Gimmer of Hope and Shadows of Civilization

Archive for August, 2010

Gimmer of Hope and Shadows of Civilization

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 18 2010

The men woke on day five, looking forward to finally reaching the big island they had been watching for days. It was their last chance. If they could not find food and water on this island, they probably wouldn’t make it. Three days without water, especially in the tropical heat, usually leaves a person in a critical state, and they had been out for five days since Flier sank.

Their balance was off, it was difficult to walk on the soft sands. Every few steps they had to pause and catch their breath. If they were too dehydrated, their body would stop sweating, increasing their risk for heat exhaustion and heat stroke, a possibly fatal condition.

As they rounded the south side of the island, they saw something that made their hearts stop. A dugout canoe, made of a single, hollowed out trunk rested on the beach. Though full of holes, it proved that at some point someone had been here, and could be again. The men quickly searched the dugout, trying to decide how old it as, and Jacobson and Baumgart headed into the interior of the small island along a tiny trail one of them spotted to check for people. But there was nothing outside of the calls of birds and howls of monkeys.

No one and nothing, and the dugout was so so old, it was too rotten to use, so they abandoned it and continued to drag their raft behind them in the surf.

They planned to rest in the shade of the trees until slack tide on the eastern point of the beach, but when they got there, they saw something else unexpected: a house. They dragged the raft into the shade, and concealed themselves under trees and behind bushes while examining the new island through Jacobson’s binoculars. They saw no one and nothing again, but with the dugout and now the house, they decided to be cautious, and wait until a couple of hours before sunset, landing just before sunset and creeping up to the house in the darkness.

It went as planned, and they landed on the opposite side of a small jutting penninsula, keeping low in the water until the last minute to keep their profile down. They covered the raft in some bracken, hoping to return to it if necessary, and crept towards the house.

They found a long-abandoned village and a coconut grove on the way, but little evidence that anyone had been there for several years. They also didn’t see any evidence of forced abandonment due to invasion, but it did look like the locals had left quickly when it had happened.

The coconut trees here were heavily laden and dropping coconuts, and Jacobson and Baumgart gathered several coconuts and all headed for the house where they had another stroke of good luck: a cistern full of rainwater. Crowley told everyone to drink sparingly in case everyone got sick after the severe dehydration if they overtaxed their systems, but for whatever reason Howell drank deeply.

After a quick tour of the house, the men could tell a few things about the old owners: they had been wealthy, and traded in cattle and lumber, but had left in late 1941 and probably hadn’t been back. The house had been well built and was still sound, though doors sagged on hinges, and the disrepair was starting to show. It was too dark to see much else, and after spending a frustrating hour opening one of their still-husked coconuts with nothing more than a sharp stone, they set watch, and fell asleep. Jacobson fell asleep stretched out on one of the doors he found on the floor, and said he slept soundly for the first time since Flier sank.

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Dive Detectives does NOT air next week

Memorial Ceremony | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 17 2010

I noticed a spike in the number of people were looking for the Dive Detectives air date frantically in my search terms stats box, and I think I might have discovered why: if you were looking for articles about the Memorial Service of USS Flier there were three printed. One said that the Dive Detectives Submarine Graveyard Episode will air next week.

That article, however, was written for a Canadian newspaper, not an American one. If, however, you know someone who lives in Canada and want to visit…

The American debut of the Dive Detectives is still unscheduled. And YAP Films and Mike and Warren Fletcher, if any of you read this, contact me at ussflierproject@gmail.com when it does find an air date. My hits double each time I announce a Dive Detectives update, so I know that those who are looking for the air date hit this site frequently. We’ll all make sure that it has high viewership once we know when to watch (and afterwards, buy the episode)

If you are looking for the article about the USS Flier Memorial Service, there were three that I found:

Grand Haven Tribune’s Article

Muskegon Chronicle’s Article

The Canadian Article (I even got interviewed for this one!)

Finally a great little clip of Jim Alls discussing his lost shipmates

If you hear of any others, let me know.

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Island Two

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 17 2010

A couple notes before we dive into what was going on to the Fliers sixty-six years ago today.

