THE FIRST SHAW
The first destroyer USS Shaw (DD-68) was named, as was her successor, to honor Capt. John Shaw, an early American Naval hero. Shaw was born in Ireland in 1773. He first established his name in American Naval history in the undeclared war with France in 1800. In eight months, as commanding officer of the Enterprise, Shaw captured six privateers and recaptured eleven American merchantmen. He died in 1823. It is somewhat symbolic that the second Shaw would, during WWII, be assigned to the task force grouped around the carrier USS Enterprise whose predecessor was captained, 142-years earlier, by John Shaw.
The first Shaw was commissioned in 1917 as a Sampson-class destroyer and saw active duty during WWI. She wasn't a true "flush-deck four-piper" destroyer of pre-WWII fame, but rather had the broken-deck arrangement of the "thousand tonners" and other early destroyers.
In October 1918, the Shaw, commanded at the time by Cmdr. W.A. Glassford, had her bow sheared off by the liner Aquitania. The liner sliced into the destroyer, whose steering gear had jammed, just forward of the bridge. Twelve bluejackets were killed.
Destroyers of WWI fought about 250 anti-submarine actions, though the vessels were by no means confined to those operations. When operating with fleets, they also scouted, screened, and laid smoke. It was American destroyers which screened the five coal-burning American dreadnoughts that crossed the Atlantic in December 1917 to reinforce the British Grand Fleet.
The first Shaw was struck from the Navy list on 25 March 1926 and transferred to the Coast Guard the same day. She was returned to the Navy by the Coast Guard and reinstated on the Navy list effective 30 June 1933. Her name was canceled on 1 November 1933, for assignment to a new destroyer, and the ship was struck again on 5 July 1934. The Shaw was sold for scrapping to Michael Flynn, Inc., Brooklyn, New York, on 22 August 1934.
Future admiral stars were destined for Shaw crew member Lt. C.H. ("Sock") McMorris and Shaw skipper L/Cmdr. W.F. "Bull" Halsey, Jr.
USS SHAW (DD-373)
The second destroyer Shaw (DD-373) had her keel laid down on 1 October 1934; almost a year after the previous Shaw (DD-68) had her name canceled from the Navy records. The keel was laid down at the United States Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was launched on Navy Day, 28 October 1935, and was sponsored by Miss Dorothy L. Tinker. The Shaw was commissioned into the US Navy on 18 September 1936. Her commanding officer was L/Cmdr. E.A. Mitchell, USN.
The Shaw belonged to the Mahanclass of destroyers (ship numbers 364 to 379). The building program for these destroyers began in 1934 during the Depression (providing needed employment) and included a total of 16 ships. These ships, all but one of which were commissioned in 1936 (the 16th in 1937), were to be built around the most modern machinery available. Their General Electric turbines would turn at a much higher speed than in previous ships. The Shaw's high-pressure turbine speed would be 5850 revolutions per minute (earlier destroyers had 3460 rpm). Double reduction gears and 700-degree boilers with economizers rounded out the engineering plant. These Mahanclass destroyers were said to have "the most rugged and reliable of any main drive installation ever installed in the Navy up to that time."
The Shaw had a displacement of 1450-tons (the weight of the amount of water the ship displaced) and was 341-ft 4-in in length. Her beam was 34-ft 8-in (the width of the ship at its widest possible point). Her propeller shaft horsepower was 48,000 which gave the Shaw a rated "war steaming" speed (in 1940) of 35-kts. The destroyer's sailing radius was 6790 nautical miles at 15.2-kts (or 2880-mi at 25.5-kts). She had a draft of 17-ft (the depth to which the ship sinks into the water). The Shaw's approximate complement was 250 officers and men.
The Shaw's original armament consisted of five 5-in dual-purpose 38-cal guns; four .50-cal AA (anti-aircraft) machine guns; twelve 21-in torpedo tubes (three mounts of four tubes each); and two depth charge stem tracks. By mid-war, the Shaw had been overhauled, refitted, and reconfigured several times. In 1943, her armament consisted of four 5-in/38-cal guns; one twin 40mm gun mount; four 20mm single machine guns; twelve 21-in torpedo tubes; two depth charge stern tracks; and four depth charge projectors (two on either side of the ship). At one point in 1942, after the Shaw's overhaul and repair at Mare Island following her destruction at Pearl Harbor, she had a quadruple 1.1-inch AA mount on the afterdeckhouse. All the Mahanclass destroyers had different degrees of firepower. Various idiosyncrasies in their design and armament could sometimes make ship identification a problem.
