USS Juneau: The Ghost of Guadalcanal

[Cobrahistorian]

There were 679 aboard Juneau when she was sunk and 10 survived. She was sunk by a single torpedo in her second action of the day on 13 November. She was hit in the earlier action and the torpedo cracked her keel, prohibiting any evasive maneuvers. Later in the day when the I-26 attacked the USS San Francisco and missed, one of those torpedos hit Juneau in the precise spot she'd been hit earlier in the day. The resultant explosion tore her apart and the ship sunk in under 30 seconds.

[meronmotors]

Wonderful video Thanks for the upload we love them

[peterde100]

Looking for any stories or pictures having to do with the crew of the USS Juneau. I'm doing a research project on this great ship, and all the young men who answered America's call in the darkest days of of the war. A large part of the crew were from the New York/New Jersey/ Pennsylvania area. Any info would be appreciated.

[kelsi6273]

@peterde100 There is a Sullivan brother museum in Waterloo, IA

[kelsi6273]

Looking for relatives of William George Meeker S2 who died with the Juneau.

[edsmale]

she was a fine looking ship

[Sarahjaneboston2]

After doing some research, I just realized my great uncle was on that ship. Henry Neil Reichelt. So sad.

[FRAGIORGIO1]

Of the nine cruisers we lost in WW II, eight were lost in the battle for the Solomons! Only the Houston was lost away from there in Indonesia. Also two carriers were lost of the four we lost, unless you include the Battle fo Santa Cruz as part of the battle for the Solomans, since the Hornet went down there.

[Kapindur]

While the Sullivan brothers became the poster boys for the horrific loss of the USS Juneau. Witnesses described the single torpedo strike as terrifying, with the Juneau virtually vanishing within a huge detonation that rained tons of scrap metal for several minutes. The torpedo struck fwd of the superstructure, and hurled the oldest Sullivan into the water with some 60 others. He went mad looking for his brothers, and was last seen swimming off into the shark infested waters to look for them.

[meghub10]

The Juneau was a beauty, fast and maneuverable, but she was never intended to slug it out with heavy surface ships. Her function was to put up shells at aircraft. By necessity, or lack of any other resources, she was put in the brawl. She did her best, but did not make it.

[meghub10]

The Juneau was a beauty, fast and maneuverable, but she was never inteded to slug it out with heavy surface ships. Her function was to put up shells at aircraft. By necessity, or lack of any other resources, she was put in the brawl. She did her best, but did not make it.

[aitoots]

Along with the Sullivan brothers were 4 Jersey Boys (Belmar): Francis Class, Joseph McConnell, Alfred Ferruggiaro, and Uncle Robert E Sherman. Robert was born and died on Friday the 13th

[navyclock]

John Reilly USN was on The USS Houston CA 30 when it was sunk inthe Sunda Straight on 1 Mar 1942. His brother Tom Reilly was on the USS Helena, and brother Joe was on the Uss Juneau and Perished.

[fangirl001]

hey...what was the arrows pointing at

[snakes3425]

@fangirl001

Japanese Aircraft 

[photoclick1]

The brothers were The Sulliivan Brothers. A beautiful story was make about them. It is a movie that makes you cry and laugh. they do not make movies like that anymore. What a piety.

[snakes3425]

@photoclick1

The Fighting Sullivans, during the war the telegram saying your husband, son, uncle, cousin, brother or nephew were killed or missing was the worst thing anyone could get, I can't begin to imagine what it was like for the Sullivan family to get the messages saying they had just lost all five of their sons in one day. Sadly the story of the Sullivan Brothers often overshadows the other crew members who died with the Juneau

[jrlomy2k]

@photoclick1 I grew up watching that movie and still feel like they were part of my family. My dad and uncles were separated in the service by the Sullivan Law. I have a copy for myself, and the commentary is just as tear-filling as the movie. What's even more tragic is that the government left these men to die in the shark infested waters. *not exactly how the movie portrayed. Jimmy Sullivan, son of Al wrote a story called "Left to Die" about the incident. Heartbreaking.

