Hypothetical: The Navy drafted you in WWII.

[Rain Man]

I found a database of major American WWII ships the other day and pulled it into Excel. Then I found information on crew sizes. Now I have a simple simulator.

So if you were drafted into the Navy in World War II and were assigned to a large ship (e.g., submarine, destroyer, cruiser, or larger), I can now randomly assign you to a ship. Report in this thread to get your assignment.

I'll tell you your ship, and then it's up to you to look it up and see where it went and what happened to it. If the ship took casualties, let me know how many were killed and wounded and I'll do a random draw to see if you would have survived.


As for me, I would have been one of 700 sailors aboard:

Juneau** Atlanta-class Light Cruiser**

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(CL-52)

That's not really a good thing. I hung out with a nice set of five brothers from Iowa, the Sullivans, but we saw some bad things.

We launched early in 1942 and did some early runs in the Atlantic and Caribbean before heading to the Pacific Theater. Right out of the gate in the Pacific we had to rescue sailors from an aircraft carrier that sank from a sub attack, and then we headed to Guadalcanal.

Our task force fought off four attacks from the Japanese, one of which took down another aircraft carrier.

Then another big Japanese group attacked, and we took a torpedo. We headed off toward Vanuatu for repairs, running with two other damaged ships, when we were attacked again by a Japanese sub. We took another torpedo which blew the ship to smithereens and we sank in 20 seconds.

The other two ships assumed there were no survivors and took off running. In actuality, 100 of the crew survived the sinking, but only about 10 survived the next eight days until rescue aircraft found them.

Based on a random dice roll, I went down with the ship, so my naval career ended late in 1942. I hope America won.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

KChiefs1 reporting for duty.

Belleau Wood** Independence-class Light Carrier**


I know nothing about this ship. I presume it had noble service.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by TrebMaxx

I didn't mention this in my short version of the USS Albert W. Grant history but while en route to Leyte, damaged and limping on one engine the Grant weathered Typhoon Cobra before reaching the anchorage.

I want to read more about this storm. Was it a juggernaut or were a bunch of ships just in completely the wrong place at the wrong time?

[TrebMaxx]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I want to read more about this storm. Was it a juggernaut or were a bunch of ships just in completely the wrong place at the wrong time?

From what I have read so far it seems it was both.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Barbero** Balao-class Submarine**

Sounds like a fun ride. Hopefully your surfaces were equal in number to your descents.

Good news/ bad news?

Ship made it through the war with a lot of not eventful action though it did sink a Jap cargo ship full of troops.

Barbero's war operations span the period from 9 August 1944– 2 January 1945, during which she completed two war patrols. She is credited with sinking three Japanese merchant ships totaling 9,126 tons while patrolling in the Java and South China Seas.
On 2 November, after a lively passage of Lombok Strait during which picket boats and shore batteries fired on her, Barbero sank her first ship, a 2,700-ton transport loaded with troops.

On 8 November, she sent a 7,500-ton tanker to the bottom during a coordinated attack on a small convoy carried out in cooperation with Redfin. Redfin received credit for sinking the other tanker in the convoy.
On 27 December, while she attempted the perilous repassage of Lombok Strait, fragments from an aerial bomb that narrowly missed Barbero close aboard aft damaged her port reduction gear. The damage forced her to cover the distance remaining to Fremantle on a single screw, and put her out of action for the remainder of the war. In 68 days away from Fremantle, Barbero returned having sunk four ships totalling 21,700 tons and claiming damage to a fifth of 5,000 tons.

Now here is some history though. She was converted to a missle carrying sub and eventually was asigned to the get this....US Postal service!

Missile Mail

Main article: Rocket mail
In 1959 Barbero assisted the United States Post Office Department, predecessor of what in 1971 became today's United States Postal Service (USPS), in its search for faster, more efficient forms of mail transportation. The USPS tried their first and only delivery of "Missile Mail", though the idea of delivering mail by rocket was not new. Shortly before noon on 8 June 1959, off the northern Florida coast, Barbero fired a Regulus cruise missile towards the Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Mayport, Florida. Twenty-two minutes later the training type missile landed at its target; its training-type warhead having been configured to contain two official USPS mail containers.

