The Wreck of USS Northampton - Broken By the Long Lance

[@JonAuclair]

A notable fact about the sinking is one survivor would become famous after the sinking, actor Jason Robards who would later be known for roles in media including Once Upon a Time in the West and The Day After!

[@RebeccaCampbell1969]

... and Something Wicked this way comes. Scarier Disney movie than The Black Hole (Anthony Perkins’ character death)

[@JonAuclair]

@@RebeccaCampbell1969 that’s right

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

I wonder whether he was one of the guys picked up by JFK on the 109?

[@JonAuclair]

@@gerryjamesedwards1227 no he was picked up by fletcher

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

@@JonAuclair thanks.

[@jonathandowning914]

Thank you for looking at this ship and paying respects to the men who fought and died on her.

[@michaelinsc9724]

Excellent job! Thanks for bringing attention to an oft overlooked ship.

[@williamthomas54]

Thanks for Sharing. My father was Communications Officer on Board. He said he only felt one torpedo hit. I went to a couple of Ship reunions with him. The stories the men told about that night were fascinating

[@MadMax-bq6pg]

Hi from Oz. Explosions are often ‘miscounted’ in the turbulence of battle. An uncle I grew up with got off a small ship during the evacuation of Commonwealth forces from Greece. He always maintained 3 bomb hits, official reports maintain 5. All this happened at wharf where wounded & women & children (refugees) were being taken on board. There was not enough recognition of the bravery of NZ soldiers jumping into the inferno rescuing children. I am thankful for your father’s service. I am sure those reunions would have been fascinating. Might I ask did he serve on another vessel afterwards?

[@gsxrsquid]

I worked with someone who was on her that night. He had just come on deck from the fire room headed for his station when the one of the torpedoes hit. He said the explosion rolled the ship so fast, the deck dropped out from under him causing him to drop about 10 feet. The fall injured him and he laid there while the battle raged. When they abandoned ship they got him off and eventually rescued. He spent 6 months in the hospital and then returned to duty. He told me other stories from the war that were incredible. You never hear much about Northampton. Thanks for the video

[@jrharrison9597]

Northampton was found by Ballard in 1991 or 1992 (claimed as a discovery in his book "The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal"). Other than a sketch showing her approximate location in Ironbottom Sound though, he doesn't give any more details.

[@skyneahistory2306]

Hm. Been a while since I looked through that book. Must have been overshadowed by Quincy and such.

[@jrharrison9597]

@@skyneahistory2306 As I say, other than one mention right at the very end of the book, it's not referred to - even her sinking only merits a line or two of text. I get the impression either it was only investigated via a sonar scan, or else time ran out. Certainly the book reads as though his expeditions were built around looking for specific wrecks that from phases of the campaign - Quincy, Canberra, Atlanta, Kirishima and various destroyers - and anything else that turned up in the searches that weren't on the 'want to find' list didn't get the same degree of investigation.

[@metaknight115]

Have you taken a look at the wreck of the heavy cruiser Haguro, the last ship sunk in a surface action in WW2? She saw a storied career, at the Java sea she scored the hit that crippled Exeter and the torpedoes that sank De Ruyter and Kortenaer. Her wreck is dive-able.

[@nathansullivan4433]

I would love to see a video of her wreck as well, although unfortunately I heard Haguro’s wreck was unfortunately heavily salvaged by grave robbers

[@NashmanNash]

Considering what happened to other wrecks,and that the japanese are often still rather xenophobic....unleash the japs...and tell them "this time we wont interfere"@@nathansullivan4433

[@spudhut2246]

@@nathansullivan4433 🤨

[@lukasito100]

It was already in bad condition when discovered b

[@billcampbell9611]

US BuOrd: “Japanese? They can’t build a torpedo. We’re the experts, look at our Mk 14!”

[@lukewalken1316]

So much for the Japanese being g incapable of coming up with an original idea

[@woody4077]

Yeah one of the WORST weapons EVER developed for, not just the USN, any military

[@aj-2savage896]

The civilians at Newport blamed the submariners, not themselves, for the horrible, horrible reliability and functioning of what they designed.

