtesy of Mr. Jacoby. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: This dramatic sequence of photos shows the Königsberg on fire and sinking. The photos are courtesy of Ketil Svendsen. Click on photograph for larger image.

Built at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, the Konigsberg was the first of three 6,000-ton light cruisers of the K-class built for the German Navy. Commissioned on 17 April 1929, the Konigsberg was approximately 570 feet long and 50 feet wide, had a crew of more than 600 officers and men and had a top speed of 32 knots. The ship was armed with nine 5.9-inch guns, eight 37-mm guns, and six 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. She also carried 12 torpedoes and two Heinkel floatplanes, and could carry up to 120 mines.

The Konigsberg was used for training and port visits for the first few years of her life and then steamed along the coast of Spain from November 1936 to January 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Problems with her design prevented this ship from being used as a commerce raider, so when war broke out in Europe in September 1939 the Konigsberg was assigned to mining operations in the North Sea and she was used as a torpedo training ship in the Baltic. The Konigsberg’s first major combat operation came during the German invasion of Norway in April 1940. The Konigsberg (along with her sister ship Koln and several other ships) was loaded with German Army troops and assigned the task of taking the port city of Bergen, located on the western coast of Norway. Germany had a small navy with practically no amphibious transports, so for this operation naval warships had to double as assault ships.

The Konigsberg’s assault group attacked Bergen on the morning of 9 April 1940. After the Army troops on board the two German cruisers were transferred to smaller motor launches for the actual amphibious assault on Bergen, Norwegian shore batteries began firing at the German warships. The Norwegians scored three major hits on the Konigsberg, causing significant damage, flooding, and fires. The Konigsberg had to drop anchor to prevent her from drifting aground, while her aft guns returned fire against the Norwegian coastal batteries. However, German Luftwaffe bombers were soon called in and they were able to destroy the Norwegian guns.

After the German Army troops secured Bergen, all of the German ships left the area except the Konigsberg. The damage she sustained prevented her from leaving the area, so the cruiser was tied up at a dock in Bergen while her crew tried to repair the ship. But on 10 April 1940, 16 Royal Navy Blackburn Skua two-seat fighter/dive-bombers attacked the Konigsberg. The planes had flown from their base in England and were led by Lieutenant William P. Lucy, RN. Each plane carried a 500 lb. semi-armor-piercing bomb and made steep dive-bombing runs on the immobile German warship. Two bombs hit the Konigsberg amidships while a third hit her forecastle. Another bomb exploded right next to the ship, opening up a large hole in the cruiser’s side. Although the Konigsberg was on fire and settling by the bow, it took two hours before an internal explosion caused her to capsize to port and sink. It was one of the first examples in World War II of a major surface warship being sunk by enemy aircraft and it certainly would not be the last.

The Germans tried to salvage what was left of the Konigsberg in July 1942 by re-floating her hull. The hull was later turned upright, but it sank again in 1944. After the end of World War II, the hulk was once again salvaged and then broken up for scrap.

A valuable cruiser like the Konigsberg never should have been used as an amphibious assault ship and she never should have been allowed to steam so close to shore, making her vulnerable to Norwegian coastal fire. But the Germans did not possess dedicated amphibious assault ships and that handicap (along with Hitler’s distaste for the surface fleet) played a significant role in preventing Germany from making any major amphibious assaults for the rest of the war.

USS Phoenix (CL-46)

