The Wreck of the USS Emmons Saga
A picture of divers at the scene of the USS EMMONS as sent to Ed Hoffman, a survivor and hero of the Last Day of the USS EMMONS story.The good looking crew shown above is listed as -- l. to r. Rich Ruth, Jack Martin, Tami Clark and Steve Tomlin.
Click on the site below to head back to Okinawa and Wreck of the USS EMMONS
Stars & Stripes report on the Emmons's Discovery
Update 5-13-01
The porthole fixture from the USS EMMONS was finally viewed by Al Macklin (Ellyson crewmember), Ernie Herr (O'Bannon and Hoggatt Bay crewmember and story teller) at Ed Hoffman's home (Emmons survivor) in Winston-Salem, NC. Truly, it was a rare moment as a piece of history was plucked out of time and pulled back to the present to be viewed by three World War II survivors. The porthole was in near perfect condition considering that it had been blown clear of its bridge location by the impact of two kamikaze planes hitting there. Many pictures were snapped and here are a few for starters. The first shows Ed holding the porthole and picture two shows Ed looking through it. Picture three shows Al Macklin and Ed holding the porthole with Ernie Herr snapping away. Many thanks to those great scuba boys who plucked this artifact from the bottom of the Okinawa sea. The three survivors were not too emotionally impacted that they could not enjoy a sumptuous luncheon after the picture taking.
Dklar@aol.com <Dklar@aol.com>
AMackku@aol.com <AMackku@aol.com
Friday, April 13, 2001 4:36 PM
Fwd: instoan - Salem coverageI appreciate your thoughtfulness in sending to me the Winston-Salem coverage. On my way to new duty I found Captain Foss of the EMMONS In the Navy Hospital in Honolulu In the middle of May 1945. He was recuperating from serious burns. He and several others on the bridge were thrown into the water by one of the early Kamikazes, He managed to get back aboard, how, he did not remember.
On that same 6 April, the HARDING was hit by a bomb that did not detonate but passed
through CIC and tore a big hole in the bottom of the ship. I don't know where the ship was when it was hit but we in the ELLYSON passed her on our way to Kerrama Rette. HARDING required no assistance as she was able to go astern but not ahead. Any attempt to go ahead put a damaged bulkhead under great strain. So HARDING had a story also on that day.Before the surrender, I believe all our ships had been hit by kamikazes. I thought the squadron merited an award but all the records that would substantiated an award were lost when Kamikazes hit the Minecraft Flagship in Kerrama Retta.
Thanks again for keeping me in know,
Richard Larkin
Update 4-07-01 Winston-Salem Journal
Or just click here to go the the JournalSat, Apr 7, 2001
Moments of Hell
Ship sunk in '45 sparks memories of battleBy Frank Tursi
JOURNAL REPORTERIt's the kind of underwater video that they show every night on the Discovery Channel. Brightly colored fish swim among the coral. A diver drifts slowly through the background, the bubbles from his tanks trailing in his wake. A blue hue casts a soothing tone on the scenes. Ed Hoffman, though, found it all very distressing. "That's one of the 5-inch guns," he said of the upright, coral-encrusted object that appeared on the television screen. "And that looks like one of the 40 millimeters. Yes, there's the sight."
Schools of small fish swam in circles around the twin barrels of the anti-aircraft gun and through the portholes of the USS Emmons, a destroyer that sank off Okinawa during the closing months of World War II. It was 56 years ago yesterday, in fact, when five Japanese kamikazes crashed into the ship in the span of two minutes. Fifty-seven sailors died; 71 were wounded, including Edwin Hoffman Jr., then a 19-year-old quartermaster third class from Berwick, Pa.
Recreational divers found the Emmons in February, listing to its starboard in 140 feet of water. They made the obligatory video and sent it to Ernie Herr in Winston-Salem. Herr, a WWII veteran, is an amateur historian who has a Web site with war stories, including one about the Emmons. He and Hoffman, who retired in Winston-Salem, met a couple of years ago in an office-supply store. The two old salts struck up an immediate friendship.
