Authors: Bruce Henderson
Complete book publication details are supplied in the bibliography. World War II U.S. Navy records such as deck logs, action reports, and war diaries are available at the National Archives II, College Park, Maryland. Other naval documents, such as oral and command histories, and communications, are collected at the Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. Military personnel records are available at the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri. Information about destroyer (DD) and destroyer escort (DE) veterans is available from the National Association of Destroyer Veterans (www.destroyers.org).
Prologue
“a Nebraska farm kid”: Charles Wohlleb interview.
“Jesusâ¦After fire room” and further quotations attributed to Franklin Horkey: Wohlleb interview.
Chapter One
“in readiness”: Log of
Monaghan,
Dec. 6, 1941.
“an old Worldâ¦âWe have attacked'”: Roscoe,
Destroyer Operations
, p. 45.
“Proceed immediatelyâ¦sound general quarters” and further quotations attributed to William P. Burford and the ship's lookout, Action Report,
Monaghan,
Dec. 30, 1941.
“wanting to getâ¦Well, Curtissâ¦an over andâ¦had to depth”: Prange,
December 7, 1941,
pp. 235â36.
“Okay, Captain”: Lord,
Day of Infamy,
p. 122.
n
. “unexplained and almost”: Morison,
The Rising Sun in the Pacific,
p. 97.
“could scarcely”:
New York Times,
Dec. 7, 2006.
“smoldering lust”:
Commercial Appeal
(Memphis, Tenn.), Jan. 26, 1945.
“which will live in infamy”: Franklin D. Roosevelt speech, Dec. 8, 1941.
“inspected as to quality”: Log of
Hull,
Dec. 7, 1941.
“quite a fewâ¦only man aboardâ¦goofy guyâ¦The Japs areâ¦wasn't offâ¦one solid blastâ¦something was always”: Ray Schultz interview.
“on a scale”: Cant,
America's Navy in World War II
, p. 41.
“still a couple of”: Morison,
The Struggle for Guadalcanal
, p. 286.
“take and no give”: Morison,
The Rising Sun in the Pacific
, p. 118.
“out ofâ¦directed toward”: DuCharme,
Recollections of 7 December 1941
, p. 7.
“squirting a garden hose”: Schultz interview. 13â
“no drillâ¦the real McCoyâ¦just a mess”: Tom Stealey interview.
“I can swimâ¦all over the place”: Stealey interview.
“so smashing a victory”: Morison,
The Rising Sun in the Pacific
, p. 125.
1,465 U.S. servicemen: Ryan,
The Longest Day
, p. 303.
“tin cansâ¦too thin”: Halsey,
Admiral Halsey's Story
, p. 43.
“never mastered”: ibid., p. 59.
“guessed that the blame”: ibid., p. 82.
“seafarers and adventurers”: ibid., p. 2.
“There are exceptions”: ibid., p. xiii.
“fighting-cock stanceâ¦beetle-brows”: Potter,
Bull Halsey
, p. 1.
“Admiral”: Halsey,
Admiral Halsey's Story
, p. 77.
“My God”: Halsey dictated memoirs; Thomas,
Sea of Thunder
, p. 37.
“scene after scene”: Prange,
December 7, 1941
, p. 372.
“see enoughâ¦the worstâ¦Before we're”: Halsey,
Admiral Halsey's Story
, p. 81.
Chapter Two
“Our Navy hasâ¦are grimly”: Bath
Daily Times
, Oct. 27, 1942.
“the Stradivarius of destroyers”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 39.
“throughoutâ¦could be felt”: Bath
Daily Times
, Oct. 27, 1942.
“fast, roomy”: Friedman,
U.S. Destroyers
, p. 111.
n
. “the heart and soul”: Holland,
The Navy
, p. 115.
“We will fightâ¦the enlisted men”: Bath
Daily Times
, Oct. 27, 1942.
“perpetual mist”: Morison,
Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls
, p. 3.
“Roman holiday”: ibid., p. 24.
“just thrilledâ¦Cut 'em inâ¦all be over”: Joseph Candelaria interview.
“revved up”: DuCharme,
Recollections of 7 December 1941
, p. 24.
“sitting duckâ¦little chanceâ¦magnificent and”: Morison,
Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls
, p. 31.
“expendableâ¦Torpedoes!â¦I wouldn't”: Candelaria interview.
“I should haveâ¦in the states”: Ernest Stahlberg interview.
“We were goners”: Candelaria interview.
