The Wreck of USS Vincennes - Ambushed and Ruined In Ironbottom Sound

[@larryw5429]

That is one massive shell hole in the stern. Impressive! The amount of horror and toughness the greatest generation went through just brings a tear to your eye!!

[@robertf3479]

I'm thinking that hole is an exit wound though I could be wrong.

[@sailingseahawk2012]

@@robertf3479 The steel is curled inward so I’m pretty sure it is an entrance wound.

[@davidcampbell351]

That hole looks bigger than 8”, wonder where that came from as there were no battleships out that night friendly or foe….

[@CSSVirginia]

I like the crab just chilling out on the 8in muzzle

[@franciscoemilio8445]

What minute? 😅

[@agoodmeme4823]

@@franciscoemilio8445 Between 5:00 and 5:05. A very funny spot for a crustacean

[@surgereactor8680]

*c r e b*

[@BattlestarDamocles]

Spider crab?

[@williamcarl4200]

I knew the story of this ship, and many others, as a child in the 70s. To see them come alive in 2024 is sublime.

[@DragonShadowfire1]

I have always known this ship solely based on her photo taken from one of the Japanese warships during the first battle of Savo Island. Shes down by the stern, suffering a bad fire amidships, and is totally illuminated by Japanese searchlights. I found it surreal that a naval battle after the age of sail could have ships come so close to one another that you could make out the silhouettes of crew running around the deck, and the fact that this battle occurred at night makes it all the more incredible. I'm glad you're covering her wreck, as I have always been curious to her condition considering how badly she was shot up. That damage sheet really does show just how badly she was mauled before she eventually rolled over...and I don't think I have ever seen a warship wreck with evidence of an over-penetration shot. That last image of what looks like a cruiser caliber shell penetrating the stern is both comical, and kinda sad. It's not often that a ship's battle damage literally covers her from stem to stern. Awesome video about an interesting wreck! Poor girl got badly beaten before she went under, but she didn't go quietly, and she stayed afloat long enough to make sure most of her crew got off safely. One of the big names of Iron Bottom Sound

[@ald1144]

I believe that the ship in that photo is the USS Quincy; at least, that's how I've seen it credited. Anyways same battle, and they both got shot up about the same. I think they sank only about 10-15 minutes apart.

[@DragonShadowfire1]

@@ald1144 I think you're right about USS Quincy. I always had her fate confused with that of HMAS Canberra, which survived until mid-morning. Cheers for the correction!

[@ald1144]

@@DragonShadowfire1 🍻

[@covertops19Z]

One of my Submarineer shipmates, now in his late 70s, he retired as an ETCS(SS), his father-in-law was a GM3/c in the after main battery 8" turret of the VINCENNES. He said they only fired three salvos when the order to abandon ship was ordered over the 1MC, he couldn't believe it!! But when he dropped out of the turret access hatch, he was agast. the after mast had fallen over the after main battery turret, and the ship was totally aflame from the bridge all the way past the hanger bay.

[@DragonShadowfire1]

@@covertops19Z That sounds harrowing...and I can imagine his disbelief at receiving the order to abandon ship, only to have the horrifying realization upon exiting the turret that his ship was being blown apart around him. I take it your colleague's father-in-law survived, but that must have been a truly scarring experience for him. Cheers for sharing such an incredible story!

[@johnshepherd9676]

The senior surviving officer, RADM Robert Craighill, became an Episcopal Priest after he retired from the Navy. He baptized my son. Bob Craighill was a Lee and I had the privilege of sitting in the Lee Family pew at Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia at a service I attended with him.

[@crazyoldhippie]

My father was on the Vincennes. His tour was up and he left. 2 weeks later the ship was sunk. He ended his tour on the USS Swanson

[@thomasheer825]

At the start of the Second World War the U.S. Navy leadership was not up to the task, unfortunately. First and foremost was the absolute refusal to employ a massive advantage, RADAR. Simply Commanding Officers and senior officers absolutely ignored information that would have made the terrible defeat into an astounding victory. The same can be said for our torpedos, which would calling them JUNK would be a positive call. It took damn near a fleet mutiny for the Navy to even review the problem, then the ungodly foot dragging to fix that problem cost many vessels and lifes. Another item was the Proximity fuse for shells, often again senior officers did their best to not employ them as they didn't trust them, placing them deep in the magazines so they were the last to be used. Eventually these problems were addressed and rectified. Other services had some rather large issues also, so it wasn't just a Navy issue. Even today we are living with similar problems, and it will continue in world military to the end.

[@sebastiangrumman8507]

If you want to apply a name to the blame you can say "Naval Academy". They had and still have a strangle-hold on the Navy.

