The Loss of the S.S. Corregidor

[Deleted]

Re: S.S. Corregidor, some diary entries from The Philippine Diary Project:

Alcaraz:

philippinediaryproject.com/1941/12/17/december-17-1941/

philippinediaryproject.com/1941/12/22/december-22-1941-2/

Fr. Juan Labrador:

philippinediaryproject.com/1941/12/17/december-17-1941-3/

Teodoro M. Locsin:

philippinediaryproject.com/1941/12/16/december-16-1941/

Also, one survivor of the sinking wrote a memoir, titled "Not So Long Ago," he was Jose E. Romero, at the time an assemblyman. His book is still in print.

[chadhill]

Those are very interesting diary entries, mlq3. Thank you for making them available. Please allow me to digress a bit so that I may comment on the Alcaraz entry of December 17, 1941, which I had not seen until now.

On page 1 of this thread fots2 posted a quote from the Alcaraz December 22, 1941 entry where the Q-boat commander noted that Ensign Cox from PT-41 confided to him that he had been leading the SS Corregidor through the channel* when the explosion occurred. That caught my attention because there was no mention of Cox serving in that regard in the records of MTB-3 (Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3), only that US PT boats had participated in the rescue of survivors. I began to suspect that perhaps it was decided to omit any information in official records that would have indicated an active US role in the events leading up to the disaster, which included the failure of Colonel Bunker to disarm the minefield, thereby allowing the entire blame to fall on Captain Calvo, skipper of the ship. There never was an investigation into the terrible tragedy.

* the safe passage channel through the La Monja-Corregidor minefield, see chart at bottom


I was not aware of the Alcaraz December 17, 1941 entry until I reviewed the links you just provided. This entry strikes me as very interesting because he states that the responsibility for the area was shared by Harbor Defense and PT RON 3 (MTB-3). If I may, here are the pertinent portions of the entries from both dates:


December 17, 1941:

By night time, the tragedy was compounded by the sinking of S.S. Corregidor in our own defensive minefields guarding the entrance to Manila Bay west of Corregidor Fortress. S.S. Corregidor is one of the best among our inter-island commercial vessels with civilian and military personnel aboard bound for Visayas and Mindanao.

Loaded also are Artillery pieces, equipment and supplies of the 101st FA, and other Vis-Min Units. From initial scant report I got from my Mistah Alano, ExO of Q-111 that participated in the rescue, he said the ship hit a mine and sunk so fast virtually all passengers went down with the ship including her Captain. There were very few survivors. The mined area is under the responsibility of the Harbor Defense and PT RON 3. I should know more details about this tragedy after I talk with some of my comrades on duty then at PT RON 3.


December 22, 1941:

I had lunch at USAFFE HQ today with my friend, Sid Huff, and was surprised about his conversion from Lt. (SG) USN to Major US Army now Aide to Gen. MacArthur. The latest info he gave me is about an armada of Japanese invasion ships heading for Lingayen Gulf. Another enemy group is heading towards eastern Luzon. Apparently, the earlier reported enemy landings in Aparri, Vigan, Legaspi and Davao were diversionary recon in force.

I also talked with Ens. George Cox, CO PT 41 on duty when S.S. Corregidor sunk five days ago. He said PT 41 was leading the ill fated ship at the channel but suddenly, all at once, the S.S. Corregidor veered course towards the minefields and his efforts to stop her were to no avail. There was a loud explosion after hitting a mine, the ship sank so fast virtually all aboard went with her including the ship captain. There were very few survivors.


For reference, here is the fascinating POW sketch provided to fots2 by Peter Parsons, which was posted on page 1 of this thread. The site where the SS Corregidor sank is indicated by the letter "C" to the lower right of La Monja isle. The ship struck mine number 6 (circled) in the last row of mines just as it was about to enter open sea.

[Deleted]

Thanks, Chad.

A slight caveat on Alcaraz: the entries were posted by him, late in life, and include after the fact edits and comments. I have been trying to reach the family to try to get a more original copy but these things re done in between the pressures of work and so tend to creak along. But I do think Alcaraz would be as good a naval person's testimony as it would be possible to get at the time.

I am encoding the pertinent section of Rep. Romero's account of the sinking of the Corregidor, perhaps unique as a first-person account from the point of view of a passenger. Will post it here when done. You might find some of his recollections interesting.

