Evening star., 1942-04-04
Langley Lost
With 7 Other
Naval Vessels
Dead Put at 700;
Construction Far
Ahead Of Sinkines
BY CLAUDE A. MAHONEY.

The Navy today wrote OF as
losses the seaplane tender Lang
ley, the tanker Pecos and the
old-type destroyer Peary, sunk
by virtually unopposed japanese
bombers. But the Southwest
Pacific war tide was believed to
be turning and Navy shipbuild-
ing is far ahead of losses.
Loss Of the three ships, with prob
ably as many as 700 out of about l.
$50 officers and men, was announced
in a communique last night. The
Langley was sunk of Java February
27 and the Pecos, carrying many
Langley survivors, was sunk nearby
on March !.
Fighting to the last, the flush
deck destroyer Peary went down of
Darwin, Australia. about February 10
Loss of life on this craft was be-
lieved light. From offlcial and eye
witness accounts OF the new sink
ings came tales Of individual heroism
which matched anything in naval
history.
Langley "Smothered" With Bombs.
Lack of aerial protection made
the three ships fairly easy prey to
the hordes of Japanese planes,
which, in the case of the Langley,
practically smothered" the ship
with bombs.
Meanwhile. fuller details of an
earlier engagement came to light.
1t was disclosed that Destroyer Divi-
sion SO Of the Asiatic Fleet steamed
back and fourth through a Japa-
nese convoy In Macassar Strait
night attack late in January, sent
a number of enemy ships to the
bottom with her torpedoes and
point-blank gunfire, and escaped
with only minor damage to one ship.
Naval observers pointed out that
when the battle Of Java was fought
United States vessels were handi-
capped by lack of air support. Now
however, the growing strength of
American land-based units In
Northern Australia may reverse the
picture. Both fighters and bombers
OF Gen. MacArthur's forces sweep
regularly over waters north of Aus
tralia.
The sinkings brought the Navy's
ship losses to Is. Thus far 10 de-
stroyers, one battleship, three SUBJ
marines, one cruiser, one aircraft
tender, two Coast Guard vessels, two
tankers, one target ship, one cargo
ship, one gunboat and two miscel-
laneous type vessels have been listed
as sunk.
Wartime Launchinxs.
On the credit side the Navy has
launched since December 7, bat
tleship. 16 destroyers, 2 cruisers, 2
aircraft tenders and a number of
other craft. The Japanese, on the
other hand, have lost at least 80
warships, including a battleship, 6
cruisers and airplane carriers, and
their replacement rate is believed
to be much slower than that of the
United States.
Comdr. Robert P. Mcconnell, who
commanded the Langley, and 1t.
Comdr. Elmer P. Abernethy of the
Pecos, described the South Pa
cific battle in San Francisco last
night. 1t. Comdr. John M. Ber-
mingham, in command of the Peary,
was listed as killed in action.
The twice-converted Langley was
carrying supplies in the combat zone
Of the Indian Ocean south of Java
when a Japanese observation plane
was seen by the crew lookout. BY
noon, Japanese bombers approached
formed flying lines and made two
trips over the Langley, dropping
bombs each time. The planes were
described as level bombers and flew
as high as $1,000 feet. The Langley
(See I,ANGI,EY Page A-3)