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Post by JohnEakin on May 20, 2012 1:46:10 GMT 8
*Nice* work, Chad. Answers some more questions.
Where do you suppose the "No. 2 mine in from the buoy" would be?
I also noticed the references to the current being out to sea and away from Corregidor.
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Post by chadhill on May 20, 2012 23:25:47 GMT 8
The arrow from the letter "C" below mine group 6 points to where the SS Corregidor struck the mine: John, I'll bet the "No. 2 mine in from the buoy" is below the red arrow. The mines are submerged 15' here in contrast to 45' in the safety channel. As you have pointed out, the ship had a draft of 16'. Overloaded, it may have been even more. As you noted, there are references to the current being out to sea and away from Corregidor Island. I concur. On page 1 Mr. Fee, from his portside cabin porthole, saw a signal light emitting from The Rock. On page 2 he told his wife "Let's orient ourselves. There are lights from the island, over there!". It is reasonable to assume that his wife swam in the direction of the lights and, as she stated, against the current and the wind.Mr. Fee also said that the ship's engines stopped about 0100 and then restarted, followed "almost immediately" by the explosion. Assume the propellers could be run in reverse. Captain Calvo may have suddenly sighted the unlighted buoy to his left, realized he was in the minefield, and tried to back out. While the engines were momentarily "off" (passing thru neutral gear on the way to reverse) the current and wind would have caused the ship to drift further west, as you suspected. Hartendorp writes on page 1 that the ammunition was stored in the ship's bow. If the SS Corregidor was struck by a mine on the bow I would think the resulting explosion would have been even more devastating than it was. Fee stated that the explosion was on the starboard side (across from his cabin) and that the ship listed starboard while sinking stern first. This is all consistent with a mine strike aft starboard.
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Post by okla on May 20, 2012 23:45:12 GMT 8
Hey Guys....I believe we will never get a better, more clear, account of the loss of the SS Corregidor than what I have just read. Even if any survivors could be interviewed at this late date, the youngest, with any chance of clear memory of the event, would be approximately 80 years of age, give or take. Betcha we will never know much, if anything, more of that horrendous event. Somebody, must or should have had to carry a heavy guilt trip, for what ever remained of his life for very questionable/irresponsible decisions made that tragic night. Cheers.
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Post by chadhill on May 22, 2012 8:27:11 GMT 8
There has been speculation as to why Colonel Bunker's published diary begins on January 3, 1942, leaving out the time frame of the SS Corregidor. Someone thought a Bunker relative was in possession of the prior material. In an earlier post, Phantom suggested Colonel Keith Barlow (USA, retired), editor of "Bunker's War", could have some information on the whereabouts of the missing entries. I tried to track down Colonel Barlow, but was unsuccessful in locating him. On a whim, I searched Bunker's diary on the anniversary of the catastrophe, December 16-17, 1942, wondering if he would reflect on it. Again I found nothing. Recently I was researching a friend's late father, who served on the minesweeper Tanager and survived the war, finally being rescued from Mukden by an OSS parachute team in August 1945 (that's another story). I happened to pick up "Bunker's War" for info on the 92nd garage captivity days and found this entry for Saturday, May 23, 1942 (p. 164). The POWs were about to be transported offshore from the 92nd garage to three Japanese ships, and were quickly gathering their things: "In our shack we weeded out our belongings, for the Japs had warned us to make our bundles as light as possible. I discarded my black bag and most of its contents, including my diary for 1941 (with a wrench). Lt. Simpson thought he could manage it and put most of my discards in one of his 2 bags (but later had to discard and abandon them)". So it would seem there is no hope that a relative might someday release Bunker's unpublished entries from December 16-17, 1941. They no longer exist. * * * * * Recall that bleeding through the backside of the hand drawn minefield chart which fots posted (Reply #6) were English and Japanese letters. Fots kindly sent me a reversed, darkened copy that highlights the letters. Many of them are still indecipherable to me, but it's clear that the chart is drawn on the backside of a "PRISONER'S IDENTIFICATION CARD" from Cabanatuan. Here is an enlarged portion: (courtesy of fots2) On the left side of the chart after "Name" is "Smith, " but I am not sure of the first name. The chart is very detailed and professionally drawn, so the author must have had intimate knowledge of the minefields. I searched the rosters of the 59th CA for Smith's, and there were several. Most were privates and corporals scattered throughout various companies. But one man stood out. Here is a portion of the 59th CA roster for MAR 31, 1942. Notice that Colonel Bunker is in HQ company: (courtesy corregidor.org) Here is another portion of the 59th CA roster. There is a SMITH HAROLD C //M SG (master