[jrlomy2k]

Incidentally, the lives of the actors who portrayed these young men also turned tragic. It breaks my heart.

[joevet66]

In the movie The Sullivan's they show all five brothers go down with the ship, but George was the only one off the ship, but drown later.

[jrlomy2k]

@joevet66 Unfortunately, he did not drown. He did make it to the lifeboat. However after being on the water for several days in shark infested water, he became mad and thought he could swim to land; succumbing to the shark infested waters. Terribly tragic. The planes did a pass-over and left these men to die the first time...leave it to the government to screw our brave men who fight for this country.

[Kapindur]

@jrlomy2k There were no lifeboats after the torpedo explosion, and the oldest Sullivan was hurled into the water with the rest of that small group of survivors. From there he badgered his shipmates with incessant questioning about his brothers, even as they came under shark attack. He eventually went mad, and was last seen swimming away from the group into the shark infested waters on his own. They could hear him calling for his brothers for while, but eventually his voice faded into silence.

[jrlomy2k]

@Kapindur Maybe I misunderstood the info, but I'm curious as to knowing where you've received yours? I've only watched the 'extra/bonus' footage of the Sullivan DVD once and have not visited the "Left to Die" writing in a while. If you have any other info, I'd love to know about it. Thank you.

[frankydman]

Today (meaning when this comment was posted) is November 13th. It is the 67th anniversary of CL-52's sinking. A moment of silence for her fallen crew.

[TK42100]

Just finished reading Kurzman's book regarding the Juneau "Left to Die". Quite a sad and harrowing story.

[kurrentessa]

The USS The Sullivan is haunted by George Sullivan , still looking for his brothers ...

[KyleLexington]

Juneau was a brave cruiser, And yes iwan Atlanta and Oakland were here sisters. The atlanta took 3 torpedos plus 8 inch shells from a friendly cruiser who thought she was a japenes warship. She sank with here sister the uss Juneau.

[Iwantsanta]

Wasnt there Altanta and Oakland Who was the same class as Juneau

[cnimsk]

Atlanta took one torpedo, many 5", 6", and other caliber shells from the Japanese as well as a salvo of 8" shells from the USS San Francisco when she moved into that ships line of fire. Friendly fire happens, especially at night.

[jrlomy2k]

Snakes, if you watch the testimonies of the survivors of the USS Juneau, it had been two torpedoes which hit the ship. This is in the 'extra' parts of the Fighting Sullivan DVDs

[shathriel]

wasnt that after the battle where the previous night the american column ran straight into the japanese attack force spearheaded by the battleships heie and kirishima.

both sides were badly mauled with fighting at point blank range , the heie being scuttled after the battle.

[warprohistory]

u cansee that on battle 360

[warprohistory]

at old iron bottom sound lays a u.s. ship that was friendly fired and sunk by enemy and friendly forces during the night

[cdfe3388]

God rest them all. A sad true story.

The Juneau was avenged by her sister, the USS San Diego, however. "The Unbeatable Ship Nobody Ever Heard Of" would go on to shoot down more Japanese planes than any other Allied vessel. In 1945, the San Diego became the first US ship to enter Tokyo Bay. And despite being in dozens of battles, she never took a hit and suffered no casualties. The San Diego brought home every last one of her men.

[ministryod10]

Im British but there were many many stories like this in the seas of the European land! HSM Corsack ect..

[cdfe3388]

Yeah, my Grandpa spent most of the war in the Atlantic (US Navy AA gunner). He had a lot of respect for the Royal Navy, which says something when you take into account that my family is Irish! He wouldn't talk about the war much. We didn't find out that his ship was sunk out from under him in the Med until after he died. But one of the only stories he told was of a British destroyer that saved them when his ship got hit by German bombers. God bless all the the vets, yours and ours.

