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Some odd questions

C

Collin

Charter Member
The USS Mississippi (BB-41) suffered 2 flare backs during her career, both from the same gun.
Now question...what macabre incident happened after the first one?

In 1940 action took place which caused the German officer through the Red Cross to recommend the VC for his enemy. This was the only time in British history that this has taken place.

Question.....What was the German officers name and what was the action?

regards Collin:ernae:
 
I don't know, but wasn't there an incident where a U-Boat survivor recommended the Liberator or Catalina captain who had sunk him for a posthumous VC? Cruickshanks, maybe?
 
answers


1/
During a fleet exercise the USS Mississippi suffered a flare back from gun 2, fleet ships around her rushed the casualties to hospital shoreside at San Pedro.
She was ordered to San Pedro for investigation and then repairs, nothing was to be touched in the turret until the investigation was completed including the dead.
After the investigation the dead were to removed so that repairs could start, during this a body was placed on a stretcher and the men started to clamber over the wreckage inside the turret, one of the corpse arms slipped out from under the blanket covering and struck the firing captains toggle which fired gun 3.
The 14" shell zoomed over San Pedro and fell harmlessly into the sea.

2/
8th April 1940, the destroyer HMS Glowworm Captained by Lt Cdr GB Rooke encountered the German heavy cruiser Admiral Von Hipper.
After a brave fight, and with heavy damage, Roope decided to ram his adversary which resulted in 100' of armour plate being torn away from the starboard side of the Hipper, the Hipper's torpedo tube's were also damaged and 2 fresh water tanks were punctured.
The Captain of the Hipper, Helmuth Heye, gallantly stayed for over an hour picking up survivors. He positioned Hipper so that the tidal currents would carry the survivors too them. All the personnel on deck helped with hauling survivors aboard but many were too exhausted to make the final effort of climbing up the ropes and ladders and slipped away, including Lt Cdr Roope who helped many of his men to get life jackets on and to get to ladders. Out of a crew of 149, only 31 survived, the only officer being Lt Robert Ramsey. The prisoners were treated well by the Germans who congratulated them on a good fight, and Captain Heye told the men that their Captain was a brave man. Later, Heye sent a message through the International Red Cross recommending Lt Cdr Roope for the Victoria Cross, the only time in British history that a VC has been recommended by the enemy. The survivors spent the rest of the war as PoWs and afterwards, Lt Ramsey was able to return home and tell the whole story. The story was published on the 10th July 1945, in the Fourth Supplement to the London Gazette for Friday, 6th July 1945. As a result, Lt Cdr Roope was awarded the Victoria Cross, Lt Ramsey the Distinguished Service Order and three other ratings received the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.:salute:

regards Collin:ernae:
 
Yes - I was combining her loss with the knowledge that she was in the Norway affair and confusing her with Glowworm.
 
:salute:What an amazing story! No telling how many more such stories and incidents as this occured during WWII.
 
"Another story to add here is when Saburo went in combat against a Hudson (serial A16-201) of the 32nd Squadron of the RAAF during an aircover mission over Buna on July 22 1942. Hoping to down the plane easily Sakai took poursuite of the twin-engine bomber , the bomber flewn by Plt/Off Warren F. Cowan however made a bruske turn back in order to perform a head to head attack on Sakai's Zero, in position of inferiority bearing odds of 8 to 1 Cowan maintained his position dispersing the Zero's in total disorder before Sakai finally shot him down. Sakai being the sole surviving withness of this fact he decides to send his testimony to the Australian Ministry of Defense in 1997 asking that a posthume citation would be given to Cowan and his crew. It was refused by the Australian Ministry of Defense"...
 
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