Following her commissioning, the Shaw remained at Philadelphia until April 1937 when she crossed the Atlantic on her shakedown cruise. After returning to Philadelphia on 18 June she commenced a year of yard work to correct deficiencies before completing acceptance trials in June 1938. The Shaw conducted training exercises in the Atlantic for the remainder of the year. She then steamed to the Pacific and underwent an overhaul at Mare Island, California, from 8 January to 4 April 1939.
The Shaw remained on the west coast until April 1940 participating in various exercises and providing services to carriers and submarines operating in the area. In April, now with new commanding officer L/Cmdr. T.B. Brittain, USN, at the helm, the Shaw sailed for Hawaii where she participated in Fleet Problem XXI, an eight-phased operation for the defense of the Hawaiian area. She remained in the Hawaiian area until November of 1940 when she returned to the west coast for overhaul.
Lieutenant Commander Wilber Glenn Jones, USN, took command of the Shaw on 30 January 1941. She was back in the Hawaiian area by mid-February 1941, operating in those waters until November when she entered the Navy Yard at Pearl Harbor for repairs. She dry-docked in YFD-2, a floating dry dock previously used by the cruiser USS New Orleans. As of 7 December 1941, the Shaw was one of 54 destroyers assigned to the US Pacific Fleet.
THE ATTACK
On the Sunday morning of 7 December 1941, the Shaw still sat in YFD-2. With her in the floating dry dock was the tug Sotoyomo. The crews of both the destroyer and the tug were ashore, as was customary for vessels undergoing overhaul in dry dock, and only a few men were on hand when the Japanese attacked and the bombs started to fall. Some of the Shaw's crew were on watch, some were lounging about, others were in the forward, below-decks mess hall chatting over coffee when the attack began. They heard explosions, looked up, and saw planes with the red rising sun on them.
The Shaw's men (those who were available) leaped to battle stations. With her skipper W. Glenn Jones ashore, they were led by the officer in charge Lt. James H. Brown. They fought valiantly to save the ship, firing back with the Shaw's machine guns. The crew couldn't, however, use the ship's 5-in guns against the low-flying Japanese planes. The repercussions would have knocked the destroyer offher blocks. A bo'sun's mate (identified only as "Dutch" in a post-attack San Francisco newspaper article about the Shaw) reported that the enemy planes were strafing the ship when they weren't dropping bombs. He said, "They tell me I got one Nip pilot smack in the face, and his plane crashed." According to Dutch, the water cooling on the machine guns went haywire, the heat blistering the crewmen's hands.
Between 7:55 and 9:15 am, during the second wave of the attack, the Shaw was hit by three bombs which were released by steep-diving planes from an altitude of about 1000-ft. Apparently all three hits were made simultaneously. The ship may have been struck by two 250-kilo general purpose bombs and a 16-in armor-piercing variety. The first two bombs went through the forward machine gun platform and exploded in the crew's mess. The third smashed through the port wing of the bridge. Fire spurted from ruptured oil tanks and spread through the ship. About 20-minutes later, shortly after 9:30, the forward magazines blew up, evidently exploded by the heat of burning oil and the wooden blocking in the dock.
The force of this explosion was so great that Seaman Ed Waszkiewicz, watching from what he thought was a safe distance away on a seaplane ramp on Ford Island, saw one of the Shaw's 5-in shells tumbling end over end and arching directly at him. It didn't explode, but rather hit the concrete ramp several feet away. It bounced a hundred yards along the ramp and clanged into one of the hangars. The Shaw's shell had traveled through the air nearly a half-mile across the bay.
By 9:25, all the fire fighting facilities were exhausted, the explosions having cut off the water supply, and the order to abandon ship was given. Lieutenant Brown had personally gone down to the dry dock headquarters demanding that the dock be flooded so that the ship could float off its perch and fight. Brown, however, couldn't make it back to the Shaw. Burning fuel oil flowed under the dry dock blocks setting them on fire.