“smothering themâ¦seemed impossibleâ¦outstandingly valiant”: Morison,
Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls
, p. 32.
“boy, what a sight”: Joseph Guio letter, Dec. 21, 1943.
“what seemed almost”: Morison,
Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls
, p. 31.
“no fightsâ¦Just having”: Candelaria interview.
Chapter Three
“the firstâ¦surprised and”: Morison,
The Struggle for Guadalcanal
, p. 15.
“various holesâ¦traumatic amputation”: Action Report,
Hull
, Aug. 11, 1942.
“in forâ¦What makesâ¦There's smokeâ¦sunk a truckâ¦ran Japsâ¦short chainâ¦no matchâ¦the treesâ¦nothing to eatâ¦artillery duty”: Schultz interview.
“British and warm”: Michael Franchak interview.
“headed up northâ¦You're going”: Patrick Douhan interview.
“thawed intoâ¦in a fog”: Roscoe,
Destroyer Operations
, pp. 249, 250.
“as unlike those”: Morison,
Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls
, p. 38.
“frozen stiffâ¦about twenty-oneâ¦wiped outâ¦the whole ship”: Franchak interview.
“fog hung overâ¦thicker thanâ¦glowing mushroomâ¦like a deadâ¦remarkable exploit”: Roscoe,
Destroyer Operations
, pp. 252, 253.
“by three feetâ¦But Iâ¦I trembled”: Guio letter, Dec. 21, 1943.
“long, tedious”: Candelaria interview.
“possibly the world's”: Roscoe,
Destroyer Operations
, p. 246a (caption).
Chapter Four
“green as grass”:
Time
, “King of the Cans,” July 17, 1944.
“5 percentâ¦screwed upâ¦tough but”: Al Bunin interview.
“some of us”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 37.
“You have over”: ibid., p. 219.
“refresher course”:
Parkin, Blood on the Sea
, p. 264.
“hard-driving”: Potter,
Admiral Arleigh Burke
, p. 51.
“a thousand milesâ¦work like hell”: Potter,
Admiral Arleigh Burke
, pp. 3, 15.
“trademark thatâ¦the little beavers”: Potter,
Admiral Arleigh Burke
, p. 93.
“how he loved”:
Converse
newsletter, Mar. 1983.
“I'm heading”: Potter,
Admiral Arleigh Burke
, p. 93.
“administered to”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 5.
“superior cruiser”: Morison,
Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier
, p. 313.
“to attack upon”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 22.
“the first to”: Sigismund L. Koperniak diary, Nov. 3, 1943.
“wracked by a murderous”: Parkin,
Blood on the Sea
, p. 264.
“Execute turnâ¦roughly parallelâ¦sparks flewâ¦handsome silverâ¦the good saint”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, pp. 230, 231. 45â
“right standardâ¦Ship approachingâ¦Full rightâ¦in night actions”: Action Report,
Spence
, Nov. 8, 1943.
“feisty Spenceâ¦columns of fire”: Parkin,
Blood on the Sea
, p. 265.
“We haveâ¦Cease firing!”: Potter,
Admiral Arleigh Burke
, pp. 97, 98.
“Sorry, but”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 234.
“scared plentyâ¦overcame fear”: Koperniak diary, Nov. 3, 1943.
“sprawled overâ¦suddenly came”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 240.
“swift continuousâ¦pouring outâ¦masterpieces”: Morison,
Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier,
p. 322.
“fanatical speechâ¦swarming”: Parkin,
Blood on the Sea
, p. 265.
“the most weird”: Koperniak diary, Nov. 10, 1943.
“very good intelligence”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 240.
“Please, Arleigh”: Jones and Kelley,
Admiral Arleigh (31-Knot) Burke
, p. 133.
“31-Knot Burke”: Potter,
Admiral Arleigh Burke
, p. 102.
“gentle reproach”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 40.
âsardonic rib”: Jones and Kelley,
Admiral Arleigh (31-Knot) Burke
, p. 133.
“with true instinct”: Morison,
Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier
, p. 354.
“any Allied”: Potter,
Admiral Arleigh Burke
, p. 103.
“a foeâ¦a waitâ¦detonations boomedâ¦orange flame”: Roscoe,
Destroyer Operations
, p. 264.
“in hot pursuitâ¦One more”: Morison,
Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier
, p. 356.
“fuel lineâ¦King of”:
Time
, July 17, 1944.
“Never had the”: Potter,
Admiral Arleigh Burke
, p. 106.
