October 12, 1942 - Monday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien's repairs were completed on October 10th.  Unnecessary weight was removed from the ship.  O'Brien and its two escorts left Noumea on the 10th headed for Mare Island in the San Francisco bay area.

"In addition to structural repairs, O'BRIEN was further lightened while at WHITE POPPY by removing 11 torpedoes, 12,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition, eight 300-lb. depth charges, all SC radar equipment and the computer.

"Upon completion of repairs at WHITE POPPY, O'BRIEN was considered capable of making 15 knots in a moderate sea. Mare Island was accordingly designated as the repair yard. At 0800 on 10 October O'BRIEN departed WHITE POPPY in company with CIMARRON and LANG. The group was designated as Task Group 66.3 with the Commanding Officer of CIMARRON as Commander of the Task Group."

-- War Damage Report #28. 

The sailors onboard were not so confident that these orders were a good idea.  As John told me later, anyone could see there was no way that was going to hold up long enough to get back.  These sentiments were no doubt expressed in saltier language when the orders came to make for the West Coast.  The Navy, however, thought all had been done that could be done, and they would just have to chance it; in the forward areas there were no dry docks or sophisticated repair facilities.

Pearl Harbor was closer than the West Coast, but with two carriers in for repairs, it may not have been able to accommodate more ships.   

Cimarron, an oiler headed back to the West Coast for refurbishment, and Lang, a destroyer were the escorts for O'Brien.  The first destination was Suva, Fiji.  

"Upon completion of repairs at WHITE POPPY, O'BRIEN was considered capable of making 15 knots in a moderate sea. Mare Island was accordingly designated as the repair yard. At 0800 on 10 October O'BRIEN departed WHITE POPPY in company with CIMARRON and LANG. The group was designated as Task Group 66.3 with the Commanding Officer of CIMARRON as Commander of the Task Group.

"After getting underway, a slow increase in the rate of leakage into the forward engine room was observed. This was not considered abnormal because of the many small patches and loose rivets in the underwater body. The Commanding Officer reported that a thorough check of the deflection across the damaged area showed that bending there was almost exactly the same as that across a similar undamaged length in the after engine room. Just how these observations were made was not reported, but ordinarily the problem of obtaining reliable hull deflection readings at sea is a difficult one. On the morning of the 13th of October, just prior to arrival at Suva, the reinforcing plate on No. 6 port deep longitudinal was found cracked, indicating a tensile failure. This 860 mile passage was made with turns for 13 knots attaining a speed over the ground of 12 knots. Wind and sea did not exceed moderate intensity."

-- War Damage Report #28.

 Some defects were showing up as noted, but Suva was reached on the 13th. Here is a map of the area, Noumea on the left, Fiji on the right.  Espiritu Santo (modern day Vanuatu), where the initial repairs were made, appears at the top left.:

 

Battle of Cape Esperance

On the night of October 11-12, a Navy cruiser force caught by surprise a Japanese cruiser force sent toward Guadalcanal to escort troop transports and shell the Marine positions.  Unlike earlier night actions, the US cruisers and destroyer found success, as a Japanese heavy cruiser and a destroyer were sunk, with a loss of one US destroyer.  This bolstered the confidence of the sailors, and was publicized at home as a victory, but did little to change the overall situation.

The Japanese transports delivered their troops and equipment to Guadalcanal, as the Japanese army forces there planned another assault on the Marines.

 

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor, for repairs to Enterprise (sailed October 16th).
  
• Saratoga was at Pearl Harbor for repairs (sailed November 10th).
  
• Combined Task Force 61 remained on patrol in the Coral Sea near Guadalcanal.
  
• Task Force 17 (Hornet) -> TF 61 
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 262-263.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 289-298.
• The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 144-172.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 157-188.
• U.S.S. O'Brien (DD415) Torpedo Damage and Loss South Pacific 15 Sept. - 19 Oct. 1942, War Damage Report #28, pp. 1-6
  

 

NEXT POST: OCTOBER 16TH

 

 

October 8, 1942 - Thursday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien remained at Noumea (code name WHITE POPPY) alongside repair ship Argonne for further and more permanent repairs.  Repairs would be finished October 10th.

Hornet conducted a raid on Japanese forces in the Shortland Islands, which are further up the Solomons chain near Bougainville.  The raid was hampered by inclement weather, and so achieves little.

Japanese Navy plans include a cruiser force coming down the slot to shell Guadalcanal while other ships unloaded supplies.  US cruiser forces, now better trained and equipped, would soon have to detect and counter this force.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor, for repairs to Enterprise (sailed October 16th).
  
