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AMM/3C Thomas Harper - CVE-26 USS SANGAMON

Tom Harper served on the USS Sangmon, a converted Exxon oil tanker from 1943 to 1945. The need for aircraft carriers was accute with the loss several larger fleet units either sunk or badly damaged in the first 9 months of the war. Though the conversion of heavy cruiser hulls was in progress, large tankers like the Sangamon filled the void and served through out the war alongside the CV's and CVL's. Toms role as an avaition machinist mate was to service the carriers air groups that were the striking arm of the ship. Helping to man 40MM gun mounts and fire fighting were his secondary roles. Pilots and gunners can fly, but not without a well maintained and prepared aircraft to take them there and bring them safely home. The performance of service crews as well as the ships company were vital to the success of the airgroups. Unlike some of her CVE successors, Sangamon just survived the Kamikaze strikes that sank the lighter Kaiser built classes of ships. The last strike put her out of the war for good off of Okinawa in 1945 but not before she and her air groups had participated in almost every major action in the Pacific and Operation Torch the invasion of North Africa. Tom was a witness to the attack that took the life of his best friend only a few feet away.

My thanks to Lloyd Harris who is acting as the contact. Tom, who is in an assisted living facility is with out internet access.

Tom; "I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in May of 1925 and have one brother and two sisters. Dad was a railroad brakeman, mom was a bookkeeper. There were rough times for the family in the depression, but I was young and didn't realize it. We always had food and the necessities. Just before the war I remember a unit of Army reserves being moved to the area, and people were asked to take in as many as they could. My family took in four, and my sister later married one of them who became an infantry 2nd Lt. I was going to San Fernando High School in San Fernando, California when I heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I didn't know where Pearl Harbor was, and I was confused when they began to take the Japanese students out of the school. The Japanese kids were classmates, and many were friends. I still keep in touch with a Japanese girl who was a classmate at San Fernando High School and was taken to Manzanar Camp in California. She helped me with my homework, and we hung out with a group of friends She got her high school diploma at Manzanar. Her name is Kimiko Ishikawa. Kimiko's family had a vegetable farm in San Fernando, which of couse they lost when they were sent to Manzanar. A lot of us cried when they took our friends away. It was new to have the U. S. in a war, and we were just kids.

The recreation for high school kids then were dances etc., but during the war they all had to be in the daytime, and when driving if an air raid alert was called, they had to drive with their lights off, and of course no lights showing at night at home. I did not have a girl friend that I wrote to during the war. Being born in Utah I was not a Mormon, in fact a brother became a Presbyterian minister. I worked part time in a service station, and gardening, mowing lawns, odd jobs, etc. Mother collected all the money, and when I asked her where it went, she said that's what I used to buy your clothes etc.

I volunteered to keep from being drafted. The date was April 21, 1943. I chose the Navy because I didn't want to go in the Army, and I never even thought about the Air Force. Mom signed for me to go in because it was just before my 18th birthday. Dad had died. During the war one sister was in Navy. Our family had a star flag in window of the family home. A cousin worked in war industries. I studied the Blue Jackets Manual, learning Navigation, semifore, sailing and rules of the road. I was assigned to my wartime role directly from boot camp. I don't know whether or not it had anything to do with aptitude or not, although they did test us . Training was at the San Diego, California 11th Naval District. I liked boot camp, my training and military life (The 1940 version of the BlueJacket manual is over 770 pages!) I was a Seaman lst Class.

I did some mechanical work on the reciprocal engine aircraft, but my main assignment and what I did most was the gasoline crew. Fueling and topping off aircraft before, during, and after missions. I took one test flight with an officer once and became a AMM3/C. They had F3F's when I was first on the ship, then F4F's, then F6F Grumman Hellcats were the best and could outmaneuver the Zero and give them fits

Fueling. Fuel was pumped from tanks down below, and when finished pumping, the fuel was drawn back down below, then lines were filled with CO2. Before pumping they had to ground the pump to the plane before they put the nozzle in, of course no smoking. Some guys wore gloves. I didn't. We wore cloth aviator type hats. I wore red for fire crew and fueling crew, the catapult crew wore green, blue for plane handlers who parked planes on flight deck, yellow for plane spotters who supervised getting planes back into launching positions. I saw the LSO (the guy who directed the planes with paddles as they landed on deck), a few times had to jump off the flight deck when the planes were too low (some crashed on deck). We had nets rigged for just that purpose. We were on duty 24 hours every day only resting and grabbing some sleep on the hours when the squadron was on a mission. I found a place to crap out on a duct on an A/C motor. When we were behind the lines, it was still practice launching and recovery all the time.

