Brett Ashton - Vengeance - Hatred and Honor

“All stations report!” I said to the talker on the bridge. Most of the ship would be at battle stations by then, and I needed to know how badly we had been hit.

“Signal, alert the rest of the task force that the torpedoes came from bearing two eight five relative to our current position,” I told the signalman, hoping the destroyers would be able to find the submarine and at least keep it busy, if not sink it. We were turning to the exact correct heading for them to fire another shot at us and destroy our propulsion systems, but we needed to open the distance between us as fast as we could. And I was betting the sub that fired those torpedoes was going to go deep and silent and try to slip away rather than fight three destroyers.

As the Buffalo continued its turn, I began to notice she was slowing slightly. “Were we losing propulsion?” I wondered to myself.

As the ship came out of her port turn, she didn’t settle back to an even keel. There was definitely a starboard list, only a few degrees but probably increasing. I could already tell my ship was wounded, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. I got out the list of stations that I used to mark off as they reported “ready” for general quarters. Then I got out a diagram I hoped I would never have to use; it was an inboard profile of the ship that I would use to keep track of the damaged systems and areas of the ship. I listened as the bridge talker told me the stations that were reporting.

The reports came in slowly at first, not at all with the “snap and pop” that would be normal for the crew. I could tell large portions of them were disoriented, which again gave me some hints on the condition of the ship.

The areas above decks reported first, then below decks aft. No reports came in from forward below decks, damage control central, the forward main guns, or any of the engine rooms. I began to count the systems in those areas of the ship as being off line in my mind at that point. Even though we were still moving, and thus did have some engine power, I didn’t know how long it would last. If I can’t communicate with them, I can’t use them effectively.

The one that bothered me the most was damage control central. It was going to take a coordinated effort to keep the Buffalo swimming, and on a damaged ship, they are the nerve center that makes that effort work. In a life-and-death situation, information is everything, and that’s where it was supposed to come from.

Just then, Rear Admiral Parkhurst appeared on the bridge. Everybody, myself included, was so busy at their stations doing their jobs that nobody noticed him come in.

“Captain, report,” I heard his voice say behind me.

Glancing up quickly, I saw him standing next to me in battle gear, life preserver, and everything. He looked a little nervous, and I could tell right away this was his first combat.

“Nothing to report yet, sir, except two torpedo hits, which I’m sure you heard; other than that, we are very busy trying to figure out what is going on.” I didn’t want to deal with him at that moment; the captain’s duty is to his ship, and at that time, the admiral seemed to be in relatively good condition.

I very badly needed a damage report. The starboard list was increasing rapidly.

“Runners to the bridge,” I said to the talker. I had prepared for the possibility that, during combat, some parts of the ship might not have communications. Our situation didn’t look good, and reports were coming in much slower. A lot of the areas from the forward part of the ship had not reported yet, and I should have heard from the engine areas and damage control by then.

“Captain, I want a report of what is going on,” the admiral said.

“I don’t have anything more to report to you at this time, sir; we are assessing the situation as rapidly as we can,” I told him as the first of my trained runners reported. “I need a report from damage control central. Anything you can tell me. Go!”

I looked out at the ocean. We were going much slower, and the list to starboard was still increasing. “Damn!” I thought. “I need more information to act on.” The second runner reported in. “Find out what’s going on in the forward fire room and engine room. Go!” I told him.

The admiral continued to fidget.

The third runner reported in. “Find out what is going on in the aft fire and engine room. Go!” I told him.

“Sir,” I said turning toward the admiral, “we have three destroyers with us in the task force. I propose that we have the two closest to where the torpedoes came from continue to hunt the Nip submarine and the third to pull in close to us and prepare for possible towing if we lose propulsion, or rescue if we have to abandon ship.”

“Do you think we will have to abandon, captain?” the admiral asked. I couldn’t help but notice the trembling in his voice.

Then I knew for sure he was going to lose his nerve to some larger degree. He was as white as a ghost.

“I don’t know that yet, sir,” I replied. “I still haven’t gotten reports from damage control or engineering.”

Just then, the talker notified me that the aft engineering had reported in. There were several injuries because one of the high pressure steam lines ruptured and was leaking. It would have to be shut down for at least several hours for repair soon, but for now, they could still maintain some power.

That explained why the ship was still moving, albeit much slower, but there was still nothing from the forward engine room. I began to guess at that time that the forward engine room was gone.

“Captain,” the admiral said again, “do you think we will have to abandon?”

“I really don’t know at this time, admiral, but what I do need to know is, can we order the destroyers to cover us as I proposed?”

“Yes, proceed,” he replied.

“Signal, radio the destroyer Lawe ; tell them to pull alongside and prepare for possible tow or rescue operations. Contact the Fletcher and the Barton and tell them to continue with the hunt for the Jap sub. Admiral’s orders.”

I turned to the bridge talker at that point and told him, “Tell the gun boss I want all watches to look for periscopes and not to hesitate opening fire on any submarine that surfaces. If they stick their heads up, blow them off.”

“Yes sir!” he replied.

“And get the pilots of the Kingfishers up here on the double,” I added.

Several minutes had gone by when the talker told me the forward main guns had reported in. The upper parts of the guns were manned and ready, but the lower decks of the turrets and mezzanines were slowly flooding. There were also reports of fuel oil leaking into the forward magazines.

“Flood the power rooms and ammunition areas of the number one and number two main guns on the starboard side now!” I told him. “And after that, evacuate the forward main guns and reassign any crew to damage control.” We did not want a fire down there. If something touched off the powder in the magazines, it would blow the ship in half.

About then, the first runner returned to the bridge. He had the rest of the badly needed reports from the missing areas all at once from the damage control officer.

Damage control central was flooding, and Lieutenant Commander Schuller was injured by a piece of debris from one of the explosions. The injury was not very bad, so he was still on duty. That was why damage control was so slow reporting. They had begun to set up operations in a compartment on the next deck above their normal compartment and had to recoordinate all of their efforts from there.

The forward fire room was a total loss and flooded within seconds of the second torpedo hit, which struck the ship at about frame sixty-two. Only two of the crew got out alive, and they were badly burned. The forward engine room was flooding by a ruptured bulkhead at frame sixty-nine, separating it from the flooded fire room. Efforts were continuing to stop the flooding, but the chances didn’t look good. The forward engine room compartment could be expected to be flooded within about twenty minutes.