Figure 1: Pearl Harbor Raid, December 7, 1941. USS Phoenix (CL-46) steams down the channel off Ford Island's "Battleship Row", past the sunken and burning USS West Virginia (BB-48), at left, and USS Arizona (BB-39), at right. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Phoenix (CL-46) firing her 6"/47 guns during the pre-invasion bombardment of Cape Gloucester, New Britain, circa 24-26 December 1943. Photographed from the ship's fantail, looking forward. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Phoenix (right) screening escort carriers (CVE) off Leyte, 30 October 1944. Photographed from one of the CVEs. Note flight deck barriers rigged in the foreground. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: Port bow view of ARA General Belgrano (ex-USS Phoenix) sometime prior to her sinking in 1982. Photo from NavSource Online: Cruiser Photo Archive. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: General Belgrano sinking after having been attacked by the British submarine HMS Conqueror on 2 May 1982 during the Falklands war. Note that the ship’s bow has been blown off by one of the HMS Conqueror’s torpedoes. Photo courtesy of Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: General Belgrano sinking after having been attacked by the British submarine HMS Conqueror on 2 May 1982 during the Falklands war. Photo courtesy of Robert Hurst. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: General Belgrano sinking after having been attacked by the British submarine HMS Conqueror on 2 May 1982 during the Falklands war. Photo courtesy of Robert Hurst. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after the capital of Arizona, the 9,575-ton USS Phoenix (CL-46) was a Brooklyn class light cruiser that was built at the New York Shipbuilding Company in Camden, New Jersey, and was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 3 October 1938. The ship was approximately 608 feet long and 61 feet wide, had a top speed of over 33 knots and a crew of 868 officers and men. The Phoenix was armed with 15 6-inch guns, eight 5-inch guns, and 8 .50-caliber machine guns, although additional smaller-caliber guns were added during the war.

After an initial shakedown cruise that took her along the Atlantic Coast of South America, the Phoenix returned to Philadelphia in January 1939. She was then transferred to the Pacific Fleet and was based at Pearl Harbor. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Phoenix was anchored peacefully at Pearl Harbor just to the southeast of Ford Island, next to the hospital ship Solace. Lookouts on board the Phoenix spotted the Japanese planes coming in low over Ford Island and sounded the alarm. The Phoenix went to “Battle Stations” and soon the ship’s guns were firing at the Japanese planes. Miraculously, the Phoenix was unharmed during the attack and was able to raise steam. She left Pearl Harbor shortly after noon and joined the light cruisers St. Louis (CL-49) and Detroit (CL-8), along with several destroyers, in a spontaneous search for the Japanese task force. It is fortunate that they did not locate the enemy because it seems doubtful that three light cruisers and a handful of destroyers would have lasted long against the enormous Japanese task force, which possessed several aircraft carriers and a large number of escorts.

The Phoenix spent the first month of the war escorting ships between Hawaii and the West Coast. The ship was then sent to Australia, where she was based throughout 1942 and much of 1943. During this time, the Phoenix witnessed the horrible Allied defeat in the Dutch East Indies, escorted convoys in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, and worked with US and Australian naval forces along the coast of New Guinea. On 26 December 1943, the Phoenix, along with the light cruiser USS Nashville (CL-43), bombarded the Cape Gloucester area of New Britain in New Guinea for nearly four hours, destroying numerous Japanese targets. The Phoenix also provided fire support for the Allied landing on New Britain, eliminating enemy targets that had not been destroyed during the initial bombardment. On the night of 25-26 January 1944, the Phoenix also took part in a night raid that shelled Japanese shore installations on Madang and Alexishafen, New Guinea.

For the rest of the war, the Phoenix was attached to the US Seventh Fleet in the Pacific. From March to September 1944, she took part in the Allied invasions of the Admiralty Islands, the Northern and Western coasts of New Guinea, and the island of Morotai. In addition to her duties of escorting convoys and invasion task forces, as well as providing fire support against enemy shore targets, the Phoenix also assisted in the pursuit of a group of Japanese destroyers on the night of 8-9 June that were trying to bring reinforcements to the island of Biak. None of the Japanese ships were sunk because they quickly retreated after making contact with the Phoenix and the other American warships that were steaming with her.

