OBITUARIES
Barry K. Atkins, 94; Admiral Won World War II Navy Cross for Valor
November 21, 2005

Retired Adm. Barry K. Atkins, who received the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while commanding what many military historians
believe was the only U.S. Navy destroyer to sink an enemy battleship during World War II, has died. He was 94.

Atkins was commanding officer of the DD USS Melvin during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. About 3 a.m. on Oct. 25, 1944, as the Melvin and two other destroyers entered the narrow Surigao Strait, the Japanese battleship Fuso was spotted about 10,000 yards ahead.

Deviating from plan, Atkins brought his destroyer closer to the Fuso and at a better angle. He then ordered his crew to fire 10 torpedoes. Nine were launched and one misfired.

As Atkins recalled in a 2004 Associated Press interview, the Fuso "opened fire on us, and I didn't care for that, particularly because
they were getting pretty close to hitting us. I remember saying to the ship's doctor, 'When the heck are those torpedoes going to get there?'
"

Atkins told the Richmond Times Dispatch in 2002 that he figured it would take about eight minutes for the torpedoes to travel 10,000
yards. But after eight minutes and no explosion, he thought he had fired too soon and from too far away.

But moments later, as he looked through his binoculars, he saw two or three flashes.

"In the analysis of the battle, there was some debate as to whether one or two torpedoes hit the Fuso," he told the Times Dispatch. "My theory was that one torpedo hit the fuel tanks at midship, because the ship broke in half."

After the Japanese battleship began engaging the Melvin, former crew member Dr. Edgar A. Hawk told the Associated Press recently, "the old man had thrown it on full rudder and we're getting the heck out of there. He was zigzagging up a storm."

Through the battle, Atkins remained calm.
"I told the bridge crew not to worry, they won't hit us. But I had no reason to think they wouldn't," Atkins said.

Well dang. I just read about him a couple weeks back to, I saw something to the effect that some people are trying to get his medal ugraded or something like that? I forget exactly what it was. I hate that we are losing these people, they lived and fought in the most epic and historic period in human history.

They were trying to get a ship named after him to honour him, but the Navy said they can't name ships after living people, but that they would keep him in mind i.e. call us when you're dead.

More on the USS Melvin (DD-680)...

quote:

Now with TG 79.11, Melvin sailed 11 October toward the Philippines in the screen of the landing craft to be used in the assault on Dulag. Soon after midnight 20 December she entered Leyte Gulf and took up her assigned screening station between Dinagat and Hibuson Islands, carrying out similar screening patrols for the next 4 days. In the early hours of the 25th, she joined in DesRon 54’s torpedo attack which opened the Battle of Surigao Strait. Assigned with Remey (DD‘688) and McGowan (DD‘678) to the Eastern Attack Group, Melvin began launching torpedoes soon after 0300, scoring on Fuso, which exploded and sank at about 0338. Following their attack, the destroyers retired up the Dinagat coast to Hibuson from where they witnessed the deadly barrage from Admiral Oldendorf’s battleline.

http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m8/melvin-ii.htm

quote:

Originally posted by doug.d:
They were trying to get a ship named after him to honour him, but the Navy said they can't name ships after living people, but that they would keep him in mind i.e. call us when you're dead.

That used to be the rule. I don't remember when the US Navy first broke it. The John c. Stennis may have been the first. The Ronald Reagan was named before Reagan died. The George H. W. Bush will entering service soon (if it hasn't already). Those three vessels are CVN's. And then there's the SSN Jimmy Carter, a modified Seawolf with expanded crew quarters for carrying Spec-Ops.

Those are off the top of my head. There may be more...

Don't like this trend of naming ships after politicos especially living ones. Legendary ones ok, fellows like this captain even better.

Sadly, we are losing the men from that great generation daily. I believe Canada's last surviving VC winner passed away recently. It appals me that so many people today know so little of the sacrifices that generation made. They grew of age after the devestation of The Great War, suvived the Depression and then fought WW2. I doubt we shall see again so great a generation of men and women.

I wish the politicians would sit back when in the presence of these warriors. It sickens me that every Remembrance Day they are out front and centre, getting their photos taken, flying on the taxpayer's dollars while the vets have to pony up their own money. They pay them lip service and the rest of the year screw them over for their veterans' benefits.

Another shame here in Canada is how the Indian vets got nothing when they came home. Canadian vets got our version of the G.I. Bill, Indians, or Aboriginals as some like to be called, got nothing, sent back to their Reserves and forgotten again. So shameful.

FUSO

Wow, a 50 story pagoda on the front end, no wonder it took the first opportunity it had to sink.

quote:

Originally posted by Schiffmorder:
Wow, a 50 story pagoda on the front end, no wonder it took the first opportunity it had to sink.

This is a cool website that I've been following for a long while...He doesn't explain it, but I think the 50 foot pagodas were for the gunnery spotting stations. Japanese relied heavily on Optics for spotting (anybody name a Japanese camera company????). In the meantime, the USN were developing radar spotting and thus the debacle for the IJN at the Battle of Surigao Straits!

Fuso Class

Actually what I find amazing about this Class were the SIX (6) Turrets along centerline. Talk about a Broadside!

The page also makes it clear that the Japanese had in general higher superstructures on their BBs, but also in general heavier broadsides, in comparison to their contemporaries (note dates of completion).

But I believe that the excessively tall superstructures on the Fuso class was due to the modernizations process it went through in the 30s.

