MY UNCLE AND THE BATTLE OF CORAL SEA By Doug Bowser

[DougBowser]

MY UNCLE AND THE BATTLE OF CORAL SEA

By Doug Bowser

My Uncle Frank was 34 years old in 1942. He spent 8 years on the Great Lakes in the Merchant Marine. On December 10, 1941 he was sent a notice to travel to San Diego, to be inducted into the US Navy. He was flown to Hawaii and was assigned to the US Carrier Lexington (CV-2). He was given the job in Damage Control. The ship sailed toward the Coral Sea and its ultimate destruction. The Battle of Coral Sea was the first Naval Battle that the participants never saw the other side. It was fought entirely by aircraft. It took place on May 4-8, 1942.

The damage done by the American Fleet was the sinking of the Light Carrier Shoho, we severely damaged the Fleet Carrier Shokaku, sunk 3 small ships and depleted the aircraft and pilots from the Fleet Carrier Zuikaku. The damage to the Shokaku and the loss of aircraft from the Zuikaku weighed heavily in the Battle of Midway. If the Japanese had these Fleet Carriers available for the Battle of Midway, we might not have faired as well in that conflict.

The Japanese sunk the Lexington, a Destroyer, an oil tanker and damaged the USS Yorktown. The Japanese won a tactical victory in this battle but it was the first time the US Navy was able to stop a Japanese advance, in its tracks.

On te second day of the Battle, my Uncle was fighting fires on the Lexington. They had an armor piercing bomb pierce many decks and land in a 20mm ammunition locker. He and two other damage control personnel went a deck above the locker and there was a 16” hole in the deck, leading into the locker. They ran a 4” water line, shoved it into the hole in the deck and flooded the ammunition locker. If the locker would have blown, it would have killed many men.

The ship had become an inferno below decks and even though the fuel lines were pumped full of Carbon Monoxide, the ship suffered a tremendous internal explosion. It was damaged so badly they decided to abandon ship and scuttle the Lexington. My Uncle was topside when the ship exploded. The Lexington was laid down as a Battle Cruiser and converted to an Aircraft Carrier. This made the flight deck higher off the water than other Carriers such as the Yorktown. The order to abandon ship was given and there was no time to rig ropes down the side of the ship. The ropes would have been used by the sailors, to let themselves more gently in to the Sea. My Uncle had a Mae West life jacket. The life jacket was used deflated while jumping into the Sea and inflated by small CO2 bottles after getting into the water. He estimated the Lexington’s flight deck was 100-120 feet above the Sea. If you jumped with the vest inflated it could break the arms of the sailors wearing it. His biggest fear was landing on another sailor or having one land on him. I asked him why he jumped off the flight deck and he said his deck shoes were on fire.
He survived the jump uninjured and was returned to Pearl Harbor. He was immediately assigned to the USS Yorktown and within 4 days he was sailing toward the Battle of Midway.

I am proud to relate the stories told to me by my relatives who fought in WW2. I believe it is important to record these incidents for posterity.

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USS Yorktown

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Lexington explodes

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[Ken The Kanuck]

Thanks Doug,

Another great read.

KTK

[barretcreek]

Thank you for posting. It is important to keep this alive. What with the brass naming CV for politicians instead of great battles fought by Americans the future service members may never know our history.

[IditarodJoe]

Thank you for sharing that, Doug. I still remember the training from boot camp in 1964. Arms across your chest hugging your shoulders, head tucked down toward your elbow, try to keep your body straight and enter the water feet first. But that was in a pool from a relatively short tower . . . 100-120 feet is a looong drop!

[m1ashooter]

Thank you.

[gtodan]

Thank you for sharing, Doug. Your uncle was considered an "old man" when he got in the fight. Most of us know the bigger picture of these historic battles. Unless we have a relative or here the stories from such as yourself, they remain unknown. Your uncle's vast seagoing experience before the war contributed much to his ship and crew. We always here the stories of admirals, generals, the decision makers who saved the day. It was fighting men like your uncle that won the war. Each individual effort, each sacrifice contributed to great measure. Multiply that by millions of men and women serving is how we won this war. My father was a submariner in the Pacific. I know how you feel. We appreciate your stories. I pray as a nation we will be able to carry on the tradition of our greatest generation.

[dave]

My cousin was a flyer on Bunker Hill at Okinawa, He was on deck moving planes when it was hit by two suicide planes. He had to jump, but the Navy has trained for such things, jump feat first, legs together, arms at side. He made it and was picked up several hours later by a destroyer. Both he and Bunker Hill were out of the war.

[PhillipM]

My cousin was a flyer on Bunker Hill at Okinawa, He was on deck moving planes when it was hit by two suicide planes. He had to jump, but the Navy has trained for such things, jump feat first, legs together, arms at side. He made it and was picked up several hours later by a destroyer. Both he and Bunker Hill were out of the war.

A friend of mine's dad was there. It would be interesting to know if they knew each other.