[Registrar]

There's a discrepancy between the minefield map featured by Chad, and that of the illustrated version of the Presidential Museum & Library with regards to the sinking of the S.S. Corregidor, posted courtesy of MLQ.

Sharp eyes will notice that the sinking shown on Chad's diagram was between La Monja and Corregidor rather than in the South Channel between Corregidor and Carabao Is. Theoretically, Chad's map shows it was an Army mine, and the other shows it as a Navy one, though 99.99% of people would not think it matters.  Those following the saga will recall that it was the Navy's Official Chronology  which eventually attributed the sinking to an Army mine, and that the Army has pretty-much kept schtum on the issue.  I guess that the Army preferred to stay silent than make any admission, and thus it was the Navy which eventually blew the whistle. Of course, this was only after years of the US official story implying that the Japanese did it.


Whilst there has been a cover-up of the truth of the tragedy for decades, I do not for a second consider that the discrepancy between the diagram (this post) and the illustration (in Chad's post) is anything more than purely accidental, and entirely innocent.

[Deleted]

Wierd. I replied but my reply vanished.

Anyway: we will revisit this map based on your comments. Actually what we did was base the minefield lines on an Osprey book while the placement of the icon of the ship sinking was the product of trying to trace different accounts.

With the information in this thread we will take another gander at the map. Thank you, this is precisely the kind of info and input we crave!

[Deleted]

Here is the extract from the memoirs of Jose E. Romero ("Not So Long Ago: A Chronicle of My Life, Times, and Contemporaries" , Alemar-Phoenix, Quezon City, 1997 reprint):

The S.S. Corregidor Disaster

WAR HAVING BEEN DECLARED, the next day the National Assembly met at the house of Speaker Yulo to pass legislation giving the President powers to be able to cope with emergency. After that the members of Assembly were concerned with the problem of returning home to their provinces and their families. I was very much chagrined that close friends of mine had been able to take passage on the S.S. Legaspi that was making trips to my hometown, Dumaguete, via Cebu, a trip that took two days, without having difficulty from Japanese boats and planes. I was also chagrined to learn that my good friend, the District Engineer of my province who had come to Manila with me a few days previously, had been able to get out of Manila .by way of the Bicol provinces and then made it to Samar and Leyte and back to our home province. A few days later, another boat was scheduled to depart for the South, including my hometown of Dumaguete. Passengers, including myself, were aboard when an hour later we were told to disembark by order of the U.S. Army, probably for fear of enemy action.

Inasmuch as the Japanese had already bombed Clark Field, Camp Nichols, Cavite, and Manila itself, particularly the Intendencia building and the Herald building and Santo Domingo Church, I thought it would be safer, being alone in Manila with my houseboys, for me to live in my office in the Legislative building. (The basement at the Legislative building had been sandbagged and was converted into an air-raid shelter.) I immediately arranged with the late Ramon Fernandez, whose boats were making trips to the Visayas, to advise me whenever any of his boats made a trip for the South, but this he never did. I had also arranged with my good friend, Salvador Araneta, who was then one of the principal owners of the FEATI (Far East Aviation Transport Co., Inc.), which owned the planes making trips between Manila, Iloilo, and Bacolod, to advise me whenever there was a chance to get on one of those planes. I was very much worried because, as already stated, I had come to Manila immediately after the election, and being very confident that in case of emergency I could easily return to my province either by a FEATI plane or by boat, I had not made sufficient provision for the maintenance of my family during my absence. In any event we had used up practically all of our financial resources during the political campaign and I had precisely come to Manila, among other things, to make arrangements to meet my immediate financial problems.

Although Mr. Araneta did his best to try to get an accommodation for me on the plane to the South, the man actually running the affairs of the FEATI was so swamped with demands for passage on his planes that even Mr. Araneta's recommendation could not help me. One night I received a message from Mr. Araneta advising me that if I would go to Batangas that night, I might be able to get a passage on a plane. (The Manila airfield at Nichols had been bombed and was not safe for takeoff and landing of planes.) This was very difficult because the country was then under blackout orders, it was not safe to travel at night, and there was no certainty that I would get on the plane. It was the last trip that the plane made, so I missed this chance.