• Saratoga was at Pearl Harbor for repairs (sailed November 10th).
  
• Combined Task Force 61 remained on patrol in the Coral Sea near Guadalcanal.
  
• Task Force 17 (Hornet) -> TF 61 
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 258-259.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 278-289.
• The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 143-144.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 132-158.
• U.S.S. O'Brien (DD415) Torpedo Damage and Loss South Pacific 15 Sept. - 19 Oct. 1942, pp. 1-5
  

 

NEXT POST: OCTOBER 12TH

 

 

October 4, 1942 - Sunday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien remained at Noumea (code name WHITE POPPY) alongside repair ship Argonne for further and more permanent repairs.  Repairs would be finished October 10th.

Here are some more details on the repairs, from the Navy report:

Details of hull repairs to the bottom structure, frames 103-109, in the forward engine room are shown on plate II. Attention is invited to the following features:

(a) Only partial longitudinals were installed. That is, fore-and-aft extent was only three frame spaces for all temporary members. Installation was made by welding longitudinals to the shell. Somewhat less than half of the replacement sections had the ends welded to adjacent web frames.

(b) Scantlings used were either about the same or larger than those of the longitudinals which each temporary member was to reinforce. There was no allowance, however, in the scantlings to replace the strength of the ship girder lost by the wrinkled bottom shell plating, including the flat keel.

(c) The partial longitudinals installed were offset transversely from the longitudinals they were obviously intended to reinforce. 

 

 Plate II

 

 

 ----------------------------

Admiral Nimitz visited the area during this time, starting on September 28th landing at Noumea.  A meeting was held on Argonne to discuss current activities and future strategy.  Admiral Ghormley, who was in charge of the theater, was showing deeply the stresses of command.  Noumea itself was choked with cargo ships unable to unload at the relatively small port.  Nimitz went to Guadalcanal after the meeting, and then back to Hawaii.  

Hornet and escorts had moved northwest for a raid on Japanese forces in the Shortland Islands, near Bougainville Island.  These forces were a constant danger to Henderson Field and the Marines on Guadalcanal.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor, for repairs to Enterprise (sailed October 16th).
  
• Saratoga was at Pearl Harbor for repairs (sailed November 10th).
  
• Combined Task Force 61 remained on patrol in the Coral Sea near Guadalcanal.
  
• Task Force 17 (Hornet) -> TF 61 
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 257-258.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 233-278.
• The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 138-143.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 132-158.
• U.S.S. O'Brien (DD415) Torpedo Damage and Loss South Pacific 15 Sept. - 19 Oct. 1942, pp. 1-5
  

 

NEXT POST: OCTOBER 8TH

 

 

September 30, 1942 - Wednesday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien remained at Noumea (code name WHITE POPPY) alongside repair ship Argonne for further and more permanent repairs.  Repairs would be finished October 10th.

There continued a tense calm around Guadalcanal.  Hornet was able to make a short visit to Noumea to resupply and refuel.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor, for repairs to Enterprise (sailed October 16th).
  
• Saratoga was at Pearl Harbor for repairs (sailed November 10th).
  
• Combined Task Force 61 remained on patrol in the Coral Sea near Guadalcanal.
  
• Task Force 17 (Hornet) -> TF 61 
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 257-266.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 233-243.
• The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 138-139.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 132-149.
• U.S.S. O'Brien (DD415) Torpedo Damage and Loss South Pacific 15 Sept. - 19 Oct. 1942, pp. 1-4
  

 

NEXT POST: OCTOBER 4TH

 

 

September 26, 1942 - Saturday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien arrived at Noumea (code name WHITE POPPY) on the 23rd, and went alongside repair ship Argonne for further and more permanent repairs.  All work on O'Brien would be done on October 10th.  Below is described the transit to Noumea and some of the modifications done to the ship:

Upon departure from BUTTON, course was laid for WHITE POPPY, 600 miles distant, and O'BRIEN arrived on 23 September. Engine speed during the passage was for 12.5 knots but speed over the ground was only 11.5 knots. Again wind and sea never exceeded moderate intensity. O'BRIEN remained at WHITE POPPY until 10 October. During this period further repairs were accomplished by ARGONNE and ship's force.

 

During the two passages described above, O'BRIEN rode easily. Working of the forward and aft portions of the vessel with respect to each other was not observed although careful inspections and observations were frequently made. Repairs to the bottom at BUTTON by CURTISS were very effective in reducing leakage in the forward engine room. Only one fire and bilge pump was required to control leakage from BUTTON to WHITE POPPY whereas the main circulator, operating at near capacity, was required to control leakage prior to arrival at BUTTON.