So that's how Ed Hoffman found himself in Ernie Herr's living room on Rominger Road the other day watching a video full of dainty fish, multicolored coral and imaginary ghosts from a time when he was just a boy who came close to dying while fighting to save the world.
"It was painful to watch that first time," Hoffman said of the images on the TV screen. "It was a very unusual feeling." The serene scenes that flashed before Hoffman disguised the violence that sent the Emmons to her peaceful-looking grave.
Hoffman was in the pilothouse on the bridge that afternoon of April 6, 1945, conveying Capt. Eugene Foss' commands to the engine room over the intercom. Hoffman was about a month shy of his second anniversary in the Navy. He was only 17 when he joined a day after graduating high school. His daddy had to sign for him. "I was afraid I was going to miss the war," Hoffman said with a smile. "Most of my classmates had already gone in."
His entire career had been spent on the Emmons, which was a veteran of the European war before Hoffman arrived two weeks after boot camp. She had protected merchant ships around the British Isles, made the dangerous run to Murmansk with convoys carrying supplies to the Russians and escorted aircraft carriers that struck the Germans in North Africa. After taking part in the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, the Emmons and its crew of about 250 returned to the United States where the destroyer was refitted and turned into a minesweeper for duty in the Pacific.
Since her arrival off Okinawa on March 24, 1945, the Emmons and the other ships of Minesweep Three and Four had been clearing mines for the invasion of Okinawa, which began April 1, and serving as pickets, or early-warning sentinels, for the invasion fleet. The crew, though, had not seen an enemy ship or plane.
The Japanese had been unable to hinder the buildup on Okinawa after the Americans landed, though the country's military leaders knew that the island was the last of the steppingstones to Japan itself. Kyushu, Japan's southernmost island, was only 350 miles away. The Japanese finally launched their retaliatory strike April 6, sending 450 planes - almost 300 of them were suicide bombers - against the Americans in what was the largest and most successful of the 10 Japanese aerial attacks before Okinawa surrendered.
Hoffman and the others on the Emmons had spotted a few stray Japanese planes around noon. Three hours later, radar picked up two unidentified planes closing in on the Emmons' sister ship, the USS Rodman, four miles away. One crashed into the Rodman's forecastle. A bomb dropped by another exploded close to the starboard side and ruptured its hull.
As the Emmons circled the stricken ship, as many as 75 Japanese planes dove from the clouds pursued by American Hellcat and Corsair fighters. To Hoffman in the pilothouse, the Japanese attack seemed haphazard.
Most of the enemy planes were picked off by the American fighters or by the 5-inch and 40 mm guns on the Emmons and Rodman.
"At that point, the planes coming in were not organized," Hoffman said. "Everything hit the fan when they got organized. Ten or 12 came in together low to the water, and our planes couldn't get to them."
Hoffman followed closely behind Ross so that he could relay his orders to the engine room. Pandemonium surrounded him. The air was full of exploding shells and burning planes.
The noise was deafening. "Everything was happening very rapidly," he remembered. "With the amount of flak going up in tracers, I couldn't imagine that a plane could get through, but they kept coming."
The first kamikaze hit the Emmons' fantail at 5:30 p.m., knocking out the rudder. With no way to evade further attacks, the ship was an easy target. Another Japanese plane soon hit the rear of the ship, completing the destruction of the fantail.
Two more headed straight for the bridge. Hoffman grabbed the pilothouse railing just before he was thrown into the superstructure, and the world around him exploded in a blinding flash. "The next I knew I was on my hands and knees, and everything was orange," he said.
One plane had hit the starboard side near the radio shack, blowing Capt. Foss into the water. The other hit port side of the bridge seconds later. The final kamikaze crashed into the hull near the waterline. The Emmons was wrecked. The bridge was destroyed, and the fires that burned uncontrollably ignited the 20 mm shells. The ship listed toward the starboard, and its stern began to settle.
