Saturday, 04 September 2010
| One Day In War: Ens. John D’Arc Lorenz At Midway, June 4, 1942 |
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| Written by Don Bourgeois | |
| Friday, 05 September 2008 | |
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 Yorktown under attack
For several years before his death John Lorenz was my best friend. We’d meet for lunch every Tuesday at a local restaurant where he would order the same baked chicken dish time after time. Lorenz entered the service in 1940, more than a year before the PearlHarbor attack. He was a member of the navy’s first OCS class and wastrained on the old World War I battleship USS Illinois that was tied toa pier in upper Manhattan. After graduation, he was assigned duties asa junior gunnery officer on the USS Yorktown CV-5. These includedcommand of a 1.1” anti-aircraft battery situated on the flight deckjust aft of the island; Gun Mount Three. He would serve on the greatcarrier until she was torpedoed and sunk at the Battle of Midway. Eventually I recorded his many sea tales and put them into a biographyfor his family. But of all his experiences, it was one day at Midwaythat he frankly admitted was the defining moment of his life. His eyeswould well with tears each time he recounted what happened on that 4thday of June, 1942. For his valor, the navy would see fit to award himthe Navy Cross. However, it didn’t take America’s second-highestdecoration for bravery to convince me that John was one of the few trueheroes that I have ever known. Point Luck By June 1942, 6 months had elapsed since the Japanese attack on PearlHarbor. During that time the war news was nearly all bad for theUnited States. Even the one bright spot, the brilliant air raid onTokyo by Doolittle’s group of 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers, had inflictedno significant damage. However, the raid compelled the Japanese to put the capture of MidwayAtoll on the front burner. Passed by on December 8 (when the Japanesecould have walked ashore) Midway was much like an unsinkable aircraftcarrier that was situated within bombing range of Hawaii. With Midwayas their base, subsequent Japanese attacks on Oahu could ultimatelydrive the American fleet back to the West Coast. Midway could alsoserve as a staging area for the outright invasion of Hawaii. At thetime of the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7 (the 8th on Midway), theatoll seemed too far from Japan to worry about. But after Doolittle’sRaid, it suddenly was deemed too close and needed to be taken in orderto secure the perimeter in the Pacific. The invasion was set for June4, 1942. American cryptanalysts cracked the Japanese naval code JN-25 andlearned of the Japanese plan. To counter the threat, the carriersEnterprise (CV-6) and Hornet (CV-8) along with their support vesselswere combined into Task Force (TF) 16 under the command of Rear AdmiralRaymond A. Spruance. The Yorktown and her entourage would form TF-17,led by Rear Admiral Frank (Jack) Fletcher. Admiral William Halsey, whonormally would command, was put out of this action by a severe case ofshingles. However, as late as May 27 the Yorktown was in dry dock at PearlHarbor, having just limped back across the Pacific from the Battle ofthe Coral Sea. That engagement, one in which both sides could claim avictory of sorts, had resulted in the loss of one of the few remainingAmerican aircraft carriers, the USS Lexington. Four American aircraftcarriers were left in the Pacific and only three of those wereavailable for the defense of Midway. And one of the three, theYorktown, had suffered significant bomb damage at the Coral Sea. After rushed, temporary and incomplete repairs were made on the vessel,Yorktown and TF-17 slipped out of Pearl on May 30. Hornet andEnterprise had departed two days earlier. The ships hurried to arendezvous northwest of Midway designated as Point Luck. Just hours out of Pearl Harbor, Lorenz and his crewmates finallylearned what lay ahead. Over the ship’s loudspeaker, Captain ElliotBuckmaster outlined the situation and the planned Japanese attack. Hestressed the strategic importance of an American victory. If they beatthe Japanese, he promised them that the ship would proceed directly toBremerton for repairs and a long stay. At hearing this, the crewcheered wildly. Lorenz’s 20-man gun crew continued to drill on the 1.1” guns. Theperformance of the AA crews in “live fire” situations (against enemyplanes) at Coral Sea was deemed inadequate for the combat that probablylay ahead. More rapid fire and