Starboard view of USS KANAWHA burning after Japanese attack, Tulaghi, April 7, 1943
black-and-white photograph
PHOTOGRAPHSSOLOMON ISLANDS, Central (province), Nggela Sule (island), Tulaghi (village)
1943-04-07
emulsion on paper
overall: 5 x 7 in.
5 x 7 inch emulsion on paper black-and-white photograph of starboard view of USS KANAWHA burning after Japanese attack, Tulaghi, April 7, 1943. Hand written on back: "USS Kanawha after / taking a bomb down the stack / April 7, ’43 Tulagi Hbr. / 98 Japanese planes. 3 New / Zealand minesweepers sunk and destroyer USS Aaron Ward" From Henry Strauss transcript in Sound Archives: "That is the KANAWHA. We were escorting her out of Tulaghi harbor. We got condition red. 98 planes hit Tulaghi harbor. Ah, We watched her take a bomb right down the stack. That’s when we got the four planes. And we rescued…I think there was only one casualty. But the big problem was that the attacks don’t last very long. When it was over, some idiot ashore...told us to go take it in tow. Now this is a 110’ wooden ship going along side a burning tanker with all the ammunition for the 20 mms exploding to try to take it in tow. And what we did was start to blister the paint on the sides....Before we caught fire we broke off and then, then they sent a tug out that was in the harbor...."
2004.81.69