First, I updated the Memorial page to include photos of the service. My brother Ben did a fabulous job and if you want better copies than what is posted here (I had to shrink a number of them) just email me and let me know. If you are a family member of a Flier crewman and weren’t able to make it to the ceremony, know that your loved one was not forgotten, he was adopted by a family member of another Flier crewman, a family member of a survivor, or a museum staff person. No one was left out and no one was represented by more than one person. It really was beautiful.

Secondly, there is an issue about where the Fliers are right now, so I thought I’d clear that up.

When Captain Crowley was debriefed after his rescue and asked to tell them where they had gone, he thought they had landed on Mantangule Island, rafted to Byan and Gabung Islands before skipping over APO and landing directly on Bugsuk Island.

Al Jacobson, on the other hand, after studying the charts, decided that they had to land on Byan, and rafted to Gabung and APO before ultimately landing on Bugsuk.

Personally, I’m inclined to believe Jacobson if only because, to my knowledge, he is the only one of the Fliers to return to the Philippines and see the islands again, though at over fifty years removed. That doesn’t mean Crowley was wrong, merely that he was asked to make an educated guess, and for all of us who have to do that, it’s sometimes an incorrect guess. Jacobson said that when he saw Byan Island, he knew that was where they landed, and that he almost expected to see the shells he laid out in 1944 lined up on the beach.

But there is the map of where they would be. The men in 1944 didn’t know the names of the islands at the time, so they called it Island #2. If Crowley’s idea is right, they are on Byan heading to Gabung today. If Jacobson is right, they are on Gabung heading to APO today. So there they are.

So again, the guys are on their second island, shivering their way through the night. Most record that they burrowed into the still-warm sand and tried to sleep, though they shivered a lot of it off. Liddell and Jacobson woke up and paced the beach at the same time that night and tried ot bury themselves together to conserve body heat, but they seemed to shake it off even more quickly than before.

Baumgart fared even worse. He burrowed in the sand too close to the shore, and got bitten by sand crabs all night!

Once the sun rose and they stopped feeling cold and tense, they staggered out into the sun and walked along the south beach of the island, taking turns dragging the raft behind them in the surf. Jacobson said that it was difficult, because the seaweed grew close to the beach here, so walking in the water on the soft seaweed was very comfortable, though the sun was brutal. Walking in the shade was comfortable on the skin, but walking on the dry beach forced the tiny grains of sand into their slashed feet.

They reached the end of the island just after the afternoon patrol, and launched for the third island, once again landing just at sunset, with just enough time to burrow down for the night.

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On to the next island

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 16 2010

The Fliers woke early the next morning after another miserable, shivering night, and trudged to the east end of the island. No storms had come to their island in the night, though several had passed all around them, so Jacobson’s shells were still empty, and there was no water.

Liddell and Russo, football players in their school days, pulled vines down from the jungle on the island and the rest tried to assemble a small raft from the tangle of driftwood. It couldn’t be too large, or the aerial patrols would see it, but too small, not everyone could hang on to it.

In the end, from the descriptions, it sounds like they created a long narrow “deck” of bamboo staves lashed together, with an outrigger frame. Two men could straddle the deck and paddle (and they created makeshift paddles and found two long poles too), while the other six could hang on to the frame and swim and push the raft along.

The plane flew over in the morning, and the men simply retreated to the shade of the trees both times, hoping that if the pilot saw anything, he just saw a bunch of driftwood on the beach. But it never so much as twitched from its normal path.

Liddell, once the raft was close to finished, likely borrowed Crowley’s watch and used it to look for slack tide. Slack tide, for those that missed the Lombok Strait entry, is the point at the height of high tide and the lowest point of low tide where the currents caused by a tide slow, stop (as tide reaches the greatest point) then reverse and eventually gain speed. If they started to swim just before slack, they would be swept away, but not far, and would be swept back when the tides reversed. Liddell threw small twigs and sticks into the fast flowing channel between them and the next island, timing how fast each twig was swept away.

When he figured the tides were slowing, they hauled the raft into the surf, and Crowley and Howell took the first shift rowing. The drop off was quick and the currents were still fast, and they were quickly swept south as they crossed the channel.