The CVE was a smaller ship and while all WWII ships were crowded, these were built for war with little comfort for the crews. The Sangamon and her sisters were a little larger than the Casablance class but not by much.

CROSSING THE LINE
MUCH MORE ON THIS TO COME BUT IT ENTAILS CROSSING THE EQUATOR AND A LOT OF HAZING OF THE INITIATES. Once initiated they were SHELL BACKS and could visit the same treatment to the new crewmembers on the next cruise.

The court normally contained King Neptune, his wife, the Royal Baby ( with a belly smeared in grease the pollywogs had to kiss) and other courtiers. Eating foul smelling or peppery foods, having novcaine ( very foul) put in your mouth, having you head painted and hair shaved on only one side, running a guantlett of paddles or water hoses were par for the the course. Offices and enlisted were treated alike.
Tom: "I had to dress up like a woman when I was a polywog, the Shellbacks made the pilots put on their winter gear in that South Pacific heat, and they had to run around waving their arms and shouting something about being a bird or birdman. We crossed and recrossed the equator many times." Photos of Sangamon courtesy of Don Schroeder & Nav SOurce On line

Sangy the ships dog.

We were on several different islands for R&R, but I can't think all of their names. I remember Mog Mog Island, it was a forward staging base and it had a recreation area for the guys in combat. I didn't drink (just a kid) and I would trade my 3 beer chits for ice cream chits. I was very popular for this. The native girls were topless, so the Navy brass gave them all T-shirts, the result being that the native girls wore the shirts, but when the guys came ashore, they girls had cut out two areas for their breasts to be free. On the ship the pilots shoot flying fish etc with their rifles and shotguns from the lower deck, under the flight deck. All Naval, probably all military, guys are gamblers, shootings craps cards etc. whereever they could find a spot. I was only 18 or 19 so I didn't himself. I remember seeing 2 Boatswain's Mates, who had been drinking, fight. What a fight! Two tough guys who stood toe to toe and slugged it out. No wrestling. No one stopped it, and everyone gathered around and watched. It lasted about a half an hour; then they hugged each other, shook hands and went their ways as friends. I liked the food usually; in fact I became quite fond of Spam. Of course most of the guys bitched all the time about the food and everything else, but that's par for the course for servicemen. One time when the food was so bad that they made the officer in charge of the mess eat all three meals before the men, and report to the Captain after each. All ratings were suspended until a positive report came in. The cooks really got on the ball after that. Showers were salt water with a huge bar of salt water soap, but I never really felt clean after that. They did have fresh water (I think they could make some), but it was rationed, so the guys would chain a bucket under the fresh water plumbing, and would sponge off wilth fresh water from the bucket after the salt water shower. When in port they would announce "swimming off the port side and some guys would run and dive off the flight deck, which is some high dive.

We were in 11 or 12 actions on the Sangamon. When we were in combat areas like the Phillipines or the Saipan invasion. My job was the same. There were many times we were under strafing attacks etc., and everyone on my crew just tried to get behind or under something. The job of the escort ships was to fight off the attacking Japanese planes, and these planes flew so low, that there were instances of our own people getting hit by friendly fire from these ships. The carrier could not fire while launching and recovering aircraft. I remember being near the front of the flight deck and seeing a Japanese plane coming in low right over the top of me. I saw the plane release a bomb, it skipped on the water, hit the ship near where I was standing, and the bomb didn't explode, but bounced off the ship. Then it exploded. The plane was so low I could almost have grabbed it as it passed right over head. It was so low that I ducked! The plane circled around the bow and went over the ship where it got shot down. They rescued and captured the pilot. I saw him in the brig. He had a white cloth around his forehead. The bomb made a dent in the hull. Something was happening every day like the plane going over the U.S.S. Chenango, rolling over and diving into the front of the ship. The Sangamon always carried the flag, always an admiral on board.

