The FReeper Foxhole Revisits The USS Juneau and the Sullivan Brothers - June 19th, 2004

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq72-2.htm ^

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

The Loss of USS Juneau

In early November 1942, as the struggle for control of Guadalcanal remained undecided, both the Allies and the Japanese were desperately trying to reinforce the island with troops, food, and ammunition while trying to prevent the other side from doing the same. Although two American convoys arrived safely on 11 and 12 November, they had only partially unloaded their cargoes when Magic (intercepted Japanese messages) intelligence and reconnaissance reports indicated strong Japanese naval forces were approaching the island on a shore bombardment mission. As the American transports steamed eastwards for safety, an American force of five cruisers and eight destroyers, under command of Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan took up station in the strait between Guadalcanal and Florida Island, called "Ironbottom Sound" owing to the many sunken ships littering the sea floor from the naval battles.

After midnight on 13 November, a Japanese formation of two battleships, a light cruiser, and eleven destroyers steamed past Savo Island, heading toward Guadalcanal. At 0124, these warships appeared on American radar and the two forces closed rapidly. Poor radar coordination, however, left the American warships vainly trying to pin down the location of the Japanese warships. The leading destroyers of both forces sighted each other briefly in the darkness and at 0145 USS Juneau received the order, "Stand by to open fire." A few minutes later, just after a Japanese searchlight flicked on, the lead American destroyers opened fire at the Japanese warships at a mere 1,600 yards. The Japanese replied in kind and the two formations quickly mingled together, firing into each other at point-blank range in the glare-lit darkness.

Within minutes, the Japanese destroyer Akatsuki and the American cruiser USS Atlanta lay dead in the water, victims of shell and torpedo hits. Meanwhile, the two Japanese battleships, worried that American torpedo-armed destroyers were too close for comfort, tried to turn away. Still, the four American destroyers in lead fired guns and torpedoes at Hiei, the nearest Japanese battleship, damaging her superstructure with numerous shell hits. Two of the American destroyers USS Cushing and USS Laffey were mortally wounded after a brief fire fight, with Laffey exploding and sinking shortly thereafter.

The engagement turned against the American task force when three Japanese destroyers conducted a torpedo attack from the northern flank. Torpedo hits damaged cruiser USS Portland and sank destroyer USS Barton. Gunfire from these and other Japanese warships turned USS Monssen into a smoking wreck and damaged both cruiser USS San Francisco and destroyer USS Aaron Ward. In return, by the time the fifteen-minute battle ended, destroyer Yudachi was a burning hulk and battleship Hiei was left crippled, steering an erratic course to the northwest. By the following afternoon, owing to scuttling charges or damage, Atlanta, Cushing, and Monssen had all sunk. Two Japanese ships soon joined them when Yudachi exploded under shell fire from Portland, and Hiei went under following bomb and torpedo hits delivered by Navy and Marine aircraft.



The light cruiser Juneau (CL-52), in which the five Sullivan brothers were surviving, suffered a different fate. Just a few minutes into the battle, Juneau was hit by a Japanese torpedo on the port side near the forward fire room. The shock wave from the explosion buckled the deck, shattered the fire control computers, and knocked out power. The cruiser limped away from the battle, down by the bow and struggling to maintain 18 knots. She rejoined the surviving American warships at dawn on 13 November and zig-zagged to the southeast in company with two other cruisers and three destroyers.

About an hour before noon, the task force crossed paths with Japanese submarine I-26. At 1101, the submarine fired a three torpedoes at San Francisco. None hit that cruiser, but one passed beyond and struck Juneau on the port side very near the previous hit. The ensuing magazine explosion blew the light cruiser in half, killing most of the crew. A message from USS Helena to a nearby B-17 search plane reported that Juneau was lost at latitude 10 degrees South and longitude 161 degrees East and that survivors were in the water. The sinking location was subsequently modified to 10 degrees South and 161 degrees East.

