Kookaburra2011
MORE STORIES OF WWII: USN and RAN cruisers, assembled at Fiji or Moreton Bay, 1942 - Goodwin Collection, MV.
6344. We've not seen this image previously, but it shows the Pensacoila Class USS SALT LAKE CITY closest to the camera, Northampton Class USS CHICAGO, HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] and HMAS CANBERRA [I] third and fourth in unknown order, and all being seen probably among the ships assembling at Fiji at the end of July prior to the Guadalcanal invasion in August 1942,
The disastrousa first battle of Savo Island in which CANBERRA and three USN heavy cruisers, USS VINCENNES, QUINCY and ASTORIA will be lost - the heaviest USN defeat at sea - is just nine days away.
There are inaccurate captioning records for this photo, identifying the ships as the joint USN-RAN Task Force 44 at the Battle of the Cortal Sea, in early May 1942, but for reasons explained in following entries that cannot be, as two of the ships seen here were not present then.
EDIT: a third, and credible scenario later arrived from Bruce Constable in comments below a succeeding entry. We're reproducing it here for the record,
Bruce's information: "The war diary for HMAS CANBERRA ( Online at the AWM) shows that on 3rd June 1942 she left Brisbane for exercises in Moreton Bay with HMASs AUSTRALIA and HOBART and USSs CHICAGO, SALT LAKE CITY, HENLEY,HELM, BAGLEY MUGFORD, and PERKINS (Task Force 44 ) and returned next day.
On 23 June all the cruisers along with USSs HENLEY, BAGLEY, JARVIS, and PATTERSON left Brisbane for a sweep into the Coral Sea and then headed for Noumea arriving 28 June.
{Hence the miscaption by the AWM of the Coral Sea Battle?)
Unfortunately no later War Diary for CANBERRA online at the moment. I would guess that the photos are around one of these dates, possibly taken from HOBART which is not in the photos. CANBERRA is still in her Dapple disruptive camo which must have been painted over soon after as she appears in her blue overall color leaving Wellington on 22 July 1942.
Thanks Bruce.
This photo comes from the album collections of former Able Seaman, the late David Ralph Goodwin, RAN 1938-1943, held at Museum Victoria in Melbourne.
Mr Goodwin was serving on on the Modified Leander Class HMAS HOBART [I] at this time, and she was present at both battles, Coral Sea and Savo Island [not engaged] but is not seen in this image..,Brice Constable [Perthone] first suggested that the foreground US cruiser here was Pensacola Class USS SALT LAKE CITY, and that has finally helped us unravel the official captioning mess with several of these Goodwin Collection entries. The suggestion was partly confirmed when we saw that the Pensacola Class had a single pole-type mainmast aft, as in the foregrounbd here, while CHICAGO's Northampton Class had the heavy tripod masts both fore and aft.
USS SALT LAKE CITY was finally confirmed when we came acxross her name in other related captions.
The compiler and donor of this Museum Victoria collection, the late David Ralph Goodwin was born in Mordialloc, Victoria on Nov. 14, 1921, and enlisted in the RAN on Nov. 11, 1938.
After training at HMAS CERBERUS, Flinders Naval Depot, he was posted to the destroyer HMAS VENDETTA [I] and subsequently served on the HMAS PENGUIN and cruiser HMAS ADELAIDE [I].
He was transferred to the cruiser HMAS PERTH [I] in May 1939, travelling to the U.K. with other crew on S.S. AUTOLYCUS for her commissioning, although Museum Victoria records do not state this. Ralph Goodwin, as he was known, saw many harrowing events both in the Mediterranean and the early stages of the Pacific War. In a transfer that was fated to be merciful, however, he left HMAS PERTH and joined her more fortunate sister ship HMAS HOBART [I] in August 1941.
But war takes its toll on a man, and in Sept. 1942 Goodwin was transferred back to HMAS CERBERUS at Flinders suffering an anxiety neurosis, which saw him discharged from the Navy in July 1943.
He married his wife Molly and became a postal employee after the war. According to records of the HMAS Perth Association, of which he was a founding member, he died on June 4, 2011.
Photo: David Ralph Goodwin Collection, Museum Victoria, image ID 426442.