One day the member of the Assembly were advised that a special train was being reserved for us to go to Sorsogon. From there we could get launches or sailboats for Samar, Leyte, and our respective provinces in the Visayas. At the appointed day and hour many of us gathered at the Paco Station and we were hardly seated in the car when we were asked to come down because the Japanese had landed in Legaspi. A couple of days later, I saw my colleagues who like me had been living in the Legislative building rushing toward the Compañia Maritima office. One of them shouted to me that the S.S. Corregidor was leaving for the South. I immediately packed up the few things that I had and, together with a cousin of mine and his daughter who were living with me in the Legislative building, hied myself to the Compañia Maritima building. It was chaos there, with hundreds of people trying to get into the building to buy a ticket for the trip. A security guard, gun in hand, was at the door trying to prevent people from going into the building. I explained to him that I had an arrangement with Don Ramon Fernandez to get on the first boat going to the south, but he said that he knew nothing about the arrangement and would not let me in. My cousin, his daughter, and I left the building very disappointed when a little farther on we met Don Ramon's nephew, Carlos, who today is still active with the shipping company. I explained my situation to him and he asked me whether I was really anxious to go on that trip. When I answered in the affirmative, he personally took me inside the office and helped me get a ticket for myself, my cousin, and his daughter. I also bought a ticket for a fellow townsman who wanted to return home but was without funds. But the danger of the trip was made manifest by our being asked to sign a waiver of any responsibility on the part of the shipping company in case a mishap occurred during the trip.

From the Compañia Maritima office and the Muelle de la Industria, we went to the South Harbor where the S.S. Corregidor was docked. There were hundreds of people and it seemed that there were many who got aboard even without tickets. I was delighted to find aboard Senator Villanueva, his recently married son and daughter, and their household help. He told me that he had been trying to contact me repeatedly the last few days, because he was anxious that we should go home together. In times of emergency like this, personal animosities among relatives are forgotten and the old family ties reassert themselves. I also met Captain Calvo of the boat, who had been a longtime friend of mine, with his pretty young wife that he had just married. He told me that I must be anxious to get back home under such conditions of danger. I told him that if he and his wife, my relatives and other people were willing to take the chance, there was no reason why I should not do the same. The boat was being located with ammunition and other military equipment for the South. I was quite nervous and I was told later that he had not wanted to make that trip. This probably partly explains why he was taking his wife along with him. I was also told later that on previous occasions, while passing the mined sections around Corregidor he had been warned that he was passing too close to the mines.

Probably the trip would not have been as risky as it was surmised. The plan was to land at the first port in the South at daybreak and from there the passengers would take sailboats or other means of transportation to the provinces which were still unoccupied by the Japanese. There were many times more passengers than should ordinarily have been allowed aboard. We stayed aboard for several hours and strict blackout was observed. Senator Villanueva and his family and I and my cousin with his daughter seated ourselves directly in front of a lifeboat as we thought we could quickly get on it in case of emergency. We were all furnished life belts and hundreds of other life belts were strewn around the deck. About midnight the boat started to leave in pitch darkness. I was half-asleep but noticed that light signals were being flashed from what I think was Corregidor Island. I was to learn afterward that the signals were to warn the captain of the boat that he was not on the right track. (The passage between Corregidor and the mainland in Manila Bay had been mined.) All of a sudden there was a dull thud and then an explosion. We had hit a mine. The boat shuddered as if mortally wounded. It did not sink immediately and the group already referred to who were seated near a lifeboat got aboard it.

Before the boat left, as already stated, we had been supplied with life belts. My companions were very prudent in having attached the life belts to their bodies, but I only held mine in my hands. A husky Spaniard had been saying that this was a bad joke we were playing with the life belts, but I told him that it was customary, even in peacetime, to have drill aboard the ships and practice the use of life belts. When we hit the mine this husky man grabbed my life belt, since he had not taken the precaution to provide one for himself. I insisted that the life belt was mine, but he claimed that it was his and proposed that we throw the life belt into the water, confident that later on, if we had to struggle for that life belt, as a much huskier man he would have the advantage. But the man from my province, whom I had helped to get a ticket on that trip and for which ticket I had paid, handed me another life belt. Again it was grabbed by another person. This faithful protege of mine handed me another one and still another one, but each time somebody would grab the life belt away from me. Remembering that I was the only one without a life belt and recalling that hundreds of life belts had been scattered on the deck in the early evening, I went down to the deck to see if I could find another life belt. At this moment, there was a second and more terrible explosion. It seemed that it was the boiler that exploded and the boat immediately sank headlong into the water. We were all drawn by the suction and had the water in those parts been deeper, we could not have returned to the surface.

