Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 11, 2008 Page: 3 of 28
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Jewish Herald-Voice
December 11, 2008
ReminderofDec. 7, PearlHarborDay
USS Raleigh, unsung heroine
of World War II
Part II
Editor’s note:
Houstonian Sam Feldt
was a sailor in the United
States Navy when Pearl
Harbor was attacked by
Japan. Feldt was aboard
the USS RALEIGH on
that fateful day.
Recently, he attended
a California reunion
of the crew of the USS
RALEIGH. What follows
here is the second
installment of the text of
a document distributed
to all attendees.
“After full repairs, she [The USS
RALEIGH] was gun-ship for two
convoys of ships to the South Pacific.
Then, in October, after her second
trip down, she was suddenly called
back to Hawaii. She was told to
make a sweep thru the Gilbert and
Ellice Islands to try to find some
four Japanese picket boats which had
been harassing our subs that were
‘scouting’ the area in preparation for
the assault on Tarawa!
“She went alone. No anti-subma-
rine protection, and only her anti-
quated anti-aircraft battery. If the
Japs had had just one sub and a
few planes, RALEIGH would surely
have been lost, without a trace. Her
orders were that she should clear
those islands at 25 knots for only
four hours, and then, at 10 a.m., was
to slow to 18 knots. She did not have
enough fuel for a faster run, and there
was no tanker which could meet and
refuel her. And, she had NO AIR
COVER! Maybe she was considered
EXPENDABLE!! At Pearl, however,
she was given a few days to load
stores and fuel and then she drove
north at ‘best speed’ to the North
Pacific and the abysmal Aleutian
weather. But she drove so hard, that
she drove in her forward double
bottoms some two feet, for nearly 60
feet of double bottoms on the forward
part of the ship. In
peacetime, she would
have gone into dry
dock. But, she was
needed in that dread-
ful Bering Sea, so at
Dutch Harbor, they
got a big pump, and
we pumped water
from the double
bottom leaks, and as
fast as they could, the
‘Seabees’ poured one
wheelbarrow after
another of concrete
in, and we bolted the hatches down.
“Later on, our rudder started
jamming, due to sea damage, and the
ship would steam in a circle until the
jamming could be cleared. SHADES
OF HMS WARSPITE IN WW I! Then,
one of our propeller shafts (damaged
at Pearl) would run hot, and slow
us down. So the Force commander
came up with a solution for those
two problems.
“Station RALEIGH farther west on
the Aleutian chain, near Adak, so she
could join my fast force moving west.
As long as RALEIGH CAN TURN
ONE SHAFT, SHE STAYS UP HERE
. . . She will always be last ship in a
column so, if she is stuck in circles,
she won’t bother any other ship.’
“So RALEIGH stayed on thru most
of the violent weather of 1942-1943 until
the patch, near her torpedo hit, leaked
salt water into the fresh water tanks
for the boilers. She was then sent back
to Seattle for a fix up. The Navy Yard
first thought she had run aground, until
we pointed out that it was CONCRETE,
NOT Rock in our bow. Then back to
the Bering Sea we went, for more of
that unspeakable weather. We lost two
planes to violent seas!
“But her final day of glorious
revenge, attack on PARAMUSHIRO, a
Japanese homeland island, was soon
to come.
To be concluded next week.
1 ttT ♦
Irfierjud-Voiee
Volume C - Number 38
THE JEWISH HERALD-VOICE
(ISSN 0021-6488) Published weekly
- Plus Wedding, Passover, Voices in
Houston, Rosh Hashanah and Bar/Bat
Mitzvah editions-by Herald Publishing
Co., 3403 Audley St., Houston, TX
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reserved. Reproduction or use with-
out permission of editorial or graphic
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Table of Contents
Arts and Entertainment...............................22
Business............................. .................23
Chamber.......................................................16
Classified Shopper......................................26
Community............. 17
Community Calendar..................................13
Editorial/Opinion..........................................10
Food and Dining................ 20
Health..............................................................9
Israel...............................................................5
Kids...............................................................18
Nation........................................ 8
Obituaries.......................... 24
Simchas........................................... ......12
Singles Happenings....................................19
Sports....... 28
Synagogue Services...................................14
Teens/On Campus.......................................19
Up Close.........................................................3
Upcoming.....................................................14
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 11, 2008, newspaper, December 11, 2008; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth544100/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .