Evening star., 1942-06-16

IceI WltIl the ueaVy QlVe OOmDefS
reported that 1t. Comdr Dixon's
dive was perfectly made and his
500-pound bomb hit the Jap carrier
deck amidships. Behind him Ensign
p. r. Nicely dropped his 500 FOUNDER
near the carriers port side. The
blast Of Ensign Neely's bomb tossed
two burning planes over the side.
Ensign Smith put his 500 FOUNDER
on the carriers starboard anti-air-
craft battery. 1t silenced the guns
end blew three more planes over
board.
1t. j. A. Leppler's scout bomber
was attacked as the dive steepened
to the vertical. His rear gunner,
John Liska, shot down two Zeros
that closed to point blank range,
firing their cannon and .25-caliber
machine guns as they came. Leppler
saw a Zero on the tail Of the scout
ahead of him and veered in the
dive enough to get it In the sights
of his front guns. This Zero never
came out of its dive and crashed
into the sea. 1t. Leppler's 500
pound bomb missed the carrier, and
he Immediately zoomed away to
make a second dive from 1000 feet
on Jap cruiser. One 100-pound
bomb hit the cruisers stern.
Four Zeroes Attack Plane.
Ensign o. j. Schultz hit the car
rier with his 500-pound bomb, but
was attacked by four Zero fighters
as he recovered. Ensign Schultz
rear gunner shot down one Of these
and the others banked away
Ensign Schultz brought his plane
home although it was riddled with
machine gun and cannon shot.
The scouts dives had taken away
the enemy fighting protection and
the heavier dive bombers, toting
their 1,0O0-pounders, were unhin-
dered in their attacks. The few
seconds required for the first attack
had given the accompanying Japa-
nese vessels time to fan out, presum-
ably to give the carrier maneuvering
room. All the Japanese vessels put
up thick anti-aircraft fire.
The heavy dive bomber and the
torpedo plane assaults were co-ordi-
mated and the Zeros which had
followed the scout bombers swept
of in an effort to turn aside
1t. Comdr Jimmy Brett's torpedo
planes now closing in. 1t. Comdr.
Brett radioed for fighter assistance.
1t. Baker and his wingman, who
had just shot down a Jap seaplane
fighter, bored in. They dropped two
Zeros and cleared OF the rest.
THE next few minutes were be-
yond description, 1t. Comdr. Jimmy
Flatley told me- The sight of
those heavy dive bombers smashing
that carrier was so awful I was
physically i'll. They followed each
other at three and four second in
tervals and about every second bomb
landed and. exploded aboard the
ship. Those powerful explosions
were literally tearing the big ship
apart. She burst into flames from
bow to stern"
IL Torpedoes Hit Ship.
All this action was taking place
within split seconds and actually
happened In a shorter space of
time than it now takes to detail it.
1t. Comdr. Brett, whose torpedo
bombers were close to the water,
took advantage of smoke and flame
clouds already pouring out Of the
carrier as they approached. They
swung in at an angle so the smoke
screened them from most of the
cruiser and destroyer anti-aircraft
fire.
This enabled the TBD's CTorpedo-
Bomber-Douglas) planes in his
squadron to score hits with IL of
their "tin fish" They blasted the
carrier to bits and she sank in a
cloud Of steam and smoke three
minutes later. In all, 16 of the
l,000-pound bombs, three 50O-pound-
ers and the II torpedoes hit the
ship.
1T all happened so fast and the
results were so final" one Navy dive
bomber pilot reported later, that
when it came my turn to dive I
saved my bomb. 1t wasn't needed.
I picked out one Of the cruisers
instead"
Several of his comrades said they
saw his bomb hit flush on the
cruisers deck. There was a blind
ing flash and when the smoke
cleared the cruiser had stopped. In
q few minutes. they said, it slid
under the waves, sunk by this one
hit.
Happened 165 Miles Away.
Back on the Lexington, of course,
we knew nothing about this mag
nificent action. The crew remained
at battle stations and the ships loud
speakers were connected with the
airplane INSTRUMENTATION radio
circuits. We could hear a confusion
Of commands and conversation, but
all this was dimmed by distance
they were over 165 miles away from
us as we steamed on toward them
and by static.
Then came a strong, clear call to
the carrier from 1t. Comdr. Dixon
His message re-echoed over the en-
tire boat: Scratch one flat-top."
This was Navy parlance for the
sinking of a carriers crisp express
sion of victory. Cheers rang all over
the vessel. Men pounded each other
on the back in exuberant express
sions of Joy.
Three planes failed to return from
the fight-all scout bombers. Two
were believed destroyed by anti
aircraft fire. The third, flown by
1t. Quigley, was landed on Rossel,
easternmost island of the Louisiades.
1t. Quigley and his rear gunner
were rescued several days later.
One of the missing ships was
piloted by 1t. Edward Allen, one
of the first pilots I met on coming
aboard the Lexington. AS I write, !
have been informed he was awarded
the Navy Cross on June for his
determination and courage in ac-
ton en- February 20, when his ship
was attacked by 18 Jap bombers
(the same action in which 1t. Ed
ward H. O'Hare shot down five and
Il ~ivfhl