[@spudhut2246]

🤣

[@richardbeckenbaugh1805]

Not many people realize the same unreliable torpedo was also issued to the torpedo boats. If they’d been issued a reliable torpedo the battle for Guadalcanal would have been over much sooner and with much less losses of Army and Marine personnel. JFK witnessed a launch of four torpedoes in absolutely perfect conditions only to see all four detonate prematurely. Premature detonations were the hallmark of the PT boats experience with torpedoes early in the war.

[@OrbitFallenAngel]

The Mighty Northampton...! The Cruiser that fought alongside the USS Enterprise and alongside the Battleship USS North Carolina!! ❤🇺🇸🙏💙 This wreck is really interesting.

[@lukewalken1316]

Notice the Hornet right next to her?

[@OrbitFallenAngel]

@@lukewalken1316 No! 😯 I honestly didn't! I'll have to rewatch it and check it out again! Thank you for telling me!!

[@jamesberlo4298]

Crazy so much Growth & Critter at that Depth, and such large Growths, They were Beautiful Cruisers, Imagine what is must be like for the Men that served on Her that are alive to see their Ship?

[@davidbarnsley8486]

Another very interesting video

[@clmk28]

You should do a series on Long Lance victims.

[@kennethhanks6712]

That would be a long program (referencing length of weapon and number of victims).

[@kylecarmichael5890]

The New Jersey was almost hit by a Long Lance fired by Maikaze after the big attack on Truk. And we know the Iowa class had 'delicate' bows. Something tell me Spruance might have had a couple of long one-sided conversations if it had.

[@gruntforever7437]

@@kylecarmichael5890the delicate bow thing is greatly exaggerated and look who talks about it to know that

[@gruntforever7437]

Many commentators over the years felt being a treaty cruiser and the compromises made to keep at the treaty ton limit meant they were especially vulnerable, but with two long lances hitting so close together I am not sure the later Baltimore CLass cruisers would have survived either. Might have been able to save the ship, but would the damage had been beyond reasonable repair?

[@JGCR59]

It is interesting Northampton lost fewer men than the cruisers that lost their bows where usually no one with their battle station forward or near the hit survived.

[@nogoodnameleft]

It is because it hit her where it killed her but it was a slow sinking so almost everyone survived. New Orleans' 183 killed and Turret 1 going forward breaking off and sinking was far worse than the loss of Northampton and 50 killed. New Orleans lost all 132 gun turret crewmen in Turrets 1 and 2! Turrets are replaceable. Sailors and especially well trained gun turret crewmen aren't as well as they were human beings with families who missed them forever.

[@MrBruinman86]

I noticed her Wiki page makes no reference to the wreck having been found. Definitely under the radar.

[@tannermutah]

Wiki isn't as a reliable source for newer information. Her NavSource page has been updated with a few images.

[@AlbertAlbertson-y1j]

This was my Father's first ship before the war started and up to the sinking . He was in the boiler room next to where the first torpedo struck ! He survived and went onto the USS Boston to the end of the war .

[@WilliamHudgins-n7q]

My uncle was a gunnery officer on the Northampton when it was sunk. He ended up being rescued the next day.

[@tannermutah]

One has to wonder when the aft turret was fitted with a gun tub. She was busy Cruiser in 1942 and the only time that I can find her being idle was after the Battle of Midway, so maybe she received a refit of sorts at Pearl. She sailed for the Western Pacific in mid-1942 and into history.

[@sreed8570]

So rare for the turrets to still be on the wreck, they usually fallout when the ship turtles going down.

[@tannermutah]

My thought as well.

[@tomtrenter3208]

Maybe she didn't turn turtle.

[@russdority6295]

The destroyer in background of the photo of PT 109 is probably the Helm dd 388

[@javiercorreapr9977]

any information on the submarine responsible for the sinking ? thanks

[@tomtrenter3208]

The torpedoes were fired by Japanese destroyers.

[@fredmaxwell9619]

I wonder if the missing deck and large hole just aft of turret 2 was maybe powder/shells cooking off and exploding along with sinking damage.