[ministryod10]

I had a Uncle who served on the HSM Prince of Wales R.I.P!

[ministryod10]

HMS*

[Zaktan12]

wow... thats sad

[Zaktan12]

who were the sullivan brothers idk can some1 tell me?

[snakes3425]

They were five brothers who enlisted in the navy at the same time, and wouldn't allow anything to seperate them. Despite misgivings all five were eventually assigned to the USS Juneau, and all five were lost when the Juneau was sunk

[jrlomy2k]

There is a movie link you can find to watch to learn of their story. It's called "The Fighting Sullivans. You can search on here. It's the movie that inspired the making of "Saving Private Ryan." The eldest three were already in the service and the last two enlisted. They begged/demanded to be put on the same ship, as they did everything together. George did make it to the life raft, but because of injuries and insanity, jumped into the shark infested ocean.

[Williedsel]

Yes! the Sullivans were on this ship. It was heavily damed in battle and was limping home to Pearl when it was sunk. Theis class cruiser, in my opinion, was one of the most beautiful ships of that era.

[Seamus451]

Wasn't this the ship the Sullivan brothers were lost on? Or am I mistaken?

[Seamus451]

Nah, that's them. ;p

[thedakota]

hmmm there were over 50 ships lost at guadalcanal, this one stands out more than the rest. its a it is a sad loss.

[TAPJR]

Nice memorial for the heroes aboard a great ship!

[thomas991220]

Oh!the Artist was Enya!I like one of her songs "Only Time".I like this song also.

[thomas991220]

I like all of your videos snakes3425!and also great video.the song was good too.

[AlwaysWishing1983]

Very well done! [as always!]

Five days in the water. I can't imagine. How awful that must have been. Awful.

But thanks for another good vid and looking forward to more. ♥

[snakes3425]

Sadly the lessons of the Juneau were never learned and on July 30 1945 history repeated itself.

[HUNDLEYGUY95]

USS Indianpolis, greatest tradegdy, yet you must remember that it was actually the navy department that caused thta one, but may all these poor souls rest in peace

[snakes3425]

The Juneau actually had two other ships with her, USS San Francisco and USS Helena, when she was torpedoed and out of fear that I-26 was still in the area they left more then 100 men in the water. However Helena sent out an SOS that was never passed on to the naval high command.

[HUNDLEYGUY95]

i was talking bout the indy since it had no escorts, but yea Juneau was in company with the Helena and San Francisco, but they left since they were also heavily damaged, search aircraft arrived 8 days later but i did not c anything bout the helena sending a SOS but i just did a short overview, sad tradgidies, these vids alwasy touch me cause i lost one of my Uncles on the USS Houston on its last battle

[snakes3425]

I was reading a Naval report on the Loss of the Juneau when I stumbled upon a passage saying Helena sent a message to a passing B-17 informing them of Juneau's loss and that survivors were in the water, however the B-17's crew never passed the message on.

[HUNDLEYGUY95]

ok thx, the article i read didnt say anything about that

[snakes3425]

Captain Gilbert Hoover, the Commanding Officer of the USS Helena was releved of his command for abandoning the Juneau's survivors.

[polygamous1]

@HUNDLEYGUY95 when i was 5 in 48 one of my uncles came to see us the only time i saw him n he was proud of two things in his life his american citizenship n his 5 years service in the marines in the pacific he brought for us 1 us marines pillow n my late mother Never parted with it since she past away his brother also served in the us marines my other uncle was in the British army for 18 years my father in the cyprus regiment supplying the great Monty on mules

[ultradumbass]

bah screw you you won't respond:( i been working in a dark cellar for 4 days now with not a single person in sight except for a guy that brings me down food 2 times a day for a minute with no tv, working msn or anything.

[thespawnof66]

great tribute. Also a very nice choice of music.

[YamatoTitanic]

great the tribute

[lafther210]

good job.

great video.