One third the way across, they heard the afternoon patrol plane overhead, and watched her approach, waiting until she was nearly on top of them to dive under the raft. This plane flew placidly away too, and they quickly started back for their new beach.

A storm swept over them, and the men opened their mouths to the sky, trying to catch the rain. Jacobson remembered that the big, heavy drops seemed to fall everywhere except his mouth. It passed as quickly as it came, hitting their new island. Jacobson thought longingly about the shells he spread out the night before and wished that someone else had been so considerate on the new island.

The tide changed, the current switched directions and soon they were being swept north of their island and had to pull hard to land on the rocky beach on the north west tip. They had been swimming for hours and landed after sunset, burrowing into the sand, trying to get some sleep.

It was day three.

For those that were at the Memorial Weekend and whom I had the pleasure and honor of meeting, I just want to say, I enjoyed meeting all of you and getting to hear all your stories, even though many were so sad. It really did feel like a family, and I hope that we do get together in a year or two, perhaps when the new exhibit opens!

I’ll be making changes to the site in the next few weeks. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the blog up, but I’m hoping to add some things that will help us keep in touch with each other.

Tags: Alvin Jacobson, Art Howell, James Dello Russo, James Liddell, John Crowley, USS Flier, USS Flier Survivors
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Now What?

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 15 2010

Nights in the tropics are cool, but on sunburnt skin, they’re torture. Al and the other survivors shivered in the night breeze, praying for the sun for the warmth it would bring, despite the further damage it would so.

By morning, they had to decide what to do. They needed food and water and needed to see where they were. Someone was going to have to explore the island and for safety reasons, it would have to be in pairs at least.

Chief Radio Tech Arthur Howell had banged his knee against something on his way off the boat, and it was now swollen and too painful to walk on. He, along with volunteers Don Tremaine and Jim Russo decided to stay at the camp to reinforce the small lean-to shelter they had constructed hurriedly the night before, and to watch the Straits in case an Allied ship passed closely enough to signal.

That left Captain Crowley, Liddell, Jacobson and Motor Mac Baumgart to explore. Crowley and Jacobson were still wearing their watches which, surprisingly to everyone, still worked! Crowley with Liddell would head east, Baumgart with Jacobson would head west, and explore the island looking for food, water, and evidence of any people on the island, friend or enemy. They were supposed to be back by 1800 (6 p.m.).

Jacobson also still had his binoculars he was looking through just before Flier blew, something he likely left behind with the camp crew.

Everyone headed on their own ways. Crowley and Liddell discovered only that they were on a small island, and there was a larger island to the east with a couple of small islands in between. Washed up on the sheltered beach was a large pile of driftwood, including many pieces of bamboo. They realized that as weak as they were, they would lose some people if they had to swim, but maybe if they could build a raft…

On the east side, Baumgart and Jacobson had made their own discovery: thousands of coconuts. Thousands and thousands of ROTTEN coconuts. Unfortunately, unless they were split and overrun with ants, there was no way to tell which ones were ripe or rotten unless they were cracked open. A few hours later, after they gave up trying to find a coconut and concentrated on going east (and as the beach ended and curved north) and looking for water, they saw the figure of a man limping down the beach. With the sun’s angle they couldn’t make out details, they hid and waited until he came closer before they decided what to do.

They suddenly both recognized Flier’s own Motor Mac, Wesley Miller! Miller had been caught in a current that swept him a little west and north of the others. When dawn broke, the other seven were south of their island, but Miller was almost north and past it. He swam hard and fought currents to get there, and spent the last night alone, thinking he was the only Flier left of the whole crew! With no food and water near where he landed, he decided to explore this island and swim for another one if he found no food or water.

That was that. When the groups got back together, there was no food, no water, another mouth to feed (though no one really minded), no nearby traffic, and few options. They had to leave, but where? To the southwest was Balabac Island, known to have food and water and lots of Japanese encampments. To the east was another island but no one knew anything about it, not even its name.

In the end they decided to build a raft large enough they could all hang on to in order to stay together and keep going east, away from the Japanese. They may die of starvation (or more likely, thirst), but every man decided it was better to do that than to be captured.

It was too late in the day to start building, so they decided to sleep for the night and get started first thing in the morning.

Before bed, Al put some shells out on the beach, hoping that a passing rainstorm, like the ones they had seen all day sweep past would come and fill the shells for water.

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The Long Swim

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 14 2010

Flier is gone, and fifteen souls were left in the oily water marking her grave.

Some were uninjured, blown almost free of the boat before they knew what happened to them. Lt. John Edward Casey was blinded by hot oil in his face. Lt. Reynolds had been hit in the side by something, he never knew what. Some said they saw men get tangled in the guardrails, others said they thought other people had been right behind them.

Only one man made it up from the Control Room, and he was so badly wounded that he died a few minutes later. His name was Edgar Hudson, and he had been COB of the Flier.

Edgar Hudson was originally from Nashville Tennessee, and was married with a child. The night Flier sank he was standing at the foot of the ladder to the Conning Tower.

It was an overcast night, and there was no way to get a fix on any direction. The moon wouldn’t rise for five more hours, the sun long since set and the north star hidden behind a bank of storm clouds. The land that Al Jacobson had seen moments before when he was on Flier’s deck moments before was now gone. It was only water and clouds from horizon to horizon.

What to do? They didn’t know what happened. It could have been a submarine, or shore batteries or an internal explosion that had taken Flier down. If they stayed and it was an enemy vessel, they’d be coming any minute to check the area for wreckage or survivors. If there was land on three sides of them, but only one large island. If they passed the smaller islands or accidentally swam east into the open ocean, they’d doom themselves.

What happened next depends on which survivors account you believe. Some say they decided to tread water for the five hours until the moon rose so they could get a fix on a direction. Others claim that, since the storm that was building to the west was probably still in the west, they knew where north was, and then facing north, the waves slapped them on the left side, so they had a direction.

Where to go? East was open sea, south was a tiny island only a couple of miles away, but too easy to miss in the dark and the next land was over thirty miles away. West was Balabac Island, a known Japanese stronghold that the survivors were not likley to elude capture. To the north was a string of tiny islands which no one knew much about. They were about twelve to fifteen miles away depending on the island, the furthest of the three choices.

They chose to go north, to face whatever might face them there. They also made a rule: Every man for himself. No one was to ask for help.

That didn’t stop some of the men from helping others. Jacobson tried to help the blinded Lt. Casey several times, as did Art Howell. Howell also tried to help Ensign Meyer. But in the end, six more men, Casey, Reynolds, Meyer, Knapp, Madeo, and Pope drifted away and were not seen again.

The moon rose, then the sun, and they could see a small island ahead. Hours later, a plane flew overhead, forcing them to dive underwater to avoid being seen by the enemy patrol.

Finally, at three thirty in the afternoon, they staggered onto the beach. Their skin was severely burned, and their feet and ankles were slashed open on the coral reefs that surrounded the island. Exhausted, they had enough energy to build a rough lean-to and sleep. There were seven now, Miller disappeared just before dawn.

They were on their own.

Lt. John Edward Casey from Baltimore, Maryland

Lt. Paul Knapp, of San Francisco, California

Fireman Gerald Madeo of Waterbury Connecticut

Chief Gunner's Mate Charles Pope, of Greensboro, North Carolina

Lt. William Reynolds, of Industry, Pennsylvania

Ensign Philip Mayer of Beverly Hills, California

Tags: Balabac Strait, Byan Island, USS Flier, USS Flier Wreck
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Time’s Up

Uncategorized | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 13 2010

Today’s the day.

At 10 am EDT in America, it will be 10 pm in the Balabac Strait area of the Philippines. Flier will vanish today, not to be seen again for over six decades.

The day started out like any other. The men were maintaining their torpeodes, studying for qualifications, writing letters home, talking, sleeping, trying to keep their minds and hands busy. Several were supposed to have a birthday over the next couple of weeks. It’s possible that the galley crew were planning on cakes for those days, especially since one of those men was Alvin Skow, a cook onboard.

They cleared Bancoran, giving her a nineteen mile berth around that rocky and coral infested water, and lined up to the entrance to Natsubata Channel. They were due to clear that and get on their patrol area by August 14.