Hoffman staggered off the floor. His hands and other parts of his body not covered by clothing were terribly burned. His left ankle was shattered. Shrapnel peppered his back. Lt. John Griffin, the ship's gunnery officer, helped Hoffman off the bridge and into the cool water. "The water felt good," Hoffman said. He spent about 90 minutes in a lifeboat before being rescued by one of the auxiliary minesweepers.
The burning Emmons, with its code books and deciphering equipment, meanwhile drifted toward a part of Okinawa that was still held by the Japanese. Early the next morning, the USS Ellyson, another destroyer, was ordered to sink the presumably deserted Emmons.
Petty Officer 1st Class Alfred Macklin couldn't watch as the Ellyson poured 96 shells into the Emmons' hull. Macklin, a native of Winston-Salem, didn't know Hoffman until they were introduced by Herr five months ago. "I went below," Macklin said. "It was too painful to watch these shells go into the ship, knowing full well there were still wounded on her."
The Emmons settled to the bottom, where the scars of war were slowly covered by coral, and frilly fish took up residence in her guns.
More information and links to related Web sites are available at the Journal's Web site at
www.journalnow.comRELATED MATERIAL
• Combat Stories of WWII
• The Wreck of the USS Emmons
• The Emmons Saga
Update 4-05
Kamikaze attack fresh in survivors' minds
Ship's sinking in 1945 killed 57 sailors, including two from S. Tier.
By JEFF MURRAY
Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY)
jmurray@stargazette.com
Ed Tostanoski remembers hitting the water. He doesn't remember being scared.Provided:
The USS Emmons sank near Okinawa in 1945 when Japanese fighter planes hit it in a kamikaze attack. At least 57 sailors died, including two from the Twin Tiers. For the Corning native now living in San Francisco, most of the events of April 6, 1945, are a blur. On that day, at least 57 of Tostanoski's shipmates aboard the USS Emmons died in a suicide attack by Japanese fighter planes in the closing days of World War II. Through the haze of 56 years, details of that day still stand out in his mind.
"I do remember being in the water for quite a while. We went in the water pretty fast," said Tostanoski, now 80. "Truthfully, you are so busy doing what we did, you didn't really have time to be scared or anything else. When we got the word to abandon ship, we just did that and tried to get the ones who were hurt the worst back to a life raft or something."
Tostanoski is one of four Southern Tier natives who were aboard the ill-fated destroyer. H. Quincy Peters of Painted Post also survived the kamikaze attack. Two Elmira men, David Horwitz and Harry T. Bower Jr., weren't as lucky.
The U.S. Navy is planning a memorial service Friday at the site of the Emmons' sinking to mark the 56th anniversary of the attack, following the recent discovery of the wreck by divers.
The USS Emmons was commissioned Dec. 5, 1941, at the Boston naval shipyard. The Emmons was the last naval fighting ship to be commissioned before the United States officially entered World War II two days later.
The Emmons eventually was assigned to the Pacific Theater after the war was won in Europe. On April 6, 1945, the ship was escorting mine sweepers off the coast of Okinawa while troops and materials were sent ashore to support the fighting.
Among the approximately 250 crew members were Horwitz, an attorney in civilian life, and the ship's communications officer; Bower, radioman 3rd class; Tostanoski, boatswain's mate and gun captain; and Peters, a 2nd class water tender who was manning the No. 2 fire room.
The Emnons was paired with the USS Rodman, when, at 3 p.m., radar showed a large group of enemy planes approaching. More than 100 kamikazes swarmed the two ships, sparking a fierce battle that lasted more than two hours.
At 5:30 p.m., after running out of antiaircraft ammunition, the Emmons was struck by five straight fighter planes within a two-minute span. In the ensuing confusion, Peters recalls being assigned a grim task. "One of my first jobs was to go and pick up dog tags off people that were dead," said Peters, 76. "That was not much fun. My best friend was one of the first ones to die. That plane that hit us under the fan tail got him first." Peters was also one of the first men to find Horwitz, still alive but badly hurt.