Owing to the risk of another submarine attack and because the sections of Juneau sank in only a few minutes, the American task force did not stay to check for survivors. However, approximately 115 of Juneau's crew survived the explosion. But, as Helena's message unfortunately did not reach Noumea and there remained uncertainty about the number of Japanese ships in the area, rescue efforts did not begin for several days. Exposure, exhaustion, and shark attacks whittled down the survivors and only ten men were rescued from the water eight days after the sinking.

The Sullivan Brothers

In the aftermath of Juneau's loss, the Navy notified Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Sullivan of Waterloo, Iowa, that all five of their sons were missing in action. Two of the brothers had served previous four-year enlistments in the Navy and so, when all five brothers enlisted together on 3 January 1942, the Navy was the obvious choice. They had also insisted on serving together on the same ship. Although the accepted Navy policy was to separate family members, the brothers had persisted and their request was approved.

It was later learned, through survivors' accounts, that four of the brothers died in the initial explosion. The fifth, George Thomas, despite being wounded the night before, made it onto a raft where he survived for five days before succumbing either to wounds and exhaustion or a shark attack.



The brothers received the Purple Heart Medal posthumously and were entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four engagement stars and the World War II Victory Medal. They had also earned the Good Conduct Medal.

They were survived by their parents, Mr. Thomas F. Sullivan and Mrs. Alleta Sullivan, a sister, Genevieve Sullivan, and by Albert Leo Sullivan's wife, Katherine Mary Sullivan. Their son, James Thomas, was twenty-two months old at the time of his father's death.

Albert Leo Sullivan
Francis Henry Sullivan
George Thomas Sullivan
Joseph Eugene Sullivan
Madison Abel Sullivan

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Feather.

[Soaring Feather]

Nice feather and eagle, thanks Sam.

[snippy_about_it]

We'll have to rent it. I'll need a new box of tissues though.

[snippy_about_it]

Enjoy your family, hope the weather stays nice.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Aeronaut.

[snippy_about_it]

Morning alfa6. Maybe today you'll clear it all out! Good luck.

[snippy_about_it]

Well said.

[snippy_about_it]

My mom and other two sisters are coming in for a week visit.

And I'm bringing a camera. :-)

[U S Army EOD]

There were actually several groups of brothers on board the Juneau. There were at least one other group of four if not five that died on the ship. It was in fact navy policy at that time to let family members serve together.

Accounts from the survivors indicate that George alone made it to a raft and after becoming despondent over the loss of his brothers and problems with exposure to the conditions he was in went a little squirrelly. He started to swim away from the raft because he was looking for them.

The men in the water were basically left to fend for themselves for a long period of time. This was caused by two reasons, one was the unknown proximity of the Japanese fleet and also when the Juneau blew up, it blew with such an intensity that one of the larger turrets was blow over a mile from the ship landing near a surviving destroyer. No one witnessing the explosion from other ships felt anyone could have lived through the explosion.

It is a typical Monday morning quarterback call if one should have gone back to look for survivors. It appeared there were none so why risk the rest of the fleet.

I have personally witnessed only 1/4 lb of explosives literally shred four men to include one which I had to use both hands with my feet braced against and ammunition box to pull this guys leg out of the box that the bones had penetrated. On the other hand while at Radford Army Ammunition Plant, we had over 12,000lbs of TNT go. The operator of the building was seen just clearing the door of the building while he was on fire when the building went. After the explosion, he was found on the lip of a 60 ft wide 20 ft deep crater with the fire on him blown out. Two ton pieces of the equipment in the building were blown over a mile away and the walls of other cement block buildings 1/4 mile away were knocked out. The individual was back at work in about two months. I think his ears were still ringing a little bit. It kind of reminded me of the coyote in the Road Runner cartoons.
We had about 135 injuries and no one killed at Radford. If everybody on that plant within two miles of the explosion had taken one step to the left or right, I bet we would have had over 50 or so fatalities. An example of this include three men in the cab of a pickup truck that had a chunk of concrete about the size to two desk fall from the sky and go through the engine of the truck they were driving followed by a chunk about the same size going through the bed of the truck.

We also had an individual in one of the load and pack rooms have a chunk of concrete hit a conveyor near him and flip it up vertically. After that the building collapsed on top of him and the conveyor caught the portion of the building above him.

