Wel welcome to war stories. Im oliver north coming to you from patriots point. This is the world war ii destroyer, a fighting ship with a remarkable history. At normandy, her guns fired to protect american soldiers landing on the beach. In the space of 09 minu90 minut planes attacked her. The heroic efforts saved the ship and she made her way back to the u. S. And saw action again in the korean war. The brave soldiers who served aboard these vessels called them tin cans. They shot down enemy aircraft, hunted and sank submarines, screened for larger ships, provided naval gunfire support for troops on shore. And delivered the mail. Their jack of all trades capabilities put them in harms way against far superior foes. Despite their valiant service, theyre less well known than the capitol ships they protected. They might be better celebrated, but they didnt go anywhere without their destroyer escorts. Tonight on war stories, the tin can sailors of world war ii. More more than 300,000 served aboard the tin cans during world war ii. They put their lives on the line with nothing more than threeeighths of an eninch to protect them. It was paper thin. The thickness of their little finger. To talk about the origin of destroyers, you really have to go back to the origin of torpedos. The the torpedo was an out growth of the floating mine, as we would call it today. They called them the torpedo during the civil war. A british Civil Engineer called Robert Whitehead decided he could make that move and made small boats that could carry store paid dou torpedos and launch them. They were called torpedo boats. In order to combat this new vessel, there had to be something to fight them. And they called it a torpedo boat destroyer. The banbridge was only 250 feet long and displaced only 420 tons. With only with only five sixpound guns she may have been light on fire power, but she can the tin can navy. During during world war i she sailed the atlantic battling german uboats. These were the four stackers that are seen and so famous, the four pipers some people called them. You arrive in manila harbor, the philippines, places you had never thought of before. No, i didnt. John grew up in the steel mill town of pennsylvania. Part of the fleet the uss pope was launched in 1920. But 1940 her power plant was burning oil instead of coal. I dont know what made me go into the black gang. Ships like the uss pope were fitted with just one antiaircraft gun. Surface ships feared mines, other ships and sur marinbmarin. Destroyers were improved by advances in radar, sonar and antiaircraft guns. All of these changes gave them a better chance in the fight. But as youll see later, these modifications came at a price. I thought we should be in the war. And i thought that we were going to be in a war. In the summer of 1940, 22yearold new jersey native david bait put his money where his mouth was. He found himself on the way to cuba. It was fun. I enjoyed it, because you didnt have an awful lot of responsibility. My dad my dad died in 34 and i wound up the oldest of five kids. So i so i started working in a coal mine when i was 15. Like many who fought zv world war ii, steve started basic training in newport, rhode island. It wasnt too hard for me. Evidence i was a pretty tough kid. Great britain stood alone and that island nation desperately needed help. Americas Land Lease Program provided them with bullets to bombers to old tin cans. Only five weeks before pearl harbor the uss rubin james was sunk by a german uboats torpedo. 150 of 150 of her crew went down with her. Five weeks later on that fateful morning of december 7th, the u s uss dewey is tied up in pearl harbor. They were about 30 feet longer, almost twice the weight. They had much greater range, nearly twice the number of crew members aboard. They could go to the fight rather than wait for the fight to come to him. It seemed just like a few minutes. And next thing hes screaming, stooe steve, the steve, the japas are bombing th air station. We had to look on a map to see where pearl harbor was. William herman initially tried to join the marines, but his vision kept him out. What made you decide to go in the navy. My dad was in world war i and he said it was pretty rough in the army. So he said id suggest that you go in the navy. At least you have a place to sleep and three meals a day. Everyone else was going. I figured i ought to. It was just the way we felt. Evan grew up on a 40acre farm in arizona. Joining the navy gave him a chance to see the ocean for the first time. I got a little queasy at first. I gre i grew up in philadelphia in a tough neighborhood. And i was a little kid. So i had lots of trouble when i first went to school. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1938 at the age of 23. Were you aware of what an enormous navy the japanese had. No. We were very badly informed about them. We thought they were all shortsighted vision wise. You know, they couldnt see. And naturally they wouldnt have ships as good as ours, right . Turned out to be real bad news. The bad news would be faced by five Young Americans in their tin cans. Charles calhoun, steve, William Herman and john would become warriors. The japanese surface navy is blowing allied ships out of the water every day. What was the morale like . It was good. I guess we didnt know my better. We were we were 20, 19, 18 years old. Two months after pearl harbor the lexus rx, rx hybrid and rx f sport. This is the rx. Elevated. Get up to 5,000 customer cash on select 2016 models. See your lexus dealer. Once i left the hospital after a dvt blood clot. What about my wife. What were building together. And could this happen again . I was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me . I spoke to my doctor and she told me about eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots. But eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Knowing eliquis had both. Turned around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless you doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made switching to eliquis right for me. Ask your doctor if its right for you. In january of 42 america faced a war on two fronts. Convoys were streams across the atlantic. And char and Charles Calhoun was tapped to escort the goods safely across the pond. We joined the british home fleet like we had a voice call assigned to us by the british. It was hms stead fast. I said, boy, i hope we can live up to that. Thats the north Atlantic Crossing in the middle of winter. What was that like . Miserable. Very difficult because the north atlantic, as you know, never smooth. On the other side of the world the uss pope was facing off against the japanese. After abandoning manila they joined forces in the south pacific. I thought we were going to hit the oil in borneo. The oil in borneo was vital. The japanese needed it to fuel their war machine. By january of 42 they were already ashore but they sea born supply lines for vulnerable. The plan was for two uscruiss and eight destroyers to face these transports and their accompanying cruisers and destroyers. Unfortunately unfortunately two of the the cruiser had to turn back. Two more of the destroyers were in for repair. Only four american destroyers to face four japanese cruisers and eight destroyers. There was the pope, the ford, and the paul jones, all to force back destroyers, 1917 and 1918 with 48 torpedos all together. The thing was to empty all the torpedos and then four inch. These obsolete four stackers faced a superior force lead by japanese admiral. Still, they pressed on into the night. A a little before 3 00 on 14 january, 1942 they spotted the japanese just 9,000 yards away. Because this was a night battle, the japanese didnt know the american ships were there. Down in the engine room, i know theres a lot of noise down there, but could you hear the torpedos being launched. You could hear the ship lurch and this and that. The ships general quarters is down there in that whole. Youre below the water line . Right. Is your heart racing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. American gunnery was better than japanese gunnery. Our ships managed to move in and around all of the japanese ships and actually hit the targets that we went in to hit. We expended all our fourinch everything. We we left. All this all this took place in an hour and 15 minutes. We went in about 10 to 3 00 and at 4 00 we were out of there. Did they chase you. No. I think they were too busy picking everybody up. A small victory, it didnt delay for a single day the imperial armys invasion of borneo. Four four japanese ships were sunk. The americans only casual ttic, four four wounded aboard. It was the first surface action and it was the first time we attacked the japs after person harbor. John and the crew of the uss pope find themselves your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says, you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With new car replacement™, well replace the full value of your car plus depreciation. Liberty mutual insurance. Upgrade your phone system and learn how you could save at vonage. Com business when youre on hold, your business is on hold. Thats why comcast business doesnt leave you there. When you call, a Small Business expert will answer you in about 30 seconds. No annoying hold music. Just a real person, real fast. Whenever you need them. Great, thats what i said. So your business can get back to business. Sounds like my rides ready. Dont get stuck on hold. Reach an expert fast. Comcast business. Built for business. By by early 1942 the us navy was beginning to build a fleet. Wrecks were salvaged from pearl harbor and the newest tin can was about to intersurface. T one of the best things about the fletcher class was the fiveinch guns. You could protect that ship in five Different Directions at one time. The the fletcher class bristled with guns. She was just 70 feet longer than the old clemson class, but she traveled with a crew of over 300, almost double the number of men with the pope. One of the great tin can traditions was limited space. And all the advances on the fletcher didnt change that. Never had any trouble with anybody. And the ship itself is just another member of the family. Theres a relationship between a sailor and his ship on any ship, but especially among the smaller ones. No air conditioning among these ships. And of course even in december its pretty dog gone hot. I was the third bunk up. It was pretty hot in there. Had a little patch on the vent there. I i moved that back and forth, get a little air blowing on me. The living compartments were crowded. I got permission from the First Lieutenant to rig myself a bunk on the overhang where i was out in the open. What was the hardest part about being a destroyer man. The food. I kept telling me wife i really dont remember what the food was like. I said, it must not have been very good. Fest yirst you run out of fr food, vegetables, eggs, him imi. Eventually you have nothing but Peanut Butter sandwiches. Following the battle, the uss pope continued to face off against the japanese second fleet. But the numbers werent in their favor. The orders came down. Get to india as fast as possible. Pope found herself operating with two british ships, the cruiser hms exiter. And the british destroyer hms encounter. We had confidence we had confidence we were going to go to india. And were talking about the cheap diamonds rubies and all that. The chiefs are talking about what a great deal this is. Yeah. The guys have been there, they told us all about it. They were suddenly cut off and surrounded by four heavy cruisers and eight destroyers of the Imperial Japanese navy. Having no place to go, there was a threehour running gun battle that saw many of the japanese ships damaged before first one and then the other of the two british hiships were hit and su. We had maybe 20 shells left. So we started to get away. And they started dive bombing us. We we finally got a near miss and blew the side of the port side of the ship. This is an enemy photograph of the uss popes last moments. Below decks in the uss popes engine room, the crew mates lost all mun cacommunications with t bridge. Though they didnt though they didnt know what was happening above, they knew it wasnt good. I went up and i saw that they were abandoning ship. I went through the hatch again and i told them we were abandoning ship. Amazingly, john and all but one of the popes crew escaped into the sea, but they were far from safe. As they were hitting the ship, youre in the water . Right. And youre watching the ship go down. Right. What was going through your mind. My home was my home was going down. The survivors of the pope were adrift on the java sea. Three days after the singing, an enemy destroyer appeared on the horizon. A brand new big destroyer. Was there any word out about the fact that the japanese were machine gunning people in the water . Yeah. And this guy believe it or not got a mega phone and he was talking japanese to us in the water. A a lieutenant answers him back, what do you want . He said we want to take the officers. Thats it. He said you take everybody or nobody, now in japanese, hi class japanese. So he says, okay, come on. They wound up serving the wars japanese prison noers at camp. Horrible, horrible. They would beat you on the slightest thing and you were half ditzed from not eating. 27 died. Average weight was about 100 pounds when we were liberated. I was 95 pounds. Ray calhoun, evan, dave and steve face off against two vicious enemies, the wednesday and the sea in a ferocious pacific typhoon. The fate of their tin cans was break. A story of recently, a 1954 mercedesbenz grand prix race car made history when it sold for a record price of just under 30 million. And now, another mercedesbenz makes history selling at just over 30,000. And to think this one actually has a surroundsound stereo. The 2016 cla. Lease the cla250 for 299 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Fight heartburn fast. With tums chewy delights. The mouthwatering soft chew that goes to work in seconds to conquer heartburn fast. Tum tum tum tum. Chewy delights. Only from tums. August august of 1942, marines hit the beach as the leather necks battled ashore, the tin can sailors faced the enemy on the high seas. Their only protection, the ships threeeighths inch thick steel. They called it the Iron Bottom Sound because there were so many ships at the bottom. Yeah. Did you see any of those engagements . Yeah. Yeah, we w yeah, we were in one, a big one. November 13th, 1942, when the socalled Tokyo Express came down to do their nightly shore bombardment. The Tokyo Express was the nickname given by u. S. Sailors to the Japanese NavalSurface Force that is forces that relentlessly tried to crush the invasion. They turned us around to intercept the jap force, which we knew consisted usually with two battleships, one or two cruisers and a dozen or so destroyers. So we so we had a good idea we were going to encounter battleships. And the force that turner is send back against them consists of what . A total of 13 ships, but the heaviest ship was the San Francisco and portland. Seven enemy ships were sighted 27,000 yards away. The night sky was alive with muzzle flashes and shells illuminating their targets. Closing in, calhoun spotted a japanese battleship 2,000 yards away on his port bow. Continually blasting at the ships bridge with his puny fiveinch shells. We were probably about a thousand yards away from her when we sighted japanese class destroyer. We fired one in their bridge. They all exploded. The next followed five seconds later. The secondar the secondary explosion was huge. It it appeared to us as cherry red and hissed as it sunk into the water. The battleships now, noticing this con fla immigratithat we st us, the number three gun and started all kinds of fires. So we had real problems. That night the u. S. Navy absorbed the might of the Tokyo Express, sparing the boys on the beach. But su but success came at a terrible price. During during the fight, they lost four men overboard. And the next day 28 more lay dead on her decks. The 1943 landings put 10,000 more marines and soldiers ashore. The pressure was increasing on the japanese. Four heavy enemy cruisers and six destroyers arrived to crush the landing force. Rear hadmiral the battle of m press augusta bay was on. Things that no one knew a destroyer was even capable of they were called onto do. Instead of being es skocort vehs to follow the larger ships arnol around, destroyers were used on ar their own. The japanese lost a cruiser and a destroyer. Attack, attack, attack was the tin cans now motto. At the battle of Cape Saint George he put this tactic to work. Burke divided his ships into two groups and attacked the enemies from two sides. These were things destroyers had never done before. They sank fothree enemy ship and heavily damaged a fourth. This was the battle that got arley burke the title of 31knot work. Aggressive tactics helped the uss england in may of 1944. She sank six japanese subs in just 12 days. In seas spanning the globe, the tin cans and her sailors brought victory ever closer. At normandy the general said if it wasnt for the destroyers, i wouldnt have had an artillery. All he was facing was two destroyers and a destroyer escort. Whe when i took them in, she was in the shipyard at puget sound. Steve had been aboard since pearl harbor, he was now the destroyers masser ship fitter. His basic job was damage control. Calhoun was quick to find problems. We concluded among ourselves that they had probably added too much topside weight with the added machine guns. 40 millimeter cannons. Yeah. She heeled the right