Читать книгу The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II - Robert J. Cressman - Страница 6
ОглавлениеWhen I first came on board the Naval Historical Center Ship’s History Branch in May 1976, I received a copy of the United States Naval Chronology, World War II, published by the Naval History Division in 1955. Copies of the book were so scarce that I was enjoined to keep it practically under lock and key. I used that well-worn volume often over the ensuing years. When I transferred to the Contemporary History Branch to write about the Navy’s in-country operations during the Vietnam War, I little realized the detour I was about to take.
As the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II approached, Naval Historical Center staff, who knew of my interest in revising the work, asked me to undertake the task. The United States Naval Chronology, World War II was the shortest of those works produced by the major services and proved to be only a highly selective list of ship losses interspersed with cursory narrative noting significant events. The emphasis on commissioning dates for battleships and aircraft carriers served as a misleading yardstick for the growth of the Navy, especially when far more cruisers, destroyers, and amphibious ships and craft were commissioned or placed in service during World War II. In terms of coverage, the period between the onset of European hostilities in September 1939 and the attack on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in December 1941 was conspicuous by its brevity.
While the original had served its purpose as a reference work, tremendous strides made in the research and writing of World War II naval history revealed that merely republishing the old work would not suffice. Readers who compare this chronology with the earlier edition will find many additions. The original alleged omission of lost U.S. naval vessels below the size of tank-landing ships (LSTs), but motor torpedo boats (much smaller than LSTs) were mentioned while larger amphibious ships—notably tank landing craft (LCT) and infantry landing craft (LCI)—were not. Likewise district craft were slighted.
The earlier edition only recounted losses of the major combatants of the Axis navies, skewing the outcome of naval battles in which enemy ships were damaged but not sunk. For this new edition, wherever it could be ascertained what enemy ships were damaged in encounters with American ships or planes, the enemy vessel is named. The U.S. Navy’s operations against German blockade runners, largely omitted from the original, are also included. Reference to Vichy French naval vessels damaged or sunk by American submarines earned mention in the original, but the heavy losses suffered by the French in battle off Casablanca (November 1942) were not—an oversight rectified in this volume.
Because it was specifically a U.S. Navy chronology for World War II, the original editors made a conscious effort to not include the activities of merchant ships. But the continuation of trade by a neutral United States led to detention of U.S. merchantmen and the seizure of cargoes deemed contraband by belligerents. British interference with U.S. commerce during 1939 is important in comprehending the American attitude toward Great Britain at that point in the war. Incidents where U.S. merchantmen rescued British or French sailors from their torpedoed ships show that Americans sailed in dangerous seas carrying out their “business in great waters” before formal American entry into the conflict. Because historians have come to understand naval operations within the framework of a broader maritime perspective, U.S. merchant ship–related incidents have been included. While some might question broadening the scope, one cannot ignore those operations without doing disservice to the hazards faced by the oftunsung officers and enlisted men who served in the U.S. Navy’s Armed Guard detachments.
Likewise, the massive U.S. submarine campaign against Japanese merchant shipping originally was not addressed. Its omission in a U.S. Navy chronology is inexplicable when one considers that the war waged by the “Silent Service” played a significant role in disrupting Japan’s logistics to its far-flung empire.
Another aspect that proved bothersome was the vague terminology. The word “collision” seemed ambiguous when one checked ships’ war diaries and action reports, and often what was termed a “collision” was in effect no more than a nautical fender bender. Refueling at sea has always required seamanship of a high order, especially where conditions of wind and wave make it particularly hazardous. Ships occasionally come together during such encounters, as they would during reammunitioning or revictualing. Many of the collisions noted in the following text occurred during amphibious operations or in convoys. They reflect not only congested waters off busy beachheads but inclement weather such as sailors found in the often inhospitable climes of the Aleutians or the North Atlantic.
Verifying “accidental explosions” revealed incidents that ranged from a ship accidentally firing into herself, to a turret explosion, to bombs exploding onboard an aircraft that had just landed on a carrier flight deck. Wherever possible the reason for the damage is clarified. Vague references to “United States forces” scuttlings led to attempts to verify the cause. The cumbersome “coastal defense guns” simply became “shore batteries” and “United States naval gunfire” became “friendly fire,” where appropriate.
As much as possible, the nomenclature of enemy vessels (such as the replacement of “raider” with “auxiliary cruiser” or “armed merchant cruiser” and “armored ship” for “pocket battleship”) has been rendered more accurately. Unless otherwise specified, naval vessels are designated with the nationality (Japanese destroyer, Japanese cargo ship, et cetera); where an army-chartered or civilian ship is referred to, the nationality plus either “army” or “merchant” is used to differentiate, as well as can be determined, those ships from naval vessels. Japanese surnames precede the given name.
