Battleships of World War 2 - The USS North Carolina BB-55

My father, Alan "Jim" Campbell, served on the famous battleship the USS North Carolina BB-55 during World War 2. He was chief radioman on the ship and served in all of the battles during the Pacific campaign and Guadalcanal. He was also on the ship when they cruised into Pearl Harbor after the bombing, to the cheers of thousands of people standing on the shores (they were the first battleship to enter Pearl Harbor after the harbor was bombed)

My father recounted many stories to me, and this is one of them that I wrote word for word before he died (RIP 2003) My father was one of the bravest men I have ever had the pleasure to know. He battled stage 4 cancer for over10 years with the same steadfastness that he served our country with during World War 2.

Truly, I understand why this generation of men and women were called the "Greatest Generation".

I am proud and honored to present my fathers story here about the famous battle for Torpedo Junction, which has been recounted by many historians and academics alike. Not only was my father mentioned in many history books but he leaves behind this legacy of his stories. Although the official story said there were only 2 subs in the area that day, my father theorized that there were actually three. Here is his personal story about the Battle for Torpedo Junction - and the day the USS North Carolina BB-55 was hit and wounded by a torpedo.

Dad, I love you. And this is for you and those left behind.

And for your crew members Dad, who you loved until the end.

By Chief Radioman Alan J. Campbell (retired Navy) as told to Dorsi Diaz, his daughter

Place: Torpedo Junction - Southeast of Guadacanal

Time: World War 2, Sept. 15 1942 at 1445

Ships involved which were damaged or sunk:

the WASP (CV-7 - SUNK)

the O'BRIAN (DD-415, torpedoed then later SUNK)

the USS NORTH CAROLINA BATTLESHIP (BB-55, torpedoed)

(These are the words of my father. We worked together on this story. He talked, I wrote)

On 24 July 1942 we're in the Nukualofa Anchorage and we left and our venture into fighting began. We sortied to rendezvous with Task Group 61.1 Our designated area was to stop any enemy ship who was to supply Japs on the shore of Guadalcanal. Our marines were to make an invasion on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. On the 24th of July we had our first action. The Japanese found our ships and an air attack was repelled. Seven Jap planes shot down and score more probables had been splashed. We were then patrolling the area called "TORPEDO JUNCTION".

The day was great - no rain - I can see very clear. I was on watch that day - my job was to go to the bridge and monitor the message frequency in case we went into action. We are on Radio "SILENT" every day. My log shows "NO SIGNAL" every 5 minutes and we type on the log. We have a "TRANSMITTER/RECEIVER "TBS". The "TBS" was only for massages with "LINE OF SIGHT". It means that no ship can hear that is out of "LINE OF SIGHT". Later - it was not the case. We found that "SKIP JUMPING" transmission can be heard for thousands of miles.

I had my headphones and transmitter (radio phone) and I have about 10 feet of wire connected to my phones. I can walk around - if the captain needs me - I can jump fast to his side and make a transmission.

At 1440 I was out looking at the Wasp (CV-7) - it was always fascinating looking at how that plane got out of the carrier and when the plane came back. I have seen many planes hit the carriers, planes jump over the side, planes out of gas and planes hitting the water, etc.

Time 1442: I was looking at the Wasp CV-7. Suddenly I saw a big explosion and then another one. I was looking for 2-3 minutes. I thought one of the carrier planes hit the ship.

Then CQ,CQ,CQ, "MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS" (a sound that makes your hair go up!)

It's a sound that you have to RUN to your battle station. I was on watch so I was ON a battle station. As I was looking at the Wasp CV-7 I heard a message from the destroyer O'Brian DD 415-CODE (Buttons) that "3 TORPEDO'S WERE UNDER OUR SHIP HEADED FOR YOU"

The captain made a right rudder. I made sure I got a good grip on the railing to see the torpedo - it was very deep and I couldn't see anything.

IT HIT.

I watched a big explosion. It was higher than the mast. I jump back on the bridge - then it was bedlam.

We had some destroyer to help us get out of the area - we had many CQ's after it - it seems other Jap subs were after us (Later we found out that 8 Jap subs were in the area) We had many depth charges in the water from the DD's trying to hit a sub. Finally went to the Fiji Islands for emergency repairs. It was fascinating to see the welding under the water, we watched for hours on the deck.

Captain Blee had a very good article (referring to a later news article about the incident) It was interesting to me (see his article and the article on the Wasp)

As I see it, the torpedo that hit our ship came from 350 degrees true. - then at the same time the O'Brian was hit from 350 degrees true.

I THINK THE THIRD SUB GOT US.

The DD Mustin got a sonar contact 3,000 yards southwest of the O'Brian - speculation is that 3 SUBS WERE IN THE AREA. The Jap sub 1-19 and 1-15 did not survive the war (see the diagram in which I think that the third Jap sub hit us?)

@copyright Dorsi Diaz 2011

(Dorsi Diaz is a freelance writer/publisher here on the internet and writes about a variety of topics including God, health, ADHD and political conspiracies. Please feel free to leave a comment and thanks for reading. If you have enjoyed this article please share it with your friends)