USS O'Bannon and the Solomon Islands Campaign
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The destroyer USS O'Bannon and her crew engaged in exploits almost beyond belief, including a point blank slugfest with a Japanese battleship, and sinking an enemy submarine, so the story goes, with the help of potatoes.
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Thank you for this video. I appreciate it. I’d love a video specifically on Bougainville and Munda point. My family suffered great loss due to that battle and my great grandmother had to remarry because of Japan.
It’s just…. I’ve searched and searched and I can find almost nothing on the initial raids on the airfield. He died during a night raid. His name was Leroy Elliott. I’m not sure if you’re big on requests but….. it would make a good video.
You mention that "onboard was First Lieutenant Lendall Knight" at 2:55, wouldn't that be "Lieutenant Junior Grade Lendall Knight", or was he a Marine Corps officer assigned to the ship?
@@MichaelOnines fair point. Sorry- the article is unclear, but likely a JG as a battery commander.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I found a 2016 obituary (Bowdoin Magazine) that says he was commissioned in the Navy and served on O'Bannon as a Lieutenant (jg). Of course obits can often contain errors because they aren't contemporary nor officially sourced, but it seems to line up.
There have been 3 USS O’Bannons in USN history and NO ONE serving aboard a ship named USS O’Bannon has ever been awarded a purple heart. I am one of those crew members, serving on the “SpruCan” O’Bannon in the early 90’s. We had that potato plaque on our quarterdeck.
I was an Operations Specialist aboard the U.S.S. O'Bannon (DD987) in the early to mid-90's and I spent a lot of time polishing that potato plaque.
With a name like O,Bannon I can only assume our Lord saw opportunity to bless them with the luck of the Irish, haha.
luck of the Irish there.
badass
@@aidanacebo9529Uh-huh. Not if they are on the Juneau.....
My grandfather was a proud Tin Can Sailor who served on the Fletcher class destroyer USS Lewis Hancock DD675 in the Pacific during WWII. He had some great stories around the dinner table. RIP Grampa.
The Fletcher class is one of the greatest fighting ships of all time.
My Daddy was on the O’Bannon! Actually, he is the 3rd sailor from the right in the crew picture. He did not share much if any of these details but we loved seeing his copy of this picture through the years. Thank for sharing this episode ❤❤
My great grandmother’s first husband died in Bougainville taking Munda airfield. If it wasn’t for the Japanese empire I wouldn’t exist. I hope to one day travel to Munda to pay my respects for his sacrifice.
I salute him for his service. Your father and my half great uncle’s father.
My dad was on the O'Bannon during the Korean War. I think she was the Flag Ship during the Puson (?) operation! I have a full color picture of her that dad got for me which I didn't know anything about until after he passed in '81 I was only 3 when he re enlisted in the Navy in '50 and was there for her recommissioning before they left for Korea , he was afraid I'd want to take to school and destroy it, and he forgot about it for all those years! He was on a Coast Guard "Tin Can" during WW2 he was a true"Tin Can"sailor according to him "Best ships in the Fleet"!
The potato story is a prime example of the saying, "When the truth becomes legend, print the legend.” Also, going through the entire war, all those battles, and not one casualty is amazing. I wonder if the crew felt charmed going into each battle, or if there was any expectation that this time they're in for it.
Or as the other saying has it "never let the truth get in the way of a good story" and I am glad as heck they didn't - it made me smile, it's nice when the rest of the world gets to smile rather than laugh at something Americans do!
She must have had similar plot armor to HMS New Zealand
My father in law Seaman Melvin Pitts, who severed on the USS O'Bannon throughout WW 2 and Korea, recounted to me me and the rest of the family the events of the potato fight, even recount of how he hit a Japanese sailor in the head with a potato. Never once did his recounting of the incident deviate in a single fact. As a sailor my self witnessing how those telling of " sea stories" and how the teller of said sea stories tend to exaggerate the story with the passing of time, Seaman Melvin Pitts never deviated in his retelling of the the incident. i\I BELEAVE HIM. Thank you Dad for your service, and the wonderful life you lead. Sheeree and miss you greatly and think of you daily.
Well done Sn Melvin Pitts! I can attest to Sea Stories growing long legs. But a man who doesn’t vary his telling of spectacular events is, in my opinion, a man to be believed. Heroes come in many forms. Rank rarely determines heroic status.
My Uncle Jack was on the USS Pelias 12/7/41. The attack run on Battleship Row went right over their forecastle. Jack was peeling potatoes on deck. The guns were locked up, so he threw potatoes at them. I asked him what a potato is going to do, "I don't know, but hitting a potato going 300 mph is not doing you any good."
