“For outstanding heroism in action against enemy Japanese forces off Komandorski Islands, Bearing Sea, on March 26, 1943. With the only heavy cruiser of our small task force dead in the water following a fierce three-and-one-half-hour battle, the U.S.S. BAILEY led a determined torpedo attack against the superior Japanese surface force which was still closing our ships. Unprotected by friendly aircraft and without benefit of darkness or a smoke screen, she steamed forward at maximum speed, leading two other destroyers through a heavy barrage of hostile gunfire and concentrating her fire on the enemy’s leading heavy cruiser. Struck in rapid succession by two 8-inch shells and damaged by numerous near hits as she closed to within 9,000 yards, she launched five torpedoes and turned to retire just before two additional shell hits flooded her and rendered one engine inoperative. The only destroyer to release her torpedoes, the BAILEY succeeded in damaging one heavy cruiser and in turning back an overwhelming enemy force at the most crucial point of the battle. Her meritorious record of achievement is evidence of her own readiness for combat and the gallantry and seamanship of her officers and men.”
Source: NARA Modern Military Records (NECTM). Textual Archives Services Division.
