Kenneth Taylor, Pearl Harbor Hero-- Part 3: Fighting the Japanese in the Air

Kenneth Taylor and George Welch landed at Wheeler Field to rearm.  Wheeler had already been under attack.  Senior officers there at first ordered the two to abandon their airplanes.  But, when they quickly dispersed under a new Japanese attack, the two pilots had their opportunity to get back into the air.

With enemy planes attacking the field, Taylor opted to take off directly into their formation.so he could shoot at them as he took off and they couldn't shoot him from behind.

Said Taylor:  "Wheeler was just a grass field in those days, and you could take off in any direction you wanted, and I took off right toward them, which gave me the ability to shoot at them before I even left the ground."

In the ensuing engagement, Taylor received minor wounds.

Once in the air, Taylor continued:  "I got behind one of them and started shooting again.  The only thing I didn't know at the time was that I had got in the middle of their line instead of at the end.  there was somebody on my tail.  They put a bullet right behind my head through the canopy.  So I got a little shrapnel in my leg and through my arm.  It was of no consequence;  it just scared the hell out of me for a minute."

--GreGen

Kenneth Taylor, Pearl Harbor Pilot-- Part 2: Two Warhawks Vs. the Japanese

On December 6, 1941, his squadron was temporarily detached to Haleiwa Field, about 11 miles from Wheeler, for gunnery practice.  Kenneth Taylor spent the night and morning playing cards at the officers' club with a fellow second lieutenant and close friend, George Welch of Delaware.

They were awakened at 8 am on the 7th by machine gun fire and explosions.  Taylor called ahead to Haleiwa Field and  and ordered two P-40 Warhawks to be armed and fueled, then he and Welch, still clad in their tuxedo trousers from the night before, raced in Taylor's car to Haleiwa and were strafed along the way.  (These are the two people the movie "Pearl Harbor" based their two main characters on.)

They got to Haleiwa unharmed and got airborne without incident.  The first planes they spotted were the inbound formation of unarmed B-17s flying in from the mainland.  But as they approached the Marine Corps airfield at Ewa, they encountered Japanese planes.

Despite being vastly outnumbered and outgunned, they immediately attacked the Japanese.  Taylor said, "We just got in line with them and started shooting them down, and ultimately ran out of ammunition."

--GreGen

Kenneth Taylor, One of Just 14 Pilots to get Their Planes Up Against the Japanese at Pearl Harbor Honored-- Part 1

From the October 27, 2019 Enid (Oklahoma) News & Eagle  "Enid native, Pearl Harbor hero to be inducted into Military Hall of Fame" by James Neal.

The late Brigadier Gen. Kenneth Taylor was honored as one of the first two pilots to get their aircraft into the air to fight the Japanese Dec. 7, 1941.  He was inducted posthumously into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame on Saturday.

He was one of 13 veterans who were inducted.  Also honored at the ceremony were the USS Oklahoma  and 429 sailors and Marines who died aboard her that day.

Taylor was born December 23, 1919,  and shortly afterwards his family moved to Hominy, Ok., where he graduated high school.  He attended pre-law at the University of Oklahoma and joined the Army Air Corps two years later.

After completing flight training at  Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas,  He was promoted to second lieutenant and assigned to the 47th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field in Oahu, Hawaii.

--GreGen

More USS Oklahoma Unknowns Identified: Victor P. Tumlinson, Walter C. Foley, Ted Hall, Johnny Cornelius Laurie

**  Victor P. Tumlinson, Navy Fire Control 3rd Class, 19, was stationed on the USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7. 1941 and died.  His remains were identified in February 2019 and now they will be buried in Raymondville, Texas.

**  Walter C. Foley of Brooklyn, New York, 18,  was on the USS Oklahoma and a Seaman First Class.  His body has now been identified.

**  Private Ted Hall, USMC, was 24 when he died aboard the USS Oklahoma.  His remains were identified in January of this year.

**  Johnny Cornelius Laurie, 25, US Navy  Mess Attendant 1st Class of Bessemer, Alabama, has been buried in Alabama National Cemetery.  His remains were identified in July of this year.

--GreGen

USS Arrow (H-42) and SS Fort LaMontee-- Part 1: A Class Destroyer

From Wikipedia   U-boat net

In the last post on the USS Vulcan, I wrote that that ship rescued sailors off the ammunition ship Arrow in the Mediterranean Sea in August 1943.  It turns out that the Arrow was not an ammunition ship, but a British destroyer that had been severely damaged by the explosion of the ammunition ship SS Fort LaMontee.  So much damaged that it was ruled a wreck.

The Arrow was a British A Class destroyer.  A Class destroyers all had names beginning with the letter A except the first one, the Codrington.  There were nine of them altogether and five did not survive the war.  There were also two Royal Canadian A Class destroyers.  One survived the war and the other was wrecked.

