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A World War II Experience USS Aaron Ward DD-483
We were then ordered to Casco Bay, Maine for shakedown cruise with the North Carolina, a new battleship. With the battleship and heavy cruiser we escorted a high speed convoy about thirty miles off the coast of England, then returned to Casco Bay, Maine. Then we were ordered with a heavy cruiser to escort the SS United States and Queen Elizabeth, who were loaded with 40,000 troops to the Panama Canal Zone. The troops were then loaded on regular troop ships and we sailed for San Diego, California. From San Diego, CA we were ordered to Alaska to intercept the landing of Japanese troops. The skipper had a Japanese cruiser in his sights and asked for permission to fire torpedoes, but was denied by the Vice-Admiral. We next were ordered to stand off Wake Island. We then returned to San Diego where the first battle group was formed under Vice-admiral William "Bull" Frederick Halsey. The ship then proceeded to the Solomons to escort and aid in the landing of the Marines on Guadalcanal. On Nov-12-1942 a Japanese submarine torpedoed our carrier, "Wasp". I was running to my battle station when the captain ordered me to put on the phones so we could launch the 600 pound "Ash Cans" (underwater explosives) in an attempt to damage or destroy the submarine. I did as directed and we sank her, it came up under our hull. The Japanese never knew they had hit our carrier. The burning carrier was outlining the rest of the fleet against the horizon, exposing our ships as targets for possible other enemy submarines and planes. After the crew and planes were rescued from the carrier the admiral ordered planes from Henderson Field to sink her. At about 2:45 on the morning of Nov-13-1942 the night battle began off Guadalcanal. At first, we were in the rear for the reason that we had the Commodore on board and had the most modern radar on board. The Skipper asked for permission to enter the foray and it was granted. I believe, we either hit its fuel tank or ammunition hold because she blew up and sank by the stern. We were hit nine times by enemy shells and left dead in the water shortly after a Japanese battleship began firing at us. The admiral ordered the planes from Henderson field to sink her, which they did. The Japanese had to rescue their admiral from the sea after that battle. For the two days of combat, we were given special commendation by the commanding officer. We also received a special thanks from President Roosevelt. We lost 15 men because of the battle, and 39 more were wounded severely. We were ordered to New Hebrides for inspection of damage. Admiral Halsey decided to send us, escorted with a four piper WW1 destroyer to Pearl Harbor for repair. While their, we drew for short straw in the electrical shop to see who would get to go to San Diego for Master Gyro Compass School. I won and was sent to San Diego. The ship rejoined the fleet on April 7, 1943 while covering LST 449 off Tagoma Point, & was attacked by a squadron of Jap planes. They manage to shoot one down and hit two others, but were sunk by their bombs in shallow water. From this action 19 killed and 59 wounded. In 1995 I received a letter from New Zealand notifying me that the Aaron Ward had been located in shallow waters off Guadalcanal with her guns pointed skyward, and had shells on her decks. There was a large gaping hole on the port side of an engine room. She went down stern first. I am not permitted to go further in detail of the location of the sunken ship because a book about the Aaron Ward is being planned. They do not want others to find the location or possibly steal parts from her. After graduation from Compass School I was assigned to the USS Alchiba, an attack cargo ship that was ordered to Verba Buena Island where I met my former skipper. On the destroyer and we talked of the friends killed on the destroyer. Skipper then told me he had been Commodore of the Littler Beaver Squadron and had rode two destroyers to the bottom. He also told me he was being assigned to the Soviet Union as Naval Attache. He then remarked he would only be there a short time and then would be persona non-grata. Three weeks later he wrote me he was being reassigned and was on his way to Washington D.C. The last I heard of him he had died in 1979 having been a Rear Admiral. While on board the USS Alchiba I was awarded the Presidential Citation. After that I requested and was granted transfer to the USS Crescent City, an attack transport ship. We were underway to the Philippines in Task Group 91.2 when we were attacked by a squadron of Japanese planes. The order was issued to close formation of the columns and bring them in by sound but not to open up until ordered by the Admiral. Then the Admiral asked General McArthur for support and he sent P38 planes to assist. We then received orders to land on Leyte. This was the time of the battle of the Coral Sea in which the Seventh Fleet was sacrificed to aid in plans to destroy the Japanese fleet and their carriers. After the battle for the Philippines in which dozens of Japanese ships were sunk or so damaged as to be of no use. We then were ordered with the fleet to proceed to Guam to free it from Japanese control. I was put in charge of the landing ships with supplies for the Marines. The diesel motors died and I prayed to God as I put a screw driver across the contacts that it would start. We had hardly backed off when a mortar struck where we had been. Our ship lost fifteen men trying to save wounded Marines. Admiral Halsey ordered no more landings until the Island could be softened up. Then he ordered the USS Maryland to open fire on the mountain top to reduce the entrenchment to rubble. Afterwards, he ordered the rocket ships to attack. What had been a mountain top was now V shaped. Then Admiral Halsey ordered us to resume landing troops and supplies. After securing the Guam area the fleet then was ordered to attack and land troops on Okinawa Gunto. This was a constant bombardment night and day as either the fifth or third fleet kept up constant bombardment with star shells at night. This was an area where the Navy paid dearly in men and ships from the constant Kamikaze attacks. The Marine captain asked the commanding officer if we had spare IBS (Intercom Between Ship) system for theirs had quit operating. I was lowered into the landing ship with the new IBS. The Marine captain not heeding orders from the Commanding officer started off for Ie Shima when the captain ordered him to return me and the bad equipment to Crescent City. He also told the Marine Captain he would be disciplined by Admiral Halsey for not heeding his orders. After Okinawa I was sent aboard a Troopship to return to the United States. I spent one year between two hospitals before discharge in 1946 in Galesburg, IL. All this experience is as vivid today as it was in WW2. Signed
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The URL http://RJHenry.com will always point to the current location of this website.. |
The USS Aaron Ward was launched Nov 22, 1941 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at Kearny, New Jersey with a skeleton crew. Hilda Ward, daughter of Admiral Ward sponsored the ship. The vessel then went to Brooklyn Naval Yard where most of the crew boarded. Orville F. Gregor was the commanding officer.