Forgot to add n image.

[GloucesterChief]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Good news/ bad news?

Ship made it through the war with a lot of not eventful action though it did sink a Jap cargo ship full of troops.

Now here is some history though. She was converted to a missle carrying sub and eventually was asigned to the get this....US Postal service!

Looks like you got to spend some time in Oz.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by GloucesterChief

Looks like you got to spend some time in Oz.

Yup, I am sure chasing women was a priority while down under.

[Delaney37]

Sign me up Admiral Rain Man!

Uncle was on a Fletcher class destroyer running one of the 40mm bofor guns. His ship was running screen for the Bunker Hill in the Marianas Turkey Shoot. They took a kamikaze hit in the torpedo tubes during the engagement.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Belleau Wood** Independence-class Light Carrier**


I know nothing about this ship. I presume it had noble service.

USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24, originally CV-24), 1943-1960

USS Belleau Wood, an 11,000-ton Independence class small aircraft carrier, was built at Camden, New Jersey. Begun as the light cruiser New Haven (CL-76), she was converted to a carrier before launching and was commissioned in March 1943. Her original carrier hull number was CV-24, which was changed to CVL-24 in July 1943 at the time she arrived in the Pacific to join the war against Japan. During the rest of 1943, Belleau Wood took part in raids on Tarawa and Wake Islands and the invasion of the Gilbert Islands.

In the first half of 1944, Belleau Wood was part the carrier force that supported the Marshall Islands operation, raided enemy positions throughout the Central Pacific and helped conquer Saipan. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, in mid-June, her planes sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Hiyo. Following a brief overhaul, she rejoined Task Force 58 for further operations to take Guam, the Palaus and Morotai, as well as raiding the Philippines, Okinawa and Formosa. In late October 1944, Belleau Wood participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. While operating off the Philippines on 30 October, she was hit aft by a Kamikaze suicide plane and set afire. Badly damaged, with 92 of her crew killed or missing, she had to return to the United States for repairs.

Belleau Wood returned to the Western Pacific war zone in February 1945, in time to help in raids on the Japanese Home Islands and support Marines on Iwo Jima. The rest of the war was spent on further attacks on targets in and around Japan. Her planes participated in the massed aircraft flyover that followed the Formal Surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945. After supporting occupation operations into October, Belleau Wood transported U.S. service personnel back to the United States until early 1946. Generally inactive from then on, she was placed out of commission in January 1947.

Belleau Wood was reactivated in 1953 for loan to France. Under the name Bois Belleau, she served the French Navy until 1960, when she was returned to U.S. custody and sold for scrapping.

USS Belleau Wood
Country United States
Ship Class Independence-class Light Carrier
Builder New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Laid Down 11 Aug 1941
Launched 6 Dec 1942
Commissioned 31 Mar 1943
Decommissioned 13 Jan 1947
Displacement 11000 tons full
Length 623 feet
Beam 109 feet
Draft 26 feet
Machinery General Electric geared turbines with four screws
Power Output 100000 SHP
Speed 31 knots
Crew 1569
Armament 26x40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, 22x20mm anti-aircraft guns
Armor 5
Aircraft 30
Transferred to France Sep 1953