"We pulled him out of the water and he was burned over his entire body," Peters said. "He was in shock. He was in shivering cold. He just said, 'I'm cold.' I gave him my all-weather jacket. We had a guy go down to pick up blankets, and put four or five blankets on him. I thought he died right there, but there was a lot going on." Horwitz, who was in the combat information center at the time of the attack, died eight days later. Bower was in the radio room, which took a direct hit. He was among the crewmen who were killed instantly in the attack. The wounded were transferred to a hospital ship. The Emmons, crippled but still afloat, was considered a navigational hazard and was ordered sunk the next day by the Navy.
Horwitz was one of seven children, and was one of three brothers in the Navy at the time of the Emmons' last battle. Alexander "Sandy" Horwitz was serving on the USS Lycoming, while Jerry Horwitz was stationed on the USS Princeton. Jerry Horwitz, who now lives in Denver, said the hardest thing about his brother's death was waiting for the official notification.
"A story came out in the (newspaper) and that was the first the family was aware of it. The headline said that the Emmons was sunk," Jerry Horwitz said. "Of course right away the family started being concerned. A week later we got unofficial notice that he had died from his burns. "I had a hard time with it. Dave just had one day too many of the war," he said. "It was a hardship (to the family). They never really prepared. You always hope for the best. Here was a dream of a lifetime.
Their oldest son was a lawyer and a man to be proud of. So they were hard-hit." Survivors and family members of crewmen who died aboard the Emmons later formed an association, which publishes a newsletter, maintains a Web site and holds annual reunions. Ninety former crew members are still on the association roster, said Ed Hoffman, association correspondent. He said more than 600 people served on the ship during its little more than three-year commission.
For the survivors of the Emmons attack, the painful memories did not fade easily, but Peters and Tostanoski at least have come to grips with the past. Peters said he suffered severe psychological trauma for years and refused to discuss the events of April 6, 1945, until about 12 years ago. He finally sat down and wrote the story of his naval career, including the Emmons incident, and said that helped heal the wounds.
Today, Peters willingly discusses his time aboard the Emmons, and has even painted several portraits of the ship, including renderings of the attack. Tostanoski, meanwhile, moved to San Francisco after the war and remains active in the USS Emmons Association.
Survivors of the Emmons got a surprise Feb. 20 when four divers discovered the wreck in 142 feet of water about two miles off Okinawa. Several of the men who died are still entombed in the ship's rusting hull. The discovery prompted the USS Emmons Association and the Navy to plan a memorial service that will take place late in the morning Friday, local time, Hoffman said. Because of the time zone difference, the service will occur sometime late tonight Eastern Daylight Time, he said.
The dive team that discovered the Emmons was excited about the prospects of exploring such an impressive relic of World War II. That work will be done with care, Hoffman said. "It's a war grave. Forty of our fellows are still down there," he said. "We would not like to have it turned into a recreational situation."
On the Web: www.geocities.com/bristolclass/emmons.html.
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Update: 4-04
A video tape of the wreck of the Emmons as taken by Rich Ruth was viewed in Winston - Salem, NC by the mini reunion team of the Emmons. The tape was quite well done and in beautiful color. It really explored the wreck of the ship in detail. For Ed Hoffman, it was absolute proof that the ship had been correctly identified and he was able to make out the actual bridge porthole that he exited as he made good on his escape from the flaming ship.
Pictures of the group and a story about the USS Emmons will be will be published in the local paper, the Winston-Salem Journal, in the Saturday 7th edition. Reporter for the story is Frank Tursi who recently was acclaimed for his extensive coverage of the Reynolds Tobacco empire during its hayday. The story will be posted on this site.
