History's Most Destructive Torpedo Attack: An Eyewitness Account

Hello to all
I have not seen this story anywhere since I ran across it, and the Guiness book makes no mention, so with the anniversary coming up, I felt it was time to post it. Hope you enjoy.

This was written by Captain Ben. W. Blee, USN (Ret), and published as part of "Command",(Issue 31 Nov/Dec 1994.)

TORPEDOES GALORE: One of History's Most Destructive Torpedo Attack (s)

On 15 September, 1942, in the waters southeast of the Solomon Islands, I witnessed the most incredibly destructive torpedo attack in naval history. In fact, it was so incredible that over 40 years later the participants themselves, Japanese as well as Americans, were still trying to figure out exactly what happened.

The setting that afternoon was gloriously beautiful, a deceptively peaceful tropical seascape. From horizon to horizon an azure sky shone down on a blue ocean sparkling with white-caps. Porpoises leaped and plunged in the waves, playfully racing our ships. Here and there the whitecaps were lashed into foamy streaks by a brisk 20 knot wind from the southeast. In other words, it was duck soup for periscopes, deadly for their prey. We called those waters "Torpedo Junction".

I was the officer of the deck on the cruiser USS Pensacola, which with the nine other ships was escorting the aircraft carrier Hornet toward Guadalcanal. On the horizon to the southwest, steaming in company with us, was a second carrier, the Wasp, with her own 10 ship escort. As of 2.45pm, Wasp had just completed 25 minutes of flight operations on a southwesterly course, into the wind. Then all 20 ships began a right turn together, back to our northwesterly base course.

Soon after we began that turn, from my grandstand perch on Pensacola's bridge, I noticed smoke rising inexplicably from Wasp. Gaping at the carrier through my binoculars, I was astonished when flight deck crewmen began frantically pushing aircraft over the side. Racking my brain for an explanation, I recalled that Wasp's fighter planes, recovered minutes earlier, had shot down a snooping enemy flying boat. I guessed that one of those planes, perhaps damaged in combat or flown by a wounded pilot, had crash landed, setting afire other aircraft on deck.

The cloud of smoke boiling up from Wasp grew rapidly larger. Flames broke out on her hangar deck. The flattop stopped her right turn and slowed, then began turning back to her left. What I and other distant observers didn't yet know, was that three powerful Japanese torpedoes had slammed into the carrier's starboard (far) side, igniting gasoline fires and setting off explosions that would kill or wound over 500 men, dooming the ship.

The minutes ticked by, and I felt a sence of impending danger that made events seem to unfold in slow motion. The Hornet, Pensacola and other ships in the formation, steaming at 18 knots, continued their turns toward Wasp and past her bearing, until we steadied on our northwesterly base course. That put Wasp broad on our port bow at a distance of about 14,000 yards, or seven nautical miles, the distance slowly closing as we advanced.

About that time, a sudden burst of static from the radio speaker behind me in the pilot house was followed by a terse warning; "Torpedo headed for formation, course zero-six-zero!"

I called my captain, who joined me at once. Amid a gabble of voices that came on the air it was impossible to tell which ship had passed on the warning. There was little doubt now, however, as to what was happening: a submarine attack. The captain ordered battle stations. For the next few minutes, the Pensacola was like a kicked anthill, as the bosun's mate piped all hands, general alarm gongs clanged, watertight doors and hatches slammed shut, running feet pounded on the decks and ladders, and the "first team" arrived breathless on the bridge to relieve the watch.

In the middle of that commotion, and before I could turn over the 'conn' to the navigator, another burst of static brought only the last few words of another warning, "Torpedo just passed astern of me, headed for you!".

Which ship was meant by "you" we all wondered. A moment later signal flags, "Emergency T" (for torpedoes), fluttered from the yardarm of a destroyer a mile ahead. The sea suddenly seemed to be swarming with deadly 'fish'.

Signals from Hornet ordered; "Emergency turn nine, speed two-five!". That was our Admirals way of saying, "Get the hell out of here!". I ordered right full rudder and emergency flank speed, 25 knots.

Seconds later there was a muffled explosion off our port bow. Destroyer O'Brien, half a mile away, staggered out of a churning cloud of foam,spray and smoke, her bow blown to smithereens. I was scared stiff. That last fish, had it missed the O'Brien, would have come awfully close to my ship. Were we next?