greater accuracy was demanded by theYorktown’s gunnery officer LCDR Leonard Davis. June 4 At their battle stations on the morning of June 4, Lorenz and his crewwere unaware of events occurring to the west. The huge Japanese fleetthat was approaching Midway from the northwest was attacked by waveafter wave of planes from Midway. B-17s, B-26s, TBFs, F2Fs and F4Fsall took to the air in defense of the islands. Some aircraft, like theB-26 Marauders, were not designed for wave-top attacks on surfacevessels. Nonetheless, they were jury-rigged by strapping torpedoes totheir fuselages. Incredibly, every one of the attacks made by theAmerican planes failed and not a single bomb or torpedo struck aJapanese ship. Dozens of aircraft and their crews were lost. Lorenz was also unaware that Hornet and Enterprise had already senttheir aircraft to attack on the enemy ships, but by 1100, the Yorktownhad launched her own. Now there was nothing to do but wait. The Attack  Yorktown burns after bombing The result was that within mere minutes, three Japanese carriers weredecimated by American bombs. The SBDs, screaming down in nearlyvertical dives, were successful in dropping their ordnance onto enemyflight decks that were crowded with aircraft, fuel lines and bombs. There was neither AA nor fighter opposition. Instantly the decks ofthe Kaga, Akagi and Soryu were turned into flaming infernos. Just thatquickly all Japanese hope for a capture of Midway was erased. While this drama was unfolding, the crew of the Yorktown was enjoyingthe day. The sea was calm, the skies clear and the temperature warm. At Lorenz’s gun mount, all was ready for an attack, if one shouldcome. Everyone was at their battle station, the magazine below themount was full of 1.1” ammo and the men were alert. Jokes andstorytelling helped to pass the time. Lorenz recalled that one of thecrewmen who had narrowly escaped serious injury at the Coral Sea wasapprehensive. He worried about his parents should he “not make it”through this day. At 1115, Lorenz looked up at the “bedsprings” radar situated atop thesuperstructure. Normally it rotated 360 degrees, scanning the horizonfor aircraft and ships. Now it was stationary, ominously pointedtoward the west. The American aircrews returning to the Yorktown after their successfulattack were unaware that they had been shadowed by Japanese Val divebombers from the fourth, yet undamaged carrier, the Hiryu. At 1145they came over the ship. The Yorktown deck crews were in the process of refueling some of theirF4F Wildcat fighters. SBDs also orbited overhead waiting for a cleardeck in order to land. This was bad timing as at that moment the Valsbegan their dives. “All hell broke loose” as every gun on the ship opened up on theattackers. The SBDs, already in their landing pattern, were orderedaway. Lorenz was dismayed to note that the Vals seemed to fly straightin, release their bombs and turn away before they came within range ofthe 1.1” guns. One Val was not so fortunate…it came too close and antiaircraft firecut the plane into fourths as it dived…but not before it released itsbomb. “It floated right at me,” Lorenz recalled. He watched with fascination as it dropped, “almost in slow motion.” This bomb was the first to hit the ship. It struck the flight deckinboard of the island near 1.1” gun mounts three and four. It explodedwith a tremendous roar. Splinters of wood deck planking, bombfragments and chunks of steel shrapnel were blown in all directions. Nearly every crewman on both gun mounts was instantly killed orseverely wounded. Lorenz, knocked out for an instant, was otherwise unhurt. Dazed, heassessed the situation. Most of his crew was dead but Vals were stillattacking the ship. Immediately, he knew what to do. He shook off theeffects of the blast and quickly assembled another gun crew. Performing the work of twenty, Lorenz and three other men continued tooperate the 1.1” battery.  