At some point during the late morning or mid afternoon, they were issued an Ultra. An Ultra was the most top secret encryption for submarines. It was so top secret, only the COs of each boat were taught the code, and only the CO was permitted to be in the radio room when one was received, and only the CO could destroy it. It was jokingly called the, “Burn before you read” code.

Often, these were messages from HQ about a convoy headed straight for that submarine, provided the information was good. Most of the time, Ultras lead to wild goose chases, but they did account for nearly half of the late wartime successes, so COs of boats were always willing to consider them.

This one said the Puffer, another sub, attacked a southbound convoy along the western coast of Palawan. If that convoy stayed on her course, she should be approaching or passing the western entrance to Balabac Strait around 2:30 am the following morning. Flier was the only submarine in the area in a position to catch that convoy. Would they?

To help them transit the Straits more easily, HQ sent them a detailed description of the route sister sub Crevalle had used to go through the Straits about eight weeks earlier. HQ said it Flier was not ordered to use Crevalle’s track but it was sent to be helpful if that would help Flier go through the Straits faster.

Some information was missing though, like the tides and times that Crevalle went through Balabac. The moon was at a quarter, so the tides were weaker and lower than a strong Spring Tide caused by a full or new moon. There were dangerous currents already here, so Flier might have to deal with those changing strength or direction due to the tides.

In the end through, they decided to go for it with a modification to Crevalle’s route. Crevalle was heading sharply north, so her track would have takan Flier hours to catch, so they decided to keep on their east approach. Secondly, Crevalle passed very close to Natsubata Reef, and Crowley wanted more space between him and a reef. (Not shocking after Midway).

They decided to go a little south, keeping to the known deep water, taking continuous depth soundings to keep Flier in deep water, and put double the lookouts on deck to watch for the Japanese encampments which were known to be on Balabac Island and in the area.

From my book, "Surviving the Flier" this map shows what, according to the later investigation into Flier's loss, was Crevalle's track (solid line) and Flier's proposed track (dotted line).

Al Jacobson was paired with Ensign Herbert Baehr that night. To keep the lookouts sharp, they were rotated every four hours from above decks to below. Al and Beahr were to rotate four hours each on the map table in the Control Room and the After Bridge (Cigarette) Deck outside. While on the Bridge, he would be the Junior Officer of the Deck, watching the stern for danger and also have the “Conn” or be in charge of the speed and direction of the engines. While in the Control Room he would be the link from the Bridge and Radar ahead to the helm and men in the Control Room

Baehr took the first shift on the Bridge while Al took the Control Room maptable. (For those visiting with us this weekend–or any weekend–the maptable was removed from Silversides’s Control Room years ago to help tourists get through. It sat in the dead center of the room though, where the compass and the silver chrome sealed pipe are located.) A half hour before going outside, Al wore Red goggles over his eyes to dilate them and help him see immediately once emerging out into the rapidly descending night.

Around 8 pm, Al went outside to take his Bridge Watch until Midnight. He relieved Ensign Baehr using an age-old ceremony for relieving someone on watch, and commenced his shift.

There were four enlisted men over his head in the Lookout Deck, each watching a quarter of the horizon. His friend, Lt. John Casey, was Officer of the Deck, watching over the bow, and, in a slightly unusual turn of events, Captain Crowley was also on deck that night too.

After an hour or so, someone spotted the light on Comiran Island. Captain Crowley ordered two more officers out onto the bridge deck to cover the port and starboard watches. In a strange move, since this is considered highly improper in most cases, he took the Conn away from Jacobson. This was probably because he thought that since he was sitting only feet away from Liddell, just below him at the Maptable, it would be easiest and quickest to have the Conn in case of trouble.

Time ticked by. Jacobson decided to sit down on the after bridge gun, a 40 mm Bofurs, to watch the stern. He did take the opportunity to admire the scenery around him, scenery he later said was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

Then it happened.