From: Edwin Hoffman,Jr. <ShirleyandELHjr@webtv.net>
To: MPAngelini@email.msn.com <MPAngelini@email.msn.com>; ernieh@ols.net; SJerryH@aol.com
<SJerryH@aol.com>
Date: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 8:17 AM
Subject: News from OkinawaHad message from Rich Ruth, which unfortunately got discarded (one of the down sides of Webtv). He said the Japanese are now taking steps to protect the site and all the contents. he didn't go into detail but said he would keep us up to date. He also said some of the local Japanese divers reported seeing ghosts and offered sake and rice as gifts.
EdNote from one of the divers: Feb. 25, 01
Just a quick reply, but I will send more later. I just (not more than two hours ago) finished some dives. The ship is pretty much intact (considering what happened to it and the abuse she took). All the guns are intact and standing straight towards the sky, the props are still there and this proud ship really looks like she could just drive away. We brought out a porthole frame and we took a bunch of pictures which we will send you along with some video. We are 100% certain that this is the Emmons at this point.
Could you send me an address where I can post some stuff to you. I will send this porthole frame and pics and everything we can. I have read your recall of the last day and it is really great. I truly feel as though I could hear all those voices while I was diving.
I will send you more soon but I await your address.
Respectfully
Rich Ruth
Dklar@aol.com <Dklar@aol.com>
Saturday, March 17, 2001 11:36 AM
ernieh@ols.net <ernieh@ols.net>
AMackku@aol.com <AMackku@aol.com>
Re: The EMMONSI appreciate being kept informed of the EMMON's story as it unfolds.
There is little I can add to what is now known.I remember ELLYSON and I believe HAMBLETON were enroute to Kerama Retta for fuel when we heard late in the afternoon by TBS that EMMONS and RODMAN were under attack by many Kamikazes. As Squadron Commander I ordered ELLYSON to proceed to the scene of action, HAMBLETON did not have sufficient fuel to reach the scene. ELLYSON was half way to the scene when the Screen Commander ordered ELLYSON to sink the EMMONS by gunfire if she was abandoned and drifting, and be well clear of the scene by daylight.. It was thought she might drift into enemy held Okinawa where codes and cyphers might be recovered.
At 1930, after a heavy explosion in the (ammunition) handling room, Lieutenant Griffin ordered abandon ship. Two hours later Ellyson closed on the derelict (Emmons). It was floating high but burning fiercely from stem to stern. The small inshore minesweepers that EMMONS and RODMAN had been protecting, reported they had removed all survivors. To insure no survivors were still aboard EMMONS, ELLYSON lowered a small boat to circle the burning ship within voice range, No replies to calls were heard and the boat returned to the ship. Gun fire commenced, directed at the waterline and in the vicinity of magazines (which no doubt had been flooded by the crew) in a futile attempt to cause the magazines to explode. Many hits were made along the waterline but little or no damage below the waterline.
As ordered ELLYSON left the scene to be well clear of the area by daylight and reported EMMONS burning fiercely and slowly sinking. Rodman although badly damaged had extinguished her fires and was slowly making her way to Kerama Retta. In another area, HARDING had been hit by a bomb that passed through the ship without exploding but left a huge hole in the bottom. The ship could not go ahead without carrying away a weaken bulkhead and was backing towards Kerama Retta under her own power.
On this day 6 April 1945, three ships of twelve in Squadron 20 were lost to the campaign for Okinawa, EMMONS sunk, RODMAN and HARDING heavily damaged.
Richard Larkin
Commander Minesweeping Squadron Twenty
Latest information from scuba diver Tony LeCrone off the Okinawa coast:
Hey Ernie,
I finally had a chance to dive the USS Emmons.... wow! I have so much respect for you guys. I spend hours just trying to comprehend to some extent of the way things must have been during those situations. I always come to the same realization.... the impact that your generation made on the whole world. It really makes me feel small, but also so very fortunate that I had forefathers who would sacrifice themselves to save the future of people like me. Thank You Ernie. ....from the bottom of my heart.