The Arrow was commissioned in  14 April 1930.  (323 feet long, 32.3 foot beam, 134 crew,  four 4.7-inch guns, two AA guns, torpedoes and depth charges.)

--GreGen

Bits of War: Dozens of Bombs Found, Niece Wants Uncle Returned, WW II Vet and Tomb Sentinel Honored, Finally

1.  DOZENS OF BOMBS FOUND--  36 bombs were found over a three day period at German city of Neutraubling  Some were still live and exploded.    A new industrial park is being built  There was a Messerschmitt plant there during the war and it was heavily bombed.

2.  NIECE WANTS UNCLE'S REMAINS RETURNED TO IOWA--  William "Bill" Querl, was killed in the war and buried in the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

The American Red Cross brought his mother news of his death on September 16, 1942.  She had lost her husband, had two sons in the military and was about to lose her home.  devastated, she signed a document to allow his body to be buried in the Philippines.  She regretted it ever since.

3.  WORLD WAR II VETS AND TOMB OF THE UNKNOWNS GUARD, 100, FINALLY HONORED--  Jack Eaton is the oldest living Tomb of the Unknowns Sentinel.  However, the plaque honoring former Sentinels where his name should have been had omitted his name.  It is now on the plaque.

--GreGen

USS Vulcan (AR-5)-- Part 4: To the Mediterranean Sea and Invasion of Southern France

After repairs at Hampton Roads, Virginia, in June 1943, the ship was ordered to the Mediterranean Sea where it arrived in Oran, Algeria, June 27.  Then shifted to Algiers where it sent a fire and rescue crew to the burning British ammunition ship Arrow.  Three of her sailors pulled up alongside it and cut a hole in the side of its hull to rescue sailors trapped inside.

For their bravery and resourcefulness, they received decorations from the British government and Navy and Marine medals from the U.S. military.

I looked up the ammunition ship Arrow and found a discrepancy in the story.

The ship remained at her post in North Africa during the summer of 1944  In August and September, the Vulcan supported the invasion of southern France and received her sole battle star for providing repair services to ships involved in it.

--GreGen

USS Vulcan (AR-5)-- Part 3: USS Niblack and More Iceland Service

Operations around Iceland proved to be often dangerous, fogs and storms frequently hampered the ships and there were collisions.    In November, the USS Niblack (DD-424) was rammed by a Norwegian freighter.  The destroyer had been scouting the coasts of Iceland when the accident occurred.

The Niblack suffered the loss of an anchor and a hole in her side, but the Vulcan quickly fixed it and the destroyer was able to continue her important convoy escort duties.  (There is no mention of this incident in the Wikipedia article about the Niblack.)

The Vulcan remained in the frigid Iceland waters until the spring of 1942.  After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Vulcan and other ships were ordered from Iceland to Boston. She was accompanied by the USS Tarazed (AF-13), USS Livermore (DD-429) and the USS Kearny.

The Vulcan was then placed in dry dock for repairs and then was assigned to assist the U.S. Navy in the North Atlantic.  She was based in Argentia, Newfoundland, from June to November 1942, then back to Iceland until 6 April 1943, when she was ordered to Hampton Roads.

--GreGen

USS Vulcan (AR-5)-- Part 2: USS Kearny Torpedoed Before the War Started for the U.S.

The HMS Tirpitz did not sortie but, U-boats were causing all sorts of problems with Allied shipping.  By the fall of 1941, U.S. destroyers were actively engaged in protecting convoys, but turned their charges they were protecting over to British ships at the MOMP (Mid Ocean Meeting Point)  On 4 September, the USS Grier narrowly missed being torpedoed.

On 17 October 1941, the USS Kearny  (DD-432) was torpedoed by U-568 while guarding Convoy SC-48.  The ship was able to get back to Reykjavik, but with a huge hole in its side and 11 sailors dead.

The Vulcan provided timely and effective assistance to the stricken ship.  Permanent repair facilities, like a dry dock, were unavailable, so the Kearny pulled up alongside the Vulcan and her port side was flooded to raise the torpedo hole above water.

In short order, the damaged hull had been cut away and a patch  placed on it.   By Christmas 1941, the Kearny was able to sail to the east coast of the U.S. for permanent repairs.

--GreGen

USS Vulcan (AR-5)-- Part 1: The Battle of the Atlantic Before U.S. Entry Into the War

In the last post, I mentioned that when the USS Fulton (AS-11) submarine tender was decommissioned in 1991, it was the third oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy after the Constitution (commissioned in 1797) and the USS Vulcan (AR-5).

I knew about the Constitution, but not the Vulcan and had not posted about it.  Turns out, the Vulcan had quite the long and varied career.

