CREW OF SINKING CARRIER

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXV, Issue 254, 28 October 1942, Page 2

CREW OF SINKING CARRIER

CAPTAIN DESCRIBES DISASTER. ALREADY AVENGED BY FLIERS,

P.A. Gable.

PEARL HARBOUR, Oct. 27.

The aircraft-carrier Wasp was changing course when the torpedoes struck, and but for a matter of minutes would have escaped disaster. The ship's captain, Forest Sherman, told this to reporters. He added that Wasp was the fiagship of a task force bringing badly-needed reinforcements of troops and planes to Guadalcanar. At 2.44 p.m. on October 15 three torpedoes struck in 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 shoek rocked the ship, and the flash extended over 100 feet into the air. It immediately set fire to deck hangars and caused heavy internal explosions, including tanks, bombs and ammunition, enveloping the bridge in gas and smoke and also setting fire to oil and petrol on the surface of the sea surrounding Wasp. The breakage at the waterline hampered fire-fighting, and at 5 p.m. the entire ship was aflame. "Little could be done except getting the planes/overboard," Captain Sherman said. "Eighty minutes after it was hit I ordered '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 the rescue was progressing. "After taking a last look round I climbed down a line and was picked up by the destroyer after 90 minutes in the water. After dark our destroyers torpedoed and sank Wasp, which was brightly burning from stem to stern." DAUNTLESS SPIRIT. Captain Sherman related inspiring deeds of self-sacrifice and heroism— for example, the Air Officer Commander, Michael Gernode, 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 fact that the air was filled with debris and fragments. He was last seen dying in a violent explosion. The entire crew displayed valiant heroism. "The chief difficulty I encountered ,in abandoning ship was getting the men to leave, because all were insisting that someone else go first," the captain said. He also confirmed that Jack Singer, a correspondent of the International News Service, was killed in the wardroom of the blazing ship while running a type-writer. Planes which left the burning ship landed on other carriers or island airfields. Some fliers remained in the Solomons, and had avenged Wasp since by destroying Japanese ships. One squadron commander alone had accounted for several ships. . Wounded survivors whom Captain Sherman visited in hospital unanimously asked: "Get another carrier, , Captain. We want to go back again."