Efforts to flood the dry dock and extinguish the conflagration were only partially successful. As YFD-2 sank, the Shaw's bow fell off to starboard and went under with the dock. The Shaw then toppled off her blocks into the water. The yard tug Sotoyomo also sank. As the dock submerged, flaming oil swirled around the stricken vessel. Her survivors swam through a gauntlet of patches of smoking oil to safety. Twenty-five Shawmen were killed in the attack.
Lieutenant Commander Jones decided the Shaw could be saved. His crew and others agreed. Eventually the Shaw's stern section was docked on the marine railway. Temporary repairs were made at Pearl Harbor during December 1941 and January 1942. A temporary bow was built on the ship, and on 9 February, she sailed under her own power for the west coast and San Francisco to complete permanent repairs.
The Shaw limped out of Pearl Harbor looking more like a tanker than a destroyer, what with her lack of superstructure. A temporary bridge was rigged up on the afterdeckhouse, and she was steered from there. Virtually all her armament was stripped off. For ballast, they filled the temporary bow with oil, drawing on it for fuel. She waddled along, the snowplow effect of her false bow sending water cascading over her. Bucking high winds and heavy seas, the Shaw crawled into Mare Island Navy Yard only two months after the Pearl Harbor attack. At the Navy yard, the damaged destroyer's bow and bridge were replaced in addition to the replacement of other new devices.
She was a tough little destroyer to thus survive such a brutal attack which sent a number of battleships to the bottom. The Japanese had reported her sunk. The Shaw earned the first of her eleven Battle Stars that Sunday morning in December.
A NEW LIFE
By the end of June, the Shaw's repairs were completed. On 6 July 1942, the Shaw, adorned in her new battle dress, steamed out of San Francisco Bay for post repair trials. She zig-zagged through her sea trials under a full head of steam. Lieutenant Commander Jones remarked, "She's better than ever. We've got practically a new destroyer." In its 4 July edition, the San Francisco Examiner ran an article and a full page of pictures telling about the Shaw's rebirth. Coordinated to run with a planned War Bond drive, the article, though accurate, was filled with the hyperbole and revenge-minded rhetoric which so characterized US feelings at the beginning of WWII. It was during this time also that the Shaw was assigned new personnel such as Ens. Robert C. Sweatt. His orders, dated 13 July 1942, read in part that he was "HEREBY DETACHED PROCEED PORT SHAW MAY BE ARRIVAL, REPORT SHAW DUTY X."
Following training in the San Diego area, the Shaw returned to Pearl Harbor on 31 August 1942. For the next few months, the Shaw combined convoy duty with additional training exercises, operating between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco. It was during these months of convoy duty and training that the Shaw again underwent repair and overhaul work at Mare Island Navy Yard. A typical log entry for Thursday, 24 September 1942, read in part:
Resting on keel blocks as before. 0450 received aboard for use in General Mess: 30-lbs butterhorn bread from City Bakery, Vallejo, Calif., 15-gal milk from Marin Dairymen's Milk Co. Ltd., Vallejo, Calif. Inspected as to quantity and quality by Ens. R.C. Sweatt USNR. 0545 Commenced flooding dry dock. 0600 Ship became water borne. 0730 Ship left dry dock #2 by aid of tugs, proceeded to berth #22-S. 0755 Moored starboard side to berth 22-S, standard mooring lines in lines. Receiving all services from dock. [signed] G.W. Montgomery, Jr.
While the Shaw was in dry dock No. 2 at Mare Island, her log listed the USS Platte, a fleet oiler, as a "ship present" in the yard. Provisions typically brought on board for the mess during this time were 100-lbs lettuce, 300-lbs onions, 100-lbs dry cereals (from Kellogg Sales Co. of San Francisco), 100-lbs soda crackers, 8qts of ice cream, 60-lbs dessert powder, and 60-lbs of bread.
The Shaw also had her share of seamen AWOL (Absent With Out Leave) while she was in port. The Captain held a mast in such cases; the punishments handed out ranged from recommendations for a general court martial to loss of liberty.
The Shaw occasionally lit one of her boilers while in port for auxiliary purposes and to test her safety valves. She was moored to different piers during her Mare Island stay as the need presented itself. By October, she had been moved to Pier 54S in San Francisco. Fresh water was being received from the dock.
