_-_19-N-28143.jpg) USSJuneau in February 1942. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Juneau |
| Namesake | City ofJuneau, Alaska |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,Kearny, New Jersey |
| Laid down | 27 May 1940 |
| Launched | 25 October 1941 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Harry I. Lucas |
| Commissioned | 14 February 1942 |
| Identification | Hull symbol: CL-52 |
| Honors & awards |  4 ×battle stars |
| Fate | Torpedoed and sunk duringNaval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942Shipwreck found, 17 March 2018 |
| Notes | Approximate location of sinking:10°34′S161°04′E / 10.567°S 161.067°E /-10.567; 161.067[1] |
| General characteristics (as built)[2][3] | |
| Class & type | Atlanta-classcruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 541 ft 6 in (165.05 m)oa |
| Beam | 53 ft (16 m) |
| Draft |
|
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32.5 kn (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h) |
| Complement | 673 officers and sailors |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
USSJuneau (CL-52) was aUnited States NavyAtlanta-classlight cruisertorpedoed and sunk at theNaval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942. In total, 687 officers and sailors, including the fiveSullivan brothers, werekilled in action as a result of her sinking. Only 10 survivors were rescued after eight days in the water.[4] To honor the five Sullivan brothers andJuneau, the U.S. Navy has sincecommissioned two ships namedUSS The Sullivans and two ships namedUSS Juneau. On 17 March 2018,Paul Allen's research crew on boardRV Petrel located the wreck ofJuneau at a depth of about 4,200 m (13,800 ft) off theSolomon Islands.
Juneau waslaid down byFederal Shipbuilding Company atKearny,New Jersey, on 27 May 1940. She waslaunched on 25 October 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Harry I. Lucas, wife of the mayor of the city ofJuneau,Alaska, and commissioned on 14 February 1942, withCaptainLyman K. Swenson in command.[5]
_off_New_York_City_on_1_June_1942_(19-N-31264).jpg)
After a hurried shakedown cruise along the Atlantic coast in the spring of 1942,Juneau assumed blockade patrol in early May off the islands ofMartinique andGuadeloupe to prevent the escape ofVichy French naval units. She returned to New York to complete alterations and operated in the North Atlantic and Caribbean from 1 June to 12 August on patrol and escort duties. The cruiser departed for thePacific theater on 22 August.[5]
After stopping briefly at theTonga Islands andNew Caledonia, she rendezvoused on 10 September with Task Force 18 (TF 18) under the command of Rear AdmiralLeigh Noyes, flying his flag onWasp. The following day,TF 17, which includedHornet, combined with Admiral Noyes' unit to formTF 61, whose mission was to ferryfighter aircraft toGuadalcanal. On 15 September,Wasp took three torpedo hits from theJapanesesubmarineI-19, and, with fires raging out of control, was sunk at 21:00 byLansdowne.Juneau and screen destroyers rescued 1,910 survivors ofWasp and returned them toEspiritu Santo,New Hebrides, on 16 September. The next day, the fast cruiser rejoined TF 17. Operating with theHornet group, she supported three actions that repelled enemy thrusts at Guadalcanal: the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid; theBattle of the Santa Cruz Islands; and theNaval Battle of Guadalcanal (Third Savo).[5]
_underway_during_the_Battle_of_the_Santa_Cruz_Islands_on_26_October_1942_(80-G-304513).jpg)
The ship's first major action was theBattle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October. On 24 October,Hornet's task force had combined withEnterprise's group to reform TF 61 under the command of Rear AdmiralThomas C. Kinkaid. This force positioned itself north of theSanta Cruz Islands to intercept enemy units that might attempt to close Guadalcanal. Meanwhile, on Guadalcanal, the Japanese achieved a breakthrough during theBattle for Henderson Field on the night of 25 October. That success evidently was a signal for Japanese ships to approach the island.[5]
Early on the morning of 26 October, U.S. carrier planes spotted the Japanese force and immediately attacked it, damaging two carriers (CVLZuihō and CVShōkaku), one heavy cruiser (CAChikuma) and two destroyers, but while American aircraft were locating and engaging the enemy, American ships were also under fire. Shortly after 10:00, some 27 enemy aircraft attackedHornet. ThoughJuneau and other screen ships threw up an effectiveanti-aircraft (AA) barrage which shot down about 20 of the attackers,Hornet was badly damaged and sank the next day. Just before noon,Juneau leftHornet's escort for the beleagueredEnterprise group several miles away.Juneau helped repel four Japanese attacks that lost 18 planes.[5]