[@patrickmccrann991]

The Radar in use early in the war, the SC, was not very good for surface operations. It was designed for air search primarily and had limited use as a surface search asset. Also, many ships had not been equipped yet with a PPI display that gave bearing and range easily. Most displays were of the O-scope type, which doesn't make it easy to gain an informed layout. Finally, radar was so new that many officers, especially senior ones, had not received any training on its use, abilities, and limitations. The horrible performance of U.S. torpedoes during the early part of the war can be laid to blame on one organization, the Bureau of Ordnance. Even when numerous reports of problems were being filed by commanders in the field, they refused to believe there was a problem with the weapons and blamed the skippers for poor usage. It wasn't until Admiral Nimitz (CinCPACFLT) and Admiral King (CinCUSFLT) got involved that the problems were slowly identified and corrected. These were mostly because the torpedoes were never properly tested before the war. Finally, there was no proximity fuse in 1942. That little bugger wasn't designed and ready until late 1943 and didn't see adequate supplies until 1944 for widespread use. OSCS (SW) USN RET'D 1978-2002

[@thomasheer825]

Would have to agree with that one, this still holds true, it was clear as all hell to me, was a Dirsup Rider from 71 to 93.

[@nogoodnameleft]

The disastrous Friday the 13th Battle of Guadalcanal was really a humiliating defeat of Callaghan/Scott's force. It wasn't until USS Washington singlehandedly and incredibly saved Guadalcanal a day or two later when everyone could cope and retcon the Friday the 13th battle as a so-called "strategic victory". Something like 1,429 USN sailors were killed, including two admirals and Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor hero Captain Cassin Young, and 6 ships were lost in the Friday the 13th battle. And if one actually thinks about it that doomed force that Nimitz and Halsey sent was a foolish suicide mission, perfectly nicknamed by Cassin Young to Callaghan when they were ordered by Nimitz/Halsey to "stop 2 Japanese battleships and over a dozen other escort ships with only two heavy cruisers, 3 anti-aircraft light cruisers, and 8 destroyers". USS San Francisco in the afternoon before the night surface battle was hit by a de facto twin-engined Japanese Betty bomber, inflicting horrendous casualties on San Francisco and disabling her aft backup command tower and even seriously wounding the XO (the XO would die later that night due to Japanese shelling in San Francisco). Cassin Young was the captain of San Francisco but he only became skipper of San Francisco (and anything larger than a destroyer) FOUR DAYS before the Friday the 13th battle! Why do people never mention the fact that a medium bomber kamikaze-struck San Francisco only 10 hours before the Friday the 13th battle? Callaghan/Scott's force was not designed to fight battleships. It was designed to do transport escort duty against submarines and airplanes. The finger should be pointed at Halsey and Nimitz, not the brave Callaghan and Young and Scott, who were set up to fail by admirals Nimitz and Halsey thousands of miles away in their bunkers.

[@BuzbyWuzby]

At 5:30 you can see the three barrels of the super-firing turret at the top of the photograph (through the murky haze)

[@paulforder591]

Great pictures, especially of the shell hole in the stern. Gives you some idea of what the Vincennes went through when being shelled by the WW2 Japanese ships.

[@WARTHUNDERPILOT21]

Had a family member perish on this ship. Rest in peace

[@Glenn-em3hv]

She truly was a beautiful ship!!!

[@colonel-h2b]

The book, Neptunes Inferno covers all naval engagements iat Iron Bottom sound.

[@ColinFreeman-kh9us]

Awesome channel, the Solomons seen brutal Naval battles

[@ironiczombie2530]

Another great video, thanks!

[@JGCR59]

Re the tying down of the spare anchor at 8:29, I thing Bosuns all around the world will pat each other's shoulders :)

[@robertf3479]

"Hell of a job there Boats!" Well done!

[@metaknight115]

I believe the torpedoes that sank Vincennes came from admiral Mikawa’s flagship, the heavy cruiser Chokai

[@JamesGoetzke]

I was on the US Kilauea AE-26. 1967 Nam supply boat. A large ship Shasta class. Decommissioned in the 1980's. It was given to the Australian navy for submarine/torpedo practice. Some video of her sinking is online. Strange after all these years I saw my ship going down after a torpedo hit on it's port beam. So now it's a wreck off the coast of Australia. It's a reef now. I'd love to see pictures of her now. She had several tours in Vietnam. The Kilauea...we called her the Kill a Whale out of Perl... San Francisco/Oakland. I hung on the starboard anchor chain while we were cruising the Pacific. That's the craziest thing I ever did in the Navy. Hats off to the brave sailors of the US Navy who need our prayers now more than ever.