A couple sidenotes:
There have been three ships named USS O'Bannon, all named for the same person, Marine Corps First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon:
- The first USS O'Bannon (DD-177) was a Wickes-class destroyer, launched in 1919 and struck in 1936.
- The second USS O'Bannon (DD-450) was a Fletcher-class destroyer, launched in 1942 and struck in 1970. She received the Presidential Unit Citation and earned 17 battle stars for World War II service, more than any other destroyer in the war.
- The third USS O'Bannon (DD-987) was a Spruance-class destroyer, launched in 1978 and struck in 2005.
Two of the USS Kidd-class guided missile destroyers, a variant of the Spruance-class, were named after Rear Admirals Daniel Callaghan and Norman Scott who were both killed during the Battle of Guadalcanal. In fact, all four of the Kidd-class ships were named after flag officers killed during World War II, hence one of the nicknames given these ships - "The Dead Admirals Class":
- USS Kidd (DDG-993) was named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who died on the bridge of his flagship, USS Arizona, during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
- USS Callaghan (DDG-994) was named after Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan, who was killed during a surface action at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942, aboard USS San Francisco.
- USS Scott (DDG-995) was named after Rear Admiral Norman Scott, who was killed during the same surface action that killed Admiral Callaghan at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, aboard USS Atlanta.
- USS Chandler (DDG-996) was named after Rear Admiral Theodore Chandler, who died on 7 January 1945, as a result of burns received from a kamikaze crashing into his flagship, USS Louisville, the previous day.
(Sources - Wikipedia)
Presley O'Bannon and the "Shores of Tripoli"...
It is a pity that Scott wasn't in command. After his night battle at Cape Esperance, I think Scott would have deployed his ships in a better order and would have understood what the early radar was telling him. An even bigger pity is that Lee with Washington and South Dakota couldn't make it. Lee's embrasure of radar and his well trained gunners of Washington could possibly taken out both the Hiei and Kirishima instead of just the Kirishima a few weeks later, in November during the Night of Friday, 13th no less.
My father (RIP) fought with the Marines in the Solomons campaign from '42 till the end of the war. He told a few stories .. very few. It was brutal. Thank you for this wonderful video.
That would probably be the Mark-1 A-1 Potato, very dangerous.😁
You guys are one of the finest YT channels in existence.
Chew on this:
O’Bannon fired a 5” shell that weighed 54 lbs. Battleship Hiei fired shells that were 14” and weighed 1485 lbs.
Fletcher class destroyers were pretty damned special.
They weren't afraid of a fight.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Johnston_(DD-557)
My nana was a welder on the O’ Bannon. Arlene Greene. Miss you so much nanny.
Hey History Guy, I grew up between Bath & Brunswick, Maine & its nice to hear so much about that small area & its outsized contribution to America's maritime and defense history in one video.
BIW holds a special place within our family, too - After their WW2 service, most of my extended family went to work at BIW. As did their kids, and their kids (my generation). My cousins who aren't at BIW are Merchant Mariners and Coast Guardsmen. My great grandmother even lived across from Maine Maritime Museum, which is where my wife & I were married. Naturally, with all of that great maritime lineage, it only makes sense that when I came of age... I joined the Army. But i really do appreciate your coverage of the O'Bannon and her crew's exploits throughout the decades.
Really drives home the saying: Bath Built is Best Built.
Oh sorry, small nit to pick - Bowdoin College is pronounced beau-d'n. Its weird, I know.
Thank you for the Bowdoin pronunciation correction, saved me from doing it. Cheers from a 35 year BIW employee.
I served for two years on USS Nicholas ( DD-449 ) and was a member of it's decommissioning crew alongside the O'Bannon.................in fact the two were rarely apart. As a point of fact the O'Bannon was awarded 17 battle stars in WWII and the Nicholas 16 -- but in it's service life the Nicholas was the single most decorated ship in U.S. Naval history. At the decommissioning of the two Fletcher Class destroyers ( the Nicholas was the first Fletcher commissioned and O'Bannon second and when decommissioned only 7 remained in service of the 175 ) there was a long list of Senators, Congressmen, and Admirals present to say goodbye all of whom had served aboard the two ships.
I served on a Fletcher class destroyer in the 1960s. They still stored potatoes on the main deck in an open air locker. But in my time the there was a lock so sailors wouldn't throw potatoes.