One of the workers in the sulphuric acid plant witnessed the collapse of the building he knew his wife was working in. He ran halfway down a hill to try and save her then realized that he had to go back up the hill to the sulphuric acid plant and shut it down, leaving his wife to fate. His wife did survive but by shutting the acid plant down, he saved countless lives.

You just never know what is going to happen in an explosion.

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-gram.

Soldier stands guard at Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather.

[snippy_about_it]

Something about the Navy. They take the history of their ships seriously. I know the Tarawa LHA-1 went to Tarawa before their mission in OIF. I expect they do that kind of thing as often as they can, at least the ships named after a person or a battle. We have enough hero's out there they should've never named them after flowers, birds or fish.

I think it's been awhile since I thanked you for serving....we don't take it for granted here at the Foshole. Thank you.

[SAMWolf]

Morning U S Army EOD.

Thanks for the additional info on the USS Juneau and for sharing your personal experiences with us. I don't think I have the patience to have done your job.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning PE. Nice one today.:-)

[snippy_about_it]

The Juneau was one of many tragic losses. I understand they new the enemy subs were in the area too. So many tragic stories in wartime.

Thank you for sharing your EOD stories today. You guys must have nerves of steel.

[snippy_about_it]

Foshole=Foxhole. Geez, I'm starting to type like Sam again!

[SAMWolf]

I'm starting to type like Sam again

What can I say? I'm a bad influence. ;-)

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on June 19:
1556 James VI of Scotland (1567-1625)/James I of England (1603-25)
1595 Wladyslaw IV Vasa, king of Poland (1632-48)
1623 Blaise Pascal mathematician/physicist/religious writer
1764 Jos‚ Gervasio Artigas general/father of Uruguay
1764 Sir John Barrow England, founded Royal Geographical Society
1783 Thomas Sully US portrait painter (Queen Victoria)
1811 Henry Prince, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1892
1865 Dame May Whitty Liverpool England, actress (Mrs Minerva)
1877 Charles Coburn Macon Ga, actor (Acad-1943, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
1878 James M Kilroe priest of St Mary Star of the Sea, in the Bronx
1896 Mrs Simpson [Bessie Wallis Warfield), Duchess of Windsor, divorcee
1897 Moe Howard [Moses Horowitz] comedian (3 Stooges)
1902 Guy Lombardo London Ontario Canada, orch leader (Auld Lang Syne)
1903 Henry Louis Gehrig 1st baseman (NY Yankees) "Iron Horse"
1908 Mildred Natwick Balt Md, actress (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon)
1908 Quentin N Burdick (Sen-D-NC)
1914 Alan Cranston (Sen-D-CA) Pres candidate
1914 Harry Lauter White Plains NY, actor (Waterfront)
1914 Lester Flatt Earl Scrugg's partner (Beverly Hillbillies theme)
1918 Evelle Jansen Younger prosecutor of Charles Manson, Sirhan Sirhan
1919 Louis Jourdan Marselles France, actor (Gigi, Can-Can, Madame Bovary)
1919 Pauline Kael movie critic (NY Times)
1921 Howell Heflin (Sen-D-AL)
1922 Aage Neals Bohr Denmark, physicist/study atomic nucleus (Nobel 1975)
1928 Nancy Marchand Buffalo NY, actress (Beacon Hill, Margaret-Lou Grant)
1932 Pier Angeli Italy (Sodom & Gomorrah, Vintage, Battle of the Bulge)
1933 Viktor I Patsayev USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 11)
1935 - Tommy Devito, Montclair NJ, rock vocalist (Four Seasons-Sherry)
1936 Gena Rowlands Cambria Wisc, actress (Gloria, Tempest, Brinks Job)
1942 Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane rocker (Spanky & Our Gang-Lazy Day)
1943 Malcolm McDowell actor (Clockwork Orange, Caligula)
1947 Salman Rushdie novelist (Midnight's Children, Satanic Verses)
1949 Kathleen Turner Springfield Mo, actress (Romancing The Stone, War of the Roses)
1962 Paula Julie Abdul Van Nuys Calif, singer/choreographer (Straight Up)
1978 Garfield the Cat animated character "Big fat hairy deal"
1980 Amy Merrill, Miss Utah Teen USA (1997)