On or around 10 pm, Flier’s starboard side smacked a mine. It blew, tearing open the starboard side in the Control Room. Still going full speed, she gulped water, blasting the escaping air out the open Bridge Hatch in a furious tornado. Lt. Reynolds was blown into Al, injuring himself in the process. Lt. Liddell, standing directly beneath the Bridge Hatch the moment it happened, was blown bodily into the sky. When he landed, Flier was gone, and so was his shirt. Captain Crowley was thrown from the starboard side to the aft port quarter of the deck, and Flier was gone before he could get back and sound the alarm.

Al remembered seeing Ensign Mayer run past him and jump over the guardrail an instant before he went under with Flier. He was sucked down 15-20 feet before he was able to push himself off the sinking deck and pull for the surface. He swam as fast as he could, terrified that Flier’s propellers, still running at full speed, would tear him apart if he didn’t climb fast enough.

It was over.

For seventy-one men, it was over. Some, perhaps most, never knew what happened.

But on the surface, fifteen souls were gathering in the thick, oily sludge that had been Flier’s blood: her scorched oil and diesel mix. Some were uninjured, some were badly wounded.

And all were miles from the nearest land.

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Sibutu Strait

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 13 2010

I finally got to meet so many of you today, and WOW! It was so amazing! I loved every minute of it, even though there were times that I barely could breathe for running around meeting everyone. (and there were several I hoped to meet and couldn’t, so I’m sorry, hopefully, I’ll catch you tomorrow.)

The books arrived and look great. I’ve already seen places where I could do some revisions after some of the stories I’ve heard today, so we’ll have to see where that goes.

Today, Flier is heading through Sibutu Strait entering the Sulu Sea (and last night’s post was supposed to read, into the CELEBES Sea not Sulu, oops.) Now she’s heading due north for a little island called Bancoran. She will loop around Bancoran to the north, then head for Balabac Island.

There she is, on schedule and heading for Bancoran, all's well, thus far.

My husband asked me, several weeks back, why did Flier go through Nastubata Channel when it appears like Balabac Straits are about 30 miles across of open water. The answer, once I looked at the charts, was simple. What you can’t see from Google Earth or most maps is the fact that running across the Straits is a series of coral reefs that block that Strait from all but a few channels, the deepest and most reliable of which is Natsubata. Even today, Natsubata is frequently used by freighters and such.

Thus far, all’s well, and the Flier is on the schedule determined for her back in Fremantle.

I won't be returning to Flier for a few days, so we'll cover this quickly. Flier and Redfin were going to patrol nearby areas, so they were routed there through different routes. This way, the enemy wouldn't know where was the most traveled route in a submarine's traffic patterns. Since Flier was sent through Makassar, Redfin was sent around the east side of Borneo, and she'll pop out on the western side of Balabac, where the Fliers were headed.

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Into the Sulu Sea

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Justin

Aug 11 2010

Flier today is somewhere outside Makassar Strait and in the Sulu Sea. Redfin is approaching the Lombok Strait.

The mood on the Flier was probably calm to anticipatory. The twenty hands on board who were not already qualified would be working and studying, with not a break between. Those qualified would be working their two four-hour shifts and playing games, writing letters, watching movies between.

Several were due to have birthdays in August. It’s possible that the cooking staff, was planning on birthday cakes or some sort of celebration to commemorate the occasion. One young lad was sixteen, due to turn seventeen on patrol.

There was nothing to suggest anything unusual, and there wouldn’t be, not for two more days.

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USS Flier keeps going

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah

Aug 09 2010

I’d post a map today, but it’s late, and I still have a ton of stuff to do before tomorrow, so sorry, maybe tomorrow. Definitely by Wednesday.

Flier is through Lombok and is entering Makassar Strait, where she will be for about two days or so.

Redfin, meanwhile, has pulled into and out of Exmouth Gulf then decided to have deck gun practice, using, you guessed it:

It’s amazing there’s ANYTHING left of this wreck, really.

Nothing else to report today. I’m finishing up some items to go in the exhibit, and double checking to make sure I have EVERYTHING I need to bring to this shindig since I’m going to have to return a lot of original source materials to their owners, but it was an honor to be their caretaker for as long as I was and to use the original materials in my research, rather than second or third hand stuff. (I did have to use that, but not as much as I thought I would have to).

Until tomorrow!

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The USS Flier Project

Archive for August, 2010