Quoted from "The Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait" by: W. G. Winslow. He was an SOC pilot on Houston HOME    USS RATHBURNE    GHOST    MUSTER ROLL    DESTROYERS    SHIP PICTURE    EMAIL The antisubmarine work of our spunky little four stack destroyers during those opening weeks of the war was amazing. Outmoded, obsolete in many ways, they were our thin grey line of protection from enemy submarines. They were kept constantly at sea, and because many of them had not been subjected to a major overhaul in more than two years, equipment often broke down, so that the ingenious men who sailed in them had to make emergency repairs. Whenever I stood OOD watches under way, I could observe them closely from the bridge. Their bulldog like air of pugnacious determination never failed to fascinate me. They seemed to completely disregard the fact that they mounted no antiaircraft armament other than a few .50 caliber machine guns and one 3 inch antiaircraft gun designed in 1916. They did carry twelve torpedo tubes in four triple mounts, and four 4 inch deck guns. They also carried submarine detection gear and depth charges, but they had no radar. Their torpedoes, it must be said, were old in design, with low speed and a small bursting charge. Protection from the hellish rays of the sun was to be found only within the destroyers steel framework, which for lack of air conditioning made them, at times, seem more like ovens. They were constantly short of provisions, and fresh water was frugally rationed. It was spellbinding to watch them work their way through rough seas, sliding over the crest of one wave to plow head-on into the next, which as often as not engulfed the entire ship. Out of the depths, the game little devils would pop, would roll and pitch and dig in again until it seemed as though everyone on board would have his brains knocked out. Those manning these fighting ships were seamen in the finest tradition of the U. S. Navy. They were brown from the sun and tough as iron, and they took on the roughest assignments without a gripe. © 1999-2010 by Lynn Veitch or the original contributor. All rights reserved. Commercial use of this information is strictly prohibited without prior permission of the owners. HOME | JOURNAL | AUTOBIOGRAPHY | SEARCH FOR HEIRS | USS RATHBURNE | GHOST | MUSTER ROLL | DESTROYERS | EMAIL