"Ka-boom!!" went another explosion directly ahead of us as a torpedo slammed into the port bow of the mighty battleship North Carolina. Like a wet dog, she shook off the huge column of water oil and spray, and kept going at 25 knots. She was a tough ship, but I could see she was down by the bow and listing to port.

During the hectic quarter hour after Wasp was hit, torpedo warnings came from six different ships, while our destroyers reported underwater sound contacts on at least three submarines thousands of yards apart. After that, excited lookouts saw a periscope in every floating swab handle, a torpedo in every foaming wake.

Then, around 3.00 pm, a terrible explosion rocked the Wasp. Flames touched off one of her magazines. The fiery blast sent aircraft, gun mounts and bodies spinning high in the air, to splash down in the sea for hundreds of yards around the stricken ship. All hell seemed to have broken loose, but we still couldn't fathom exactly what had hit us or where the enemy was.

Fortunately, the torpedo that struck North Carolina was the last of five to explode in the bellies of American ships that day. It's important to note nearly 8 minutes had elapsed from the first hits on Wasp to the final hit on North Carolina, and that latter ship, when hit, was more than 10,000 yards away from Wasp.

The standard torpedo carried by US submarines at the time was the Mk.XIV, which could run 4,500 yards in about three minutes at 46 knots. That level of performance we Americans thought at the time, was state of the art. We couldn't believe the Japanese - thought then to be mere copiers of western technology - had anything better. That view reinforced our heat of battle assumptions that at least two enemy subs, and probably more, had hit us with a co-ordinated attack, a tactic the IJN subs had never before been known to use. I recall speculating they must have adopted the German practice of forming their subs into "Wolf Packs".

The Wasp was so badly damaged that at 9:00 pm one of our destroyers had to sink her so she would not fall into enemy hands as our other ships left the area. O'Brien, after temporary repairs at a forward base, made it part way back to the states, only to break up and sink as a result of her damage. North Carolina spent nearly two months undergoing repairs in a Pearl Harbour drydock before returning to combat duty.

Since we did no damage at all to our attackers that day, this incident ranks as one of the blackest days in the history of the U.S. Navy.

How could such a one sided disaster have happened? How many subs actually took part? Where were they during the action? How many torpedoes did they launch? These questions baffled those who had taken part in the clash, as well as naval historians, for nearly half a century.

During the 1960s and 1970s, some of the Japanese survivors, plus a few writers and historians in the United States, Japan and Germany, came close to the truth in speculation. In 1982, I began my own exhaustive research into the matter, reviewing the official action reports of key US ships and examining translations of such pertinent records of the IJN as were available through the Naval Historical Center. (Here it should be noted that since official IJN records were largely destroyed by the fires in Tokyo in 1945, much of the extant material was reconstructed through post-war interviews with knowledgeable IJN personnel).

In 1983. when news reached me that a handful of Japanese participants in the action still lived, I began what was to become a lengthy and rewarding correspondence with them. It was not until 1986, however, when a group of participants from both sides convened on Wilmington, NC, for a detailed analysis of the action, that the whole story fell into place.

To set the stage for a review of that analysis, we must turn to the reconstructed IJN files. There, in a scholarly account of Japanese submarine operations from August 1942 to March 1943, it's recorded that as of mid-September, 9 submarines formed a picket line extending 200 nautical miles to the southwest across "Torpedo Junction". With the centers of the individual patrol areas 25 miles apart and the subs relying initially on hydrophones, they were charged with intercepting and destroying any aerican forces approaching Guadacanal from the southeast, that being the main American route to the hotly contested island.

Next to be considered is the testimony of the various survivors of the 1942 ship's company of the IJN submarine I-19, one of the picket boats. former IJN Lt. Ikuo Shibuya was that sub's engineering officer and is today her senior survivor, (Drusus note - It's obvious to state that as of 2015, Mr. Shibuya has most likely passed on.) his battle station was on the lower deck of the conning tower, where he controlled engine and diving operations.

Excerpts from Shibuya's wartime diary follow, (times converted to civilian form).....
"At 12:50 pm on 15 September, while submerged as usual, our hydrophones detected a "sensitivity three contact", (a massive collective sound indicating the approach of many ships). The skipper, Commander Takaichi Kinashi, ordered the boat to periscope depth. nothing was yet sighted.
At 1:50 pm, the periscope was raised again to reveal a task force bearing 045 degrees true. At a range Kinashi estimated at 15,000 meters, were an aircraft carrier, one heavy cruiser, and several destroyers. Estimated course was 330 degrees, (roughly northwest)."

