| Show Details of Bali Sea Fight Show Courage of Allies RIM Rill M Ir former Salt lake Jake Telegram Ria staff ff member herewith pretend presents re the first detailed story of rot the epu hal American and naval natal action against the Japanese off Ball Bali when lien most of r an enemy fleet was a wiped out By Dy BILL l McDOUGALL LL NAVAL HEADQUARTERS IN JAVA Feb 25 UP The UP-The The heroic story of how ow American and Dutch nava naval offic officers rs and men stood their posts posts despite painful wounds and drove their war war- ships against th the Japanese fleet off Bali Bah with all al guns blazing was told Wednesday for the first time i Allied cruisers and destroyers which aided in wiping out most of tl the e enemy invasion fleet off Bali Bah fought one of the greatest actions of the war in darkness on the night of February 19 1920 They 1 ii JJ Q If ire 1 it LI S II rat r Gias g s ford tord who d Com Commanders mas manders ma s and f leaders for cross the navy cross was highly satisfied with the r results when I talked with 1 s day morning at is headquarters ts Outstanding Outstanding- i In the ther Battle tUe was the Action ol oT executive of fi jeer r oi oL an A can destroyer v wh denied denied he d been Sf- Sf questioned J by his commanding f f cei the operations ns and nd re- re athis at his post throughout the on Pa Pase Pa-e e Fiver I I Column Two t. t I U U. U S. S Dutch Officers Ignore lu Wounds to Blast Jap Fleet Continued from Pale Page One conflict despite severe and painful painful painful pain pain- ful wounds Here is the story of the greatest naval action fought in i the Pacific w war war r as seen through the eyes of American officers and of the men who struck hard at the enemy as blinding searchlights shell explosives explosives explosives and torpedo blasts lit the shores of Bali The action started at 1045 p.m. p.m. p.m. p. p m. m on February 19 when gun flashes were observed by the U. U S Sand S. S and Dutch destroyer divisions steaming off the south coast of Bali Heavily Armed Ships From the brilliancy and frequency frequency frequency fre fre- quency of the flashes the destroyer destroy destroy- er commanders deduced that the firing came from guns of ships more heavily armed than ours It was but a matter of seconds before the division commander re received received received re- re a report that several enemy ships had been sighted off the island He gave the order Fire as possible The brilliance of enemy searchlights searchlights searchlights search search- lights blinded the U. U S S. S destroyer observers They could not definitely definitely definitely identify the size or the exact exact exact ex ex- act position of the enemy but the ships closed in and the action commenced The leading destroyer was the first to report she had fired her herport herport herport port side torpedoes The next destroyer destroyer destroyer de de- de- de reported firing six port torpedo tubes but could not observe observe observe ob ob- ob- ob serve the result Within six minutes the leading leading leading lead lead- ing destroyer had engaged an enemy enemy enemy en en- emy ship on her port beam There was a sudden brief exchange of fire It became apparent that the enemy force was numerically su su- su- su Numerous enemy searchlights searchlights searchlights search search- lights were slashing the darkness Amazingly Accurate Enemy fire was officially described described described de de- de- de scribed as amazingly accurate But the Japanese did not fire salvoes Their fire came from individual guns and there was a continuous stream of projectiles projectiles' in the air straddling our destroyer positions Then in tho the thick thill nf of the th attack the thel l leading dig destroyer apparently pp t the Japanese destroyer was hit It slowed down and the next in inline inline inline line had to veer sharply to avoid hitting it A minute later both sides ceased fire and the action was broken off The U. U S. S ships reformed and continued on a nort northeasterly h e a s t e r 1 y course At At a. a m m. searchlights again were seen on the port quarter illuminating a Dutch flotilla leader lead lead- er engaged in a grim duel with witha a large Japanese warship Enemy shells filled the sky The Dutch ship ploughed ahead The Japanese vessel apparently was using inch eight-inch guns but the I allied allied- destroyers kept kepton on their course Ships were sighted on the starboard starboard starboard star star- board beam and in a few minutes both sides had again opened fire The action became intense The destroyers literally hurled themselves themselves themselves them them- selves at the enemy enemy all all batteries blazing In the heat of battle one destroyers destroyer's steering gear Jammed The helmsman had just reported to the bridge that a Japanese Jap Jap- ane anese e searchlight beam revealed large rocks rising from the sea only 1000 yards distant The commander commander commander com com- mander reached for the engine room telegraph and rang full astern The engine responded quickly and the ship just avoided being grounded She continued steamIng steaming steam steam- ing under fire which she returned with all 11 of her batteries Then inexplicably the enemy ceased fire The American ship reached safety After the action off southeast Bali the Dutch and American units proceeded through Lombok strait to attack a Japanese cruiser and three transports One captain said The 0 executive ex officer was wounded in the leg and the gun trainer was killed instantly An inch eight-inch salvo straddled our ship Water spouted over the forecastle and bridge The executive officer was then discovered discovered discovered ered to be bleeding badly and I had him taken below The second cruiser fired a salvo of 10 to 12 shots which missed Then I changed course again and fired my torpedoes as aswell aswell aswell well as guns Wild Pompom Shots The enemy salvoes were falling closer and closer and there was some wild pompom shooting on our starboard quarter An enemy patrol vessel passed near us shooting shoot ing machine guns He vanished before we could reply We were under such heavy fire that I ceased to fire after six salvoes and then zigzagged out of range The Japanese fire then concentrated on the Dutch flotilla leader I believe two Japanese ships were silenced by hits from our torpedoes Two more were seen with smoke billowing from them At 2 51 a. a m. m I changed course and began collecting the division which had kept together well I commended my executive officer The chief petty officer who was in charge of the engine room because the engineer was doing duty as torpedo officer was also commended At least one of the Japanese cruisers sunk is believed to have been of the ton Katori class while Japanese cruisers of the or class also were in action |
