Evening star., 1942-04-08

Ioldllu Is dDOuG GUU miles SOuLn OF
the western end of Java and should
not be confused with the mid
Pacific Christmas whose sovereignty
Is partly American.
At dawn the destroyers made a
rendezvous with the naval tanker
COR fleet oil tende0 Pecos, under
Comdr. Elmer P. Abernethy. 1t was
decided that all survivors except q
handful of flyers and mechanics
should be transferred aboard the
more commodious Pecos and the
latter proceed at her best 12-knot
speed southwark.
Since the Java Sea engagement
occurred during the night it seemed
reasonable to believe that the Pecos
with $50 miles between herself and
the Sunda Straits, plus another zoo
of all-night steaming could escape.
These deliberations were given a
shock at 9 pm. Saturday, February
%, when three bombers of carrier
based type appeared over the island
and dropped six bombs on the
beach, destroyed the radio station
and marked the ships for later
prey. Nevertheless, since capture
was certain If the party went ashore
on the island, about 500 of the
Langley survivors were transferred
to the PecoS. To them were added
several hundred wounded, brought
from Java, including members of
the crew Of the World War I de-
stroyer Stewart, which was lost of
Soerabaja and wounded members
of an American cruiser, bombed
about four weeks earlier.
Hearts Of Crew Grew Lighter.
The Pecos and the destroyers-
one of which was never seen again
then scattered, leaving the harbol
about 10 o'clock in the morning. The
hearts of the crew grew lighter with
every mile southwark for, despite
the pokey speed of the Pecos, il
was considered that the Jap forces
known to be in the Indian Ocean
would gravitate toward the islanc
barriers to prevent the escape ol
remnants Of Dutch Rear Admira
Karel w. F. M. Deoorman's fleet
through Sunda and Bali Straits.
When the last night of February
came and the moon arose over the
uneScorted PecoS. 1t was believed
that the tanker's smallness, on the
vast expanse of the Indian Ocean
would save her. But aircraft car
riers have hundred eyes. At II
am. Sunday, March about the
time that Vice Admiral C. E. L
Helfrich, who formerly commanded
the United Nations naval forces In
the Southwest Pacific, was resigning
his command in Tjilatjap and fly
Ing to Colombo-the drone of a
spotter plane, repeatedly the pre-
cursor of evil, was heard astern.
The Jap came near enough 10
show the markings Of a single-en-
gine monoplane dive bomber, with
wheels betraying its carrier origin
The carrier must have been barely
over the horizon for dive bombing
began by noon. The survivors and
wounded huddled under the decks
heard the terrible accelerando OF
the Peco's pair of weak 3-inch
guns and handful OF .5O-calibers
and thus were told each time the
Jap dive-mombers peeled off for the
kill. The nerves Of men already
rasped by disaster, in some cases
gave way. but most simply f1attened
themselves against the deck and
prayed. moaned or stayed silent, as
the hapless always do.
First Bomb Direct Hit.
The first bomb showed how IN
effectual zigzagging would be. for
it was direct hit. 1t must be kept
in mind that carrier dive -bombers
usually drop single 500-pounders
The bomb fell on the well deck
amidships, slightly aft Of the star
board 3-inch gun. A hole no less
than 20 feet wide was ripped in the
deck.
"1 saw the bodies OF one gun
crew toppling down through the
smoking hole" said Paymaster 1t
Sidney Alfred Ernst of the Langley
Bombs continued to fall. The
Pecos heeled over sharply to port
Capt. Abernethy gave orders to
pump out the fuel tanks and oil
black and rich as tar, began to
spew into the sea from the star
board vents. The oil left a long
widows veil across the water. Min
gled with water the oil became
brown. Men began to Jump over
board. Survivors, crowded forward
were ranged in a thin line along
the starboard side. below decks, in
order to try to weight that side
Some, still upright. crowded in a
corridor way, hardly 8 feet wide
with a single deck overhead.
But somehow. unlike the Langley
the Pecos retained headway through
the water. Mattresses, powder cans
RATS, everything that would float
was torn loose, ready for the general
order to abandon ship, and some OF
the men continued to slip overheard
individually. The engineer man.
aged somehow to keep both pumpt
and main engines chugging. jar
dive bombers attacked individually
but without respite. returning tc
their carrier for fresh loads. Dives
started at 5000 feet and bombs were
released from as low as $50 feet.
No Fire Broke Out.
Fortunately, since the Pecos' decks
were metal, unlike the Langley's
wood, no fire broke out. But only
one 3-incher was left pointing up
ward and the 5-inch anti-submarine
guns were useless for high-level OF
close range work. Finally came
the bombs which ended the Pecos
One was a near-miss of the star.
board bow, which tore wide, letha
hole. Another was the second huge