sergeant)//HQ, also in the same company as Colonel Bunker and a very senior NCO. (courtesy corregidor.org) I'm suggesting (SWAGing) that it's possible this Smith could be the author of the minefield chart, or that he supervised its drawing. * * * * * I found a few things out about Captain Apolinar Calvo. He graduated from the Philippine Nautical School in Manila in 1904 and was from Unisan, Tayabas. He is listed as the "Cadet Master" under "Teachers and Officers" (see link below). Class rosters are towards the end of the book. There were only four students in his graduating class out of more than one hundred attending. The washout rate must have been extremely high. books.google.com/books?id=EFxHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=master+apolinar+calvo&source=bl&ots=q70QIEaQDR&sig=uJEn9HRMtBDiNlimHBTREvT9kh4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-te6T-q1JIj69QTVwNSWDg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=master%20apolinar%20calvo&f=falseIn October 1916, Captain Calvo, as skipper of the interisland steamer Cebu, had an interesting confrontation with a British destroyer off the coast of Corregidor. That story is related here in the October 27, 1916 issue of the Cornell Daily Sun: cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/newscornell?a=d&d=CDS19161027.2.3.1&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=--------20--1-----all
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Post by okla on May 22, 2012 9:03:29 GMT 8
Hey Chad....What great, detailed, effort you have put into this intriguing mystery. Were you, by chance, an Intelligence Officer at any time? If not methinks you might have missed a "calling". As for SMITH (I know my too vivid imagination is probably jumping into second gear, but I swear I can make out HAROLD C on that ID Card or at least that name can't be discounted from what is barely visible. Being a Master Sergeant he could very well have first hand knowledge pertaining to the subject at hand, doncha think? One item that makes me cautious, though....At the bottom (right center)...Is that word "Private" If so, is it the rank of this soldier??? We may be looking at some Private Smith's POW ID Card. IF we could decipher the age digit, it would help. i.e. if it is 21,etc this guy sure as Hell ain't a MSGT. I am sure that I am way off base on all of this, but it sure is fun to wallow in all the conjecture. Cheers.
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Post by sherwino on May 22, 2012 9:57:50 GMT 8
Maybe Smith declared that he was just a private to avoid being interrogated by the enemy.
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Post by chadhill on May 22, 2012 10:54:11 GMT 8
Okla, you ol' eagle-eye, I thought it probably said "Harold" too, but was reluctant to say so. But you know, that word could very well be "Private"!! I failed to see it before. Sherwino, if it is Private, maybe he (Harold C.) indeed was trying to avoid interrogation. But ol' eagle-eye, I've just noticed something else. Fots, it's time to present the whole image. Sorry I didn't do it before guys... Below the "Private" I now see what looks like a "27th". To the left it says "Name of xxxxxx, which could be "Division". I looked at this for ages before this post and thought it might say "Civilian" (for the civilian POWs) but I'll bet it's "Division". Makes sense with the "27th." But I've never heard of a "27th" unit of any sort on Corregidor or Bataan. My wife thought the "Harold" could be a "Donald". I checked the Mansell website and guess what: home.comcast.net/~winjerd/PacRostr.csvThere is a SMITH, DONALD E., CPL, 27 Mat, who wound up in Mukden. I found that 27 Mat is the 27th Material Squadron, 20th Air Base Group, which was based at Nichols Field. The POW transfer list from Bilibid to Cabanatuan also shows him as a PVT that later went on the Tottori Maru hellship. Apparently he survived the war: www.battlingbastardsbataan.com/bob1.htmSo, if this is accurate how does the ID of a private in the USAAC wind up with a detailed map of the Corregidor minefields drawn on the backside? Thanks for your eagle-eye insight, okla! I've looked at this SS Corregidor stuff so much I'm seeing pink elephants again (ask my wife). Heading out early again tomorrow, need a break from the pinkies anyway...later.
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Post by sherwino on May 22, 2012 12:12:21 GMT 8
Maybe the two Smiths wound up meeting each other in POW camp. Donald probably told Harold that he was boarding a ship. Harold drew the sketch on Donald's ID to inform the latter what he knew and what to expect on the transit. And if there's a chance that Donald could escape, he can inform the then expected reinforcement or rescue about the obstacles of Manila Bay.
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Post by fots2 on May 22, 2012 15:20:49 GMT 8
Good work there Chad. Here is another flipped Cabanatuan POW card for you guys. Some of the text is easier to read which might help you.
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Post by fots2 on May 22, 2012 16:17:38 GMT 8
It is amazing what you can find by a simple search. Here is a Cabanatuan POW Card showing a front view. (photo from the Kurt Stauffer Collection) Private Charles Captain, 60th Coast Artillery, U.S. Army, age 22, captured in Corregidor. (This soldier is listed on the 60th CA Roster)
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