O.S. CARRIER ROCKED BY JAP. TORPEDOES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 255, 28 October 1942, Page 3

O.S. CARRIER ROCKED BY JAP. TORPEDOES

LOSS OF THE HASP

Captain Tells Of Heroism In Last Hours Rec. 1. PEARL HARBOUR, Oct. 27. A Navy Department communique states that the United States aircraftcarrier Wasp, 14,700 tons, was sunk in the South Pacific on September 15 as the result of a submarine attack. The Wasp floated for five hours and sank when no enemy forces were in the vicinity. This was the reason why the announcement of the loss was delayed for so long, as the possibility remained that the enemy was not aware of the sinking.

The Wasp was changing course when the torpedoes struck, and but for a matter of minutes would have escaped the disaster, Captain Forest Sherman, of the carrier, told reporters. He added that the Wasp was the flagship of a task force bringing badly needed reinforcements of troops and planes to Guadaicanar.

Three torpedoes struck the vicinity of the magazines and petrol tanks just while the petrol system was actively fuelling planes and other planes were being armed with bombs. The tremendous shock rocked the ship. The flash extended for over 100 feet into the air, immediately set fire to the deck hangars and caused heavy internal explosions, including tanks, bombs and ammunition, enveloping the bridge in gas and smoke and also setting lire to oil and petrol on the surface of the sea surrounding the WaspThe breakage of the water lines hampered fire fighting and by 5 p.m. the entire ship was aflame. Little could be done except to get the planes overboard. Eighty minutes after the hit Captain Sherman gave the order "Abandon ship," but because enemy submarines were still in the vicinity it was impossible to abandon ship too deliberately. Most of the men went down lines and swam to a destroyer which, while picking up the men, carefully manoeuvred to evade submarines. "I observed enemy torpedoes passing the area while rescue work was in progress," continued Captain Sherman. "After taking a last look round I climbed down a line and was picked up by a destroyer after an hour and a half in the water. After dark our destroyers torpedoed and sank the Wasp, which was burning brightly from stem to stern." Inspiring Deeds Captain Sherman related inspiring deeds of self-sacrifice and heroism. As an example Air Officer Commander Michael Kernodle gave his lifebelt to a man who could not swim, and Lieutenant - Commander Shea directed fire fighting on the flight deck disregarding exploding ammunition and the air filled with debris and fragments. Commander Shea was last seen dying in a violent explosion. The entire crew displayed valiant heroism.

"The chief difficulty I encountered in abandoning ship was in getting the men to leave because all insisted someone else should go first," said Captain Sherman. He also confirmed that Mr. Jack Singer, correspondent of the International News Service, was killed in the ward room of the blazing ship while operating a typewriter. The planes which left the burning ship landed on other carriers or on island airfields. Some of the flyers remained in the Solomons and had avenged the Wasp by since destroying Japanese ships. Wounded survivors whom Captain Sherman visited in hospital unanimously asked: "Get another carrier, captain. We want to go back again." Sailors Sing and Liaugh The sailors hit the water singing and laughing when ordered to abandon the Wasp, related a survivor, James Turner, visiting his family in Atlanta, Georgia. Turner is a shipfitter, second-class. He was sitting in the bow when the first torpedo struck, hurling him to the deck and bruising his hands and kness. The ship listed heavily, but righted itself before the second and third torpedoes struck. When the sailors abandoned the Wasp planes from the carrier circled overhead, dropping inflated life rafts, and destroyers paused in their depth-bombing operations to shoot a shark approaching some swimmers. W. C. Chapman, a fireman, declared at Miami that it felt like an earthquake when the torpedoes shook the ship from stem to stern. The men in the forward part of the ship were thrown around like ten-pins.