American Valor Quarterly Issue 8 - Winter 2010/2011 | Page 6

the entire ship over to Pacific camouflage. So, our destiny was
changed by a whale.
In Florida, we picked up about twelve ships and went down to
the Panama Canal. The canal was probably the most guarded
place on Earth because if something happened, sabotage or
something similar, you would have to go all the way around
South America. There were thousands of anti-aircraft guns
around the isthmus, with planes were flying overhead all day
long. Eventually, we reached the western end and entered the
Pacific Ocean. From then on, we would be on watch for the
Japanese.

The mighty Japanese battleship Yamato alongside a cruiser, possibly Tone
or Chikuma, steam toward battle off Samar Island. Yamato was the
largest battleship ever constructed, commissioned in 1941 to offset the
numerical strength of the American fleet. The Battle off Samar would
be the only time Yamato would engage enemy surface targets. After
making several early hits on the USS Gambier Bay, Yamato was forced to
disengage from the battle after being targeted by American torpedoes.
Yamato would eventually be sunk by American torpedo and dive
bombers off the coast of Okinawa, April 7, 1945.

there. When we asked them what ship they were on and heard
the response, “Samuel B. Roberts,” our hearts filled up with pride.
The next morning, traditional Navy life started when we were
handed paintbrushes and told to paint. Glamorous. But, that’s
what we did.

At this point, we were traveling with a convoy headed toward
Pearl Harbor. My battle station was up in the bow, where I manned
the 20mm. The captain trained us night and day, having us practice
lowering and trimming the guns. Several times in the middle of
the night, he would call out, “General Quarters, man your battle
stations!” to get us ready. By the time we got to Pearl Harbor,
we knew we were prepared to fight.
From there we were assigned to another convoy headed to the
Marshall Islands before making a quick return to Pearl Harbor.
When we returned to sea, we joined a fleet of 600 ships, 20
miles wide and 35 miles long, which immediately ran right into a
typhoon. I was on a 20mm, starboard side, my first night of
watch, and the water was rushing up over the bow and into us as
we clung to our guns. Finally, after about an hour of complete
darkness, the captain ordered everyone inside. We were in a trough
where the ocean rose up on both sides of our ship. It was very
scary. It took us about ten minutes just to go from where we
were to the hatch on the main deck so that we could go inside,
the water was rushing so hard and fast. There was nothing we
could do beyond just wait it out.

The Samuel B. Roberts was a brand new ship with two five-inch
guns, two turrets, three torpedo tubes, two 40mm guns, and
depth charges. We were part of the John C. Butler class and were
assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. After a week or so in Boston, we The next day, we were still in the midst of the storm and could
were told that we would be leaving on Wednesday morning. By not even lay in our bunks because the ship was tossing us around
7:30 AM that Wednesday morning, we were on our way. Along so hard. So, we just laid on the deck, and if it went to the port,
the way, we met up with the USS Ranger, a few other destroyers,
and two fleet oilers, which we were taking to North Africa.

Top & Bottom: U.S. Navy Photos

Seven or eight hours out from New England and heading to
North Africa, there was a sudden explosion. I was off watch
and down in my bunk when it happened. When we got up
topside, all we could see was blood. A whale hit our ship under
the shaft, bending the shaft and knocking off the propeller. About
an hour later our Captain got on and made an announcement:
“We did not hit the whale. The whale hit us.” He was adamant in
his declaration.
At this point, we could not return to Boston because all the dry
docks were in use, so went to Norfolk instead. It took no time to
replace the shaft and propeller. For some reason the Navy then
decided to change our orders, moving the Samuel B. Roberts out
of the Atlantic Fleet and into the Pacific Fleet. We had to paint

The escort carrier USS St. Lo (CVE-63) explodes off Samar after being
hit by a kamikaze aircraft.

AMERICAN VALOR QUARTERLY - Winter 2010/11 - 6