[@tomtrenter3208]

That is turret #3. The hole is from 2 torpedo hits with about 2000lbs of high explosive followed by all the stresses when she was going to the bottom

[@fredmaxwell9619]

@@tomtrenter3208He distinctly said 2nd turret.

[@skyneahistory2306]

Because that’s where Petrel noted the damage as being, yeah. I see no reason to assume they’re lying. (And yeah, could be secondary detonations)

[@tomtrenter3208]

@@fredmaxwell9619 ....and he was wrong. Turrets are numbered starting at the very 1st which is #1 followed by #2, etc.

[@skyneahistory2306]

Petrel very clearly said that was Turret 2. This is linked in the description. There is absolutely no reason to assume they’re lying. To whit: facebook.com/photo.php/?photo_id=2171525256216277 And even if you ignore that for some reason, just look at the picture. That’s clearly the back of the turret facing aft, not forward. Turret 3 would be the reverse.

[@richardseamans5997]

I was aboard USS Northampton CC 1 onboard 1964 65 BM on the Boat crew 1 Div

[@nogoodnameleft]

Did they find the front quarter of USS New Orleans that sank? Her Turret #1 is still at the bottom of Ironbottom Sound with 100+ men buried within her.

[@ridleyscurry2480]

I wonder if they’ve found the bows of the San Fran and Minneapolis

[@patrickmccrann991]

San Francisco was not in this battle. She was in the States or on the way after suffering heavy damage on November 13th. This battle was fought on November 30th.

[@Bob.W.]

Just watched a video that said the Nagasaki atomic bombing took out the Mitsubishi factory that built the type 93 long Lance torpedoes. As to how destructive a weapon is, it's all relative.

[@DK-gy7ll]

What I don't get is that she was struck late in the battle, yet her main guns are pointed perfectly fore and aft as if they weren't used.

[@skyneahistory2306]

While just a guess on my part, the ship remained afloat for three hours. Assuming the power was available, they would likely have moved the turrets back to the centerline. To avoid increasing the list and capsizing faster.

[@DK-gy7ll]

@@skyneahistory2306 Except, when a ship begins to list the turrets are usually turned to the opposite side to try and offset the weight imbalance. Strange.

[@tannermutah]

Yes, that is interesting. A photo of the New Orleans returning to Tulagi on Dec 1, 1942 has her remaining number two turret trained to port. Will take some more digging I guess.The Cruisers together managed to sink a Destroyer. Interesting detail I did find, U.S. Destroyers launched 25 torpedoes with zero hits. The Japanese launched 44 and hit four Cruisers, sinking the Northampton. Horrific and magnificent.

[@tannermutah]

@@skyneahistory2306 Given the tremendous amount damage aft from the two hits, that turret should be trained to port if it was in action. Losing three of four boilers to the engine room area torpedo probably cut power to the aft portion and the oil fire sealed the deal if there was no way to put it out. Great video, keep up the wonderful work.

[@patrickmccrann991]

Tannermutah, the U.S. torpedoes were never given the opportunity to arrive before the Admiral ordered gunner fire opened. The Japanese destroyers immediately changed course and launched torpedoes. The Admiral was new to the South Pacific and had been warned about steaming on the same course. He failed to adjust course after opening fire and this resulted in losing a cruiser and major damage to 3 others. I believe he was relieved of his command after this battle.

[@klipsfilmsmelbourne]

Northampton appeared war remembrance ww2 tv show though its a forest Sherman class destroyer with weird turret shape looks cartoon triple gun turrets mock-up and appearances of the ship looks more like German light cruiser the sinking scene is somewhat accurate after the damage she had took

[@johncaldwell-wq1hp]

HOLY-K-KRIST !!--LOOK AT THAT INCREDIBLE TORPEDO DAMAGE AT --1:08-- WOW !!-THE JAPANES REALLY HAD SOMETHING WITH THAT "LONG-LANCE"--TWO OF THOSE & IT'S "GOOD-NITE EVERYBODY"--BRINGS TEARS TO "DOCK-WORKERS"-

[@daveberger4675]

First

[@lord_vader6545]

No