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My Great Uncle Max's Navy Cross


CHASEUSA11B
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Excellent tribute to a true hero! A very tragic accident that claimed him too soon after the war, but I'm sure he would be honored to know his family has never forgotten, and keeps his story alive.

 

I can't quite make out of the newspaper article well, but do you know what date he fought the fire? The article seems to conflate two events (coming less than 24 hours apart); the air attack in the afternoon of November 12, and the night surface naval battle several hours later (12th-13th). The air attack pretty badly damaged the ship on the eve of battle, and the newspaper seems to say that was the fire he fought. Things could have been much worse for the other US ships in the battle had the fire done more damage to the San Francisco (that might have forced it to withdraw), so his actions not only contributed to saving his ship, but also in keeping his ship in a fighting condition on the eve of a battle where we were seriously outgunned. If the San Francisco hadn't been there, things would have been much worse.

 

If so, this is a photo of the San Francisco as the fire rages on.

sanfire.jpg

 

 

 

Cropped and enlarged on the San Francisco

sanfire2.jpg

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Thank you rusty canteen. Those pictures and the insight to the battle are great!

Im not sure what day he fought the fire. Perhaps you can glean more info from the citation.

 

post-6201-0-64114600-1516323899_thumb.jpeg

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Hi,

 

Reading it, although it says November 12 and 13th, there was an air attack on the 12th (I posted the photo of the burning San Francisco from this attack). The plane started a big fire that did quite a lot of damage, it's really a testament to your great uncle's disregard for personal safety that the fire was extinguished before it severely damaged the ship. Now later that night the San Francisco (along with some other cruisers and destroyers) were ordered west to intercept a Japanese force that was inbound to shell Henderson Field and the Marines stationed there. About midnight both forces sailed right into each other; ships were firing at essentially point blank range! There was even some duelling with the Japanese battleships Kirishima and Hiei, in addition to Japanese cruisers and destroyer. From memory San Francisco was the largest vessel we had in that fight and we were badly outgunned; it was a knock out fight. It's been described as a 'barroom brawl with the lights shot out'. Keep in mind this was dragging from midnight to about 2am on the 13th. San Francisco was horribly damaged, and the Captain (Cassin Young) killed, along with Admiral Callagan and most on the bridge. The ship was badly shot up (some of the damaged sections are preserved in San Franciso), but survived the night. So he was very very fortunate to make to through that battle unhurt, not to mention the fire hours earlier!

 

Later that morning (13th) the surviving US ships were subjected to a submarine attack which destroyed the USS Juneau, and with her the 5 Sullivan brothers.

 

Your great uncle was in the thick of history, and he was not only in the front row, he was making it. Be proud of his life, he is a hero. He was cited for both actions; the fire on the 12th and the battle on the 13th.

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Have a look at the damage report for both the battle and the preceding air attack. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/w/war-damage-reports/uss-sanfrancisco-ca38-war-damage-report-no26.html

 

Here are some photos showing what the plane's impact did to the steel; bent it a lot.

 

san3.jpg

 

This is the area where the plane hit:

 

san2.jpg

 

 

This is a side view, you can see the big turret (turret III) he was standing on to direct the firehose up to the burning superstructure just right of the turret. On the far right of the image is the starboard hangar where he once again fought to save his ship.

san4.jpg

 

This is an above view of the same area, you can see the hangar at right.

 

san1.jpg

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The pictures and diagrams are outstanding. You have a knack for telling a story.

 

Part of the article that is difficult to read states:

His most memorable moment during the battle came when a blazing Japanese plane either dove or fell into the number 3 turret, Archibeque recalled. He and Bill Taylor, a boatswains mate, were working nearby when they saw the plane almost simultaneously. It looked as tho it would hit them and they dived together under the turret. It was here that one of the fires broke out and they had to pull the ships fire hose around in front of the belching eight inch guns (the ship is a heavy cruiser) and climb up to the turret to fight the fire

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Hi,

 

You'll have to forgive the cheesy drawing here, but this is basically his position on the 12th when he climbed turret III to fight the fire started by the plane. Later than night (really in the early hours of the 13th) he again helped extinguish another fire in the starboard hangar which had been perforated by shells and fragments.

 

sanfire12.jpg

 

So while you can't see him, he's in this picture. :)

sanfire2.jpg

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  • 2 years later...
  • 2 months later...
On 5/20/2014 at 2:05 AM, CHASEUSA11B said:

Hello everyone. I posted this on the Facebook page so many of you have already seen this but I'm excited to share this nonetheless.

 

I have long known that my great uncle Max was present at Pearl Harbor and was awarded the Navy Cross for action in the Solomon's. Unfortunately, he was killed in an accident at sea in 1949 so of course I was never able to meet him. My grandmother loved her brother very much and kept his memory alive by sharing stories and giving me many pictures of him from his time in the Navy.

 

Despite the many times we have talked about him and the fact that my grandma knows I collect military and family history, she never mentioned that she had his medals or anything else from his time in service.

 

Unfortunately, my grandma is in very poor health and is making arrangements for the inevitable. In doing so, she pulled out her brothers Navy Cross and Good Conduct Medal and told my mother that she wanted me to have them. I am extremely honored to be given the medals and I cannot believe she kept the medals hidden and safe since 1949.

 

 

 

 

Great tribute ... now it is your turn to protect and honor his achievements.  Thank you for sharing.

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So glad that this is staying in the family. I would suggest itemizing the effects, photos, etc. for future reference in case they get seperated. And, how lucky are we to have such awesome forum members that not only have the info, but take the time to draw out the battle in which Max took part in !?!?! Great job, Dave !!

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