The Phoenix then took part in the enormous invasion of the Philippine Islands. The Phoenix was assigned to the landing on Leyte and she bombarded the beaches there before the successful Allied landing on 20 October 1944. Her guns demolished Japanese coastal targets and provided invaluable fire support to American troops that landed on shore. On the night of 24-25 October, the Phoenix also took part in the famous Battle of Surigao Strait, in which American naval forces under the command of Admiral Jesse Oldendorf faced the Japanese “Southern Force” under the command of Admiral Shoji Nishimura. The Phoenix fired four spotting salvoes and, when the fourth salvo hit its target, the ship began firing all of its 6-inch guns. The enemy warship the Phoenix was firing at turned out to be the Japanese battleship Fuso, which sank in 27 minutes after being pounded by the Phoenix and the other ships in her task force. During the battle the Japanese lost another battleship and three destroyers. A Japanese cruiser was also damaged during the battle and was sunk the next day by American aircraft. Admiral Nishimura was killed during the confrontation, which turned out to be one of the last major surface battles in naval history.

The Phoenix continued serving off the coast of the Philippines for several more months, fighting off numerous Japanese air attacks and bombarding shore targets in support of American assaults on Mindoro, Lingayen Gulf, and Manila Bay. From May to July 1945, the Phoenix also assisted in the landings on Borneo.

When the war in the Pacific ended on August 1945, the Phoenix was steaming back to the United States for an overhaul. She reached the Panama Canal on 6 September and, after transiting the canal, was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. She was placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 28 February 1946 and was decommissioned on 3 July 1946. The Phoenix received nine battle stars for her service in World War II.

The Phoenix remained in Philadelphia in “mothballs” until 9 April 1951, when she was transferred to Argentina. The ship was renamed the 17 de Octubre and re-commissioned into the Argentinean Navy on 17 October 1951. In 1956 the ship was renamed yet again and called the General Belgrano. The ship served Argentina for more than 30 years, but on 2 May 1982, the Belgrano’s luck ran out. During the war with Great Britain over the Falkland Islands, the General Belgrano was torpedoed by the HMS Conqueror, a British nuclear-powered submarine. The Belgrano was hit by two Mk. 8 torpedoes (which were designed in the 1920s) and the order to “abandon ship” was given approximately 20 minutes after the attack. Shortly after that the ship rolled over and sank, taking 323 men with her. Approximately 770 men were eventually rescued by nearby Argentinean ships. The General Belgrano was the only ship ever to have been sunk by a nuclear-powered submarine.

No doubt the USS Phoenix had an amazing career. She managed to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor and the entire war in the Pacific, as well as one of the largest naval confrontations in naval history, the Battle of Surigao Strait. She also went on to serve the Argentinean Navy for more than 30 years before meeting her violent end in the South Atlantic in 1982. It does seem ironic that a nuclear-powered submarine sank a cruiser that was built before World War II using a torpedo that was also designed prior to World War II. But those are the types of ironies that make naval history eerie as well as intriguing.

USS Mount Hood (AE-11)

Figure 1: USS Mount Hood (AE-11) off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 16 July 1944. She is painted in cmouflage Measure 32, Design 18F. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Mount Hood underway in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 6 August 1944. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: Explosion of the USS Mount Hood at Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island in New Guinea, 10 November 1944. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: Mount Hood, smoke cloud expanding, just after she exploded in Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands, 10 November 1944. Photographed by a photographer of the 57th Construction Battalion, who had set up his camera to take pictures of the Battalion's camp. From the collection of CDR. Lester B. Marx, now in the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: Damaged ships at Seeadler Harbor after the Mount Hood explosion. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: Damage to the USS Mindanao after the Mount Hood explosion. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: Damaged minesweepers and the USS Mindanao after the Mount Hood explosion. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after a volcanic peak in Oregon, the 13,910-ton ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE-11) was originally laid down on 28 September 1943 as the freighter Marco Polo by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company at Wilmington, North Carolina. She was renamed Mount Hood on 10 November 1943 and acquired by the Navy on a loan-charter basis on 28 January 1944. The Mount Hood was converted into an ammunition ship by the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Norfolk, Virginia, and was commissioned on 1 July 1944, Commander Harold A. Turner in command. The ship was approximately 459 feet long, 63 feet wide, and had a top speed of 16 knots and a crew of 318 officers and men. The Mount Hood also was armed with one 5-inch gun, four 3-inch guns, and four 40-mm guns.

