Late in the afternoon of March 30th a speck was seen on the horizon. A tug had found us! It took Sakawa in tow, and then slowly vanished over the blue disk of the horizon. Another tug appeared before midnight. I was glad the Captain told her to lie off until morning. When the sun […]

We got the tow-wire un-fouled from the turret with great difficulty. Hairless Joe the Bo’sun , his Mate the Lonesome Polecat, the Shipfitter and the First Lieutenant worked out onto the wave-swept blister, clutching at the overhead as swells hissed past. They rigged a chainfall and heaved round. It took more than an hour, since […]

As we accomplished the rig to rescue the casualty-plagued Sakawa, the weather became very clear and warm with the seas rising higher and bluer in hue. Occasionally a rogue wave would board us, sweeping along the alarmingly low freeboard caused by the flooding and counter-flooding we had done to keep Nagato upright and give her […]

(ex-IJN Nagato prepares to get underway in Yokosuka, March, 1946. Alongside is the tank lighter the battleship used for logistic support from the shore. Colorized Photo USN). We sailed from Yokosuka on 18 March, 1946, amid rain squalls. We slipped down the Sagami-wan navigating by time and compass with the cruiser Sakawa on in company […]

It is the 74th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl. It is always an emotional day for old sailors, particularly those who had the chance to serve in the very place where it occurred, or worked in the building that was converted to the morgue for th dead on that awful day. This year, I […]

When I first realized that of twenty people in the deck force only three had appreciable sea experience, I wondered what would become of us. The decks were so vast, the gear so heavy, that it seemed we must be overwhelmed if we tried to handle her in a gale. As the days passed in […]

We had three trial runs for the old battleship in March of 1946 to get ready to deploy from Japan to the South Pacific. On our next trial, it was inevitable that we try the anchor we had just installed, since some of the associated gear was untested. Everything had gone well as we got […]

(Bow of IJN Nagato showing chocks and anchor chain just before the battle of Leyte Gulf, 1944. Photo USN). Browsing around the Navy Yard in Yokosuka looking for likely opportunities, one of our officers found an anchor stamped with the name “Nagato.” It was a huge thing, as befits a hook intended for a dreadnaught […]

So, as the mighty battleship rode at anchor outside the breakwater in the Sagami-wan, it is time to talk about how important the little man I first met in my impromptu tour of the battleship. I considered him an apparition of the ship, which clearly was haunted by the history of what she had done […]

Though I slept through few nights outside the breakwater, what with one thing or another carrying away by the rushing waves and low freeboard of the Battleship, there were not many. I remember vividly one of those interrupted nights. That night’s excitement was the visit of the liberty party from the General Buckner. There was […]