On 2 October 1942, at 9:57 in the morning, the Shaw was underway in San Francisco Bay on various speeds and courses conforming to the channel. This was to carry out operation order No. 116-C. She passed under the Bay Bridge at 10:15. About 15-minutes later, according to the logbook, she set condition II watch I. She passed through the anti-submarine gate in the bay and sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge at 10:50 making 12-kts. After sighting the Farallon Islands at a distance of 10-mi, the Shaw steamed on various courses awaiting Convoy 2139. At 2:25 pm, she began screening the convoy guide USS Boreas, a store ship. General Quarters was sounded at 2:32. The destroyer secured from GQ at 3:20.
SANTA CRUZ INFERNO
By mid-October the Shaw was back in Pearl Harbor and ready for action. She left her moorings on 16 October 1942, and headed west as part of Task Force 16, a carrier group centered around the USS Enterprise. Task Force 16 also contained the battleship USS South Dakota, two cruisers, and eight destroyers. The Shaw's destroyer group, under the pennant of Cmdr. T.M. Stokes, ComDesDiv 10 (Commander, Destroyer Division 10), consisted of the destroyers Cushing, Preston, Maury, Mahan, Conyngham, and Shaw (W. Glenn Jones, commanding). Task Force 16 rendezvoused with Task Force 17, centered around the carrier Hornet, with four cruisers and six destroyers, to become Task Force 61, under the overall command of R/Adm. T.G. Kinkaid. This huge force moved north of the Santa Cruz Islands to intercept enemy forces headed for Guadalcanal.
Despite the impending battle with the Japanese and in an effort to ease the frayed nerves of the Shaw's crew, skipper Jones issued a humorous citation to one of the ship's officers. The "Medal of the Scrambled Account Book with Two Strikes" was awarded to Ens. Robert C. Sweatt, USNR, on 23 October 1942. As Service Officer of the Shaw, Sweatt was responsible for all the Ship's Stores activities both in port and at sea. His efforts with purveyors, both at Mare Island and in San Francisco, to cut the best deal possible to secure food and supplies for the Shaw (and the resultant rise in the Shaw's store activities) earned him this "notorious" award. It is reproduced here in its entirety.
USS SHAW (373) At Sea, 23 October 1942.
To All Those Present: Greetings.
By the power vested in me as Commanding Officer of this vessel, the United States Ship Shaw, by the President of these United States, I hereby award you, Robert Caleb Sweatt, Ens., United States Naval Reserve, the Medal of the Scrambled Account Book with Two Strikes, with the following Citation:
CITATION
That you, Robert Caleb Sweatt, Ensign, United States Naval Reserve, did, while serving on board the USS Shaw
1. Give your whole-tiearted devotion and unswerving loyalty at great risk to yourself personally, to tlie underhanded, unscrupulous business, and heretofore unsung position of Ship's Service Officer.
2. Did in such position as Ship's Service Officer, risking the entire, while, your personal reputation and respect of your shipmates, raise the profit of said Ship's Service Activity from practically nothing to the magnificent figure of 48-1/3% pure profit, not discounting the overhead, operating expenses and the etceteras.
3. Did so browbeat the salesmen, cajole the customers and increase trade by various tricks and ruses, that the place now handles 76-7/8% more stock in any one month than for the previous period in other fiscal years.
4. Did all the above dangerous, detestible, darksome, dastardly, devious deeds, denying definitely dubious designs directed detrimentally against you.
5. For the above, you are hereby awarded, with due publicity, if not even notoriety, the Medal of the Scrambled Acccunt Book with Two Strikes.
W. Glenn Jones
Commander, US Navy
Commanding
USS Shaw
By the middle of October the fierce Guadalcanal campaign had cost the Navy six destroyers: five downed in action, one sunk by a friendly mine. Japanese Adm. Yamamoto had available to him in the South Pacific five aircraft carriers, five battleships, 14 cruisers, and 44 destroyers. By contrast, the Allies had only two carriers, two battleships, nine cruisers, and 24 destroyers: 37 warships against 68. Operation Watchtower, the Allied effort to gain control of the Solomons area, had reached a crisis. The first American destroyer lost in the Solomons conflict was the USS Porter (DD-356) during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. She would go down in company with the aircraft carrier Hornet of Task Force 17. The Shaw had the unfortunate task of finishing off what the Japanese had begun. Although the battle was basically a carrier duel fought by forces 250-mi apart, enemy submarines lurked in the area.