When the boat reached the bottom and there was no more force of suction, I instinctively swam with all my force toward the surface, and when I reached the surface after what seemed an endless effort to reach it, it seemed this was a second life for me. Right in front of me was a life belt and a piece of board just enough for me to lie down on. If ever there are or were miracles, this certainly was one. I had gone into the water without a life belt and here right in front of me was the board of salvation and a life belt. I did not realize it then, but I had ugly cut in the head which must have been caused when the boat touched the bottom and my head hit something hard. I was too weak to tie on my life belt and it was really the board that saved me. I was too weak from loss of blood, so I only hung on to the board which, as I said, was just sufficient to keep my body afloat. Fortunately, it was as long as my body so that my body covered it almost entirely, otherwise other people who were floating around without support might have tried to grab it from me. I just lay over that board semi-conscious for several hours. Fortunately, the sharks that infest these waters must have been kept away by the explosion and by the oil from the sunken ship. About four hours later. I felt as if there were some bright lights. It was one of the P.T. or so-called mosquito boats that had been sent to rescue the survivors. I looked up and one of the American crewmen threw me a life belt which was tied to a rope that he held. I took hold of the life belt and he pulled me toward the boat. I must have looked like a real mess, covered all over with oil from the boat that sank and with the blood of my head over my face. I just lay there on that boat while we were being taken to Corregidor. It was just beginning to dawn when we docked at the harbor of Corregidor. I will never forget, especially after seeing the callousness and cruelty of the Japanese later, seeing one of the American soldiers who had come to the dock to meet the survivors take particular notice of me, saying, "This man is badly hurt." He immediately ran up the gangplank, took me in his arms, loaded me into the car that he was driving, and then rushed me like mad to the hospital in Malinta Tunnel. The others who were not so badly hurt were taken to Manila. Only about one-third of some one thousand people that were in the S.S. Corregidor were saved. Senator Villanueva and his son, my cousin and his daughter, as well as two of my colleagues, Representatives Ampig and Reyes of Iloilo and Capiz, respectively, perished in the disaster, as did the wife and children of Representative Dominador Tan. Representative Zaldivar, later Justice of the Supreme Court, survived.

In Corregidor Hospital

At the hospital in Malinta Tunnel, which I revisited later, the wound in my scalp was sewn up by a kind American doctor. Fortunately, the wound was only skin-deep and did not fracture my skull. When a Filipino nurse found out who I was, she made a lot of fuss about it and many people were soon coming to see me. (Much later when I was Secretary of Education, on a visit to Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, I was fortunate to see her again with her husband.) Two of the young officers who visited me in Corregidor were from my town and province. A medic or medical assistant, an American, took very kind interest in me. (To anticipate my story, when I left Corregidor Hospital ten days after I entered it, I was to wear his civilian clothes as I had none of my own. I gave him my address and after the war when the House of Representatives, of which I was a member, was reconvened, one day an American came to my office and greeted me joyously. When I could not quite remember him, he said, “I was the one who sewed up your head in Corregidor.” It was a happy reunion. He gave me his address in the U.S. to which he was returning and when I was Ambassador to London, I unfailingly sent him a Christmas card. I did not receive any reply from him, but after the third or fourth time I sent him a card, I got a reply explaining that the reason he did not acknowledge my previous cards was that he did not know the address of the Philippine Embassy in London, not realizing that it would have been sufficient for him just to put the Philippine Embassy as address. He told me that he was working somewhere in the Middle East and was doing pretty well financially.)

I developed a slight case of pneumonia, but thanks to the sulfa drugs that had just recently been discovered, this danger to my health was averted.

To return to my story, next to my bed at the hospital was that of Captain Kelly of the United States Navy, a man made famous by a book written in the United States by American escapee during the War, entitled They Were Expendable—a bestseller. Like many Americans in Corregidor, they were still confident that military aid would come from the United State and that the Philippines would be retaken. But this was not to be for more than three years.

