Dear Captain Jarvis, I just read your report, and am glad that I found it. I, too, was there at the same time. I was a wiper in the blackgang, and a loader on a twenty mm for the US Navy Armed Guard, aboard the Liberty Ship S.S.Augustus Thomas. We were at anchor on the morning of October 24, 1944, when we were hit by a twin engine Japanese Betty Bomber. The US Navy tug USS Sonoma was tied up taking on fresh water from us. We were loaded with aviation gas and ammo, and a deck cargo of landing mats for the air field. They got us good, the plane hit us at midships. We were hit on the starboard side, we thought that the plane dropped a bomb just before it hit us. I was on the fan-tail on the 20mm. I took over when the Navy gunner got hit in the knee during strafing the day before. I did not have a loader. I had fired at the Betty, could see the tracers go into it. I was out of ammo, the ready box was also empty. I got out to get more ammo. I saw that the plane was going to hit us, I ducked behind the gun tub, as if that would have helped. I thought he had missed us and started to get back up when the bomb hit under the ship. The ship must have came up out of the water several feet, it threw me up in the air some what. I looked forward, and all I could see was fire and smoke. The remains of the plane fell onto the deck of the USS Sonoma. How they got that Navy tug, which was on fire, away from us I will never know. They said that it would have caused us to go up. Our hull was cracked all the way around the ship, just behind the super-structure, and we were taking on water all the time. When the ship was hit, the 3rd. Eng. and I guess one of the oilers, and fireman were on watch. Anyway the engine room flooded so fast that they floated out. Never forget the Typhoon that hit us there either. I don't remember the exact date but think it was in late October, maybe the 27th, 28th or 29th; at Tacloban Leyte Gulf. During the typhoon that night we were a dead ship at anchor. Our engine room was flooded, of course, we had no lights, or water for the heads. One funny thing I remember that happened, another Liberty Ship, the SS Waterhouse broke loose during the storm, and rammed into us. I saw a jap plane get shot down one evening, it was in a tail spin, and landed in the no. 4 hole of a liberty ship.. Oh yes, our gq alarm was the steward ringing his bell, the one they used to call the officers mess. I don't remember the date for sure, but I think we were towed up on the beach November 3rd, at Tacloban.. When they beached it, they took us crew straight to the liberty ship that had hit us, the SS Waterhouse. We returned to the states on the S.S. Waterhouse. I arrived in San Francisco, Ca. around Dec. 20th. I know that I got home, in Kansas City, Missouri on Christmas morning. I have tried to find any history of this, yours is as close to any I have found. Maybe if I keep looking I might find something. Hope this finds you well.
06-24-2003 |
