"My Ship!" The U.S.S. Intrepid
by Raymond T. Stone
G.P. Books, 2003, 245 pages
Kamikaze planes hit the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Intrepid
five times, more frequently than any American carrier. The ship, with her crew
of 3,000 men, returned to mainland U.S. twice for repairs of damage caused by
kamikaze attacks. Ray Stone served aboard the Intrepid as a radarman
from August 1943, the month of her commissioning, to June 1945, after the ship
returned to the mainland for the second time to get repairs for
kamikaze-inflicted damage. This memoir presents Stone's and several other
shipmates' candid views concerning these devastating kamikaze attacks and other
experiences aboard the carrier and during liberties on shore.
The first of five hits by kamikaze planes on the Intrepid
took place on October 29, 1944, when a Japanese plane crashed into one of the
ship's gun tubs. The crash killed 10 men, including 9 black steward's
mates. On
November 25, 1944, two Zeros rammed into the ship within five minutes of each
other and killed 69 men. This number included 26 radarmen who were in a ready
room waiting to relieve radarmen, including Stone, in CIC (Combat
Information Center). The fourth hit happened on March 18, 1945, when the Intrepid's
gunners brought down a diving plane off the starboard bow, but the exploding
plane still caused some minor damage when it showered the hangar deck with
flying debris and burning gasoline. On April 16, 1945, Japan launched a mass
air attack of kamikaze and conventional warplanes, and the Intrepid's
Air Group downed 43 planes that day and the ship's gunners downed 4 kamikaze
planes. However, one suicide plane managed to get through the anti-aircraft fire and crashed
into the flight deck, with its bomb going off on the hangar deck, and killed 10
men [1].
Although written almost six decades after the events, this
memoir seems like an immature teenager wrote it. Stories of drinking and women
fill the pages, and Stone gives plenty of examples to show he had no problems
breaking Navy rules or starting a fight. But Stone steadily matured as he
participated in many battles and experienced the deaths of several pals when 26
radarmen lost their lives after a kamikaze hit. He had to help in the
identification of the dead radarmen, and he sobbed uncontrollably as he looked
at the charred flesh of his dead friends. He later went with four other crewmen
to the home of one radarman who died in the attack. The chapter
describing this visit begins as follows:
Nitro, one of my good buddies killed in ready room 4, was a
native San Franciscan and we felt obliged to pay our respects to his family.
None of us were experienced in expressing feelings and extending condolences to
the family of a fallen shipmate. We felt awkward just talking about it. How to
act? What to say?
Wanting to spare his mom additional heartache, we decided to
tell her that Nitro died instantly, one of the 26 radarmen killed in the ready
room.
Actually, one of Nitro's legs was blown off when the first
kamikaze hit; he was alive and being carried on the shoulders of a rescuer when
the second kamikaze hit. The concussion from the explosion buckled the hatch
door, trapping them. The would-be rescuer was finally able to squeeze through a
narrow opening, but he couldn't pull the unconscious, or already dead, Nitro
through it. He had to leave or be cremated by the raging inferno.
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Flames and smoke from
first kamikaze crash into Intrepid
on November 25, 1944
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The accounts by Stone and his shipmates, especially of the day the Intrepid got hit by two
kamikazes, bring alive historical events. The author's frankness in giving details about wild or
embarrassing incidents makes this an enjoyable book to read. Helpful features in the
book include many historical photos, frequent use of dialogues rather than just
description, and a glossary of technical terms. Although this book highlights
Stone's personal experiences, he also effectively incorporates basic facts of
the Intrepid's history and Pacific War events.
A few changes could have improved this memoir. First,
although Stone presents some helpful general background information about radar
and its use in detecting and intercepting planes, it would be more interesting
to read actual battle incidents experienced by the author with details on
radar's use. Second, the book contains about 40 photos of Stone's diary, which
he kept throughout the war despite a Navy regulation against personal
diaries since they might fall into enemy hands. The diary contains little more
than a listing of the Intrepid's operations and battles, so the
inclusion of so many pages adds almost nothing to the book and sometimes causes
confusion since the book's narrative and the diary entries cover the same
events. Finally, adding more maps to the book would be beneficial,
since the book's two maps do not provide information about the Intrepid's
movements and locations during the war.
"My Ship!" The U.S.S. Intrepid provides
many tidbits of information about the carrier's history and her crew during
World War II. The author is quick to give his opinions, positive or negative,
about Intrepid crewmembers, and his stories about wild liberties
on shore and life aboard ship contain many amusing details. The firsthand
accounts of the two kamikaze hits on November 25, 1944, make this section of
the book especially valuable.
Note
1. An Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum brochure by the U.S.S. Intrepid Association indicates 20 men were killed by the
kamikaze attack on April 16, 1945. Sumrall (1989, 44) states the total killed
was 8.
Source Cited
Sumrall, Robert F. 1989. USS Intrepid (CV 11).
Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing.
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