During my ten-day stay in Corregidor, from December 17, the day of the sinking of the Corregidor, until December 27 when we were ordered to evacuate to Manila, many prominent officials went to Corregidor. Among those who visited me were the Commanding General of Corregidor and the U.S. High Commissioner, Francis B. Sayre, Vice-President Osmeña and his family, ex-Speaker Roxas, and Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos. President Quezon and his family, however, who also arrived at Corregidor on Christmas Eve, did not visit me. When casually one night I saw him and Mrs. Quezon, he did not even talk to me. I think he was ill and depressed when he saw me with my bandaged head and, perhaps thinking that I was more badly hurt than I really was, he simply was too depressed to talk to me. However, Mrs. Quezon who was seated next to me while we were seeing a movie just outside the entrance to Manila Tunnel during a lull in the bombing by the Japanese, held my hand and gave me words of comfort. From Vice-President Osmeña, I learned for the first time that my relatives by affinity, ex-Senator Villanueva and his son, had not survived the sinking of S.S. Corregidor, although the ex-Senator’s daughter-in-law, who was expecting a baby (and who is still very much alive), and two maids survived.

Christmas Eve was celebrated in Corregidor, and in my condition, away from my family, it was indeed a sad Christmas Eve for me. The singing of Christmas carols by the American and Filipino nurses and other personnel only added poignancy to my depressed spirit. On December 27 an order was received from General Douglas MacArthur for the evacuation of all civilians in Corregidor to Manila, as the Japanese were fast approaching Manila. The medic who took such interest in me suggested that I ask President Quezon to contact General MacArthur and get him to make an exception in my case by allowing me to stay in Corregidor. I contacted Mr. Roxas, who immediately got in touch with President Quezon and who in turn tried to get in touch with General MacArthur. However, General MacArthur was busy directing the withdrawal of USAFFE troops to Bataan and could not be contacted. Mr. Roxas urged me, however, to go to Manila. He said that I could get better medical treatment there and, besides, the boat leaving for Manila might be the last one that could make the trip as, with the arrival of the Japanese, Manila would be isolated from Corregidor. So I decided to leave.

We left again in pitch darkness, as complete blackout was ordered everywhere. I shall not forget another American soldier who took me in his car to the waiting ship and then removed his overcoat and placed it over me. After my experience on the S.S. Corregidor, to travel again in complete darkness could not but inspire fear in me, but we made the trip uneventfully. Upon arrival in the South Harbor, we were placed in a covered truck where it was also very dark. The driver had to stop at every street corner to find his way, and finally I was deposited at the Philippine General Hospital which was then under the direction of my good friend, the late Dr. Augusto Villalon. I was placed under the direct care of Dr. Santos Cuyugan, who was a specialist in wounds and burns. Because of the infection of my wound, it took about three months to heal, although it was only a superficial one.

[Registrar]

Very pleased to be of assistance. I'm just one of several who had spotted it. I was waiting for a polite time to mention it, so that it didn't seem too impolite. That's my excuse, I'm sticking to it.

As for any weirdness, please be assured that it's all Bill Gates' fault, not any of us here. My own approach to moderating the forum is largely that of inactivity, because I believe we have developed a really good group of great people who enjoy a strong camaraderie in what is essentially a very esoteric area, and who tend to be moderate of character. Sure, I stir a bit, but that's what moddys sometimes must do to keep the troops awake. But I am intensely proud of our members who are all people I wish I could have over on a Sunday afternoon for tea and scones with the archbishop. They're dedicated to their hobby.

The Loss of the S.S. Corregidor is a very interesting topic, and there are a two or three of us who believe there is much more to it than meets the eye, even now. I did not realize how truly significant it was until I went down south, and learned how it had resulted in the deaths of the core of the educated sons of the best families throughout the region. I would like to see a courtroom drama written around it, as I believe there are aspects of it which remain relevant.

[The Phantom]

The loss of the S/S Corregidor is described in this passage from the Wainwright Papers Vol.IV, in a section by the Quartermaster Corps.


"The S/S Corregidor, loaded with balanced supplies for the Cebu Depot, and 1000 passengers, struck a mine at 0057, 16 December,
as she was passing through the mine field just off Corregidor island, and sank in three minutes.
There were only 283 survivors.
It was a hard loss to take, and the worst shipping loss of many we had during the war."