I was aft of the island on the port side of the shipduring the Kamikaze strike when I ran to the starboard side because I did not feel safe there. I yelled at my friend, Ralph Miller to come with me, but he didn't. We were on deck, because the ship were either launching or recovering aircraft. Prior to the Kamikaze hit, we had stayed too long in a bay refueling and this allowed the Kamikaze to attack at dusk from the clouds .

My best friend and I were together when the first Japanese plane dove, missed the ship and exploded.

At the left the blurr in the photo is a KI-61 (Tony) an Army fighter ( see photo far right) that just missed the ship. A few minutes later the KI-45 Nick came out of the clouds to hit the flight deck. From the kamikaze's perspective it was a textbook perfect strike. The Army aircraft sortied either from the Island of Kyushu as part of Kikusui 5 or from the Islands south of Okinawa being fed from Formosa and the Chinese mainland. The Sangamon and supporting British carriers pounded these islands to keep them from being used as staging bases with mixed success.

I did see the plane drop the bomb and then nose over into the ship. I remember seeing the pilot and a helmet with fur on the sides and big earphones. I hold no animosity, he was just doing his job. When the ship was hit, I jumped off the flight deck to save myself, and I landed on some catwalk steps and injured my knees. My best friend Ralph did not jump, and was killed. He and I often prayed together, and I can't understand why he died and I am still alive. That bothers me a lot and I see him in dreams and flash backs. I saw a lot of planes on the aircraft carrier that crashed. Many fellow sailors were killed. I was on the fire crew, didn't really have a station to man. We went where the leaders told us to go. I carried powder, foamite to put out fires.. There were many times I didn't think I would survive night crashes on deck where a fighter would attempt to land and break through barriers, crashing into planes. Often suicide bombers launched attacks that severely damaged our carriers. While there were not always fatalities, I feared for my life. Bombings and strafings were common. Each time a plane came and missed, it could have killed us. I did not had any contact with his (Ralph's family) after the war.

We fought fire all night long and then we lined up in formation the morning after the Kamikaze strike on the Sangamon. I reached down and picked up a rocker-arm from the Japanese plane. I had that for a long time, but it seems to have disappeared over the years.

The following information and 3rd Rensen Photo was gathered with the help of Mr. Ryusuke Ishiguro a English teacher in Japan and soon to be published co-author of a work on the Kamikaze.
A photo of Ki-45 Hei of 3rd Rensen Hikotai. Dai 3 Rensei Hikotai was under the 8th Hiko Shidan based in Formosa. and was the only training unit equipped solely with the Ki-45. The unit was organized at (Taichu airfield) in Formosa on April 19, 1944. On October 11, the unit strength was 26 Ki-45s (only 13 of them were operational at the time). On October 12th, 9 of 11 Ki-45s were lost in attacks by Admirals Halseys Task force 38 to eliminate Japanese air strength in anticipation of the invasion of the Phillipines. These strikes on aviation facilities, factory warehouses, wharves and coastal shipping, were expected and, for the first time in this series of operations, a large number of Japanese planes were over the targets and antiaircraft fire was intense. In spite of opposition, over 100 JAAF and IJN planes were shot down on the first day and 123 more were destroyed on the ground.

On March 23, 1945, (special attack) Makoto 114 squadron was organized (14 pilots). On April 1, 114 sq. advanced to Miyako-jima and carried out special attack in Okinawa. On April 22 & 28, 10 Ki-45s of the second special attack unit, Makoto 119 sq., carried out the special attacks. On May 3 to 12, 4 Ki-45s of the third special attack unit, Makoto 123 sq., carried out the special attacks as escorts. In the middle of May, Dai 3 Rensei Hikotai advanced to Toen. On July 20, Dai 3 Rensei Hikotai was disbanded and taken over by Hiko dai 21 sentai.

A twin engined KI-45 Toryu ( Dragon Killer/Nick ) of the Japanese Army was the aircraft that hit the USS Sangamon. With the help of Ryusuke in Osaka Japan we have been able to determine from available records that one Ki-45 sortied on that day and at the right time, not from Kyushu, but from the base at Bade in northern Formosa.