MORE STORIES OF WWII: USN and RAN cruisers, assembled at Fiji or Moreton Bay, 1942 - Goodwin Collection, MV.
6344. We've not seen this image previously, but it shows the Pensacoila Class USS SALT LAKE CITY closest to the camera, Northampton Class USS CHICAGO, HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] and HMAS CANBERRA [I] third and fourth in unknown order, and all being seen probably among the ships assembling at Fiji at the end of July prior to the Guadalcanal invasion in August 1942,
The disastrousa first battle of Savo Island in which CANBERRA and three USN heavy cruisers, USS VINCENNES, QUINCY and ASTORIA will be lost - the heaviest USN defeat at sea - is just nine days away.
There are inaccurate captioning records for this photo, identifying the ships as the joint USN-RAN Task Force 44 at the Battle of the Cortal Sea, in early May 1942, but for reasons explained in following entries that cannot be, as two of the ships seen here were not present then.
EDIT: a third, and credible scenario later arrived from Bruce Constable in comments below a succeeding entry. We're reproducing it here for the record,
Bruce's information: "The war diary for HMAS CANBERRA ( Online at the AWM) shows that on 3rd June 1942 she left Brisbane for exercises in Moreton Bay with HMASs AUSTRALIA and HOBART and USSs CHICAGO, SALT LAKE CITY, HENLEY,HELM, BAGLEY MUGFORD, and PERKINS (Task Force 44 ) and returned next day.
On 23 June all the cruisers along with USSs HENLEY, BAGLEY, JARVIS, and PATTERSON left Brisbane for a sweep into the Coral Sea and then headed for Noumea arriving 28 June.
{Hence the miscaption by the AWM of the Coral Sea Battle?)
Unfortunately no later War Diary for CANBERRA online at the moment. I would guess that the photos are around one of these dates, possibly taken from HOBART which is not in the photos. CANBERRA is still in her Dapple disruptive camo which must have been painted over soon after as she appears in her blue overall color leaving Wellington on 22 July 1942.
Thanks Bruce.
This photo comes from the album collections of former Able Seaman, the late David Ralph Goodwin, RAN 1938-1943, held at Museum Victoria in Melbourne.
Mr Goodwin was serving on on the Modified Leander Class HMAS HOBART [I] at this time, and she was present at both battles, Coral Sea and Savo Island [not engaged] but is not seen in this image..,Brice Constable [Perthone] first suggested that the foreground US cruiser here was Pensacola Class USS SALT LAKE CITY, and that has finally helped us unravel the official captioning mess with several of these Goodwin Collection entries. The suggestion was partly confirmed when we saw that the Pensacola Class had a single pole-type mainmast aft, as in the foregrounbd here, while CHICAGO's Northampton Class had the heavy tripod masts both fore and aft.
USS SALT LAKE CITY was finally confirmed when we came acxross her name in other related captions.
The compiler and donor of this Museum Victoria collection, the late David Ralph Goodwin was born in Mordialloc, Victoria on Nov. 14, 1921, and enlisted in the RAN on Nov. 11, 1938.
After training at HMAS CERBERUS, Flinders Naval Depot, he was posted to the destroyer HMAS VENDETTA [I] and subsequently served on the HMAS PENGUIN and cruiser HMAS ADELAIDE [I].
He was transferred to the cruiser HMAS PERTH [I] in May 1939, travelling to the U.K. with other crew on S.S. AUTOLYCUS for her commissioning, although Museum Victoria records do not state this. Ralph Goodwin, as he was known, saw many harrowing events both in the Mediterranean and the early stages of the Pacific War. In a transfer that was fated to be merciful, however, he left HMAS PERTH and joined her more fortunate sister ship HMAS HOBART [I] in August 1941.
But war takes its toll on a man, and in Sept. 1942 Goodwin was transferred back to HMAS CERBERUS at Flinders suffering an anxiety neurosis, which saw him discharged from the Navy in July 1943.
He married his wife Molly and became a postal employee after the war. According to records of the HMAS Perth Association, of which he was a founding member, he died on June 4, 2011.
Photo: David Ralph Goodwin Collection, Museum Victoria, image ID 426442.