[@OrbitFallenAngel]

First off, may I say Thank you for your service to our Country!! I have always had a soft spot for our US Navy...🇺🇸❤ Maybe it's because my cousin served in the Navy and he was a fighter pilot...he was on board the USS Lake Champlain...during the mid 90's... I can't imagine what the guys in the Navy did during WW2...they were seriously brave and courageous and tough!! I have always thought about how many of our Navy's ships are resting on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean...they were proud and tough ships...always keeping their Sailors safe and always fighting right up to the very end!! My favorite Cruiser would be the USS Juneau..maybe its because I am an Iowan and I grew up hearing and really about the 5 Brave and Courageous Sullivan Brothers!!! So during your tour of duty did you ever get to see the USS New Jersey?? I read somewhere that she did some firing missions during Vietnam... Anyways I am sorry that I have rambled on, but I am a huge History buff...during WW2 my Grandpa served in the European Theater in General Patton's 3rd Army...❤🇺🇸So I am very proud of my Grandpa and for all of the Men & Women who served in the Armed Forces during WW2..!! They are indeed and forever known as the Greatest Generation To Have Ever Walked The Earth!! ❤💙🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦🙏💙❤ I will thank everyone who served for the Allies during WW2. ❤❤❤

[@ICrailroadprod.2007]

I had a family member that died on this ship when it sunk in 1942. Rest in piece to him.

[@emantsrifemantsal9842]

At 9:08 in the upper center at the superstructure resemble a creepy looking face.

[@Neutercane]

Any idea what that object is at 7:34 in the bottom right-hand corner of the image? It appears to be something made of stainless steel and my first thought was 'mess tray,' but I can't say for sure.

[@jeffjeff4477]

Great segment More please

[@drkmagneto]

Very cool video!! Wow!!

[@thomasbullen5239]

So many hits! What a nightmare.

[@chrisperrien7055]

The Long Lances were a double edged sword when used in closer range squadron combat. They were meant for long range ship combat per Japanese decisive battle doctrine. In the closer range combat of WWII, while they sunk alot of Allied combatants" They also sunk many friendly combatants, and caused many Japanese loses because of LOX machinery required to fuel those torpedoes made those ships very vulnerable to any kind of fire. down to 30-50 cal machine gun fire on airplanes. IIRC, 2 of the Japanense cruisers who sunk the USS Viccennes were sunk by fires from their Long Lance torpedo systems in later battles. Anyway, great pictures/vid of the resting place of a gallant ship and her crew.😎She got sunk , but her victors of that night paid as well. The quality of the this vid is better than my Nat Geo Mag on Truk Lagoon from the 1970's. LOL New tech can be amazing 😎

[@ald1144]

Vincennes seems to have become something of a hard-luck name for a ship, considering the history of her Ticonderoga-class namesake.

[@michaelgrey7854]

Because she shot down an Airliner?

[@KtsaaTablet]

talked to the people on board. She defened herself. Who sends an ailighner into war zone? @@michaelgrey7854

[@Salty_Balls]

Eh. You could just look at it from the perspective that the Tico successor at least had better aim...

[@georgem7965]

Being originally from Illinois I have always heard the name pronounced "vin-senz" rather than "vin-sins.."

[@ricdintino9502]

That's also how it was pronounced when the modern iteration shot down Iran Air flight 655 on July 3, 1988.

[@ald1144]

Yes, that's what I thought also, emphasis on the second syllable.

[@Peace2U-ec6es]

Depends on where you're from. Ask anyone from Missour-ee... Or is it Missour-ah? Either way it's still Missouri!

[@leftyo9589]

as someone who served on cg49 , it is pronounced vin-senz, not sins.

[@HandyMan657]

Thanks, Sky. Keep safe.

[@jonathanhorne6503]

Is there a list of the lost men and officers? My dad was an aviator ensign assigned to squadron VCS-6 as were all of the US Navy heavy cruisers aviators assigned in the South Pacific in 1942. My dad’s assignment was CA-32 USS New Orleans. His state room is on the bottom of iron bottom sound. He survived the war and died in 2016 at age 99. Lucid until his last weeks. I’m looking for his squadron mates names and rank.

[@Booze_Rooster]

Even with that hole in the stern, it hasn't collapsed. However any IJN cruiser stern devoid of battle damage seems to fall apart on every wreck, huh?

[@michaelfranklin4276]

There is a Japanese snapshot from their ship's starboard looking at the blazing "torches" of Vincennes, Quincy, and Astoria during the night battle. There is an odd looking firey plume in the middle. Is this Quincy sinking after she turned to try to ram the three cruisers on her port side? There are no airbursts or starshells shining on the low clouds hanging above Quincy in the most famous photo. Anybody know?

[@carolinawestern3875]

In noticing the detailed diagram and all the hits it took. Im surprised that there was anything identifiable left at all.

[@Redgolf2]

At 10:13 you missed the crew metal helmet above the number red 41, bottom left

[@russdority6295]

My father Bill Dority was on the Helm which escorted the 3 cruiser's.