Val Type 99 Dive Bomber However, the blow was not lethal. The ship’s crew immediately got towork extinguishing the fires and repairing the damage. When he couldfinally draw a breath, Lorenz noticed smoke coming from the walls ofthe magazine situated below gun mount three. The magazine elevated themount about 10 feet off the flight deck so the guns could safely fireover mount four, situated directly aft. Lorenz tore open the hatch of the magazine and witnessed an incrediblesight. Shrapnel from the bomb had torn through the magazine’s bulkheadand perforated many of the hundreds of 1.1” rounds stored inside. Thisignited the powder in the casings and sparks sprayed everywhere. “Itlooked like the fourth of July” he recalled. It was just a matter of time before the magazine would explode. Usinghis shirt, he helped the boys inside the magazine beat out the blaze. Now he had time to turn his attention to his crew. Most were dead attheir stations including the boy who worried that he wouldn’t “makeit.” One man was cut in half. Another died in Lorenz’s arms. He had loved these boys as if they were his own. Only 23, they saw himas a father figure. In an instant they were gone. Emotions of bothgrief and guilt swept over him. But there was little time to reflect. The day had just begun. Lorenz helped move the dead to an aid station situated one level belowthe flight deck. The sight of his boys lying motionless in berths andon the deck made him sick. The bombs from the Val attack had perforated the boilers causing theYorktown to lose power and stop dead in the water. But by 1330 thecrew managed to get the great ship underway again. Everyone worriedwhile the ship was motionless as they were sitting ducks for asubmarine attack. Motion meant safety and getting back into the battle. Every man felt alift when the ship again got underway. It was then that CaptainBuckmaster ordered a large, new U.S. flag flown from the foremast. Lorenz was greatly inspired by this symbolic act. His thoughts wererecorded in one of the definitive books on the Battle of Midway,“Incredible Victory” by Walter Lord: “I shall always remember seeing itflutter in the breeze and what it meant to me at this critical time. It was new…bright colors, beautiful in the sunlight. For the firsttime I realized what the flag meant: all of us—a million faces--all oureffort—a whisper of encouragement.” By 1340, the ship was making 20 knots and the crew was restarting airoperations. Suddenly the “bedsprings” stopped again…another air attackwas incoming. Lorenz returned to the gun mount and for the second time readied for action. This time the attackers were “Kate” torpedo planes. Unlike the divebombers that attacked vertically from above, these aircraft deliveredtheir payloads by coming in low, horizontally, and along the surfaceof the water. The Yorktown evaded two torpedoes but then was strucktwice on the port side. The ship started to take on water and almostimmediately began to list…first 17, then 26 degrees. At this rate itappeared that the carrier would roll over. At 1500 the captain issuedthe order to abandon ship. Lorenz prepared to get off. He went below to his cabin to retrieve aphotograph of the woman he would eventually marry, 20 year-old DelightMcHale from St. Paul, Oregon. Placing the picture in his hat, hereturned to the flight deck. Getting off the ship was easy… just jump into the water. But Lorenzcouldn’t do that…not yet. First he must bid farewell to his fallenboys…a last goodbye. He started down to the aid station when he encountered Captain Buckmaster who was making a last inspection of the ship. “Get off immediately, ensign,” he told Lorenz, “she’s going to rollover.” Lorenz explained that his aim was to see his crew one moretime. The captain relented. “Very well…do it quickly. Then get offthe ship!” Lorenz quickly made his way to the aid station where his crew stilllay. By now all power in the ship was off and the station wascompletely dark. He unsnapped a lantern from the bulkhead and flashedthe red light around. The crew was as he had left them…except one. When he played thelight on the face of Bill Sullivan, a young sailor from Grand Rapids,Michigan, he saw one eye twitch. He was alive! Lorenz knew what he must do. He had to save this boy. But he couldn’thaul the husky lad up to the flight deck alone. He rushed topside forhelp. The first man he encountered was Ens. Bryan Crisman, the ship’sdisbursing officer. Crisman had already secured a rope and wasplanning to tie it to a sea bag that he had stuffed with the ship’srecords and currency. He planned to lower the bag over the side to arescue boat. But no boat had yet arrived. Crisman swiftly realizedthat saving a human life was more critical than preserving the recordsand cash, so the rope became Sullivan’s lifeline. Together Crisman and Lorenz carried Sullivan to the stern of the ship,tied the rope around him and lowered him down 90 feet into the water. A third officer jumped in with him. Lorenz followed and was surprisedat how warm the water felt considering that they were in the middle ofthe Pacific Ocean. Crisman then detached the target sled from thefantail and pushed it overboard for the trio to