After completing school, I was sent by train to the Charleston Navy Yard in Boston for assignment to the destroyer, De Haven. From there, I went with a crew just adequate to board and sail the ship to Boston for the commissioning ceremony. It was the first time that I had been at sea and I was somewhat seasick by the time we reached Boston.
I was a Seaman 1C and assigned to the division responsible for the torpedoes and depth charges. This division was required to remove the torpedo and depth charge firing mechanisms and install the primers upon leaving port and then remove them each time we returned to port. This work was sometimes unpleasant as we encountered some cold and rough weather during our shake down cruise on the north East Coast.
It was great weather as we sailed south from Norfolk in November 1942 en route to the Panama Canal and the South Pacific. I had recovered from being seasick and relieved from having to remove and install the primers in the torpedoes and depth charges from every unit on board ship upon entering and leaving port.
I don't remember the date, but during our trip to the south Pacific, I was promoted to Torpedoman 3C. The 1st class Torpedoman and I were the only petty officers in the torpedo division. There were several Seamen that worked with us. I had the torpedo shack almost to myself as the 1st class Torpedoman spent most of his time with other petty officers of more nearly the same rate. We had our own coffeepot and some pure white torpedo alcohol available if we wanted something stronger than coffee.
After arrival in the South Pacific, we were assigned convoy duty between New Caledonia, Espritu Santo and Guadalcanal. During one of these trips, a submarine periscope was spotted off our starboard bow while I was standing watch on the bridge at the torpedo directors and depth charge controls. Orders were given to immediately drop a full depth charge pattern and I was really excited about doing the necessary functions to drop and fire the depth charges from the bridge controls. It was not determined whether we sunk the submarine, but I was glad to see the charges gone, as there were fewer rust spots, which had to be scraped and painted. It was one of my duties to keep the rust from the torpedo tubes and depth charges and the deck around them. We were with several other destroyers for several days during the last part of January 1943 which were shelling the beaches of Guadalcanal with the 5-inch guns. We would anchor in Tulagi harbor at night and spend several hours off loading 5-inch powder cases and loading ammunition to replace that which had been fired during the day.
My brother, George, was on the USS McKean, an APD, which entered Tulagi harbor while we were there and he was able to get the ship's whale boat to bring him to the De Haven for a short visit. He was later transferred off the McKean and my other brother, Arthur, was aboard it when it was sunk on 11-17-43 at Empress Augusta Bay.
Japanese dive-bombers attacked us on 2-1-43. Just before the attack, I was scraping paint on the deck near the number 2 torpedo mount. Just after getting to my duty station at the torpedo director on the starboard side of the bridge, the first bomb struck and penetrated the deck near where I had been scraping paint. It exploded below deck and I'm sure that it must have killed most of the fire and engine room crews in that area.
The 1st class Torpedoman immediately ordered over the sound powered telephones that all depth charges be placed on "safe". As I was trained in this procedure, I asked for and received permission to go below and assist the men set the charges on "safe". After finding that the order had been carried out, I started to return to the bridge, but after climbing the first ladder to the second deck, the bomb that struck the bow exploded and I was blown down onto the main deck onto a pile of potatoes that had broken out of their wooden crates, where they had been stored on deck, by the force of the explosions. I was dazed and when I got to my feet, water was already on deck. It was obvious that the ship was sinking fast, so I stepped over the lifelines and into the ocean, which was covered with a thick layer of heavy black fuel oil. The oil seemed very hot and coated me from head to foot. I had not blown up my life belt which we wore rather than the life jacket. I found that I couldn't open the inflation valve with my hands coated with oil, so I put the valve into my mouth, clamped down with my teeth and twisted the hose and was then able to open the valve and inflate the belt.