Every effort was made to pinpoint the most exact location of each incident. Longitude/latitude coordinates are given whenever available from official reports. Varying details regarding the location of a specific place were encountered in source documents, especially for the Pacific theatre. For example, “Savo Island, Solomons” may be mentioned in some source documents and “Savo Island, Guadalcanal” mentioned in other source documents. Because either description will lead the reader to the area of action, no attempt was made to consistently identify the location of Savo Island, which is located in the southeast Solomon Islands group, northwest of Guadalcanal Island.
If coordinates are not given and the place name mentioned in the source document is not found in a standard dictionary, more detailed information has been added to direct the reader to the location. For example, “Menado” is identified as “Menado, Celebes” and “Chichi Jima” is identified as “Chichi Jima, Bonins.”
Brief accounts are included of individuals who were awarded the Medal of Honor. This was done to bring a human dimension to the war, as well as to provide a context for these acts of bravery. While their circumstances differed, the common denominator was devotion to duty.
Inevitably one who compiles a chronology comes under fire for trying to be too exclusive or too inclusive. The decision of what to include in The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II has been mine alone. There will be complaints that certain events have been omitted. Given the scope of the work, one has to try and do justice to an entire war. A book of this nature is very much a “work in progress.”
Any errors of fact in the following pages are mine alone, and the opinions and interpretations contained herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of the Navy.
As is the case with any enterprise of this magnitude, there is a goodly company of people whose unique contributions I appreciate more than mere words can express. I particularly thank William S. Dudley, director of naval history (and his predecessor, Dean C. Allard), and Edward J. Marolda, senior historian, for asking me to undertake this project; William J. Morgan, historian emeritus at the Historical Center, for his insight and input; and Sandra J. Doyle and Wendy Karppi for their editorial assistance, as well as seemingly limitless patience, on numerous occasions. I especially thank the “band of brothers” in the Contemporary History Branch, Jeffrey G. Barlow, Richard A. Russell, John D. Sherwood, Robert J. Schneller, and Curtis A. Utz, for their insightful comments and unfailing good humor, as well as support and encouragement. Gary E. Weir, head of Contemporary History, deserves special acknowledgment for his unique contributions to this project. In addition the peer review he convened allowed me to benefit from the insights not only of the aforementioned scholars, but also Timothy Francis of the Center’s Ship’s History Branch; Lt. Col. Roger Cirillo, USA; Robert G. Browning Jr.; Scott T. Price; Sarandis Papadapoulis; and Roger Havern. Samuel L. Morison took the time to point out errors in the original edition. Richard B. Frank, Charles R. Haberlein, John B. Lundstrom, James T. Rindt, and James C. Sawruk read portions of the manuscript and offered helpful suggestions. Capt. Edward L. “Ned” Beach, USN (Ret.), proved a great help in calling attention to shortcomings of the original work during the formative stages of the revision.
No historian can perform his work without good source material. I would like to thank Bernard F. Cavalcante, head of the Operational Archives Branch, and his magnificent staff. Words of praise are too few to laud Kathleen M. Lloyd, Richard M. Walker, Regina T. Akers, John L. Hodges, and Ariana T. Jacob, who were never too busy to facilitate my research in what eventually amounted to hundreds of action reports, war diaries, command files, and biography files. I particularly appreciate their patient assistance when I called with yet another request in the midst of their own often hectic workday. Another group of people who took my frequent visits in stride is the Navy Department Library staff: Jean Hort, Glenn Helm, Tonya Montgomery, David Brown, Davis Elliott, and Barbara Auman. Likewise my old friends in Ship’s History, John C. Reilly Jr., James L. Mooney, Raymond A. Mann, Kevin Hurst, and Cherie Watson, cooperated cheerfully in allowing me to check pertinent files in the office that had been my professional home for more than a decade. Edwin Finney and Jack Green facilitated my research in the superbly organized Photographic Section of the Center’s Curator Branch. Barry Zerby at the National Archives’ College Park facility provided timely research assistance. Dana Bell of the National Air and Space Museum provided valuable input concerning USAAF operations during World War II. The Center’s naval reservists, led by Capt. William Galvani, USNR, contributed to the project by putting the contents of the original chronology on diskette—a very necessary first step.
This chronology is dedicated to those men and women who served in the United States Navy during World War II, who continued to build upon the traditions of those who had served in the past, and who forged new traditions for the current generation.
I also dedicate this work to my wife, Linda; to my children, Christine and Bobby, who often put up with my bringing work home in the course of my career; and to my father, Lt. Cdr. Wilmer H. Cressman, USN (Ret.), who served in the transport Susan B. Anthony (AP 73) in the Mediterranean (1943) and in the attack cargo ship Almaack (AKA 10) in the Pacific (1944–1945), and who was an active participant in amphibious operations from Sicily to Iwo Jima. He and my mother (who died in 1988) provided me with a stable, loving, and nurturing home in my formative years as I grew to love naval history. I am also grateful to my friends (whether classmates or workplace colleagues) who have encouraged me from junior high school to the present to grow as a writer and as a historian—for this work is a product of their help as well.