I wondered about the effect of O'Bannon's fire on the Hiei's pagoda structure. A 5' gun with a good crew can fire 15 rounds a minute, times 5 guns is 75 rounds a minute. A shell weighs 54 pounds. That's about 4,000 pounds of shells a minute. At close range they all had to hit. Anybody on the battleship's deck probably was killed or wounded. The 5" wouldn't penetrate battleship armor, but would decimate deckhouses and unarmored steel superstructure. Each gun had a handling room below and a magazine far below that together held about 350 rounds of all types. They could maintain firing 15 rounds a minute until the handling room was emptied and then fell to about 10 rounds when ammo had to come from the magazine elevators.
I suspect at close range the guns were on local control and each gun captain was using them like a sniper rifle.
In Vietnam I knew an old marine that had been on Guadalcanal when the Japanese battleships bombarded. He said he didn't expect to survive. The concussion was felt internally and made his insides hurt.
My Grandfather Harry L. Harris served aboard the O’Bannon through WW2 as a cook and AA gunner. He was on the deck peeling potatoes when the potato incident occurred and they started throwing. Unfortunately never got to meet him but heard the stories through my father. Amazing men in an amazing time in history. Glad to see a video about his ship.
The Kings and Generals channel just published a great documentary of the Solomon Island campaign in its excellent Pacific War documentary.
When the legend becomes history...print the legend.
...it's "Ehen facts become legend...print the legend"...from."The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"..a biography of John Ford has that for a title...
"Although MacDonald has repeatedly claimed that no potatoes were actually thrown, the story of an American destroyer sinking a Japanese submarine with potatoes was picked up by the media and was so quickly spread throughout navy lore that many still believe it to this day."
What a great story. Absolutely love stories of naval engagements. Your enthusiastic telling make them that much more exciting. You should look up the USS Orleck (Gearing Class Destroyer). She is also a highly decorated Destroyer. She just moved to my hometown of Jacksonville FL and has become the center piece of the Jacksonville Naval History Museum. I'd love to hear your telling of her history.
Go Navy!
I have a group with USS Hammann family members from the Battle of Midway and sinking which has a lot of interesting history. A book called "Screened here going down" is all about the US Navy DD's turning off their Sonar and allowing the I 168 to sink her and the Yorktown. The quick sinking of the Hammann under 4 minutes and over 80 being killed by exploding depth charges or torpedoes going off from the Hammann while in the water swimming was very tragic. A good short story of the story!
I've read the book Guadalcanal by Richard B. Frank 3 times now. In it he describes the 5 distinct naval battles during the campaign. They were truly harrowing. That the O'Bannon came through each unscathed is remarkable. Brave sailors on both sides.
...an EXCELLENT book..read it myself..
@@cbroz7492 My father served in the PTO. This book started me on my path of amateur historian. What those men went through. On both sides.
Nice talking.
I would expect nothing less from a Navy vessel named after a Marine hero.
What a great story. I was a destroyer sailor myself and so this story of the USS O’Bannon’s battle history and crew survival is impressive to me.. is this ship preserved anywhere?
O’Bannon was sold for scrap in 1970 and broken up in 1972.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Shame. I was hoping it was a museum ship somewhere…
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Our command Master Chief on DD 987 told us that the WWII O’Bannon was sold for scrap to the Gillette company (for razor blades).
Unfortunately, many of our great warships met the same inglorious fate!😢
Those destroyer and DE crews possessed a level of testicular fortitude that was incredible. Bless them all. 👍
Thank you for reminding everyone how high the bar for the word courage is .
What a tale, no purple hearts, amazing.
I am 81yrs, just saw this, my 1st Ship as a young seaman was the USS Radford DDE-446 in 1961, Homeport Pearl Harbor. I remember the Obannon DDE-450. They were All Fletcher Class including the Original USS Fletcher DDE-445. It was called the Little Beaver Squadron. So long ago.
I am always amazed by the stories you tell. Great job of explaining this story.
Thank you for your constant grind of putting out good videos for us to watch, always telling them with excitement and respect
P.S. If you ever come to Atlantic City there is plenty of history here, and I would be happy to show you around the local spots and be a guide
Another great WWII Navy ship was the USS Laffey. It's fight off of Okinawa is legendary. A great read for those interested is, "Hell from the Heavens: The Epic Story of the USS Laffey and World War II's Greatest Kamikaze Attack".
Awesome story thank you for sharing 😊😊😊😊
I heartily recommend the book Neptune's Inferno. I have read and reread it and given as a gift.
