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Topic: just thinking |
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EARL RICHMOND
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Oct 28, 2010 - 5:54am
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hey cj remember when we got on patrol station at new ireland.we would sit in the twin 50,s turrett with those damned binoculars glued to our eyes lookin at the island for whatever signs of activity we could see in the darkness of the night.i will always remember the dark sillouett of the island against the light of the moon,if there was any.it was a long island with high hills.we would travel slowly the length of the island,turn around and keep doing thsat all night.if we spotted a light or glimmer of something/a truck light/a lit cigarette/a glimmer from something shining/we would let out a yell so the skipper copuld check it out and decide what to do.if action was called for,and sometimes not/he would yell for us to commence firing in the direction of the sighting.what a charge we felt when we opened up.sometimes we would get a response from the beach and sometimes not.all our guns were at the ready.it was always a relief to get out of there in one piece.we had to watch for the pointed stakes the enemy had planted in the shallow waters with tghe points up to impale us and the reefs we could get stuck on.the silence of the night on patrol of the island was eerie.you never knew if they ere also watching us too.you had that feeling they wee. IT WAS ALWAYS A LOOONG NIGHT.
earl richmond |
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Frank J Andruss Sr
TOP BOSS
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 Posted on: Oct 28, 2010 - 6:53am
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Each of us as younsters, see's the boats at full speed, rooster tail flying high, then WHAM! those torpedoes flying from their tubes. So many folks not up to speed on the PT BOATS of WWII think that this is how the boats operated. In reality, patrols could sometimes become very boring, mufflers on, bubbling along at a mere 6 knots, looking as Earl said for the tell tale sign of trouble. Operating at night, must have played with ones nerves, as objects must have always popped up when in fact because of strained eyes in was really nothing at all.
Imagine patroling for four hours or so in the pitch black ocean then being hit with Shore batteries, or running into a Jap Destroyer. What a wake up call. Trying to catch a few winks when off duty, must have been very difficult as well, as not knowing what you might run up against at any moment. would keep you from really sleeping. I love these stories from our PT BOAT VETS, because you can close your eyes and imagine what it was like. Every time I take out my boat on the lake during the summer, when coming back to the dock at night, I pretend that I am on a PT BOAT and imagine we are on patrol. Funny, because my older sister and her husband have a nice Poontoon boat, and everytime we see them, I race ahead and hide in the coves. When they are just in range, we come storming out at them, racing in at full throttle. They all laugh and tell everyone later that I made a torpedo attack on them again.........
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victorkchun
New Member
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Posted on: Oct 28, 2010 - 8:57am
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The recent well written letters from Earl Richmond, C.J. Willis, Allan and Frank Andruss touched me greatly. I like permission from the writers to include them in my forth coming book AMERICAN PT BOATS IN WW II
Vol. II. If granded please email me at victorkchun@aol.com to give me
their ranks, boat numbers, etc at the time of service.
Thank you all for your help and the service to your country.
Victor Chun
Victor K Chun |
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CJ Willis
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Oct 28, 2010 - 10:02am
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Yes Earl I hated those moonlight nights when you could see the sandy beaches because you knew if they were visible to us then we were really visible out on the water. I recall one moonlight night the officers got the wise idea to go through Buka Passage between Buka and Bougainville. The section leader was on our boat so we were the lead of three boats. As we were idling through we could see the shore real well. I was in the port gun turret looking through those binoculars as a lookout. About midway through we were about 1/4 mile off shore when all hell broke loose. from the Buka side. Shore batteries opened up - these were big guns (5 inchers). You could hear the shells whirring just over the boat and exploding in the water on the other side. Mr. McLane,skipper, opened the throttles to get out of there and he opened them too quickly and one engine conked out but we still had two. He yelled back for John Grace, torpedoman, to open the smoke generator. We were almost immediately covered in smoke. That smoke is really what saved us. Trosclair, the motor mac in the engine room got the engine started and we laid smoke and zig zagged out of there. They continued firing on us out for about four miles before we got out of range. Needless to say we never attempted to go through Buka Passage again. I don't know if any other boats ever went through there or not.
C. J. Willis |
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ROSS FISHER
Advanced Member
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Posted on: Oct 28, 2010 - 1:04pm
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TO EARL RICHMOND , CJ WILLIS AND THE OTHER WORLD WAR VETS: THANK YOU FOR YOUR WARTIME SERVICE AND THANKS FOR COMING HOME AND TELLING US ALL YOUR STORIES.
THERE'S A GREAT ARTICLE IN THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OF "ALL HANDS" FEATURING THE SOC MK 5, THE HEIR APPARENT TO THE LEGACY AND TRADITION OF THE PT BOATS. LAST WEEK I FOUND A BRIEF 3-MINUTE NEWS VIDEO ONLINE ABOUT AMERICAN ADVISORS IN THE PHILIPPINES. AT THE END, THERE WAS THE BRIEFEST 2-SECOND SHOT OF A SOC MK5 AT HIGH SPEED, WITH NO AUDIO. I HADN'T HEARD ANY MENTION OF THE SOC's BEING DEPLOYED OVERSEAS RECENTLY. BUT THERE IT WAS,
82' LONG, 45 KNOTS, AND THIS ONE WAS RIGGED WITH TWO TWIN-50's AND A TWIN 7.62. YOU ONLY HAVE TO SQUINT YOUR EYES JUST A LITTLE AND IT COULD BE THE 34 BOAT OR THE 41 BOAT UNDERWAY IN THOSE SAME WATERS 68 YEARS AGO...
ROSS FISHER
ross@dupagels.lib.il.us |
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Will Day
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Oct 28, 2010 - 4:07pm
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What about that, Ted? Any Fives forward-deployed?
Will |
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