On 26 October 1942, the Porter and Shaw, both part of Task Force 16 (and the larger Task Force 61), were screening with the carrier Enterprise when enemy aircraft attacked TF 61. The Shaw sounded General Quarters at 8:35 am. Enemy planes were sighted attacking Task Force 17. By mid-morning, the carrier from that force, the Hornet, had been hit. The Shaw formed an anti-aircraft screen on the Enterprise and waited. She spotted an Enterprise torpedo plane with its left wing burning land in the water off the starboard bow at a distance of 500-yds. At 11:00, the Shaw stopped her engines to assist in the recovery of the plane's personnel. The Porter signaled her intention of picking up the plane's crew and the Shaw backed her engines 2/3, clearing the Porter. Suddenly a torpedo sliced through the water 50-yds ahead of the Porter. Before the destroyer could make an evasive swing, a second "fish" was sighted lunging at the ship's port beam. Although an Enterprise pilot spotted the torpedo's wake and tried to blast the warhead with machine gun fire in an attempt to detonate it, the deadly "fish" passed astern of the Shaw at about 75-ft and struck the Porter between the #1 and #2 fire rooms on the port side. The explosion immediately killed eleven of the Porter's crew. She stopped dead in the water, steam pouring out of her wrecked boilers and oil spewing from her side.
Meanwhile, at 11:05, the Shaw cranked all her engines ahead full. Just then, an enemy torpedo passed 150-ft in front of the Shaw's bow from port to starboard. The Shaw began circling to screen the Porter, which was still floating on an even keel. The Shaw reported the Porter's condition to the Task Force Commander and proceeded to rejoin the formation. But at 11:30, the Shaw received orders by TBS (Talk Between Ships) from the Task Force Commander to rescue the Porter's crew and then sink her. Lieutenant Commander Jones altered the Shaw's course, passed astern of the Porter, and approached the stricken destroyer on her port side.
But before any rescue attempt could be made, the Shaw spotted a periscope off her port bow at a distance of 500-yds. She made sonar contact with the enemy submarine and attacked, releasing four 600-lb depth charges and firing two 300-lb charges. The Shaw again circled the Porter, this time making sound contact off her starboard bow. The Shaw changed course to the right and attacked again, this time dropping two 600-lb charges and firing two 300-lb cans. The underwater killer, however, escaped. The Japanese sub responsible for the attack was the I-21 (some revenge was to be exacted, though, as American destroyers later sunk one of the I-21's sisters).
At 11:58, the Shaw came alongside the Porter's starboard side and stopped all engines. Her log records: Received all Porter and DesRon 5 personnel aboard. [signed] Ed Lamiman
While in this position, lookouts sighted six torpedo planes heading in on the port beam at a distance of 16,000-yds. The order was given for all engines ahead flank. She steadied to a standard of 15-kts and made an approach on the Porter's starboard quarter. At 12:25 pm, the Shaw fired one torpedo at the Porter from the after tube of the port wing mount. The torpedo passed under the Porter and did not explode. This was at a range of 900-yds. The Shaw circled the disabled destroyer and approached her at 1500-yds, firing her four 5-in guns into the Porter four times. Heavy fires were started forward and in the Porter's mast structure. The Shaw circled and again approached the Porter, this time at a distance of 7000-yds. The Shaw then fired seven four-gun salvos at the destroyer. Still circling, the Shaw fired one torpedo from the #3 tube on the port wing mount at a range of 1500-yds. This torpedo passed 20-ft ahead of the Porter and also did not explode. Finally, at 12:55, the Shaw circled and fired six four gun salvos into the Porter. This would be her death knell. She began listing heavily to starboard. At 1:08 pm, the Porter sank. The sturdy destroyer, even after being hit by a Japanese torpedo, wouldn't sink. It took 68 5-in shells to send her to the bottom. The Shaw's deadly business here was done. She set course at flank speed and commenced zigzagging while rejoining the formation. By 2:30 pm, she sighted the Task Force dead ahead, rejoining it at 6:35 in the evening. Her log reports: Steaming as before on base course 1 02(t), speed 20-kts. 2053 Secured boilers No. 3 and No. 4. [signed] H.E. Hollingsworth
One more sad task remained, though. On Tuesday, 27 October 1942, two Porter survivors died on board the Shaw and were buried at sea.
GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN
The "dud" torpedoes fired by the Shaw did not go unnoticed nor unreported by her Torpedo Officer. Ensign Robert Sweatt reported to Capt. Jones the results of his investigation into their failure. The exploders were removed from the remaining ten torpedoes aboard the ship. Sweatt found that seven of the "fish" had defective firing springs of cadmium-plated carbon steel. None of these springs were strong enough to throw the firing pin up with enough force to trip the firing ring. These springs had only nine turns to them. The remaining three torpedoes had springs made from nickel steel and had twelve turns to them. When tripped, these springs had considerable striking force "and from all indications were in good working order." The report on the defective firing springs explained that one of the torpedoes fired at the Porter came within 20-ft of the target and failed to explode. The other torpedo "made a run of about 1200-yds and actually hit the target but failed to explode. Both torpedoes were hot, straight and normal in their run."
The twelve Mk V1-1 Exploder Mechanisms in question were all received from the destroyer tender USS Dixie (AD-14), on 3 August 1942, as replacements. This would mean that the Shaw was supplied with these "fish" in one of three places: At Mare Island in California; in the San Diego area where she went through training exercises; or, perhaps, in Pearl Harbor. But the record indicates that she probably received the torpedoes somewhere on the west coast prior to leaving for Hawaii.
The entire report is reproduced here:
TO: COMMANDING OFFICER
FROM: TORPEDO OFFICER
SUBJECT: Defective firing springs in the Mk V1-1 Exploders oftorpedoes aboard the USS Shaw.
1. On 26 October 1942, the USS. Shaw fired two torpedoes as War Shots at a designated target. One torpedo was fired at a distance of 3000-yds from the target and came within 20-ft of same yet failed to explode. The other shot made a run of about 1200-yds and actually hit the target but failed to explode. Both torpedoes were hot, straight and normal in their run.
2. Believing that the fault was within the exploder, such were removed from the remaining ten torpedoes aboard and examined with the following results: Seven exploder mechanisms contained short coil (firing) springs. Such appeared to be cadmium-plated carbon steel springs. Each had nine turns and an inside diameter of 5/8-in. These springs had an unloaded length of 1.687-in. All seven of these springs were defective due to the fact that none were strong enough to throw the firing pin up smartly on tripping the firing ring. The three remaining exploders, however, contained coil (firing) springs made apparently from nickel steel. These springs, 5/8-in in diameter, had twelve turns and an unloaded length of 2.375-in. Each of these springs, on being tripped, were capable of a considerable striking force and from all indications were in good working order.
3. A close check-up shows that the USS Shaw received these twelve Mk V1-1 Exploder Mechanisms from the USS Dixie on 3 August 1942 as replacements. All twelve were marked "tested and approved".
4. There were no messages or instructions received aboard this vessel informing us of this defective spring and there is no information in our records that might suggest a need for such replacements.
Two days after the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, the Shaw headed for New Hebrides where she commenced escorting ships and moving men and supplies to Guadalcanal. She continued that duty through November and December and into January 1943.
On 30 October 1942, the cruiser USS Atlanta and four destroyers arrived at Lunga Roads, Guadalcanal, with a convoy of ships carrying heavy artillery for the Marines. The destroyers lent fire-support to a Marine drive on Point Cruz. The Shaw and destroyer Conyngham steamed into this effort on the morning of 2 November. Between them, the two ships hurled 803 rounds of 5-in shells at Japanese gun positions in the jungles around the mouth of the Umasani River.
The 6th of November found the Shaw moored starboard side to the USS Guadalupe (AO-32), an oiler, in berth X-6 in the Segond Channel, Espiritu Santo Harbor, New Hebrides. The USS Southard (DMS-10), a minesweeper, was moored to port. The USS Conyngham (DD-371), the Shaw's sister ship, eventually replaced the Southard after the Shaw left the Guadalupe's side. The Shaw left the harbor and got underway at 10:35 that morning. In addition to the Shaw's crewmen who were absent on leave this day was Lt. Mervyn Shoor, the ship's doctor, who was inadvertently left behind. At 3:26 pm, the Shaw sighted the USS Delphinius (AF-24), a store ship, at a distance of 10-mi. At 4:50, she reported for duty as the escort for the Delphinius.