The ships sighted by Kinashi were Wasp and some of her escorts. Former IJN Torpedoman Shichiro Tang, who was at Kinashi's elbow in the conning tower during the action, stated firmly that Kinashi was at no time aware of the presence of the Hornet group, several miles beyond Wasp and thus below the horizon.

With the sighting of the Wasp, the feathery wake of the sub's periscope, almost impossible to detect amid the whitecaps, curved slowly around to a northerly heading, as Kinashi began to stalk his prey
Shibuya's diary continues....
"Great luck was with us. At 2:33 pm, the enemy fleet changed course to the southeast. They were voluntarily placing themselves in ideal position for us to attack."

That change of course occurred when American vessels turned together into the wind for the 25 minutes of flight operations mentioned previously. The I-19, with a maximum submerged speed of 8 knots, could never have caught up with a fast moving surface group had they maintained their northwesterly advance.
Shibuya wrote....
"It is indeed a windfall, a regular fleet carrier, the most prized target of all. Kinashi patiently and coolly closes in."

According to other I-19 crew members, Kinashi "went deep" to reduce the probability of detection as he passed under the American destroyer screen. The sub wasn't detected. At approximately 2:44 pm, Kinashi returned to periscope depth, to find himself in ideal firing position, broad on Wasp's starboard bow, at a range of 900 meters, (985 yards).
Shibuya continues.....
"The time is now. All six torpedoes are launched. It is a sure kill. The no-wake, oxygen powered torpedoes, the pride of the IJN, must now be speeding toward the enemy, carrying our desires and aspirations. Everybody patiently waits.......
Dull sounds of explosions are heard. Beyond any doubt they are 'hit' sounds. We've made it! What a great feeling it is! Everybody is tempted to shout a hearty banzai, but we swallow it down. We must now run deep and silent."
Torpedoman Tang picks up the story.....
"The captain ordered a dive at a 45 degree angle. It was frightening, and I thought, 'Now it's our turn to die.' "
Shibuya adds....
"We remain submerged at a depth of 80 meters (260 feet), and hide under the wake of the carrier."

Over the next six hours, by making marks on a watertight door, Shibuya counted the explosions of what he thought were 85 depth charges dropped by counterattacking U.S. destroyers. Most of these detonations, however, were not depth charges at all, but secondary explosions inside Wasp, since many of the latter actually occurred and only 29 or 30 depth charges were expended by American destroyers.

At 9:00 pm, with most U.S. ships long gone from the scene, another IJN submarine, the I-15, broke radio silence to report the sinking of the Wasp to their headquarters at Truk, in the Caroline Islands. The I-15 did not claim to have taken any part in the action. Yet, it was this report that lead American naval historian, Rear Adm. Samuel Eliot Morison - apparently in the absence of any other credible explanation - to draw a false conclusion regarding the hits on the battleship and destroyer. That false conclusion was to mislead other historians, writers and history buffs for many years, and needs to be put to rest.

In volume five of Morison's "History of United States Naval Operations in WW2", a footnote reads in part as follows...."I assume that I-15 did the job and not I-19". He explains the assumption by adding: "It is known I-15 was in the area, because she confirmed Wasp's sinking."

Unfortunately for historical veracity, the I-15 was sunk by a US destroyer six weeks later, so none of her crew lived to refute Morison's post-war assumptiion. As will be shown, however, facts assembled since Morison prove the assumption false.

at 11:30pm, after the moon had set, the I-19 surfaced to find the scene deserted. She immediately radioed Truk, claiming hits on an aircraft carrier of the Wasp type, with no mention of the other results. In fact, there is no record of any Japanese sub ever having claimed to have torpedoed North Carolina or O'Brien. We must, therefore, consider whether any submarine might have torpedoed the battleship and destroyer without surviving to tell of it. According to reconstructed recors, the only subs within 300 miles of the 15th September attack were the nine on the previously noted picket line. All nine boats, including the I-15 and I-19, are recorded as present at their Truk base on 26 September.

Surely at Truk, if not before, the captains of those subs would have reported any significant action, and the torpedoing of the only modern US battleship then operational in the combat area would have become common knowledge among subs' crews. Not only does the record make no mention of any such accomplishment, but not one of the surviving Japanese submariners with whom I was in contact can recall any such claim having been made, either at Truk or since. Though such negative evidence is not conclusive, it leads us by a process of elimination to look again at I-19.