My god... That page is full of interesting info on the Japanese ships, it even has a comparison of BBs, though the author tends to be very US-happy (best armour, best weapons, best everything), it is very good, or at least very interesting.

But when I thought I was finished with teh page I discovered something that made my day completely. I must point out that I'm a History student at the University of Copenhagen, with a keen interest in fictional and plausible events (generally named "What ifs").
A guy named Craig Burke, nicknamed Admiral U. Fura****a (pronounced Fulla****ta ), has maintained a few wargames with fictional warships along plausible lines. For instance two Japanese super BBs managed to run through the Allied landingforces at Leyte Gulf only to end up getting pummeled as they tried to retire through the straits again by US BBs (but they sank one on the way down).

But the most fun and increadibly odd event is this one:CV gunduel and boarding, between the German Europa and the USS Ranger... I almost fell half over when I read it from laughter. In my mind the image was too funny.
Give the entire page a look, and those fictional ships (and there are a lot) are well worth a look as well.

Hmmm... Aparently the boards didn't like his name. Well the missing part is s-h-i-t (I'm allowed to do this since it is a name that has been ripped apart).

Ratek,

Yep, the whole website is great. The model box top art is cool. I've actually done similar "cost-benefit" selection schemes for WWII Aircraft just like his "Baddest Battleship" analysis (My result: P-51, P-47, Fw-190...). I actually sent this to the webmaster for review, he liked it, but since it was ETO he could not post it.

Admiral Fu****a's navy is a cool part also...fantasy ships that never were!

excerpt...

quote:

Europa had somehow outdistanced most of the US fleet and was now heading into the Caribbean to try to valiantly duplicate Graf Zeppelin's exploits, or at least disrupt Mardi Gras by bombing New Orleans.

Yes the "Exploits of Europa" would make for a superb movie. It has it all, danger, action, sacrifice and most importantly a good bunch of balls.
Still the best was the engagement with USS Ranger. I still can't help smiling when I think of it. I can't help but see the Ranger coming close up to the Europa with crew on the deck, then they throw over hundreds of grapplinghooks and pull the Europa in... Lovely and rather humerous image.
I'm pretty certain that this was the dear Admiral's main attempt at humour (though the Graf Fitti was almost as good), and it sure did well with me.

But I actually liked ships like the Corsair Carrier (CAV) Pommern. It could have worked very well if it had replaced the Hippers in the real world. But the Japanese Kashino simply HAS to be the most inovative and surprising ofthe lot, and the Aki a nice throwback to earlier times.
While ships like the Führer and HMS Habbakuk are directly crazy if a bit funny.

*Swear*, my link is screwed up because of the filter. Use Silent's link and find you way over there. It is well worth it.

The link is messed up because it has that four letter word in it...the locks on this website won't even let you go to a website with the four letter word...

...I'll have to do some more reading at the site.

"Crew of the USS Ranger...PREPARE TO BOARD!"

quote:

Originally posted by Kaleun1961:
Sadly, we are losing the men from that great generation daily. I believe Canada's last surviving VC winner passed away recently. It appals me that so many people today know so little of the sacrifices that generation made. They grew of age after the devestation of The Great War, suvived the Depression and then fought WW2. I doubt we shall see again so great a generation of men and women.

I wish the politicians would sit back when in the presence of these warriors. It sickens me that every Remembrance Day they are out front and centre, getting their photos taken, flying on the taxpayer's dollars while the vets have to pony up their own money. They pay them lip service and the rest of the year screw them over for their veterans' benefits.

Well said Kaleun. The same applies here in the UK.

It's appalling how so many young adults know so little about the lives they would have led, had they been born just 60 years earlier.

Practically every city, town and village in Britain has a memorial monument of some kind - a tribute to people who lived in that area who left to fight for their country, and never came home. Yet the only time most people pay any attention to these memorials is on the annual Rememberance Day, when they are 'scheduled' to do so.

I make a conscious effort to privately acknowledge and contemplate any war memorials that I walk or drive past - to help make up for, in my own small way, the overwhelming ignorance modern society has for "so great a generation of men and women", as you so rightly describe them. What must they think of us?

I cant remember where i read it but apparently a lot of the jap battleships and cruisers were pretty old,
Japan used get a lot of ships from the UK and when they started builing their own ships the japanese shipbuilders only had what they knew about they ships they got from the UK.

Ok cut a long story short jap ship designs were based on the british tiger class wwi boats,which means a lot of their ship designs were based on WW1 ships,
when a new technology like radar got introduced they would just build an extra room where they could find the space and stick the new tech in there,i dont know how fast technology move but it must have moved pretty fast.

The result was weird quasi modo looking pagodas.

quote:

Originally posted by The_Silent_O:
The link is messed up because it has that four letter word in it...the locks on this website won't even let you go to a website with the four letter word...

...I'll have to do some more reading at the site.

"Crew of the USS Ranger...PREPARE TO BOARD!"

I think it was "PREPARE TO REPEL BOARDERS" eventhough it was the Ranger that was boarding.

Anyway it would have been even better if it had been the Corsair Carrier Pommern instead of Europa. Yarrrhhh!

But he has a tendency to go overboard with strange designs such as Large Cruisers and the hubrids, though single ships such as the Japanese catamaran carrier and the strange atoll carrier (but Habbakuk wins hands down as the most wierd ship, and it has a nice humerous last few lines).
Also it seems that the BBs kill each other with great abandon and almost with first strikes (Führer battle comes to mind).