USS ''Juneau'' (CL-52) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

sunk at the

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...

13 November 1942. In total, 687 men, including the 5

Sullivan brothers The five Sullivan brothers were World War II sailor brothers of Irish American descent who, serving together on the light cruiser , were all killed in action during and shortly after its sinking around November 13, 1942. The five brothers, ...

, were killed in action as a result of her sinking. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

by Federal Shipbuilding Company,

Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,Juneau, Alaska, and commissioned on 14 February 1942, with Captain Lyman K. Swenson in command. She was torpedoed and sank on 13 November 1942, with only 10 survivors rescued after 8 days in the water. To honor the five

, who all died in the sinking, and the ''Juneau'', the Navy later commissioned two ships named

The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-cla ...

and two ships named

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

. On 17 March 2018, the wreck of ''Juneau'' was located by

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...

's research crew on board at a depth of about off the coast of the Solomon Islands.

Service history

After a hurried shakedown cruise along the Atlantic Coast in the spring of 1942, ''Juneau'' assumed blockade patrol in early May off

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

and Guadeloupe Islands to prevent the escape of

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

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 the Pacific Theater on 22 August.

Pacific theater

After stopping briefly at the

Tonga Islands Located in Oceania, Tonga is a small archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, directly south of Samoa and about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. It has 169 islands, 36 of them inhabited, which are in three main groups – Vavaʻu ...

and New Caledonia, she rendezvoused on 10 September with Task Force 18 (TF 18) under the command of Rear Admiral

Leigh Noyes Leigh Noyes (December 15, 1885 – March 24, 1961) was a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy during World War II. He was Director of Naval Communications before the outbreak of World War II and later served as Commander, Carrier Division 3 an ...

, flying his flag on . The following day, TF 17, which included , combined with Admiral Noyes' unit to form TF 61, whose mission was to ferry fighter aircraft to Guadalcanal. On 15 September, ''Wasp'' took three torpedo hits from the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

submarine , and, with fires raging out of control, was sunk at 2100 by . ''Juneau'' and screen destroyers rescued 1,910 survivors of ''Wasp'' and returned them to

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...

, on 16 September. The next day, the fast cruiser rejoined TF 17. Operating with the ''Hornet'' group, she supported three actions that repelled enemy thrusts at Guadalcanal: the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid; the

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or Third Battle of Solomon Sea, in Japan as the Battle of the South Pacific ( ''Minamitaiheiyō kaisen''), was the fourt ...

; and the

(Third Savo).

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands

The ship's first major action was the

on 26 October. On 24 October, 's task force had combined with 's group to reform TF 61 under the command of Rear Admiral

Thomas C. Kinkaid Thomas Cassin Kinkaid (3 April 1888 – 17 November 1972) was an admiral in the United States Navy, known for his service during World War II. He built a reputation as a "fighting admiral" in the aircraft carrier battles of 1942 and commanded t ...

. This force positioned itself north of the

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands discovered by the Spaniards. They lie approximately 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands ...

to intercept enemy units that might attempt to close Guadalcanal. Meanwhile, on Guadalcanal, the Japanese achieved a breakthrough during the Battle for Henderson Field on the night of 25 October. That success evidently was a signal for Japanese ships to approach the island. Early on the morning of 26 October, U.S. carrier planes spotted the Japanese force and immediately attacked it, damaging two carriers (CVL and CV ), one heavy cruiser (CA ) 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 attacked ''Hornet''. Though ''Juneau'' and other screen ships threw up an effective anti-aircraft (AA) barrage which shot down about 20 of the attackers, ''Hornet'' was badly damaged and sank the next day. Just before noon, ''Juneau'' left ''Hornet''s escort for the beleaguered ''Enterprise'' group several miles away. ''Juneau'' helped repel four Japanese attacks that lost 18 planes. 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 the Solomons. Furthermore, the damaging of two Japanese carriers sharply reduced their air power in the subsequent battle of Guadalcanal.

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

On 8 November, ''Juneau'' departed Nouméa, New Caledonia, as a unit of TF 67 under the command of Rear Admiral

Richmond K. Turner Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner (May 27, 1885 – February 12, 1961), commonly known as Admiral Kelly Turner, served in the United States Navy during World War II, and is best known for commanding the Amphibious Force during the campaign across ...

to escort reinforcements to Guadalcanal. The force arrived there early morning on 12 November, and ''Juneau'' 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, and ''Juneau'' alone accounted for six enemy

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

s shot down. The few remaining Japanese planes were, in turn, attacked by American fighters; only one

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

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 Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan's relatively small landing support group engaged the enemy. The Japanese force consisted of two battleships, one light cruiser, and nine destroyers. USSJuneauMemorial

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 by , causing a severe list, and necessitating withdrawal. Before noon on 13 November, ''Juneau'', along with two other cruisers damaged in the battle— and —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 damaged ''San Francisco''. She was down by the bow, but able to maintain 13 kn (15 mph, 24 km/h). A few minutes after 11:00, two torpedoes were launched from . These were intended for ''San Francisco'', but both passed ahead of her. One struck ''Juneau'' 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. Fearing more attacks from ''I-26'', and wrongly assuming from the massive explosion that there were no survivors, ''Helena'' and ''San Francisco'' departed without attempting to rescue any survivors. In fact, more than 100 sailors had survived the sinking of ''Juneau''. 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 five

. 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. On 20 November 1942, recovered two of the ten survivors. Five more in a raft were rescued by a PBY Seaplane away. Three others, including a badly wounded officer, made it to San Cristobal (now Makira) Island, about away from the sinking. One of the survivors recovered by ''Ballard'' said he had been with one of the Sullivan brothers for several days after the sinking.

Wreck

The wreck of ''Juneau'' was located on 17 March 2018 by Paul Allen's research crew on board RV'' Petrel''. The cruiser rests below the surface off the Solomon Islands in several large pieces.

Awards

''Juneau'' received four

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for her service in World War II.

References

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External links

*
hazegray.org: USS ''Juneau''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juneau (Cl-52) Atlanta-class cruisers World War II cruisers of the United States Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Ships sunk by Japanese submarines 1941 ships Maritime incidents in November 1942 Shipwreck discoveries by Paul Allen 2018 archaeological discoveries Naval magazine explosions