Great Pacific War: A History of the American-Japanese Campaign of 1931-33 by Hector C. Bywater Page A
Authors: Hector C. Bywater
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an underestimate, for the first shots came when our instruments registered 24,000 yards, and they fell pretty close. As we were watching the leading ship, which we took to be the Kongo , we saw a single flash from her forward turret. Some forty-five seconds later there was a roaring sound like an express train, and a giant spout rose from the sea about six hundred yards to starboard. After this the enemy was silent for a couple of minutes, during which we turned several points to port to keep the range open as much as possible, our destroyers meanwhile having put up a big smoke screen.
At 10.45 the Kongo let us have a 4-gun salvo, and a moment later the other two battle-cruisers joined in. The air was full of noise as the huge 1400-pounder projectiles roared overhead. They missed us clean, though the splash of one shell was close enough to wet the quarterdeck. We were just going into the conning-tower when I turned to look back at the Frederick , and at that instant saw a sheet of flame burst from her side. She must have been hit amidships in the 6-inch battery by a high-explosive shell which detonated just inside the thin armour. As I watched, two more shells burst aboard her, both well forward, but I could not wait to see what damage had been done. We had not yet been hit, for the enemy seemed to be concentrating on the Frederick , which he may have mistaken for the flagship. The range was now 21,000 yards — far too long for our pop-guns; but the strain of being under heavy fire without the ability to reply was so wearing that the Admiral gave orders for our after 10-inch turret to try a few shots, ‘just to quieten the men’ as he put it. Needless to say, the spotter reported all rounds short of the target, but it was certainly some relief to hear our guns going.
We received our first hit at 10.53, a shell coming in obliquely a few feet from the bows but well above the water-line, exploding with sufficient force to blow up a considerable stretch of the forecastle deck. A report now came from the top that the Frederick was in difficulties, with two funnels shot away and heavily on fire aft. Although still on an even keel she was low in the water, and must have been badly hit on or below her armour belt. Now as the enemy, with his far superior speed, could have closed the range and finished us off long before this had he so desired, it was evident that he was treating the affair as a long-range battle shoot to give his gunners practice. But this did not suit the Admiral’s book. If we were not to perish ignominiously, without striking a single blow before we went, our only chance was to steam in until our guns would bear, taking the risk of getting smashed up while so doing. We accordingly turned to starboard and worked up to our full speed of twenty-one knots. Whether the unexpectedness of this manoeuvre took the enemy by surprise, or whether he thought he would let us rush on to destruction, I cannot tell; but it is certain that we got to within 15,000 yards of his line without being seriously hit. Both our turrets were now firing with the utmost rapidity, and even the 6-inch starboard battery joined in, though in their case it was probably wasted ammunition. We got at least one hit on the Kongo , for I saw a big explosion at the base of her second funnel, and she seemed to sheer a little out of line. But this was as far as we were allowed to go. Thinking he had given us enough rope, the Japanese admiral must have decided to end the game without further ado.
What followed is beyond description; all around us the sea spouted and boiled; there were half a dozen terrific explosions in as many seconds; I heard one appalling crash as if a giant redwood tree had toppled athwart our deck; then there was a blaze of light, another ear-splitting crash, and everything came to an end for me. When I recovered my senses I was being dragged into a boat from the destroyer Hulbert . They told me the flagship had foundered at 11.30,
At 10.45 the Kongo let us have a 4-gun salvo, and a moment later the other two battle-cruisers joined in. The air was full of noise as the huge 1400-pounder projectiles roared overhead. They missed us clean, though the splash of one shell was close enough to wet the quarterdeck. We were just going into the conning-tower when I turned to look back at the Frederick , and at that instant saw a sheet of flame burst from her side. She must have been hit amidships in the 6-inch battery by a high-explosive shell which detonated just inside the thin armour. As I watched, two more shells burst aboard her, both well forward, but I could not wait to see what damage had been done. We had not yet been hit, for the enemy seemed to be concentrating on the Frederick , which he may have mistaken for the flagship. The range was now 21,000 yards — far too long for our pop-guns; but the strain of being under heavy fire without the ability to reply was so wearing that the Admiral gave orders for our after 10-inch turret to try a few shots, ‘just to quieten the men’ as he put it. Needless to say, the spotter reported all rounds short of the target, but it was certainly some relief to hear our guns going.
We received our first hit at 10.53, a shell coming in obliquely a few feet from the bows but well above the water-line, exploding with sufficient force to blow up a considerable stretch of the forecastle deck. A report now came from the top that the Frederick was in difficulties, with two funnels shot away and heavily on fire aft. Although still on an even keel she was low in the water, and must have been badly hit on or below her armour belt. Now as the enemy, with his far superior speed, could have closed the range and finished us off long before this had he so desired, it was evident that he was treating the affair as a long-range battle shoot to give his gunners practice. But this did not suit the Admiral’s book. If we were not to perish ignominiously, without striking a single blow before we went, our only chance was to steam in until our guns would bear, taking the risk of getting smashed up while so doing. We accordingly turned to starboard and worked up to our full speed of twenty-one knots. Whether the unexpectedness of this manoeuvre took the enemy by surprise, or whether he thought he would let us rush on to destruction, I cannot tell; but it is certain that we got to within 15,000 yards of his line without being seriously hit. Both our turrets were now firing with the utmost rapidity, and even the 6-inch starboard battery joined in, though in their case it was probably wasted ammunition. We got at least one hit on the Kongo , for I saw a big explosion at the base of her second funnel, and she seemed to sheer a little out of line. But this was as far as we were allowed to go. Thinking he had given us enough rope, the Japanese admiral must have decided to end the game without further ado.
What followed is beyond description; all around us the sea spouted and boiled; there were half a dozen terrific explosions in as many seconds; I heard one appalling crash as if a giant redwood tree had toppled athwart our deck; then there was a blaze of light, another ear-splitting crash, and everything came to an end for me. When I recovered my senses I was being dragged into a boat from the destroyer Hulbert . They told me the flagship had foundered at 11.30,
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