Evening star., 1943-01-17


Aside from medals, each of the
Davis sons has an additional spe-
cial distinction.
One "Officially Sunk"
Comdr. James Davis has the
dubious honor of having been off,
cially sunk in japanese naval
communique, perhaps with the sane
ton of the Son of Heaven himself.
The announcement came to him
and his crew by short wave radio
as they lay beneath Pacific waters
after particularly trying several
hours of lodging Jap depth charges
in South Pacific harbor, where
they had been on reconnaissance.
I'VE knew we were all right then"
he says. "If the Japs announced
we were sunk, it was sure thing
we were o. K"
At Coral Sea, Comdr Ernest Davis
saw his gunnery crew, in their first
time under attack, shoot down more
planes in very crowded Is minutes
than any ship ever had before in a
similar period. Thirteen Jap planes
went into the water close to the ship
and the crew didn't count those
farther away-but there were few
of the more than 40 Jap planes
which came in against their guns
that got away.
My children stood up like vet
Grams and beat those Jap planes of
like nobody's business" Comdr.
Davis said. OF his possessions that
went down with the yorktown,
Ernest probably regrets most the
watch given him by the crew after
Coral Sea.
But after that, the Yorktown was
a marked ship. It's planes had run
a day-long ferry bombing service to
sink IA Jap ships in Tulagi Harbor-
everything as big as rowboat that
would float" They had played havoc
with Jap installations in task force
operations all over the mid-Pacific.
They had scratched flat-tops" right
and left. One of the flyers sank
Jap cruiser with the first bomb he
ever dropped.
Singled Out as Target.
Into the battle of Midway with
little rest after its record breaking
cruise of 104 days, went the York
town, and it was paid its highest
tribute by the Japs themselves.
Planes from their carriers had only
one target-the Yorktown-and they
really sat on her" No other
United States ships were attacked.
AS one of the salvage crew, Comdr.
Davis was thrown overheard by the
torpedo that finally sank the York
town. But he says he would have
come out of that all right, too, ex-
cept for Southern laZiness." When
he reached the ladder to climb up
the side, the Yorktown was rolling
away from him, so he waited for her
to roll back, so he wouldn't have so
far to climb"
Depth charges from the destroyer
alongside exploded in those seconds,
and he was doubled up into oily wa
ters, with conclusion and fractured
back to be hauled out by two sailors
and sent back to Pearl Harbor and
a recovery that makes him a "mu-
scum piece" Now he waits not too
patiently for his back to heal so that
he can get back to another aircraft
carrier-though he insists there1l
never be another Yorktown-and to
some unfinished business with Japs.
Strangely, though the two Davis
sons often were in the same gen.
eral area in the Pacific, they, met
for the first time after the start of
the war at their home in North
Carolina. The nearest they came to
each other was in the Coral Cea. and
each knew the other was nearby.
But there were more pressing things
on hand that day than brotherly
greetings.
just as proud as the mother and
father are the whole Davis clan Of
10 other children-four girls and
eight boys, two of whom served In
the last war, one with the Army in
France and one with the Navy In the
Atlantic.