The Eaton was 376 feet long with a 39.8-foot beam. The Wisconsin was 887 feet long with a 108.2-foot beam.
The Eaton suffered serious damage. It was git on its starboard side forward of the bridge and broke its keel. It was only saved by the actions of its first lieutenant who had the bow and stern secured together by its anchor chain and personally closed the water tight doors by his room.
Fortunately, there were no deaths aboard the Eaton despite the cook being knocked unconscious.
The Eaton's commander, Richard Varley, was court martialed and found negligent.
The ship was back in service by 1957 and was decommissioned in 1969 and sunk as a target off Norfolk, Va., in 1970.
--Cooter
My Cooter's History Blog has become about 80% World War II anyway, so I figured to start a blog specific to it, especially since we're commemorating its 70th anniversary and we are quickly losing this "Greatest Generation." The quote is taken from Pearl Harbor survivor Frank Curre, who was on the USS Tennessee that day. He died Dec. 7, 2011, seventy years to the day. His photo is below at right.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment