The SteelNavy.Com Message Board: Re: Pearl Harbor attack casualty mystery!

Hi Matt,
No, her deck logs do not mention the turrets at all. Your photo shows turrets 1,3,4 trained to starboard but turret 2 remains on center line.
The log mentions that the starboard crane broke down at a 45 degree angle prior to the attack and that the port crane had a garbage hopper attached.
That explains why those cranes were out of position when Nevada sortied.

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Jeff,

You always send me down the most interesting rabbit holes, unfortunately I do not have documentation help answer the main question. I do agree with Dick J's theory that she may have been cast loose after the Nevada got underway and we know from the oil that the prevailing current would have easily carried it past the Arizona down to the Tennessee. I assume that she may have caught a stray AP bomb that missed the BB's, but that may not make sense as I am sure the bomb would have just passed through the lighter. The Tennessee report states no ammunition visible, but it possible whatever was aboard cooked off on it's travels past the Arizona and was just aflame when it stopped near the Tennessee. What is interesting I did a quick search for some attack images to see when it moved and when it was damaged. I came across an image that I have never seen or looked closer at before, and almost didn't look twice at it.

At a quick glance it appears to be the famous image taken from a plane in the high level bombing formations, but upon closer inspection we see far more smoke obscuring the battleline and the USS Oklahoma now capsized. The Arizona looks like she has just detonated, but we know this not to be the case as the Oklahoma was only beginning her roll when the Arizona exploded. The image must just capture additional explosions and or intense fires and smoke to create the distortion. The lighter in question is still beside the Nevada and in good condition. Now this image diverges from your mystery to another one, Why are the Nevada's after turrets trained to Starboard? This has occurred since the last more famous image, and they were returned to the centerline during sortie. Was this some sort of counterbalancing for flooding? I do not have the Nevada's logs, is there mention of this?

Matt

Previous Message

In all of the Pearl Harbor books, all of the log books, and all of the action reports that I have read, I have never seen mentioned the accounts of this particular casualty on that fateful day.
Sometime between the first wave and the second second wave of the attack, a covered ammunition barge was placed on USS Tennessee's starboard beam.
Which barge it was and how it got there remains a mystery! More importantly, WHY place an ammunition barge next to USS Tennessee during an attack? Seems too risky and careless to me.
We know for a fact that at the start of the attack, USS Tennessee did not have a barge on her starboard side. However, USS Nevada did.

I'm 99% sure that the barge on Nevada's starboard beam was YF-240.

However, Nevada's deck logs do not mention any barge there on Dec.7th. YF-240 and YF-261 did visit Nevada's starboard side on Dec.6th, but tugs took both of them away later on the 6th.

I suspect the details of which barge was there on December 7th in Nevada's logs was simply overlooked by the chaos of the attack.

I also suspect this is the same barge that made it's way to the Tennessee. The barge was probably moved from Nevada to Tennessee when Nevada started her sortie.
None of the yard tug accounts mention moving a barge to Tennessee.
Tennessee's deck logs do not mention this barge at all. The barge even remained with Tennessee until she finally was freed from her berth a few days later.
There is only one account of this barge being there that I can find so far. This is the account from USS Tennessee's war diary.

Here is a view of the barge on Tennessee's startbord beam on the morning of Dec.7th.
Clearly you can see that her roof has been blown out.

What caused this explosion to blow out the roof? And when exactly did it happen? Did a bomb cause this damage? Or did her stored ammunition explode due to the surrounding fires?

At some point, this barge was moved from Tennessee's starboard beam to her stern.
This view taken a couple of days later shows the barge at the stern and you can clearly see the roof damage on it.

Just imagine trying to move an ammunition barge to USS Tennessee, past USS Arizona which was a blazing inferno at that time. WHY DO THAT????