Evening star., 1942-06-18

| RAoJSu boih OQl ICCOI llc tWU
discs were perfect, recording, I be-
lieve, for the first time in history the
sounds Of battle. But alas, / was
never to take them from the room.
They were destroyed by fire before !
ever got them off the Lexington.
Aboard tn Lexington, the routine
of carrier in dangerous waters
was going on. Comd1. Healy was
overseeing the pumping Of fuel oils
from port side storage tanks into
empty tanks on the starboard side,
and the list was taken OF the ship
and its fight deck. As soon as this
was done our fighting planes, which
had been in the air for durations
ranging from one to three hours
each, began coming back on board.
Scout Bomber Bounces OF
| The first one in was a scout
bomber that had been on anti-tor-
pedo plane patrol. The machine
had been damaged in battle and was
flying erratically. When it circled,
turned Into the slot" for its final
approach, 1t was high and flying too
fast. but 1t. Aquilla Dibrell. the
landing otficer, waved n in anyway.
The plane squashed onto the deck
with its left wing low The wing
tip hit the deck. The plane bounced,
struck again. and spun over the side
into the water The Lexington's nav
igation officer, who saw the accident,
signaled destroyer that was trail
ing us by a mile or more to the
rescue.
Both members of the crew of that
plane were picked up, unharmed by
the accident. The pilot, 1t. Nc
Donald. had been wounded in COM
bat, his right arm having been
broken by Japanese bullet. This
accounted for his poor approach
and landing technique. 1t was
notable that during the many weeks
I was aboard the Lexington and the
thousands of landings I saw, that
1t. MeDonald's was the only one in
which a plane was lost.
Now many planes of all types be-
gan returning from the attack on
the Jap fleet. So normal was the
Lexingtons appearance that many
Of them did not know she had been
in fight until they were on the
deck and saw the bomb splinter
scratches. The damage to the flight
deck was confined to the railing.
20 John. you should see my ROOM"
called 1t. Comdr Jimmy Brett, lead
er OF the Lexington's torpedo plane
squadron. after landing and going
below. On the night before he had
shown me a manuscript Of book
he had been writing on color photog-
raphy and he referred to 1t again.
Months Of Work Gone.
That damned bomb destroyed all
my papers. 18 months work." he
cried. I've got to write it all over
again."
| Because we still were in fighting
trim. no lunch was served. Instead,
sandwiches, apples and coffee were
handed around by the mess stew
ards. The crew stopped to MUNICH a
bit before continuing with the work
OF repairing damage. Morale among
the crew and the airmen was high.
They knew their ship had been hard
hit, but she appeared able to take it.
The torpedo holes had been "for-
gotten" by the expedient of closing
of the required number of water
tight compartments in the hull. This
had not noticeably affected the YES
sells buoyancy. But this rosy picture
was not to endure much longer.
At 12:45 pm. there was a heavy,
dull explosion inside the hull. 1 was
standing on the flight deck and my
knees buckled as the ship shook
Going below with damage parties, l
found that the blast had come from
deep within. and had twisted heavy.
steel, watertight doors from their
hinges.
We discovered that the explosion
had been caused by the igniting Of
volatile vapor from aviation gaso-
line that had seeped through frac-
tured bulkheadS from the huge stor-
age tanks where fuel for the Lexing-
tons air fleet was stored. Presum-
ably, these bulkheads were damaged
by the torpedo and bomb explosions,
allowing the escape of the 100
octane fuel.
Fires at number of points in the
opened holds were burning fiercely.
These were being fed fresh air
through bent and twisted scuttles
that had given away along the
water-tight compartment doors. A
scuttle is thick steel hatch which
closes OIL entrances between decks.
Ordinarily 1t serves to make water
tlght the openings between decks in
exactly the same way that water
tight doors seal compartments in
the same deck.
Flames Spread Swiftly.
Because the hold was opened, the
fires could not be isolated and
Smothered. All the ships chemical
equipment was rushed into the Job,
! but 1t was not enough. Water was
impossible to get because the blast
had smashed water mains, the
auxiliary pumps, and had cut of
light and power to the hold. Con-
sequently, the flames spread swiftly.
Hose from other parts of the ship
where auxiliary pumps were sit
uated were linked up. A destroyer
was called alongside and its hose
lines were run aboard. But there
were far too few auxiliary hose lines
in the Lexington and the destroyer
didn't help because its pumps could
not lift water high and far enough.
About pm. we found that the
fire blast had killed Pop Healy, who
had been working below. 1t also
had thrown Comdr. Arthur ]. White.
the ships surgeon, through one of
his hospital doors, breaking his COL
larbone and one ankle.
Despite these injuries, he dragged
himself around for five hours tend
ing other casualties-of the Japanese
attack and of the explosions which
followed. He quit only after the
order to abandon ship had been
given and he had seen the last
wounded man evacuated from the
hospital and laid out on the flight
deck.
The second explosion came about