Evening star., 1942-03-27
By GEORGE WELLER.

the nrSC account OF WIldt ldppcllcu
when Rear Admiral Karel w. F. M.
Deoorman of the Dutch Navy, with
japanese night-flying seaplanes
overhead, led the remnants of the
Allied fleet into its final battle with
q force of Japanese cruisers and de-
Etroyers
BY what amounts to miracle
the American Seamen were rescued
by an American submarine after
hours afloat in the single lifeboat
which survived after Admiral Decor
mans flagship, the De Ruyter, and
another Dutch cruiser, the Java,
were struck by Jap torpedoes and
went down about midnight February
u within a few minutes OF each
other.
Both Americans are signalmen
and they were at the very brain
center of the naval engagement, be-
Ing aboard the bridge Of the flag
ship. Marvin Edward Sholar, 20,
of Cairo. Ga, is first-class signal
man with 10 years OF naval training
behind him. He is a brown-haired,
bronzed man about feet 10 inches
tall. with typical ruggedly intelli-
gent naval face.
Jack Wilbur Penhollow, 81, a
third-claSs signalman from Omaha,
is somewhat slighter, his face a bit
Scared by tropical blisters.
Members Of Signal Force.
These two survivors represent
half the United Stagtes signal force
placed aboard the De Ruyter in
order to transmit Admiral Decor
mans orders to the United States
cruiser Houston and the lightly
armed American destroyers partici-
pating in the battle. The other
half, comprising 1t. Otto F. Kolb
of Savannah, Ga, and a seaman
named Folovitch of San Pedro.
Calf, are still missing, but may
have been picked up by either
Japanese vessels or the Dutch
hospital ship which went to
their rescue amid the battle and
apparently was captured by the
Japs, if not sunk.
PenhollOW supplemented state
ment by Sholar of having seen Kolb
in the water after the De Ruyter
sank, saying:
Il saw Kolb aboard a iferaft and
II it was picked up he was saved"
When the De Ruyter sank, Kolb
paired of with 1t. Jackson OF the
British Navy as liaison ofhcer to
the cruisers Exeter and Perth and
the destroyers Jupiter. Encounter
and Electra.
II was swimming along in the
moonlight in heavy swell. trying
to get as far as possible from ship"
Sholar told your correspondent to-
day as he leaned against the rail
of a warship to which he has been
newly assigned. Il heard people
talking Dutch all around; then sud-
denly 1 heard what sounded like
English. I yelled: Who's that?'
And a voice came back, Hello,
Sholar, this is Mr.. Kolb." Then
jackson called out: I'm here, too,
this is Mr.. Jackson.
"All of us were trying to make
for the lifeboat which we knew had
been launched. BY now we were
about IL miles from where the
De Ruyter had been struck, the
momentum having carried her on
ward. If you find lifeboat come
and pick me up will you" I said,
But somehow the current and swells
seemed to take us apart and lost
them in the darkness. Then found
the lifeboat with Penhollow already
inside and Penhollow said he had
seen them pull themselves aboard
the liferaft. While I was in the water
saw both the Houston and Perth go
tearing past still preserving the bat
tie line, but they were too far away
to hear our shouts.
Model Of Self Possession.
Penhollow saw relatively little OF
the engagement. being stationed on
the lower navigation bridge. The
De Rutyer's bridge consisted of four
levels, the topmost being the con-
ming tower. the next down being tine
upper navigation bridge, the next
being the signal bridge and the next
lower the navigation bridge.
Sholar, who frequently saw Ad-
miral Deoorman during the battle,
said the Dutchman was MODEL OF
self-possession and although he un-
doubtedly knew the fate IN store 1or
the ships and himself, was still
seeking battle when the last OF the
destroyers was left behind, or sunk,
and the four cruisers were unpro-
tected when the final engagement
began.
"Deoorman was slightly stopped
officer with grayish hair" Sholar
said. "All the time we were actually
nrine he stayed on the coming
tower directing maneuvers for the
FIRE. Then, when crashing the Jap
battleline he came down to the navl-
cation bridge"
Just as Jap air reconnaissance
during the day battle had been the
factor which decided the afternoons
engagement, the night reconnais-
sance, probably also by cruiser based
seaplanes was what determined the
fate of the De Ruyter and the Java.
Before bombing the fleet-inef1ectu-
ally-about noon, Jap seaplane
had shadowed the ships throughout
the morning of the battle thus en-
abling the Jap admiral to interpose
his covering force between the
United Nations feet and the in
vasion bound convoy of between Is
and 40 transports, which they were
seeking.
During the afternoon and twi-
light the engagement which de-
prived Admiral Deoorman OF the
cruiser Exeter and the entire de-
stroyer screen, Jap fire was directed
from above by spotter seaplanes,
which Admiral Deoorman's fleet en-
tirely lacked. At 1880 in the eve
ming, when two heavy Jap cruisers
were sighted, the Japs Immediately
began using their overhead army
which had decided the afternoon
skirmish.- Now, instead Of directing
their gunfire, the Jap seaplanes had
a different task overhead. They
could not be seen because Of the
moonlight and it was impossible to