I just finished rteading Tin Van Titans, which also rrelates O'Bannon's history in WWII. Your report was a nice addition to close out that read. Thank you!
Big fan of the Fletcher class. Little ships that fought heroically above their weigh class.
My grandfather was a Chief Fireman on the O’Bannon throughout the Guadalcanal campaign. I have a book on the history of the O’Bannon that he gave me.
Chooses Johnston, Samuel B Roberts and O'Bannon, possibly Texas.
Glad too see the destroyers displaying bravery, honor and duty.
The namesake for the Fletcher-class is Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher who served in the USN from 1875 to 1919. Fletcher was also the uncle of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher who served from before WWI through WWII (1906-1947).
I had a relative that served on the O'Bannon in WWII. There is a book detailing interviews with many crew members detailing the ship's actions called "Action Tonite" by Horan. Quite a sobering read. Thanks for covering this history.
Halsey had better have spoken well of DD's. Aside from saving his rear end they save countless lives of sailors and soldiers at Leyte Gulf as he went after a decoy.
RO- type submarines were smaller than I-type submarines. R-34 was about half the size of IJN I-boats and about 2/3 the size of USN Gato-class boats.
Awesome ships! My grandfather served on a Fletcher Class in the WWII Pacific Theatre, the USS Bennion. He rarely spoke of his experiences, but we do know the ship suffered kamikaze attacks during the war...
Fantastic and always you do such a Job of all of your shows..Cowboy from Texas thanks you and I teach so many young,should say your shows help so much.😊
The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal is actually the third of five major surface engagements of what is considered the Guadalcanal campaign. Savo Island August 9th, Cape Esperance, October 11th, then the three-part Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13-15, followed by Tassafaronga, November 30, and Rennell Island January 29, as the Japanese were evacuating the island and concluding the campaign.
My Uncle was a sonar tech on O'Bannon when she was deployed from Honolulu, to Vietnam in the late 60's.
You can’t sink a submarine with puny Maine potatoes, you have to use the much larger and tastier potatoes from Idaho.
😆 good one
Liiiiieeeeesss! Sincerely, the Maine Potato Board (j/k).
@@v745ti 😂
Love the variety of subjects, and they're all so interesting. One suggestion I had was the wood plank road through the Anza Borrego desert. At least I think that's where it was. I think it may have been someone named Fletcher.that built it. I grew up in Fletcher Hills, part of El Cajon CA.
In 1952 I was on the Radford DDE 446, The Fletcher DDE445 ,The Obannon DDE 450 , Pearl Harbor was the home Port
Was the USS O'Bannon preserved and on exhibition in some museum ?
May I suggest doing a video on the location exhibits of various historical craft for your viewers to not only remember but also visit and touch, being touched by, history.
O'Bannon was scrapped. To my knowledge, four Fletcher-class destroyers are preserved as museum ships: the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge, La.; the USS The Sullivans in Buffalo, N.Y.; the USS Cassin Young in Boston; and the USS Charrette, later renamed Velos by the Hellenic Navy, in the Museum of Anti-Dictatorial Struggle in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Was she scrapped or held in reserve somewhere? Seems like a natural for a museum ship.
Scrapped.
Fantastic episode!! Thank you!!
Third attempt. Two more copies of this floating around somewhere in cyberspace.
Read a book about the battle involving the Hiei. American and Japanese fleets sailing toward each other, almost like chicken. The columns passed each other within slingshot range. They picked a target on the hull of the Hiei roughly the size of a garage door. As each cruiser and destroyer passed, they sent 8 and 5 inch shells into the designated target area. The concentrated fire loosened rivets, cracked the hull, and making the ship sag in the middle. The next day, fighter pilot Joe Foss, later NRA president, lead the fighter cover protecting the dive bombers that finished off the Hiei.
The officers and sailors that provided the gantlet the Hiei had to run had balls of solid rock.
Thank you for the lesson.
Fletcher Gonna Fletch.
🤘
No potatoes were harmed during the making of this battle.
I'm reading Tin Can Titans right now, the story of the O'Bannon and destroyer squadron 21. Very good read so far.
Remarkable story well told. Not one Purple Heart is the most glorious lovely victory unimaginably possible.
You've gotta talk about the Port Chicago disaster. You've covered the Pacific war several times, Port Chicago disaster was in the shadows of all that. San Francisco Bay, Port Chicago, bunch of ordinance accidentally leveled 💣💥 the Port. Hand loaded. 👀💔
Thank you sir, for your always outstanding work.