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Deaths which occurred on June 19:
1747 Nadir, shah of Persia (1736-47), murdered
1794 Richard H Lee, US farmer (signed Decl of Independence), dies at 62
1811 Samuel Chase, US judge (signed Declar of Independence), dies at 70
1864 George Lincoln Prescott, US Union brig-gen, dies of injuries
1867 Maximilian Mexican emperor, executed, Mexican republic restored
1953 Rosenbergs executed at Sing Sing, Julius takes 3 tries, Ethel 5
1966 Ed Wynn comedian (Ed Wynn Show), dies at 86
1973 Roger Delgado actor (Adventures of Sir Francis Drake), dies at 53
1986 Len Bias 1st pick of Celtics, suffers fatal cocaine-induced seizure
1986 Murray P Haydon artificial heart recipient, dies in Louisville, Ky
1989 I.F. Stone author, dies at 81 of heart failure
1993 William Golding, author (Lord of the Flies, Nobel 1983), dies at 81

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1964 LEDBETTER THOMAS I.---TAMPA FL.
[MIA IN GROUND FIGHT ON PATROL]
1964 TALLEY JAMES L.---FORT BENNING GA.
[MIA IN GROUND FIGHT ON PATROL]
1969 TELLIER DENNIS A.---WOONSOCKET RI.
[03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
240 -BC- Eratosthenes estimates circumference of Earth
0987 Louis IV, crowned king of France
1269 King Louis IX of Frances decrees all Jews must wear a badge of shame
1588 Spanish Armada heavily destroyed in storm at Coruna
1669 Polish parliament selects Litouwer Michael Wisniopwiecki as king
1754 Albany Congress held by 7 British colonies & Iroquois indians
1778 Washington's troops finally leave Valley Forge
1829 Sir Robert Peel found London Metropolitan Police (Bobbies)
1835 New Orleans gives US govt Jackson Square to be used as a mint
1846 1st baseball game (Cartwright Rules)-NY Nines 23, Knickerbockers 1
1862 Slavery outlawed in US territories
1864 CSS "Alabama" sunk by USS "Kearsarge" off Cherbourg, France
1865 All slaves in Texas freed (Juneteen)
1867 1st Belmont Stakes, Ruthless wins
1868 Maj Gen E R S Canby removes mayor of Columbia SC
1875 Formal opening of US Marine Hospital at Presidio
1881 Muhammad Ahmad becomes Mahdi of Sudan
1910 Father's Day celebrated for 1st time (Spokane, Wash)
1917 After WW I King George V ordered members of British royal family to dispense with German titles & surnames, they take the name Windsor
1921 Turk and Christian of Palestine sign a friendship treaty against Jews
1930 C Jackson & H E Wood discovers asteroid #1595 Tanga
1931 1st photoelectric cell installed commercially West Haven Ct
1932 Hailstones kill 200 in Hunan Province, China PR
1934 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created
1938 "Olympian Flyer" express train crashes in Montana, killing 47
1940 "Brenda Starr," 1st cartoon strip by a woman, appears in Chicago
1941 Cheerios Cereal invents an O-shaped cereal
1943 NFL's Phila Eagles & Pitts Steelers merge, (disolves on Dec 5)
1943 "Shiek Of Arahy" Spike Jones and City Slickers peaks at #19
1944 Heavy air raid on US fleet at Guam "Turkey Shoot"
1944 Japanese troops conquer Changsha China
1946 1st TV sports spectacular-Joe Louis vs Billy Conn
1947 1st plane (F-80) to exceed 600 mph (1004 kph)-Albert Boyd, Muroc Ca
1950 A G Wilson discovers asteroid #1980 Tezcatlipoca
1952 "I've Got A Secret" debuted on CBS with Garry Moore as host
1955 Mickey Mantle hits career HR # 100
1955 Phils beat Cubs 1-0 in 15, ties longest shut out in Phillies history
1959 Senate rejects Ike's appointment of Lewis Strauss for Sec of Comm
1961 Kuwait regains complete independence from Britain
1961 US Supreme Court struck down a provision in Md's constitution requiring state office holders to believe in God
1963 2 Russian space missions return to Earth
1963 Valentina Tereshkova 1st woman in space returns to Earth
1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passes 73-27
1967 Muhammad Ali is convicted for reusing induction in US Army
1967 Paul McCartney admits on TV that he took LSD
1968 50,000 participate in Solidarity Day March of Poor People's Campaign
1969 State troopers ordered to Cairo Ill, to quell racial disturbances
1970 A Nikolayev & V Sevastyanov return after 18 days in Soyuz 9
1970 Jim Bouton's controversial "Ball Four" is published
1971 Mayor declares state of emergency in Columbus Ga, racial disturbance
1973 Pete Rose & Willie Davis both get career hit # 2,000
1976 US Viking 1 goes into Martian orbit after 10-month flight from Earth
1977 Pope Paul VI makes 19th-cen bishop John Neumann 1st US male saint
1977 Red Sox set 3 game record of 16 HRs, all against Yanks
1981 Boeing commercial Chinook 2-rotor helicopter is certified
1981 European Space Agency's Ariane carries 2 satellites into orbit
1981 Heaviest known orange (2.5 kg) exhibited, Nelspruit, S Africa
1981 India's APPLE satellite, 1st to be stabilized on 3 axes, launched
1984 1st live TV appearance by Chief Justice Warren Burger (Nightline)
1987 ETA bomb attack in Barcelona, 15 killed
1987 Ben & Jerry Ice Cream & Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia announce new Ice Cream flavor, Cherry Garcia
1988 In Santa Barbara, CA, a team of 32 divers finish cycling underwater on a standard tricycle, to complete 116.66 mi in 75 hrs 20 mins
1992 Evander Holyfield beats Larry Holmes in 12 for heavywgt boxing title
1992 Guardian Angel Curtis Sliwa is shot twice in NYC
2000 The Supreme Court reaffirmed, 6-3, that praying in public schools had to be private, barring officials from letting students lead stadium crowds in prayer before football games.
2001 A jury in San Jose, Calif., convicted Andrew Burnett of tossing a little dog to its death on a busy highway in a bout of road rage. He was sentenced to three years in prison for the death of Leo, a fluffy white bichon frise.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Algeria : Anniversary of the Revolution (1965)
Kuwait : Independence Day (1961)
Texas : Juneteenth Day/Emancipation Day (1865)
Trinidad & Tobago : Labor Day
Uruguay : Artigas Day (1764)
US : Father's Day (Sunday)
US : Flag Week Ends
US : National Juggling Day.
Ragweed Control Month