From Wikipedia.

The USS Vulcan (AR-5) was the lead ship of her class of repair ships in the U.S. Navy.   It was laid down on 16 December 1939 and launched 14 December 1940,commissioned 14 June 1941.

It was 530 feet long, had a 73.4 foot beam and crew of 1,297.    Armed with four 5-inch guns and four .5 inch machine guns.

She was assigned to the Atlantic fleet.  In July 1941, at the request of the Icelandic government, U.S. troops had occupied the island.  Two bases were established at Reykjavik and Havalfjorour, which became known in Navy circles as "Rinky Dink" and "Valley Forge."

The Allies feared that the German battleship Tirpitz might break ot into the North Atlantic as her sister battleship Bismarck had done in the spring of 1941, the U.S. dispatched a task force to Iceland which included the aircraft carrier Wasp (CV-7) USS Mississippi (BB-41), USS Wichita (CA-45) and Vulcan along with four destroyers.

A German U-boat spotted them but couldn't keep up and the task force arrive at "Valley Forge." on 29 September 1941.

Remember, the U.S. Was Not Yet at War.  --GreGen

USS Fulton (AS-11)-- Part 5: From WW II to Nuclear and 3rd Oldest Commissioned Ship At One Time

In 1972, the Fulton made a 5 month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea with a mission to establish a full-time advance site for repairs for nuclear powered fast attack submarines.  This was quite an accomplishment since the Fulton was still a World War II-era ship.

In 1976, she returned to New London and was modernized 1983-1984.  She was at many stations after that until decommissioned in 1991.

In 1988, Submarine Squadron 10 (SubRon10) consisted of the Fulton, the flagship, and submarines Jack, Tinosa, Dace, Whale, Greenling, Gato, Pargo, Trepang, Billfish and torpedo retriever Labrador.

On 30 September 1991, SubRon 10 was disbanded and the Fulton decommissioned at her berth in New London, Connecticut.  At that time, she was the third oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. navy, exceeded only by the USS Constitution and the USS Vulcan (AR-5).  The Vulcan was decommissioned the same day.

The Fulton was sold in 1995 for scrap.

A Long-Serving Ship.  --GreGen

USS Fulton (AS-11)-- Part 4: Tending the Nuclear Submarines

1951-1960

The Submarine tender Fulton was recommissioned in 1951 and home ported for the next 40 years in New London, Connecticut, where she was tender for Submarine Squadron  10 (SubRon10).  In April 1958, three nuclear submarines were assigned to the squadron, including the USS Nautilus.

1959-1960, she underwent an overhaul at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard which enabled her to provide service for both nuclear and conventional submarines.  As such, she was the very first tender with both capabilities, much as her previous Fulton (AS-1) was the first purpose-built submarine tender back in 1914.

The Fulton continued as the tender and flagship of the first all nuclear submarine squadron with the Nautilus, Seawolf, Skate, Triton and Skipjack.

--GreGen

USS Fulton (AS-11)-- Part 3: A Busy Ship and At Operation Crossroads

The USS Fulton was at Midway until 17 October and Brisbane from  9 November.

  There she established a submarine base and rest camp, and in addition to refitting submarines between their war patrols, acted as a tender to other ships.

Milne Bay, New Guinea, was her station from 29 October 1943 to 17 March 1944 when she sailed for the U.S. West Coast for an overhaul.

Returning to Pearl Harbor 13 June 1944,  the Fulton took care of submarines for a month, then to Midway and later to Saipan.    Then to Guam where she fitted out submarines until the end of the war.

In Operation Crossroads, the testing of nuclear weapons at Bikini Atoll for the six submarines assigned to the project and also served as a repair ship to others involved in it.

Decommissioned in 1947.

--GreGen

USS Fulton (AS-11)-- Part 2: Battle of Midway

I wrote about the five ships that have been in the U.S. Navy by this name, of course, after the inventor of the steamboat Clermont, earlier this month.  This ship participated in World War II and for many years afterwards.

From Wikipedia.

The USS Fulton  (AS-11) was the lead ship of her class of seven submarine tenders.   It was launched December 1940 at Mare Island Navy Yard in San Francisco and sponsored by Mrs. A.T. Sutcliffe, the great granddaughter of Robert Fulton.   Commissioned 12 September 1941.

529.6 feet long,  73.4 beam, 1303 crew and four 5-inch guns.

It was on its shakedown cruise out of San Diego when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.  She was ordered immediately to the Panama Canal, arriving December 9.   During the next month, the Fulton established several seaplane bases.

Then she tended submarines out of Pearl Harbor from March 1941 to July 1942, when she put out to sea during the Battle of Midway.  She transported many of the survivors of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown back to Pearl Harbor, arriving  8 June.

