But before i tell you all about the amazing dive, here is a little bit of history on the vessel:
Guadalcanal campaign
John Penn departed Norfolk 17 December for deployment to the Pacific, arriving New Caledonia via the Canal Zone 18 January 1943. She departed New Caledonia 24 January; and touching at Espiritu Santo 3 days later, got underway to pick up survivors from Chicago, sunk off Guadalcanal 29 January. In all, she received 1,003 men and 63 officers, including Captain R. C. Davis, the lost cruiser's commanding officer. After debarking her grateful passengers at Noumea, New Caledonia, she spent the next 6 months delivering supplies, equipment, and troops to Guadalcanal from the New Hebrides, the Fiji Islands and New Zealand. Reclassified APA-23 on 1 February 1943, she continued to bring supplies and troops into this bitterly contested island.
Torpedoed and sunk
On 13 August John Penn had just finished unloading a cargo of 155-mm ammunition off Lunga Point, Guadalcanal. At 2120 she came under attack by enemy torpedo planes. Three minutes later, when the transport took one of the planes under fire, the plane burst into flames and crashed into her mainmast. About that same instant a torpedo from another plane hit the ship. Despite vigorous efforts to save her, John Penn went down stern first at 2150. Approximately 35 survivors were rescued by a United States Navy coastal transport vessel, the USS APc-25, whose commanding officer was Navy Lieutenant John D. Cartano. At the time of the torpedoing, Captain Harry William Need (later Rear Admiral) commanded USS John Penn.
In her naval service, the transport had played a key role in the assault and occupation of French Morocco and contributed greatly to the struggle for Guadalcanal. In war there are always losses, but John Penn's crew, reassigned to other ships, took part in later decisive naval victories.
Upon leaving Guadalcanal harbor at about 8.15am it was a beautiful day to be out on the boat. the seas were calm and the sun was warm, with blue Sky's ahead. along the way we saw a few locals in there dugout boats fishing, all waving as we passed them by. Not long after we arrived above the USS John Penn. I stood on the front of the boat with my mask and fins on. with a luminescent yellow rope in my hand looking for the mooring line that Neil had placed there a few years earlier. As soon as i spotted the line i plunged into the blue Pacific sea. i eventually made my way to the line that was about 6m under. this is quite scary not being able to tell if you'll make it to the line and back on one breath of air.
After tying the boat to the mooring i made my way back on board, put on my gear and did all my safety checks. i sat on the edge of the boat waiting to do a backwards tumble into the water. Neil clipped an emergency safety bottle (5L) onto my chest. I pressed the mask onto my face and held my reg in my mouth and off i went. As soon as i entered the water a huge realization came to me... it was my 40th dive :) first dive on an American wreck and first time to carry a emergency bottle. Jan entered the water shortly after me and we were ready to descend. We deflated our BCD's and went down the mooring line at about 2m per second to the port side of the ship.
Once we made our way to the bottom we assessed which way the current was flowing and swam into the current towards the bow. this vessel is 144m long and 20m wide! it is huge! the amount of fish that i saw was spectacular, and the size of them -crazy! enough food on them to feed a family for a week! we traveled towards the mast and then turned around and made our way back to the mooring line. my maximum depth was 49.5m and at that depth everything is a little bit gloomy but enough light to see everything. it kind of looks like an overcast day under water ;P we started our accent up the morning line with only having spent 13 minutes on the wreck :( i really wish i could of stayed longer. But the more air you breathe at depth the more time you have to spend doing decompression stops (keeping in mind your air usage). from spending 13 minutes at 50meters it took me 25 minutes to do deco stops and make it back to the surface, with a total dive time of 38 minutes
But the 13 minutes at the bottom were so worth it! next time I'm going to calculate the time needed and take 2 bottles with me and try find a military truck that's lost down there =D
Calm seas on our way out.
The point where i dived for the mooring line
Blue sky's ahead
Neil coming out the water (emergency bottle on his chest)
Arriving back in the harbour - kids having a Sunday swim
So happy to have their picture taken
My favourite pic =D
Our Dad was one of those survivors of the attack on the USS John Penn. Thank you for sharing your diving experience, the photos are great, your favorite shot is also our pick ;)
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Delete6-2-12 ~ My Mom's brother, Leonard Jr Sharp of Pawnee, Oklahoma was a casualty of this ship. He was age 21. Their mother, my grandmother was distraught until she passed on. She would often cry. He was her first born of 16 children. My mother had not yet been born and only knew of him through photos.
ReplyDeleteHis body was never recovered and grandma often cried hoping that maybe he just had amnesia and forgot who he was and perhaps he was still alive. A mothers hope and love and deep wound of her baby who never came home. A grave and headstone, but he is not in it. I watched and listened to my grandmother yearn for her son, my uncle, that I too, only knew of through photos.
My grandmother has since passed on in the 1980's and only 4 her children are still with us as of 6-3-2012. One being one of the next oldest brothers who also served in WWII, and 3 sisters, one being my mother who is the 2nd youngest of the 16 children.
Details of my uncle are hard to find. Photos of the survivors, etc. If anyone knew my uncle, known as "BUGGS" or a nick name in his family, we would love to hear from you. We would like more information, and anyone diving the site, if you have photos of the USS JOHN PENN wreckage as it lies underwater, we would love to have or see them for family history and genealogy and in rememberence of our family member, Leonard Jr. Sharp and others who did not come home and the sacrifies they made for our country. My personal email is luvskittykats at yahoo.
My father Willard D. Murphy was on the ship when it was torpedoed and sunk. He survived by taking a rope and tying it to jump into the water, he told the story of being the last one on the ship (he couldn't tell if their were othres) and using the rope to lower himself over the deck, crude oil caught fire, bow was the only area not burning, so he went towards it, he could only dog paddle.. woke-up on shore later after being rescued.
ReplyDeleteMy father Willard D. Murphy was on the ship when it was torpedoed and sunk. He survived by taking a rope and tying it to jump into the water, he told the story of being the last one on the ship (he couldn't tell if their were othres) and using the rope to lower himself over the deck, crude oil caught fire, bow was the only area not burning, so he went towards it, he could only dog paddle.. woke-up on shore later after being rescued.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad, CM1 James Altemueller, served on the Penn. He was working on Tulagi when the ship was sunk.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad Charles Flanner from Dalhart Texas served on the USS John Penn when it sank. My Dad helped pull survivors from the water. He also served on the USS John Penn during Operation Torch in North Africa. He was a Pharmacist Mate 1st Class.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad, Edward Lis was on the John Penn. They were refueling before and during the attack. He was in a small boat monitoring the lines. He stayed on the island and drove a Higgins boat to deliver men and supplies between the islands until he caught malaria. His belongings were lost on his trip back. Any pictures, stories, etc. would be great. He didn't talk about the war until just before he died fifteen years ago.
ReplyDeleteNice pictures. Good to see some color, and no war ships.
He was Edward Liszewski then, in his early 20's and his nickname was "Gus" as he liked baseball and played catcher like Gus Mancuso. A machinist's mate.
DeleteThanks for the links. No mention that they were refueling at the time, but there were a lot of comments about burning fuel on the ship and in the water. These stories and lives are not forgotten.
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