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Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of SS Gervase & Protase, martyrs
RC : Memorial of Romuald, abbot (opt)
RC : Feast of St Juliana Falconieri, virgin

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Religious History
0325 The month-long Council of Nicea closed. Known as the first ecumenical council in the history of the Church, it formulated the Nicene Creed and established the method for calculating Easter.
1566 Birth of James VI of Scotland. Upon the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, he ascended the English throne as James I. He is best remembered for authorizing the publication known today as the 'King James Version' (KJV) of the Bible.
1910 In Spokane, Washington, under sponsorship of the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA, Father's Day was observed for the first time.
1977 Paul VI canonized John Nepomucene Neumann, the first American-born male saint. As fourth Bishop of the Philadelphia Diocese, Neumann is remembered for developing the parochial school system.
1987 The Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring public schools to teach creationism if they taught evolutionism. The court ruled that the state law violated the First Amendment.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved."

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Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
(Repeat Daily)
I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

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The World's Shortest Books...
Royal Family's Guide to Good Marriages

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Dumb Laws...
Denmark:
Attempt to escape from prison is not illegal, however, if one he is caught he is required to serve out the remainder of his term.

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Top 10 signs your family is stressed...
You are trying to get your four-year-old to switch to decaffeinated.

[SAMWolf]

1978 Garfield the Cat animated character "Big fat hairy deal"

Odie was my favorite. He was such a "typical" dog.

[Valin]

Garfield to Odie:
"You're such a suck up!"