Another convoy of some 6000 Army troops and Marines, assembled and dispatched from Espiritu Santo and Noumea to Guadalcanal to meet the threat of a Japanese build-up at Truk, Rabaul, and in the upper Solomons, was sent forth under the protection of Adm. R.K. Turner's Amphibious Force on 8-9 November. All the warships with Turner's contingent were units of Task Group 67.4, a Support Group.
Turner's transports came under attack after they had unloaded at Lunga Point. He lead his force into Savo Sound for easier maneuvering. American fighter planes and seagoing AA batteries knocked out all of the 25 attacking Japanese planes. More enemy ships were coming down from the north, however, so in the twilight of 12 November, Turner sent his convoy steaming eastward back toward Espiritu Santo. Escorting these ships were the destroyers Shaw, Buchanan (damaged), McCalla (low on fuel), and the Southard and Hovey (minesweepers).
The success of Adm. Turner's convoy mission to reinforce the troops on Guadalcanal is reflected in his statement published to all hands dissolving Temporary Task Force 67:
PUBLISH TO ALL HANDS TASK FORCE SIXTY SEVEN IS HEREBY DISSOLVED
IN DISSOLVING THIS TEMPORARY FORCE I EXPRESS THE WISH THAT THE NUMBER SIXTY SEVEN BE IN THE FUTURE RESERVED FOR GROUPS OF SHIPS AS READY FOR HIGH PATRIOTIC ENDEAVOR AS YOU HAVE BEEN. I THANK YOU FOR YOUR MAGNIFICENT SUPPORT OF THE PROJECT OF REINFORCING OUR BRAVE TROOPS IN GUADALCANAL AND FOR YOUR EAGERNESS TO BE THE KEEN EDGE OF THE SWORD THAT IS CUTTING THE THROATS OF THE ENEMY.
I WAS WELL AWARE OF THE ODDS WHICH MIGHT BE AGAINST YOU IN YOUR NIGHT ATTACKS ON NOVEMBER TWELVTH BUT FELT THAT THIS WAS THE TME WHEN FINE SHIPS AND BRAVE MEN SHOULD BE CALLED UPON FOR THEIR UTMOST. YOU HAVE MORE THAN JUSTIFIED MY EXPECTATIONS IN TAKING FROM THE ENEMYA TOLL OF STRENGTH FAR GREATER THAN THE STRENGTH YOU HAVE EXPENDED.
WITH YOU I GRIEVE FOR LONG CHERISHED COMRADES WHO WILL BE WITH US NO MORE, AND FOR OUR LOST SHIPS WHOSE NAMES WILL BE ENSHRINED IN HISTORY.
NO MEDALS HOWEVER HIGH CAN POSSIBLY GIVE YOU THE REWARD YOU DESERVE! WITH ALL MY HEART I SAY GOD BLESS THE COURAGEOUS MEN, DEAD AND ALIVE OF TASK FORCE SIXTY SEVEN.
SIGNED
REAR ADMIRAL TURNER
In the early morning hours of 17 November 1942, still in the Guadalcanal battle zone, the Shaw, in darkened ship, was steaming at 14.5-kts on a zigzagging pattern along with the destroyer USS Nicholas (DD-449) and the minelayer USS Gwin (DM-33). Two days prior to the 17th, the Gwin had performed the same duty as did the Shaw less than a month earlier: She sank with her 5-in/38-cals the destroyer USS Benham (DD-397), also a victim of a Japanese sub. At 7:18 am, the Shaw dropped anchor in Espiritu Santo Harbor (Berth D-2) in 30-fathoms of water with 60-fathoms of chain out. The destroyer USS Morris (DD-417) was moored along her starboard side.
Inspections of the ship's magazines and smokeless powder were made. Conditions listed as normal. Later that same day, the Shaw received 40 rounds of 5-in/38-cal SPDN powder on board.