Contributor: C. Peter Chen
Originally laid down as New Haven, the hull was renamed Belleau Wood on 16 Feb 1942. She was commissioned in early 1943 with Captain A. M. Pride in command. After shakedown cruise, Belleau Wood joined the Pacific Fleet and arrived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States on 26 Jul 1943. On 1 Sep, she supported the occupation of Baker Island, which was situated about halfway between Hawaii and Australia in the Central Pacific. On 18 Sep, then again in the latter part of 1943, she assisted in the Gilbert Islands campaign. On 5 and 6 Oct, her aircraft raided Wake Island. Between 29 Jan and 3 Feb 1944, she supported the invasion of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls in the Marshall Islands, then sailed to Truk of the Caroline Islands and then to the Northern Mariana Islands to conduct raids against Japanese defenses in those locations. In Mar and Apr 1944, her aircraft struck Japanese-held islands in the Palau Islands, Caroline Islands, and off New Guinea. In Jun, she supported the invasion of Saipan in the Mariana Islands, where she was engaged in the Battle of the Philippine Sea; during that battle, her aircraft sank the Japanese carrier Hiyo.

Between 29 Jun and 31 Jul 1944, Belleau Wood underwent an overhaul at Pearl Harbor.

In Aug 1944, Belleau Wood supported the Guam, Mariana Islands campaign. Between 6 Sep and 14 Oct, she supported the Palau Islands campaign. In Sep 1944, she conducted several raids against the Philippine Islands. On 15 Sep, she supported the landings on Morotai Island between New Guinea and the Philippine Islands. On 10 Oct, her aircraft raided Okinawa, Japan, followed immediately by striking Taiwan and Luzon, Philippine Islands. On 13 Oct, her task force came under attack by four G4M Type 1 Bombers, but the anti-aircraft fire contributed by the fleet, to no small contribution by the gunners of Belleau Wood, prevented her from being damaged. Between 24 and 26 Oct, she participated in the Battle of Cape Engaño. On 30 Oct, the task force was targeted by kamikaze special attack aircraft. After one of them struck USS Franklin, the pilot of an A6M Zero fighter decided Belleau Wood, thus far undamaged, presented a better target; he was able to crash into Belleau Wood's fantail despite being hit by Belleau Wood's anti-aircraft weapon repeatedly, killing 92 men and destroying 12 aircraft, though the damage was able to be contained.

Between 2 and 11 Nov, Belleau Wood received temporary repairs at Ulithi in the Caroline Islands. Between 29 Nov and Jan 1945, she received permanent repairs in California, United States.

On 7 Feb 1945, Belleau Wood rejoined Task Force 58. On 15 Feb, she took part in the raids on the Japanese home island of Honshu, and then southern Japanese islands, including Iwo Jima. From 17 May until the end of the war, she conducted various strikes against the Japanese home islands.

Belleau Wood's aircraft took flight during the surrender ceremonies in Tokyo Bay. She remained in Japanese waters until 13 Oct for occupation duties before being assigned to Operation Magic Carpet that brought American servicemen from Mariana Islands back to the United States. She returned to San Diego, California on 31 Jan 1946, and was placed in reserve one year later.

On 5 Sep 1953, Belleau Wood was transferred to the French Navy, which changed the spelling of her name to the French counterpart Bois Belleau. In Apr 1954, she set sail from the Toulon, France arsenal for French Indochina, where she remained until Jul. She was sold for scrapping in 1960.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Ready to die fighting, sir!

[GloryDayz]

OK Mr. Detailer.... I'll extend, but only for another tour as the weaps on the billy boat...

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

New Jersey** Iowa-class Battleship**


So were you at Pearl Harbor? Let me know and I'll see if you survived.

Nope. Launched on December 7 1942.

http://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/history/

Pretty neat. Oh. And I lived. Because I said so.

[GloryDayz]

Even the WW2 version of the Billy boat will do...

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

OK Mr. Detailer.... I'll extend, but only for another tour as the weaps on the billy boat...

[alanm]

OK Kevin. But first shouldn't you get me out of the Army Air Corps. I've been a Captain on a lost B-17 for most of the war so far.

[alanm]

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

I would but I volunteered for the Army Air Corp and I'm still flying around somewhere on a B-17.

Heh.

[NJChiefsFan]

I'm ready to fight some of them Germans, sir.