Warbird Information Exchange

The B-25's took off from the USS Hornet but the USS Enterprise went along in the task force. What was the purpose of the Enterprise in the raid? Was it to provide fighter cover if necessary?

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

These are the vessels that comprised Task Force 16:

But don't miss the point CV-6 was the flagship of the Task Force (commanded by Halsey). Besides being the command ship it was available to launch scout and fighter cover.

USS Hornet CV-8 CV=Carrier
USS Enterprise CV-6
USS Salt Lake City CA-25 CA=Cruiser
USS Northampton CA-26
USS Vincennes CA-44
USS Nashville CL-43 CL=Light Cruiser
USS Balch DD-363 DD=Destroyer
USS Fanning DD-385
USS Benham DD-397
USS Ellet DD-398
USS Gwin DD-433
USS Meredith DD-434
USS Grayson DD-435
USS Monssen DD-436
USS Sabine AO-25 AO=Auxiliary Oiler
USS Cimarron AO-22
USS Thresher SS-200 SS=Submarine
USS Trout SS-202
Here is the Enterprise After Action Report. Note the several mentions of regular scouting and cover missions launched daily. This also contains a narrative of the seldom mentioned combat with Japanese forces as TF-16 made their way back to Pearl.

http://www.cv6.org/ship/logs/action19420418-88.htm

I've often read that the actor Rod Steiger was aboard one of the destroyers that sunk a Japanese fishing boat, but I can't recall it ever being named.

Anyone know which one?

I looked around for a couple of minutes and didn't find the name of his destroyer. I did find this.



I had to double check on that USS Benham as it sounded slightly familiar. I knew country comedian Jerry Clower was a radioman in WWII. He was on the USS Bennington, CV-20 later on in the war.


Edit added: I found this on Rod Steiger. It says he was on the USS Benham, then the USS Taussig. I read somewhere else he was in 9 campaigns.

http://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/se ... &ID=606705

I linked the A/A Rept of TF-16 at the end of the list of vessels above.

BENHAM was part of the destroyer force which was detached to screen the oilers appx half way to the launch point. No DD's accompanied the HORNET/ENTERPRISE carrier force to the launch point

All of the actions involving 16 Japanese surface vessels were--according to the A/A Rept--conducted by NASHVILLE and planes from CV-6 and CV-8.

Makes one wonder where and when the attack on the "unarmed civilian fishing boat" occurred. The evidence suggests that it could not have been on the way to the launch of the Doolittle planes.

Rod Steiger was not in the ships on the Doolittle Raid. He joined the Navy the following month (May 11, 1942, to be exact) and after training reported to the USS Taussig (DD-746) on May 20, 1944 as a torpedoman, third class. The sinking of unarmed fishing vessels did occur (and he was always guilty about the possibility of his ship having killed women and kids on the sampans, despite the fact that the sampans could have had radios to warn the mainland of American movements-- and the Japanese often did do things like that) but it was during operations off the coast of Japan late in the war, not during the Doolittle Raid.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/mfyywhm

I'm not sure that book is correct. If he was born on April 25th, 1925 and enlisted in the Navy at age 16 that would be 1941. I did see a reference saying he came into the Navy in 1941. He would have been 17 on May 11th, 1942 according to that book's date. At 17 he would not have needed to lie about his age.....just get someone to sign him in (his mother did). My dad lied about his age to get in the Marines in early 1945. He was 16. Anyway, even if Rod Steiger did join the Navy on May 11th, 1942 as the book states, there is a two year gap in his service if he didn't report to the USS Taussig until May 20th, 1944. I do not think he was training to be a Torpedoman for 2 years during wartime. The Navy page says he was a non-rate on the USS Benham. That would make sense he was on there as a non-rate, got trained, then ended his service on the USS Taussig as a Torpedoman.

Here is part 2 of a 2001 BBC documentary called H-e-l-l in the Pacific. If you go to 18:05, Rod Steiger talks about his (ships) role in the Doolittle escort and shooting the sampans they came across while heading towards Japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfai4RRY-Ok

"His first introduction to war was when he was ordered to machine-gun and sink an un-armed Japanese civilian fishing boat whilst his ship was escorting the carrier USS Hornet en route to launching the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942."


Video 18:58 "I was watching, I wasn't shooting"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfai4RRY-Ok

BTW....USS BENHAM was sunk 15NOV42

Often times, that is the thing about history being retold. You can see the same errors in different publications as the authors are taking from the same incorrect source and repeating it.