That's all that is mentioned as the war effort/other losses, were quickly overcoming singular events.
Oh, and there is the blame to avoid....................

[Deleted]

I lost my grand-uncle (FIDEL SOLON SADAYA) and grand-aunt (ESPERANZA SOLON SADAYA) to SS Corregidor. They were studying back then in Manila when they boarded SS Corregidor bound home for Cebu but unfortunately they did not survive.

Is there anyway that there is a list or a passenger manifest containing the names of those who survived as well as those who perished from that terrible misfortune?

I would be glad if someone can get me links or some documents on what I'm looking for. Base on my grandmother's account she could very well remember that names were published in newspapers after the sinking late December or early 1942 unfortunately I checked with the Cebuano Studies Center here in Cebu and their last issue of any newspaper was November of 1941.

Aaron

[chadhill]

A while back pdh54 brought to my attention this large collection of Bataan and Corregidor personal diaries and records from the National Archives online catalog:

link to personal diaries and records


I have been browsing through some of the pages of these fascinating documents, including "The Diary of Major Calvin F. Chunn, Folder 11". If you have looked at the footnotes or bibliographies in many of the Bataan and Corregidor history books you have probably seen the source "Chunn Notebooks" quoted. According to Louis Morton in "The Fall of the Philippines":

The most valuable single collection of small unit histories...are those which were gathered in prison camp by Capt. Calvin E. Chunn, 45th Infantry (PS). Resolved to write a history of the campaign if he survived the ordeal, Chunn began to collect material shortly after he reached Cabanatuan. He spoke with officers from almost every unit and secured from them information for an account of their operations. This information, together with other material, such as maps, diaries, statistics, orders, affidavits, he transcribed into his notebooks. Before he was transferred by the Japanese from Cabanatuan to a camp in Japan, he buried his voluminous notes in the prison compound at Cabanatuan where they were found after the war.


Almost by accident, I stumbled upon the following interesting comments about the SS Corregidor in Folder 11, digital page 200 of the file. (I have inserted red stars in front of the relevant paragraphs):




1. Notes for first red star paragraph:

A)."Lt. Bill Ellis, QMC, dispatched SS Corregidor...". According to Morton, a battalion of the 12th Quartermaster Regiment was located in the Manila port area. First Lieutenant William J. Ellis, Jr., O-890071 of the Quartermaster Corps was apparently involved in supplying the ship with supplies which included fourteen 3 inch guns, ammunition and 1000 tons of supplies for the Visayan-Mindanao force. Ellis died February 27, 1945 in Fukuoka Camp #3.

B). "Ship escorted by navy to last channel; pilot told capt. to sail due south between row of mines. Boat hit last one". What we may have here is possible confirmation of Q-boat commander Ramon A. Alcaraz's December 22, 1941 journal entry stating that Ensign George Cox told him that he had led the SS Corregidor through the minefields while aboard PT-41:

"I also talked with Ens George Cox, CO PT 41 on duty when SS Corregidor sank five days ago. He said PT 41 was leading the ill-fated ship at the channel but suddenly, all at once, the SS Corregidor veered off course towards the minefields and his efforts to stop her were to no avail. There was a loud explosion after hitting a mine. The ship sank so fast virtually all aboard went with her including the ship captain. There were very few survivors".


2. Notes for second red star paragraph:

A). Captain Robert G. Cooper, O-022894 and S-1 of the 59th CA, died January 9, 1945 in Cabanatuan and is apparently buried as an unknown in the Manila American Cemetery.

B). "...their searchlights discovered 'Corregidor', asked Navy about it. Navy had not been informed by Manila (Ensign in charge failed). Mine automatic-not set off from panel board". Interesting that Colonel Bunker's S-1 seems to be pointing his finger at the USN and does not confirm several accounts which state that it was suggested to Bunker to disarm the mines. Was that conveniently omitted?


I doubt that this changes any conclusions which were arrived at before. The SS Corregidor skipper Calvo, probably Colonel Bunker and possibly the USN bore some degree of responsibility for this terrible tragedy. But it may strengthen Alcaraz's claim that Ensign Cox in PT-41 attempted to guide the doomed ship safely through the minefields, a detail that was left out of the official accounts.