Here I should first state that not one of the surviving I-19 crew members, three of whose battle stations were in the conning tower, not one of them believe any other submarine took part in a co-ordinated attack that day. Since I-19 launched 6 torpedoes, (and no more), at Wasp, with many of the carrier's crew seeing only three hit their ship, evidently three missed, passing ahead, under the keel or astern. Was it physically possible, therefore, for 2 of them to race aimlessly on for another 10,000 yards to strike the destroyer and battleship by mere chance? Possible, yes, as I'll explain below, but certainly incredible. Morison discards this theory with the brusque comment....
"It is possible that I-19 was responsible, but her torpedoes would have had a mighty long run."

The truth is that Japanese torpedoes of that era were indeed capable of "mighty long runs" and were vastly superior in most other respects to those of the U.S. Navy. Former IJN Torpedoman Tadataka Ohtani, who in I-19's attack launched three fish from the port torpedo tubes, confirmed to me that all six in the spread were of the new Type 95, capable of running 13,000 yards, in not quite 9 minutes, at 45 knots. Thirteen thousand yards is nearly three times the high speed range of the U.S. Navy Mk. XIV. Moreover, the warhead of the Type 95 carried 891 lbs. of high explosive, compared with 507 lbs. in it's American counterpart.

Of course, the odds are extremely slim that in such a wide expanse of sea not just one, but two American ships would be hit by stray torpedoes nearing the end of their run's. On the other hand, cynics have warned countless times that when the chips are down and the stakes are high, anything nasty that can happen, will happen.

CONCLUSION

2:44......I-19 launches six torpedoes at Wasp.
2:45......3 Torpedoes hit Wasp ( torpedoes 3,4 & 5) after 1 seen to miss ahead.
2:47......Torpedo crosses wake of cruiser Helena (torpedo 2). Two torpedos ( No.s 1 & 2) have actually passed ahead of Wasp, but in the confusion, this is not noticed.
2:48......No.2 torpedo, on an apparently erratic course of 060 passes directly under the destroyer Landsdowne
2:50......Torpedo 6 has passed to the rear of Wasp. This 'fish' passes astern of destroyer Mustin.
2:51......Destroyer O'Brien has narrowly been missed by torpedo 1 and in turning to starboard to avoid it, is hit by torpedo 2.
2:52......Battleship North Carolina is hit by torpedo 6, the one that passed astern of Wasp. This is the same fish that destroyers Landsdowne and Mustin were missed by.
2:53......Torpedo 1 in the spread comes to the end of it's run. This same fish also passed to the rear of cruiser Helena, but was not noticed as such. It also narrowly missed the O'Brien.

Considering the length of the run of Type 95 torpedoes, the only conclusion that can be reached is that the hapless North Carolina and O'Brien, entirely by chance, ran into two of I-19's stray torpedoes only a minute or so before the weapon would have run out of fuel and nosed harmlessly to the bottom.

Rarely have the gods of war smiled so sweetly on the fortunes of one side while scowling with such disdain on those of the other.....(end)





Hope you enjoyed this astounding article. If anyone can find a picture or two of Kinashi and others, or any of the vessels involved, please feel free to enhance this post. Meantime, Take care.

Christopher

 

Interesting but I doubt your assertion will go unchallenged!
Do you mean submarine attack or torpedo?
There's Taranto, Pearl Harbor, human torpedoes, attacks on Scapa Flow, PQ17, Repulse and no doubt many other claimants.....
The USN wasn't the only one to suffer horrendous losses.

 

I have a funny feeling the author of this piece means a single encounter by a single sub. This submarine got three ships and sank two of them in a single salvo.


Wasp was 35,000 tons? O'Brien was another 5000? and a hit on the latest battleship of it's day, putting it out of the game for three months.


not many other subs can claim all this from a single salvo, and the I-19 got away without a man lost or even a scratch to show for it. And these ships were nt cargo vessels either. There were many destroyers that would have liked to put an end to I-19's run, so this also must be factored in.


I believe this is the angle he is working from to make a claim like this.


No matter, though, thats what a forum is for, to have assertions challenged. So, i would LOVE to hear from anybody who knows of another such encounter with better results.


Feel free to post! Also, I'm no good at posting photos, so if any of the modrators or members can help out, we can turn this thread into something that others can look at in years to come!


Christopher.

 

q

 

a

 

can the moderators please get rid of the double post? thanks.

