EPIC VOYAGE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 106, 7 May 1942, Page 7

EPIC VOYAGE

AMERICAN CRUISER

13,000 Miles From Indies In Badly Damaged State

Rec. 1 p.m. WASHINGTON, May 6.

The Navy Department announced that the light cruiser Marblehead, which the Japanese have repeatedly claimed to have sunk, arrived at ah east coast port badly damaged but definitely afloat after an epic journey of approximately 13,000 miles, halfway round the world, made after a bombing attack in which she was hit twice directly, killing 15 and Wounding 20. She was once damaged under water by a near miss during the preliminary phases of the battle in the Netherlands East Indies, when the Japanese were advancing through Macassar Strait. Torrents of water sometimes poured through the sides in such volumes that a bucket brigade supplemented the pumps to avert swamping. At least 54 bombers participated in the attack on the Marblehead and four accompanying destroyers. The Marblehead was rocked by explosion, swept by fire, nearly flooded, and the steering gear was completely disabled, necessitating steering by the engines. Rudderless, the Marblehead eventually reached Ceylon, where some repairs were effected. Thence she proceeded home via Africa. The navy correspondent says: "Hers is the story of the ship that was bombed to hell and was brought right out again by a crew that does not know the meaning of the word abandon."