After a brief shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay area, the Mount Hood was assigned to carry various types of ammunition to the Pacific. On 21 August 1944, she left Norfolk and headed for the Panama Canal. After transiting the Canal on 27 August, the Mount Hood proceeded independently to her destination, which was Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island in New Guinea. The Mount Hood reached Seeadler Harbor on 22 September and commenced unloading her ammunition and explosives to the other ships in the harbor that were assigned to the upcoming invasion of the Philippines.

At 0830 on the morning of 10 November 1944, Lt. Lester A. Wallace, the Mount Hood’s communications officer, along with 17 other men from the ship, were sent ashore to take care of several errands. At 0855, while walking on the beach, Wallace and his men witnessed a flash from the harbor that was followed by two quick explosions. All of the men ran to the whaleboat that brought them to shore and headed back to where they thought the Mount Hood was, but after a few minutes they noticed that there was no sign of the ship and that, “There was nothing but debris all around…”

The Mount Hood had exploded with an estimated 3,800 tons of explosives and ammunition on board. The first explosion caused flames and smoke to shoot up from amidships and then, within seconds, a second explosion set off the rest of her deadly cargo. A mushroom cloud rose 7,000 feet into the air and spread approximately 500 yards from the epicenter of the explosion. The force of the explosion carved out a hole in the bottom of the harbor approximately 100 yards long, 50 feet wide, and 30-40 feet deep. Some pieces of the ship landed more than 2,000 yards away from where the Mount Hood was moored and Navy investigators later found no fragment of the ship that was larger than 16 feet by 10 feet.

The blast, the ensuing concussion from the blast, along with the metal fragments from the Mount Hood itself, caused an enormous amount of damage to the other ships in the harbor. This phenomenal explosion damaged two escort carriers, a destroyer, four destroyer escorts, a high-speed transport, a destroyer tender, three cargo ships, an oiler, two repair ships, a salvage ship, a fleet tug, 16 small minesweepers, an unclassified auxiliary vessel, a covered lighter, and a fuel oil barge. In addition, nine medium landing craft (LCM) and a pontoon barge moored alongside the Mount Hood were destroyed. Although thirteen small boats or landing craft were sunk or damaged beyond repair, 33 were damaged but salvageable. One of the repair ships, the USS Mindanao (ARG-3), was anchored next to the Mount Hood and suffered 23 dead and 174 injured, as well as major damage to the ship itself. In all there were 45 known dead, 327 missing and presumed dead (bodies that would never be found given the size and severity of the explosion), and 371 injured. The only members of the Mount Hood’s crew that survived the carnage were Lt. Wallace and the 17 other men who were, by mere chance, sent ashore that day.

A Naval Board of Inquiry was convened to determine the reason for the blast, but it was never able to determine the exact cause. There were some reports that a Japanese submarine was in the area, but no evidence was ever found to support this claim, let alone that the Mount Hood was actually attacked by an enemy submarine. The Naval Board eventually ruled that the initial explosion probably resulted from a load of ammunition being set off when it was dropped into, or struck a hatch in the Mount Hood's number three or four hold. The Naval Board also noted that ammunition was being roughly handled in all parts of the ship, that some explosives were not being stowed according to Naval regulations, and that the crew was not properly briefed on critical safety measures. Finally, the Naval Board determined that the Mount Hood was not sunk as a result of enemy activity.

The Naval Board did find that the Harbor Master was guilty of situating the Mount Hood too close to the other ships in the harbor. The man was court-martialled, but he put up such a vigorous defense (citing dozens of pertinent factors regarding his decisions) that he was only found guilty of some lesser charges. Ultimately, he was just given a Letter of Reprimand by the Navy.

The USS Mount Hood was officially struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 December 1944. The ship served in the United States Navy a little more than four months before it was destroyed. The damage caused by the explosion to the other ships in Seeadler Harbor required more than 100,000 man-hours to repair. Approximately 48,000 of those hours were needed to repair the USS Mindanao.