“not evenâ¦an almostâ¦fortune ofâ¦we reached”: Morison,
Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier
, pp. 358â59.
“hoisted into”: Jones,
Destroyer Squadron 23
, p. 264.
“Yesterday was”: Robert Strand letter, Nov. 26, 1943.
Chapter Five
“viciously interceptedâ¦gallantly pressedâ¦courageous fightingâ¦played a major”: Distinguished Flying Cross citation.
“dogfighting a Zero”: Robert J. Cressman, Naval Historical Center, “Tabberer,” revised Nov. 2006.
“immediate activeâ¦assistant athletic”: Henry L. Plage letter, Jan. 7, 1941.
“cruiser, battleship”: Plage letter, Mar. 6, 1942.
“engulfed himselfâ¦one step”: Arthur H. Plage interview.
“above average”: Report of Fitness, Henry Lee Plage, Jan. 31, 1944.
“I believe”: Navy News Service, Aug. 1, 2005.
“90 Dayâ¦couldn't get”: Henry L. Plage letter, circa 2001.
“run the ship”: Paul Phillips interview.
“engines going”: Log of
Tabberer,
May 29, 1944.
“very capable”: Frank Burbage interview.
“great ship handler”: Tom Bellino interview.
“Cruising in the”: Log of
Tabberer,
June 11, 1944.
“hardly stay up”: Howard Korth interview.
“youthful exuberance”: Henry L. Plage statement, Aug. 30, 1986.
“very highâ¦treated the enlisted”: Burbage interview.
“attached toâ¦from timeâ¦everybody loved”: Bellino interview.
“best chowâ¦couldn't get fatâ¦best cinnamonâ¦not too toughâ¦cutting backâ¦not many dogsâ¦they didn't look”: Phillips interview. 62â
“establishment thatâ¦made a fewâ¦took onâ¦bloody, withâ¦a real crewâ¦not supposedâ¦the first timeâ¦developed realâ¦so very”: Plage statement, Aug. 30, 1986.
“pretty good system”: Adamson and Kosco,
Halsey's Typhoons
, p. 130.
“there alwaysâ¦Sir, you”: Phillips interview.
“under warâ¦Ensign Surdam”: Report of Fitness, Robert McClellan Surdam, Dec. 8, 1941.
“As officer of”: Report of Fitness, Surdam, Dec. 12, 1943.
“the fitting”: Navy Dept. Bureau of Personnel letter, May 8, 1944.
Chapter Six
“goners”: Candelaria interview.
“more valuableâ¦mother wouldâ¦thinking of”: Candelaria interview.
“murderous fireâ¦the Marines”: Candelaria interview.
“the Presidentâ¦we are goingâ¦The Monaghan isâ¦lots and lotsâ¦Bill, I've changedâ¦putting a fake”: Guio letter, Dec. 21, 1943.
“never-ending cheerfulness”: Joseph C. McCrane letter, Mar. 15, 1945.
“real laid-backâ¦like a father”: Russell Friesen interview.
“exceptionally well”: Calhoun,
Typhoon: The Other Enemy
, p. 16.
“GQ Wendtâ¦every fiveâ¦everyone wantedâ¦all wrapped up”: Joseph C. McCrane interview.
“a very religiousâ¦Mother McCrane”: Candelaria interview.
“knows whereâ¦Now I'm goingâ¦Is she dancingâ¦I thought heâ¦wouldn't haveâ¦Louie walk”: Candelaria interview.
“falling overâ¦over a mileâ¦closer than”: Statement Concerning Finding of Death, May 1, 1945.
“they took theâ¦
looked
like”: McCrane interview.
“pounded the”: Candelaria,
Tin Cans
, p. 198.
“all nightâ¦monotonousâ¦back and forthâ¦not doing much”: Candelaria interview.
“when the Japsâ¦filled theirâ¦started atâ¦good shipâ¦pretty busy”: Evan Fenn interview.
Chapter Seven
“quite a fewâ¦murderous journey”: Franchak interview.
“dim, flashingâ¦a floatâ¦a holeâ¦presenting aâ¦column ofâ¦mighty roarâ¦men, planesâ¦fragments ofâ¦flared upâ¦spreading poolâ¦frightful conditionâ¦thickly covered”: Morison,
Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls
, pp. 140â41.
“an uneasyâ¦blew upâ¦but never”: Douhan interview.
“entered the oil”: Action Report,
Monaghan
, Dec. 10, 1943.