50 Years Ago Today –Mullinnix Engages USS The Sullivans DD-537
Excerpt from “The Last Gun Ship - History of USS Mullinnix DD-944” - A Historical Novel By Frank A. Wood
26 September, the crew was once again at GQ at midnight. By 0025 they were simulating firing main battery on surface raider. At 0829 Mullinnix was steaming at 20 knots to intercept contact bearing 040T, distance 11,400 yards. At 0842 she sighted the contact and identified it as non other than USS The Sullivans DD-537.
The five Sullivan brothers enlisted in the Navy and served together aboard the cruiser USS Juneau. On 13 November 1942, while fighting off Guadalcanal, the five brothers died with seven hundred other sailors when the USS Juneau was sunk by a Japanese submarine. President Roosevelt directed that one of the new Fletcher class destroyers be named after the brothers. The USS The Sullivans was launched in San Francisco on April 4, 1943.
The ship sported the shamrock of Ireland on her forward stack and sailed into World War II with 23 crew members named Sullivan. She fought in the Marshalls, Carolines, Mariannas and Philippines and earned nine battle stars. After deployment in Korea, the Cuban blockade, and the rescue efforts for the sub Thresher, she was laid up. The vessel was acquired by the City of Buffalo and is on display at the Buffalo and Erie county Naval & Servicemen's park. It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.
To be continued...
Cheers,
Woody
26 September, the crew was once again at GQ at midnight. By 0025 they were simulating firing main battery on surface raider. At 0829 Mullinnix was steaming at 20 knots to intercept contact bearing 040T, distance 11,400 yards. At 0842 she sighted the contact and identified it as non other than USS The Sullivans DD-537.
The five Sullivan brothers enlisted in the Navy and served together aboard the cruiser USS Juneau. On 13 November 1942, while fighting off Guadalcanal, the five brothers died with seven hundred other sailors when the USS Juneau was sunk by a Japanese submarine. President Roosevelt directed that one of the new Fletcher class destroyers be named after the brothers. The USS The Sullivans was launched in San Francisco on April 4, 1943.
The ship sported the shamrock of Ireland on her forward stack and sailed into World War II with 23 crew members named Sullivan. She fought in the Marshalls, Carolines, Mariannas and Philippines and earned nine battle stars. After deployment in Korea, the Cuban blockade, and the rescue efforts for the sub Thresher, she was laid up. The vessel was acquired by the City of Buffalo and is on display at the Buffalo and Erie county Naval & Servicemen's park. It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.
To be continued...
Cheers,
Woody
posted by Frank A. Wood at 08:59
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home