That evening, the American forces retired to the southeast. Although the battle had been costly, it had, combined with the Marine victory on Guadalcanal, turned back the attempted Japanese parry in theSolomons. Furthermore, the damaging of two Japanese carriers sharply reduced their air power in the subsequent battle of Guadalcanal.[5]
On 8 November,Juneau departedNouméa, New Caledonia, as a unit ofTF 67 under the command of Rear AdmiralRichmond K. Turner to escort reinforcements to Guadalcanal. The force arrived there early morning on 12 November, andJuneau took up her station in the protective screen around the transports and cargo vessels. Unloading proceeded unmolested until 14:05, when 30 Japanese planes attacked the alerted United States group. The AA fire was effective, andJuneau alone accounted for six enemytorpedo bombers shot down. The few remaining Japanese planes were, in turn, attacked by American fighters; only onebomber escaped. Later in the day, an American attack group of cruisers and destroyers cleared Guadalcanal on reports that a large enemy surface force was headed for the island. At 01:48 on 13 November, Rear AdmiralDaniel J. Callaghan's relatively small landing support group engaged the enemy.[5] The Japanese force consisted of two battleships, one light cruiser, and nine destroyers.
Because of bad weather and confused communications, the battle occurred in near-pitch darkness and at almost point-blank range, as the ships of the two sides became intermingled. During the melee,Juneau was struck on the port side by a torpedo launched byJapanese destroyer Amatsukaze,[7] causing a severe list, and necessitating withdrawal. Before noon on 13 November,Juneau, along with two other cruisers damaged in the battle—Helena andSan Francisco—headed toward Espiritu Santo for repairs.Juneau was steaming on one screw, keeping station 800 yd (730 m) off the starboard quarter of the likewise severely damagedSan Francisco. She was down 12 feet (3.7 m) by the bow, but able to maintain 13 kn (15 mph, 24 km/h).
A few minutes after 11:00, two torpedoes were launched fromJapanese submarine I-26.[5] These were intended forSan Francisco, but both passed ahead of her. One struckJuneau in the same place that had been hit during the battle. There was a great explosion;Juneau broke in two and disappeared in just 20 seconds.[5] Fearing more attacks fromI-26, and wrongly assuming from the massive explosion that there were no survivors,Helena andSan Francisco departed without attempting to rescue any survivors. In fact, more than 100 sailors had survived the sinking ofJuneau. They were left to fend for themselves in the open ocean for eight days before rescue aircraft belatedly arrived. While awaiting rescue, all but 10 died from the elements and shark attacks. Among those lost were the fiveSullivan brothers. Two of the brothers apparently survived the sinking only to die in the water; two presumably went down with the ship. Some reports indicate the fifth brother also survived the sinking, but disappeared during the first night when he left a raft and got into the water.[8] On 20 November 1942,USS Ballard recovered two of the ten survivors. Five more in a raft were rescued by aPBY Seaplane 5 miles (8.0 km) away.[9][10] Three others, including a badly wounded officer, made it toSan Cristobal (now Makira) Island, about 55 miles (89 km) away from the sinking.[11] One of the survivors recovered byBallard said he had been with one of the Sullivan brothers for several days after the sinking.[12]
The wreck ofJuneau was located on 17 March 2018 by Paul Allen's research crew on board RVPetrel. The cruiser rests 4,200 m (13,800 ft) below the surface off the Solomon Islands in several large pieces.[13][14][15]
Juneau received fourbattle stars for her service in World War II.[5]
In November 2013, Building 77 at the former federal shipyard inKearny, New Jersey was renamed the USSJuneau Memorial Center, and now housesHudson County's Office of Emergency Management.[16][17]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.This is a reprint from the Pacific Ship and Shore Historical Society newsletter of April, 1996.