--GreGen

Saving the Waste Fat for the War Effort

From the January 23, 2019, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1944, 75 Years Ago.

"Although a number of housewives in this community have been faithfully saving their used fats, it is necessary that all should start now and there is an urgent need.

"Since early last month two extra points in addition to four cents a pound have been paid by  meat dealers for a pound of used cooking fat.     This plan was developed by the OPA in order not only to stimulate the saving of valuable waste fats but also as a just return for the housewife for the service of saving the fat."

--GreGen

Returning Soldier Starts Shoe Repair in DeKalb in 1919

Okay, I accidentally put this here instead of in Cooter's History Thing, but I didn't want to retype it.

From the March 6, 2019, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Joe Cohn, a returned soldier lad, who was in the service for seven months at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, has recently been mustered out, and has started a shoe repair shop in the little building next to the Nehring Electrical Works on East Lincoln Highway in DeKalb.

"Cohn was a cobbler by trade when he entered the service, and was in business at Earlville, and when he mustered out, thought DeKalb looked good to him and is getting his share of the business in this line."

Camp Jackson was where my grandfather was stationed during the war.

--GreGen

Ready-To-Eat Soups Removed From Rationing

From the January 23, 2019, MidWeek   "Looking Back."

1944, 75 Years Ago.

"Ready-to-eat canned or bottled soups, which were listed as zero points on the December table of point values for processed foods, have been removed entirely from the new January table and will not hereafter be considered a rationed food.

"The supply of this type of soup is so limited, none having been backed since June 30, 1942, that it is not practical to ration, and therefore theses soups are eliminated from the list of rationed foods.  Ready-to-serve soups  are unconcentrated and are ordinarily used used in their original form.  They do not require the addition of any liquid for dilution."

--GreGen

Making Surgical Dressings for the Wounded in Sycamore

From the January 9, 2019, MidWeek   "Looking Back."

1944, 75 Years Ago.

"Now that the holiday season is a matter of history,  people of Sycamore are asked to turn their thoughts to the more serious and necessary work of providing surgical dressings for the use of wounded service men in hospitals of this and other countries.

"Friday of each week is devoted to the making of dressings and the work room of the Red Cross in the basement of the library are open on Friday at 9 o'clock in the morning to 9 o'clock in the evening."

--GreGen

USS Oklahoma Unknowns: Two More Identified-- Wilbur Clayton Barrett and Johnnie C. Laurie

September 13, 2019--  WILBUR CLAYTON BARRETT--  Seaman 2nd Class of El Dorado, Kansas.   Enlisted at age 25 in May 1940.  Remains arrived in Wichita September 12 and buried at El Dorado September 14.

September 18, 2019--  JOHNNIE C. LAURIE--  Mess Attendant 1st Class, 25, of Bessemer, Alabama.  He will be buried October 19, 2019, in Montevallo.

--GreGen

USS Arizona Survivor Lauren Bruner Dies-- Part 2

From the September 12, 2019, Rogersville (Az) Review  "Pearl Harbor survivor Lauren Bruner, honored before the 2016 Arizona-Hawaii football game, dies at 98"   Arizona Daily Star.

There are now just three USS Arizona survivors alive:  Don Stratton, Lou Conter and Ken Potts.

When the attack came that December 7, he was at his duty station about 70 feet above the deck of the Arizona when the explosion that killed 1,177 of his crew mates.  He wad hoping to go to college and be a cheerleader  "we called  it a 'yell leader' then," he said.  he was one of the final two men rescued from the ship.

His hands and  arms were charred and he was shot twice in the leg.  Afterwards, he spent  seven months in hospitals with about 70% of his body burned.

He survived that ordeal and accepted assignment to another battleship and fought in eight major battles in the Pacific Theater.

--GreGen

USS Fulton (AS-11)-- Part 1: Five Ships By This Name in U.S. Navy

Last month, I wrote about four previous USS Fultons that served in the U.S. Navy in three of my blogs.

USS Fulton (USS Demologos), designed by Robert Fulton, launched in 1815.  steam frigate in my Not So Forgotten" War of 1812 blog.

USS  Fulton (1837)  A sidewheel  steamer carrying four cannons.  Captured by the Confederates in 1861 and destroyed by them at Pensacola, Florida, to prevent capture in 1862.  This was in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog.

USS Fulton (AS-1).   The first purpose-built submarine tender launched in 1914 and reclassified as a gunboat in 1930 in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

USS Fulton (SP-247) a tugboat converted to a patrol boat 1917-1919.  In my Cooter's History Thing blog.

And this is the last U.S. ship by that name and a submarine tender which was in World War II and served until 1991.  At the time of decommissioning, it was the third oldest U.S. Ship, behind the USS Constitution and USS Vulcan.

--GreGen