 

At WHITE POPPY, ARGONNE executed further temporary structural repairs. At the stem a partial new bow section, extending down from the forecastle deck to half way to the waterline, was installed to protect against the force of seas when pitching.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor, for repairs to Enterprise (sailed October 16th).
  
• Saratoga was at Pearl Harbor for repairs (sailed November 10th).
  
• Combined Task Force 61 remained on patrol in the Coral Sea near Guadalcanal.
  
• Task Force 17 (Hornet) -> TF 61

 As only Hornet was currently available, it would fall to the cruisers and destroyers to protect the Marines on Guadalcanal to try to block Japanese forces coming down the Slot to bombard the Marines and/or to deliver troops and supplies.  Given the bad performance in the early night battles, especially Savo Island, intense drills and practice for night battles was done all through late September.

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 254-256.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 233-243.
• The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 138-139.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 132-144.
  

 

NEXT POST: SEPTEMBER 30TH

 

 

September 22, 1942 - Tuesday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien had arrived on the 16th at Espiritu Santo (code name BUTTON) and remained until the 21st. Curtiss would do the temporary repairs.  Below are excerpts from War Damage Report No. 28 regarding the damage and repairs:

Photos 2 and 3 portray the small amount of local structural damage at the bow. Center of impact appears to have been just abaft the forefoot and possibly 10 feet below the waterline. The draft forward prior to damage was 11'-7". As shown on plate I, the bow structure below the main deck and aft to frame 10 was blown away. Framing and plating back to frame 14 were twisted and distorted. Free flooding occurred below the first platform between frames 10 and 22. Draft forward increased to 12'-2". A-202-L, on the first platform, flooded slowly to a depth of about two feet, the water entering through ruptures in the deck and bulkhead 14 as the bow plunged into the seas. Bulkhead 22 remained tight but was bulged aft. Bulkhead 25 was undamaged.

Photos 2 and 3:  Structural Damage at the Bow.  Quite a bit of the bow was shot away. but as noted above, the structure is holding.

Severe vertical flexural vibration of the hull occurred. Although some buckling of hull plating and longitudinals occurred in the vicinity of frames 37, 78 and 123, some of which is shown in photos 4 and 5, the most serious failures were centralized across the bottom structure in the vicinity of frame 104. Here, as will be noted on plate II, the vertical keel, No. 2 deep longitudinals, No. 6 deep longitudinals, several smaller longitudinals and bottom plating all failed to some degree. The Commanding Officer reported that wrinkling and buckling of the shell and longitudinals, including the vertical keel, extended from frame 104 on the starboard side across to frame 108 port. The entire bottom flange of the ship girder was thus seriously damaged. In addition, many rivets in this area were loosened or sheared. Considerable leakage into the forward engine room resulted through seams and rivet holes. The Commanding Officer reported that planes of the roller paths of the after 5" guns were depressed about one degree to port indicating that the after portion of the hull was twisted slightly to port.

Photos 4 and 5:  Topside damage accompanying damage to the bottom structure amidships.

Other damage is also described in the War Damage Report.  Below excerpt describes the temporary repairs done at Espiritu Santo:

O'BRIEN remained at BUTTON until 21 September. During this period O'BRIEN, CURTISS and the Seventh Naval Construction Battalion effected temporary repairs. Bulkhead 6 above the main deck, the main deck, the deck of A-202-L and bulkhead 14 between the first platform and main deck were all made tight by patching holes. Bulkheads 6 and 14 were reinforced with concrete. The deck of A-202-L and bulkhead 14 were also strongly shored. In addition, divers installed plug bolts and patches in the bottom plating of the forward engine room. All except two 600-pound depth charges were removed as were 150 rounds of 5" A.A. common. Finally, anchors and anchor chains were removed from the bow and stowed aft.

O'Brien left Espiritu Santo on the 21st en route to Noumea (code name WHITE POPPY), which is about 460 miles SSE from Espiritu Santo.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor, for repairs to Enterprise.
  
• Saratoga was at Pearl Harbor for repairs.
  
• Combined Task Force 61 remained on patrol in the Coral Sea near Guadalcanal.
  
• Task Force 17 (Hornet) -> TF 61

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 253-254.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 229-232.
• The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 130-138.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 118-131.
  

 

NEXT POST: SEPTEMBER 26TH