Evening star., 1943-10-17
By Walter McCallum.

BY Walter McCallum.
Black night over the Philippines.
Inshore in guarded Subic Bay stood
japanese cruiser lobbing high-arching
shells over the forest at the hard-pressed
American forces on Bataan, desperately
defending, with Inadequate forces, a line
stretching across the peninsula to Mount
Mariveles. Secure in the knowledge the
bay was heavily guarded, the Jap gun
ners worked leisurely, sure Of themselves,
their 6-inch guns turning a murderous
fire on the thinly held American lines.
Suddenly from the mangrove- -fringed
entrance to the wide bay came
drumming noise above the roar of the
Jap rifles. The cruiser, stung into ac-
ton against possible attack flung search
light beams across the black water.
From her signal bridge blinker beams
flashed a challenge.
Her crew heard the roar of engines
revved up to top speed, felt the shud-
dering, life-blasting explosions as two
American torpedoes struck deep into
her vitals. Pink lines of tracer bullets
punctured the darkness Shells pumped
holes in the water around the racing
American PIT boat as she whirled in her
tracks like a ballet dancer and spun
dizzily toward the harbor entrance,
leaving the Jap cruiser a sinking, ex-
plosion- wracked hulk
The Jap had had his first contact with
1t. Cnow 1t ComdrD John D. Bulkeley,
u S n, and his PIT boats, and he didn't
like the dose.
Japs Hunt Bulkeley.
For days, weeks and months Jap air.
planes, given the specific job, hunted in
vain for Bulkeley and his swift-striking,
hard hitting mosquitoes of the sea. They
didn't find them. Hidden in obscure
inlets, covered by day with mangroves
and charging out at night in search of
enemy prey, the PIT boats scourged the
Jap in Philippine waters until American
opposition ceased with the fall of Ba-
taan and Corregidor.
John Bulkeley, the Long Island City
skipper and squadron commander of
MTBRON-T Three, had barely started.
He Is ready for more scourging of the
enemy with his swift little sea scorpions,
or for any other duty the Navy assigns
him. But Bulkeley and his PIT boats,
when everything else was going badly
in the Philippines, gave the Nation a
definite lift. Not only for his forays
against the Japs, but for the dauntless
seamanship of himself and his men
when they carried Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur, President Manuel Quezon and
their parties from the blazing hell OF
the Philippines to safety in the south
The PIT Box Score.
Elsewhere throughout the oceans OF
the world PIT boats of the United States
Navy roar into action, their Packard
engines and their '50-caliber machine
guns beating tattoo of death to oul
enemies, but the exploits of Bulkeley
and his men came at time when ma
tional morale needed a lift 1t is diff
ferent now. The Allied Nations are or
the offensive. But in midwinter of 1941.
~ America sorely needed a victory
almost anything to stop the succession
of hammering defeats. Bulkeley and hi!
men produced them. The official bo,
score of MTBRON-Three is as follows:
One cruiser damaged and beached.
Two cruisers damaged by torpedo hits
One 5O00-ton ship, believed to be al
aircraft tender, sunk.
One 5,000-ton ship, type unidentified
sunk
npn 70 cnt fro hty
Two troop-carrying landing barge
sunk
Three dive bombers and one seaplan
destroyed by machine gun fire.
In addition the intrepid men VIII
manned the sea hornets strafed a
enemy encampment near the shore a
Ternate, rescued 282 of the passenger
and crew of the small steamer Corregidc
when the ship struck a mine and sank
escorted United States ships and sui
to and from Manila Bay and operate
fast dispatch service between Manil
and Corregidor when all communication
with the outside world were cut off by tt
Japs. They got so completely in the ha
of the Nipponese that special aircra
and sea units were detailed by the JAY
anese commanders to find them.
Ultimately some of the boats, dan
aged in action or wrecked by accider
either were sunk or destroyed Othe
made good their escape to friendly te
ritory. The Japs never did destroy ther
The stout PTS did their job.
Today around the rim of the Unit,
States wherever shipbuilding goes {
more PIT boats are under constructio
Great numbers of them already are
sea hitting the enemy hard The Ma
says the greatest number turned out
one manufacturer come from the wa
of the Electric Roat Co