CNN
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The damage to the bow of a US Navy cruiser during the battle of World War II in the Pacific Ocean brings a new light to one of the most notable stories in the history of the service.
More than 80 years ago, USS New Orleans crews, who were attacked by Japanese torpedoes and lost their sailor score, rushed to repair them with coconut logs before a 1,800-mile voyage across the Pacific Ocean.
The front of the ship, or the bow, had been sunk down to the seabed. However, on the weekend there was a Nautilus Live Expedition from the Marine Exploration Trust in 675 metres (2,214 feet) of water with the bottom of the Solomon Islands iron.
Using remote underwater vehicles, scientists and historians will “observe details of the ship’s structure, paintings and anchors and actively identify the wreckage as New Orleans,” the expedition website said.
On November 30, 1942, New Orleans was hit by a bow at Portside at the Battle of Tassafalonga off Guadalcanal According to official naval reports of the incident, the island.
The torpedo explosion ignited ammunition in a New Orleans forward ammunition magazine, cutting off the first 20% of the 588-foot warship, killing more than 180 of its 900 crew, records say.
The crew worked to close bulkheads to prevent the rest of the ship’s flooding, and stepped into the port of Tulagi Island, where the crew entered the jungle to get repair supplies.
“The crew obscured the ship from an air attack, and the ju-degree buried the coconut log bow,” the US Navy account said.
According to an account at the National World War II Museum in Louisiana, the ship was steamed in reverse with a makeshift bow.
Retired US Navy Colonel Carl Schuster explained to CNN the incredible skills involved in sailing warships backwards for their extended range.
“The ‘hard’ doesn’t explain the challenge properly,” Schuster said.
The ship’s bow is designed to cut waves, but the stern is not. In other words, the effect of waves means lifting and dropping the valley, he said.
As the stern rises, the rudder bites in the water, making steering more difficult, Schuster said.
And losing the front of the ship changes the centre of the ship’s maneuverability, or its “pivot point,” he said.
“It affects how a ship reacts to the sea and wind, and changes the ship’s response to the ship’s rudder and propeller behavior,” he said.
He said New Orleans officials would have had to learn all new actions and orders on the go to stabilize it and move it in the right direction.
The ingenuity and adaptability that saved New Orleans at the Battle of Tassafaronga helped it into the second half of the war.
After crossing the Pacific Ocean from Australia to the US Navy Yard in Washington’s Puget Sound, this time facing the right way, New Orleans has undergone permanent repairs. He later took part in actions across the Pacific, including the decisive battle between Saipan and Okinawa, and acquired the airfield that allowed the United States to make the final blow in the Imperial Japan.
According to the World War II Museum, the ship was awarded 17 Battlestars for action in the Pacific, and is tied for such decorations, third in the Pacific Theatre.
The New Orleans bow was discovered in a collaborative effort between Nautilus Live’s 21-day Maritime Archaeology, NOAA Marine Exploration, Marine Exploration Cooperative, University of New Hampshire, and Naval History and Heritage Command.
The Iron Bottom Sound was called Sabo Sound before World War II, but the Alliance sailors gave the present Monica for the vast number of warships that sank into battle there.
According to the expedition, five major naval battles took place between August and December 1942, losing more than 20,000 lives, 111 naval ships and 1,450 planes on all sides.
Before the expedition, “less than 100 people were stationed on these US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand military ships and planes,” the website said.
The expedition begins on July 2nd and continues until July 23rd. That continuous search is being streamed live on nautiluslive.org.