On 18 November, the Shaw raised anchor from the Segond Channel, Espiritu Santo, made 25-kts, and commenced submarine patrol. She was joined on station by the Nicholas. The Shaw filled her days with these patrols on various courses, speeds, and zigzagging patterns. She returned to Espiritu Santo on the 21st and moored her starboard side to the Guadalupe. The Nicholas moored to port and, at 6:30 am, the Shaw began fueling. She shifted berths to D-I and moored starboard side to the destroyer Landsdowne (DD-486) at 9:02.
The predawn of 10 December 1942 saw the Shaw steaming in company with Task Unit 62.4.9. She was acting as an anti-submarine screen for the cargo ship USS Fomalhaut (AK-22) and making 14-kts at 136-rpm. Upon completion of her patrol duties, she again entered and anchored in Espiritu Santo alongside the Landsdowne and began fueling from the Guadalupe. It was later on this day, in the afternoon, that the Shaw experienced a minor fire. Ensign Sweatt reported that, at 1:25 pm, a fire was discovered in the Battery Locker. The fire was extinguished about five-minutes later, but not before it had destroyed a reel of movie film. A soldering iron ignited the film. Five CO2 fire extinguishers were expended in dousing the flames. Fortunately the Shaw had by then changed berths and was no longer moored near the oiler.
HARD AGROUND
On 10 January 1943, the Shaw was returning from patrol along with the transport USS McCawley (AP-IO). She was heading for Noumea Harbor, New Caledonia. At about 4:00 in the morning, both ships began zigzagging according to Plan #8 of the General Tactical Instructions. The Shaw was on a base course of 050 degrees, making 150-rpm, and heading straight for Amedee Light. The McCawley was astern of the destroyer at about 3700-yds. At about 6:00 am, the McCawley was abaft of the Shaw's port beam. According to Ens. Robert Sweatt, who was on the bridge at the time and was Junior Officer of the Deck, the Shaw then began making a turn towards the McCawley. Suddenly the bottom appeared to rise rapidly towards the Shaw. The Officer of the Deck ordered the Chief Quartermaster to start the fathometer. By then it was too late and the Shaw ran aground on Sournois Reef.
Material was off-loaded from the Shaw onto barges in order to lighten the ship. She was eventually freed on 15 January, but had received extensive damage to her hull, propellers, and sound gear. Damage to the crew's pride must have been in order also, for some said there was nothing more deflating than proudly sailing into Noumea Harbor, before the eyes of all the other ships present both large and small, and then running aground.
Temporary repairs were made at Noumea. However, the Shaw had to limp back to Pearl Harbor for lengthy, permanent repairs and rearmament. At the time of her grounding, the Shaw's 1.1-in AA mount on her afterdeckhouse had already been replaced with a twin 40mm mount.
Another casualty of the Shaw's grounding was probably the captain himself. A General Court Martial was held for L/Cmdr. Wilber Glenn Jones to determine the cause and culpability of the incident. The result was that Jones' duty as the Shaw's skipper ended on 30 January 1943, two years to the day from when he took command. Ensign Sweatt's statement at the Jones court martial is reprinted here:
USS SHAW (373)
STATEMENT OF ENSIGN R. C.
SWEATT, USNR.
On 10 January 1943 at 0400,1 relieved the watch as Junior Officer of the Deck on the USS Shaw. When I took over the watch, the Shaw was steaming on course 015-degrees making 150-rpm. At approximately 0400, the Shaw and McCawley started zigzagging according to plan #8 of the General Tactical Instructions. I had the Con from approximately 0400 until approximately 0540. At approximately 0540,1 was ordered by the Officer of the Deck to go below and make a reveille checkup. I immediately turned the Con over to the Officer of the Deck and went below. At this time, we were steaming on base course 050 making 150-rpm. We were heading on this course just about straight forAmedee light and the McCawley was approximately astern of us at a distance of about 3700-yds as determined by a radar bearing taken a few minutes earlier. I returned to the bridge at approximately 0600.1 went straight to the port wing of the bridge and noticed that the McCawley was just abaft of our port beam and that we were apparently making a turn towards the McCawley. / then suddenly saw bottom and said, "This looks like very shallow water," or some expression to that effect. I immediately turned to see the Officer of the Deck behind me. I then heard the Officer of the Deck order the Chief Quartermaster to start the Fathometer. Within a few seconds we ran aground.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Caleb Sweatt, Ensign D-V(G)
USNR
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Source: Sea Classics