use as a float. Sullivan was still unconscious. Lorenz and the other officer held theboy’s head out of the water as they floated together and waited forrescue. After about three hours, Lorenz saw that the current was carrying themaway from the beehive of rescue boats that were picking up hundreds ofother survivors who, like them, had jumped into the water from thedecks of the stricken Yorktown. No one had noticed them and itwouldn’t be long before they would drift out of sight. He hatched aplan. He had dropped his pistol belt before he jumped in the water butthe other officer fortunately had not. “Fire your .45 into the airthree times,” he ordered. The pistol was drawn and pointed into theair. (Don’t drop it and let’s hope that the damned thing still works!he thought) When the group surged to the top of a swell, the officer pulled backthe slide, chambered a round and pulled the trigger…the gun fired. Then two more times. Within minutes, they spied a whaleboat coming topick them up. They’d made it. Back to Pearl The three men were hauled aboard and transferred to the USS Fulton,circling nearby. It was then that Lorenz realized that he’d lost hishat. Decades later he still lamented the loss of Delight’s photograph. Two days later the Fulton entered Pearl Harbor. As they tied up,Lorenz saw what looked like a welcoming party on the dock. CINCPAC(Commander-in-Chief, Pacific) Nimitz had come down to the harbor togreet the Yorktown survivors as they disembarked. As they came down the gangway, Nimitz shook the hand of each man andthanked him personally. It was a fitting gesture. They had justhelped to win the Pacific war. The Rest of the Story (Edited for Clarity Feb. 17, 2009, changes in Bold)
Seaman William Sullivan survived the ordeal. Wounded too badly to return to action, he was discharged from the navy and returned to his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he lived until his death at the too-young age of 38. As an encouragement to Sullivan to “hang in there,” Lorenz promised to name a son after him if he made it. After returning from the war, Lorenz did just that. Ens. Bryan Crisman was unaware of the identity of John Lorenz until1999 when he read Jeff Nesmith’s book about the USS Yorktown at Midway,No Higher Honor. He immediately telephoned the Lorenz home inPortland, Oregon intending to speak with John, only to learn that hehad died just weeks before. For his gallantry on gun mount three, Ens. John d’Arc Lorenz wasawarded the Navy Cross. His citation did not mention his saving thelife of Seaman Sullivan. Lorenz could never shake the memory of June 4. Using his words, afterMidway he “stayed drunk for a month” in Honolulu trying to erase withalcohol the images of his dead boys. He did not succeed. For manyyears he would still weep at their memory. He was reassigned to the USS Bogue, CVE-9 as its gunnery officer. TheBogue escorted ship convoys from Newfoundland to Belfast, NorthernIreland in support of the Allied effort in Europe. Lorenz left thenavy in 1945 as a lieutenant commander. Immediately upon his return to the United States in August, 1942 Lorenzmarried Delight McHale. Together they raised three sons and livedhappily until his death on October 31, 1999. He enjoyed a successfulcareer as an insurance claims manager. Delight still lives inPortland, Oregon. The USS Yorktown did not roll over. The ship was stabilized and planswere made to tow her back to Pearl Harbor. It was not to be. On themorning of June 6, under the command of Lt. Tanabe, the Japanesesubmarine I-168 managed to slip through the protective destroyer screenand sent two torpedoes into the side of the carrier. In the samesalvo, the destroyer USS Hammann was also struck. It exploded, brokein half and sank almost immediately. The Yorktown held on until themorning of June 7. She finally gave up and sank at 0501 with Capt.Buckmaster’s new flag still attached to the foremast. The Yorktown name lives on. A new Essex class carrier, originallychristened Bon Homme Richard, was renamed USS Yorktown, CV-10. Afterher launching, the “new” Yorktown participated in all of the subsequentmajor battles in the Pacific. She also served in the Korean andVietnam conflicts. In service as a naval aviation museum, the ship isnow berthed in Charleston Harbor and is open to the public. Hiryu, the fourth Japanese carrier whose aircraft were responsiblefor Yorktown’s sinking was caught by US Navy SBDs on the afternoon ofJune 4 and was destroyed. Copyright 2008 Donald P. Bourgeois |
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