 

The Sub USS Archerfish sank the Japanese Super Carrier Shinano in late 1944. Four of six torpedoes fired hit the carrier.

Far more steel went to the bottom in this single attack.

Archerfish survived the war.



PUT

 

Dunno.

Have to look into it. Wasn't "Shinano" in a non-operational mode? Ie. no aircraft aboard?

Think she was being moved before she was ready to go as a functioning unit, with all water tight doors open, and no escort either.


A better candidate would be the USS Redfin, who sank the carrier Unryu. Its late and I've got to get up tomorrow, so I'll certainly look into the Shinano. I'm pretty sure she wasn't fully operational. And she only had a very limited hangar space, being a conversion from the third Yamato class keel.

As I said, I''ll look into this tomorrow, so the jury is still out for "Archerfish"!

 

Just took a quick look at Wiki's page on Shinano.


This behemoth was not operational. With civilian contractors, (40 of them), and no watertight doors closed to allow ease of access, she hardly qualifies as a functioning battle unit, under tow as she was.


Good try though!


I-19 from the IJN still takes the prize. But good try though.


Any pictures? I'm crap at posting them.

 

When sunk, Shinano had finished sea trials and had been commissioned. She was underway at sea under her own power with escorts. She was crewed by Japanese Naval officers and sailors. That's operational. She was not under tow.

At the time, Shinano was the largest aircraft carrier in the world.



PUT

 

Axis History Forum has an interesting debate. Shinano was still fitting out and had no aircraft aboard, (only suicide craft.) Her watertight doors were yet to be fitted, among other things. But as Opana Pointer pointed out, (nice pun there!), wapping a carrier before she becomes operational is probably a good thing.

There are three or four others that are listed, and someone pointed out that the two American candidates were all aimed, whereas Kinashi's attack at "Torpedo junction", whilst sinking Wasp, it was "dumb luck" that two more of his fish travelled on and hit a task force that he was not aware of.

Interesting that Google lists this post right underneath. I only posted this yesterday, so theres probably not much in the way of definitive opinion.

So, with all this in mind, maybe I should change the title of this thread to "ONE OF The Most Destructive Torpedo Attacks in History" :wink:

 

There...Ive changed it.

I have always wondered why you cannot edit a thread title.

Is their a moderator that can do this ....please?

 

Thanks D.

The reason for the editing is that the stuff i post will sit here for a long time and be read by more and more people, (hopefully).

My desire to make it look attractive, and have few spelling mistakes, clashes with my terrible bloody computer system that overheats, or crashes. I have lost entire postings when nearing the end of a long night typing away. After tearing my hair out and yelling at the injustice of it all, I've got to type the whole thing out again.

Sigh.....

If i wasn't having fun, I would'nt do it! And reading replys from appreciative people, or even people with an axe to grind, makes my day!

Christopher.

 

Multiple hits by a single salvo were rare, operation Pedestal saw two, the Italian submarine Axum fired four torpedoes, two hit HMS Cairo that sank, one HMS Nigeria that limped back to Gibraltar and the last one the tanker Ohio that still made it to Malta despite Axum's torpedo and multiple subsequent hits in what was one of the most remarkable instances of ship resiliency of WW2. The loss of Cairo and Nigeria to the escort contributed to the later losses as they were the only ships outfitted for fighter direction. On the other side HMS Upholder hit the Italian cruisers Attendolo and Bolzano that were returning to port after the attempt to intercept the convoy with surface forces was cancelled as fighter cover could not be guaranteed, neither ship sank but both required extensive repairs.

 

Sorry for lateness of reply.

I would have expected at least one German submarine to be a candidate for this 'award'.

The British subs come as no suprise. They have had their 'Perisher' course going since the between the wars, I believe. Perisher Commanding Officers Qualifying Course is the toughest in the world, (40% failure rate, all failing students never set foot in a submarine again.) You either pass or perish. British sub captains are the best in the world, still.

An Italian qualifier is also a suprise, considering the lack of results from what should have been a force that made major inroads into Allied shipping losses.

Thanks for your reply. Everyone please keep digging, and we can get to the bottom of this one.

Christopher

 

Aye, Claudius!

 

Messalina! Messalina! I'm hungry...could you bring me that bowl of mushrooms?

 

See Battle of Palawan Passage ( Submarine Action in Palawan Passage ). US Subs Darter and Dace ambush. Two Japanese Cruisers to the bottom, another badly damaged.


PUT