[@JackMenendez]

It was US Navy doctrine for surface actions was to engage the Japanese at night. The US Navy did not know that the IJN were night fighting experts and constantly practiced it. The original reason the US Navy established the doctrine, and you can't make this up, was because it was though the Japanese had poor night vision due to slit eyes. Racism and ignorance by US Admirals helped the Japanese sink three cruisers in one night without a loss, killing all of those Sailers.

[@JaymesEaston]

In the last photo, can we assume that this hit took out all steering control? Was it plunging fire or relatively flat trajectory? Any ventures on its caliber? Please feel free to comment. Thank You!

[@leroycharles9751]

Any idea what the max effective range of a Japanese searchlight was and did US ships use searchlights? Thanks.

[@123bolyn]

My cousin Edward A Lamothe was lost at sea at her sinking

[@readelundy7620]

I can’t imagine the hell those sailors went through!!! RIP shipmates🇺🇸🫡

[@OriginalCoalRollers]

She’s a great looking cruiser, my favorites are still the 4 stacker destroyers, Clemson class

[@Beanmanwarby]

Nobody: Crab chillin in the gun port: 🗿🗿

[@Joey-sd2uq]

RIP Uncle Anthony ❤

[@davidwiner8571]

She was a tough ship to take that much damage 💔 😢

[@cheesenoodles8316]

Excellent

[@williamkoppos7039]

Vin-SENS

[@navyav8r653]

Who or what is this ship named after? All google is giving me as an option is a small collage town in Indiana

[@JGCR59]

re the 20mm Oerlikon I always found it funny that it was used by both sides for totally different purposes. The germans and japanese used it as an aircraft weapon in the early part of the war while the allies used it as naval anti aircraft weapon during the later part of the war. I don't know why the germans or japanese never used it in a ground or sea based role but at least in regards to the germans they probably regarded it as too ballistically inferior to their longer calibre 20mm Flak

[@buzz5969]

3 July 1988 USS VINCENNES made headlines again…RIP

[@mikesabota2570]

I thought Bob Ballard found all those in the early 90's??

[@BjarneLinetsky]

More US Navy sailors died in the waters around Guadalcanal, than US Marines died ashore.....

[@bobwhitebread1887]

How deep of water did she sink in?

[@justaguynamedmax8207]

3200 feet approximately

[@invadegreece9281]

Wait what? Quincy’s bow did a what now?

[@lablackzed]

Hope the ships still there because being shown on youtube the midnight scrappers will 100% go after her espeslly her props.

[@doktorjohann4883]

She's at 3,500 feet and in Iron Bottom Sound, so for now she is likely quite safe. Also no coordinates have been released for her wreck site, so for the time being I would not worry about Vincennes. There are numerous other wrecks grounded or in much shallower water nearby that are perfectly fine, like the Atlanta and several Japanese transports.

[@JokeFranic]

No hit documented to stern on that damage plan

[@zeedub8560]

Kind of looks like another exit hole. But I'm sure there were hits that were missed on the plan because... good grief.

[@JokeFranic]

i would say it looks more like entry hole (by the 5 o'clock inward indent)@@zeedub8560

[@JGCR59]

Seriously that ship was a IJN Pinata

[@nypinstripes2388]

My grandfather was on this.

[@jeffsmith2022]

Pay attention to how you pronounce the names, please...

[@ahoo5753]

Stern hole exploded out ward

[@KARLMARX56]

Ambushed? They were asleep Great video though.

[@twrecks4598]

I believe her name is pronounced "Vince-Ens", not "Vinces". Nice presentation, nonetheless.. keep up the good work!

[@ricksadler797]

God bless ❤

[@franzs9157]

So intresting it was found supports the history for our younger generation Severly damaged 😮went down guns blazing

[@danboyd6609]

It's pronounced vin-sins, not Vincent.

[@leftyo9589]

neither way, vin-senz is how you pronounce it. im fairly familiar with it having served on one of the vincennes!

[@hippie_danielbruh4967]

W-crab button

[@jbarfuzzface]

The = thuh, not thee. Mildly annoying

[@redtobertshateshandles]

Vin cents. Not Vin sens??

[@carolinawestern3875]

Ugh oh, language police

[@jbarfuzzface]

Yup. Chalk on a blackboard annoying. Guy brings good info, well researched, but...

[@maxs.3238]

Ever heard of dialects? English has a few of them

[@jbarfuzzface]

@@maxs.3238 Dialect? Nah. Speech affectation? Yep. It's not 100%. Just listen critically.

[@ProjecthuntanFish]

In the US Navy look out duty was a punishment but in the Japanese navy only the best sailors were given look out duty. Early in the war the IJN was superior to the US Navy at night fighting