Thank you for sharing!
thanks
Another wild fight was USS Borie's fight with a U-Boat.
th-cam.com/video/Mx4K3MvP0wg/w-d-xo.html
Battle stars without Purple Hearts.... sounds like great leadership.
No potatoes were harmed in the occurrence of this action- or were they? 😆
Not a slug fest, but a spud fest...
Helluva story!
Dad served on two tin cans both sunk I miss him he was my hero.
Isn't there also a story in the Atlantic of an American destroyer throwing potatoes at a German u-boat?
I think you probably mean USS Buckley. They threw coffee cups. th-cam.com/video/YIBF4HwtANA/w-d-xo.html
Really great! Thank you.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a professor of rhetoric at Bowdin College. Chamberlain was the hero of Gettysburg.
Thank you.
There is a great book on the O'Bannon and the 21st Destroyer Squadron called "Tin Can Titans" by John Wukovits.
What goes on amidships doesn't always make it to the bridge...
It is one of the battles I have studied more closely than any other.
That a ship with so many battle stars should be Sold for scrap is a Goddamn travesty.
I'd better watch this, it's going to be great!
Leave it to a ship named after an Irishman fighting a sub with potatoes...
The sheer irony...
If the lower enlisted say something happened and the guy in charge of them says it didn't happen, it totally happened.
Good morning from Ft Worth TX History Guy and everyone watching. A Spruance Class Destroyer was named O'Bannon. I too served on a Spruance Class Destroyer, USS Kinkaid DD 965.
i heard rob smith was on the USS O'Bannon and stopped at the solomon islands to get ceviche with a friend, after tennis of course
Great video.
Bowdoin is pronounced "bo-din." It rhymes with the last name of actor Charles Grodin. My dad went there, and I am sitting on the same street as the college itself.
Good catch, I posted something similar, albeit a while after you did. It's always fun explaining to "people from away" the weird pronunciation of certain place names in Maine. Like Falmouth isn't fall-mouth, Bowdoinham isn't Beau Doin' Ham, and Calais (despite being within earshot of Quebec) is actually pronounced "callous".
What and awesome story. Have you by chance. Did a story on taffy 3? USS Sammy B. And USS Johnson?
In the Battle of Guadalcanal as more than this ship story. There’s two more stories that you glanced over or not even. The destroyer USS Laffey DD 459 A heroic stand towards Japanese in this battle. The USS Juneau CL-52 what is a very tragic story with a Juneau. If you do not know the Juneau had five Sullivan brothers on board her during the battle off Guadalcanal. None the five Sullivan’s survived. Here’s a couple stories that you should do videos on.
history guy oh yeah time to learn about some stuff yah! :D
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
I propose the next-generation anti-submarine torpedo be called "Potato."
Well done USS O`Bannon, however, Johnston, Hoel and Sammy B, whilst not surviving their ordeal did BETTER! BIG shout for USS England (being a Limey I HAD to get that in!) Yet another Great Vid, Thanks! Did the Spuds come from Idaho- love their Mash!
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Never let a good story get in the truth of the way.
ALL War Stories are true...even (especially?) the ones that are not.
Didn’t know Frisco hit OBannon too, but since OBannon was just ahead of Atlanta maybe Frisco got both as the the geometry of the battle pushed farther down the column.
I served aboard DD987, a gas turbine in 1992, USS O' Bannon
My dad, S1c Harry L. Harris, was a cook and 20mm gunner on the O'Bannon from 42' till her first decommissioning right after the war. He never talked too much about the war. When Bob Ballard did his documentary on The Ghost Fleet of Guadalcanal we were watching it, and when the battleship Hiei's name was mentioned my got up and left the room. I ask him why later and he said he could close his eyes and still see that ship like it happened yesterday. RIP dad.
Respect.
I can confirm, source: I was there. I was a potato, and I saw it with my own eyes.
Lol
@@TheHistoryGuyChannelKind Sir. You said the O’Bannon was part of the recovery of Gemini 11. Don’t you mean Apollo 11? Don’t think there WAS an Gemini 11…
@@samiam619 There were 12 Gemini missions. Gemini 11 was Pete Conrad and Charles Gordon.
The WWII Fletcher Class destroyer, USS O'Bannon never lost a man. What are the odds of this happening aboard a destroyer.
Incredible history!
Those wwwII vets were the greatest. My dad had lots of crazy tails about chasing boats in the Atlantic.
And on a footnote, let none of us forget the USS Johnston.