When people think about naval warfare they usually think about the many warships that have fought throughout naval history, such as aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, etc. Few, if any, individuals realize that the mere act of supplying a fleet with the supplies it needs to wage a conventional war can be, in and of itself, a very dangerous job. The Mount Hood was assigned the critical and incredibly dangerous task of delivering large amounts of explosives and ammunition to warships in a war zone. No books or movies are ever made about such “mundane” tasks, yet the men who gave their lives on board the Mount Hood were just as important and just as brave as the individuals serving on board the other warships in the fleet.

USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6 and AVP-28)

Figure 1: USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) photographed off the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 28 November 1943, shortly after commissioning. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Oyster Bay photographed off the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 28 November 1943, shortly after commissioning. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Oyster Bay anchored in Leyte Gulf in December 1944 with PT boats alongside. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Oyster Bay tending PT boats in Seeadler Harbor, Admiralty Islands, on 25 March 1944. Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Oyster Bay tending PT boats in Leyte Gulf in October or November 1944. The boat approaching at the right is PT-357. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Originally launched on 7 September 1942 at the Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, Washington, as a 1,760-ton Barnegat-class seaplane tender (AVP-28), the USS Oyster Bay was designated for conversion to a PT boat tender and reclassified AGP-6 in May 1943. The ship was commissioned on 17 November 1943 with a crew of 333 officers and men. The Oyster Bay was approximately 310 feet long and 41 feet wide, had a top speed of 18 knots, and was armed with two 5-inch guns (as well as an assortment of smaller caliber guns).

After a shakedown cruise off the coast of San Diego, the Oyster Bay headed for the Southwest Pacific on 2 January 1944. She stopped at Brisbane, Australia, and then went on to serve as a PT boat tender in Milne Bay, New Guinea. The Oyster Bay assisted two motor torpedo boat squadrons in February and on 9 March escorted 15 PT boats to Seeadler Harbor in the Admiralty Islands. On 14 March, the Oyster Bay bombarded enemy shore installations for the Army on Pityilu Island and on 20 March she steamed towards Langemak, New Guinea, with 42 wounded soldiers for evacuation to a hospital in Finschhafen. The Oyster Bay also bombarded Ndrilo Island to the east of Seeadler Harbor in preparation for a landing there by US Army troops.

The Oyster Bay usually tended to roughly 15 PT boats. She did this in Dreger Harbor, New Guinea, on 19 April 1944 and then proceeded to Hollandia in May. The Oyster Bay and her PT boats then moved to Wakde Island on 5 June, after Allied forces invaded the island to take a major Japanese air base there. Once again, the Oyster Bay assisted Army troops by bombarding shore installations on the Wicki River and at Samar Village.

In October 1944, the Oyster Bay was sent to Leyte Gulf to take part in the invasion of the Philippines. On 24 November, two Japanese planes attacked the Oyster Bay while she was being supplied with gas. The planes, though, were driven off by heavy anti-aircraft fire. Two days later, another pair of Japanese aircraft attacked the ship, but this time both planes were shot down. The Oyster Bay took part in operations at several locations in the Philippines and continued her duties there as a PT boat tender until the end of the war.

On 10 November 1945, the Oyster Bay left the Philippines and headed for home, arriving in San Francisco on 29 November. She was decommissioned on 26 March 1946 and transferred to the Maritime Commission on 12 August 1946. The ship was returned to the Navy on 3 January 1949, was re-designated AVP-28 on 16 March 1949, and was placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet until October 1957, when she was transferred to the Italian Navy. The Oyster Bay was converted into a special forces tender and was renamed the Pietro Cavezzale. She served in the Italian Navy for more than 35 years, finally being decommissioned in October 1993 and scrapped in February 1996.

PT boat tenders received very little recognition throughout the war, even though they were given the important task of providing maintenance and repair facilities to PT boats in very isolated areas. Always close to the fighting, these tenders (as in the case of the Oyster Bay) sometimes provided gunfire support, but they were also prime targets for enemy aircraft. They were a welcome sight to many damaged PT boats and they enabled these small but very active warships to remain on station for long periods of time. The Oyster Bay not only performed these duties incredibly well, but her career also spanned 50 years, which is, in and of itself, a remarkable achievement.