I did bring something back for you that was found at 144 feet, about 30 feet from the bow of the ship. Amongst the rocks and sand I found four steel helmets that were stacked on top of each other lying on their side. The were encrusted with growth that fused them together over time. I have them at my house drying out. I was told that they might be the helmets that are located near the antiaircraft guns. If you want, I would like to send these to you along with the pictures I took. I would also send you a bunch of literature and books about Okinawa. Let me know what you would like me to do....and it's as good as done. Don't worry about any shipping expenses. I certainly hope this does not offend any of the crew, but since you guys get together for your reunions, I thought it might be a symbolic item, and to also let you know that there are some of us who haven't forgotten. Ernie, if you or any of the other crew members would like to travel to Okinawa, I would like to offer you my help to set the trip up. Do not worry about the lodging, taxi's (tour guides) or food. I will have all of that covered. That's the least I could do for you guys.
Sincerely,
Tony LeCrone
Dear Sir,
It is first time to write to you. I am Kyoko Ishii, the reporter of Ryukyu Shimpo Press the daily in Okinawa, Japan. I have just read the article in Stars and Stripes about the finding of EMMONS in the north of Okinawa and now try to make an article about that. So how did you think about the finding after 56 years? And let me know the responses sent to your Home Page about EMMONS. I have heard a lot of the families of deceased or some crew members of EMMONS wrote to your page.
It will be my pleasure to hear from you.
Thanks and regards.
Kyoko Ishii
Ryukyu Shimpo Press, Okinawa, Japan
kyon710@yahoo.co.jpDear Sir,
Hello there.
Thank you for your response. Yes I did read your HomePage on EMMONS or other battles. It really helped me to know EMMONS itself, what was happening to every lives surrounding the warship. The diver Rich Ruth said there sent a lot of responses to his shop's HP where the photos of EMMONS provided. It really sounds the silent ship tells something to us after 56 years.Respectfully,
Kyoko Ishiicel:070(6175)4042
fax:098(861)6444
office:kyon710@yahoo.co.jp
home:fwid3104@mb.infoweb.ne.jp
Criden9999@aol.com <Criden9999@aol.com>
Saturday, March 17, 2001 3:51 PM
ernieh@ols.net <ernieh@ols.net>I was on my way with some volunteers to tow the Emmons to Karema Rheta when we were called back and it was decided to Sink her with five inch gunfire.
Bob Iden
From: Edwin Hoffman,Jr. <ShirleyandELHjr@webtv.net>
Date: Saturday, March 24, 2001 5:42 PM
To: John Chandler <john@vision1mm.com>; MPAngelini@email.msn.com <MPAngelini@email.msn.com>;
ernieh@ols.net <ernieh@ols.net>; SJerryH@aol.com <SJerryH@aol.com>
Subj: Re: Memorial to USS EmmonsWe're thrilled to learn of the memorial service and you can be sure our for use in the service -- should it go to you or Capt.
Green?Best regards, Ed
From: "Green John CAPT CFAO/CO" <John.Green@kadena.af.mil>
To: <ShirleyandELHjr@webtv.net>; <john@vision1mm.com>; "Green John CAPT CFAO/CO"
<John.Green@kadena.af.mil>
Cc: "Weeks David C CDR CFAO/CSO" <David.Weeks@kadena.af.mil>
Subject: RE: USS Emmons casualty list
Date: Monday, March 26, 2001 12:47 AMSir, I am Captain John Green, currently in command at Fleet Activities Okinawa. I talked to John Chandler last Friday regarding the USS EMMONS and since then have read several articles about her and some of the men who served in EMMONS. My Chief Staff Officer, CDR Dave Weeks, will be the project officer for the ceremony. Do you know how many people might be coming from the States, and if so when they will be arriving. Once we know the size of the party, we will assist in planning transportation/billeting and be able to plan the ceremony. We are currently planning a small wreath laying ceremony, which we will videotape. CDR Weeks will be in touch with you and John to firm things up, and we will
assist however we can.VR,
Captain Green