"At 16:00 on May 4, 3 Ki-84 of Makoto 120 sq. took off from Bade in Taiwan. They were escorted by the 123rd squadron commander Corporal Saburo Mitsukoshi in his Ki-45." Not only Corporal Mizukoshi, but another crew was on the Ki-45. Probationary Officer Mitsuharu Takamura (a Korean) from Saga prefecture. He was serving as the rear gunner. His rank was promoted to first lieutenant posthumously. He was from Hiko 108 Sentai, not from Makoto 123 squadron but for what ever reason joined the flight that day.
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This time of takeoff, the distance to Okinawa and the time of the attack 19:33 are extremely close.

Corporal Saburo Mizukoshi's was the only aircraft on the KI-45 type listed as flying a sortie that day and time that could have made the attack. There were sorties of the 24th Shinbu-tai equipped with the Ki-45 from the Chiran army base on Kyushu. These pilots had departed in the early morning and would not have has anywhere near the fuel to be still in the air at the time of the Sangmanons attack much less survived the CAP fighters in the area for so long.

Corporal Saburo Mizukoshi was the KI-45 pilot/escort and lead for group of special attackers, the "Makoto" (Sincerity) Dai (squadron) 123 Hikotai. Most Army pilots had little experience in over water flights. Often a senior pilot would be their escort and was required to report back on the attackers success. This was a high risk role, made even more so by the fact the KI-45 was no match for the 4FU Corsairs and F6F Hellcats operating from the carriers off shore. In the end the escorts were often armed with bombs and then after radioing in their reports, followed their charges in or sought targets of opportunity. This is what appears to have occurred on May 4 1945. According to the book "Twin-engine fighter 'Toryu'" by Mr. Watanabe, "The pilots/escorts of Makoto 123 sq. had the almost impossible task to escort, confirm the result of special attacks, and attack directly in the end."

In the register of the war dead the Sangamons attacker is listed Saburo Mizukoshi of the Makoto 123rd squadron, Second Lieutenant (promoted posthumously), Saburo Mizukoshi, born in Aichi prefecture , Shou-hi 13 (Shounen Hikohei Gakko: Youth Pilot School graduate of 13th class), Taisho 13 (born in 1924), Died at age 21 Offshore of Kadena (death place), 1945. 05. 04 (death time) When he died he was a corporal the equivalent to a CPO / NCO in the navy. A two step promotion was customary for the special attacker groups.

Tom" "I did not personally kill the enemy, but the ship did. I helped man the 40 mm guns, handing ammunition to the gunner. Saw many enemy die or get wounded. On flight deck I looked up at plane dropping a bomb, a skip bomb that fell in the water and exploded. I could see the face of the pilot as he flew in to drop bombs including the twin engine bomber dropped bomb that exploded and killed a number of Americans. I had some hearing loss in WWII from aircraft and gunfire and in Korean Conflict from jet aircraft noise being on the flight deck. When I saw Sept ll, 2001 news it reactivated my own experience during WWII." Like many of his generation Tom did not speak of the war to others, he did have problems adjusting to life after mustering out. Today we recognize this as PTS ( Post traumatic stress syndrome.) and there is help for veterans.

The Sangamon class ships though classified as a CVE (CARRIER ESCORT ) were stronger than the later Kaiser class as they were tanker conversions and had better compartmentalization. This may have been an added factor in their survival. Tom refers to the Kaiser ships as Kaiser coffins. "We felt they were made of sheet metal and cannon bullets went right through them, and they sank easier."

THE SANGAMON DAMAGE REPORT
Courtesy of Don Schroeder & Nav Source On line

Being on a ship of any kind in WWII has hazardous and not just from enemy action. See the list of the men lost below.

Deck crashes and other accidents often took more men than the enemy.

I was mustered out in Terminal Island, San Pedro, Honorable Discharge in a group ceremony at the Separation Center. I can't remember the points. We were in Norfolk, Va. as the war ended, where the ship was undergoing repairs from the Kamikaze damage when the A-bomb was dropped. Some of the Airdales did taxi the planes around on the ground when I was at Mine Warefare Station(although they were not supposed to)
My service dates were from 4-23-43 to 2-21-46 WWII and then later 9-27-50 to 12-20-51 for the Korean War

I was in the Reserves after ther war, and they were calling back all aviation ratings so I got called back. I didn't mind, because I liked the Navy and military life. On the Princeton, I was a Yeoman, YNT/3C (safer than flight deck for sure). When called back the Princeton air group was practicing night manuevers at El Centro, CA, and I had nothing to do while waiting for the ship, so they put me to work doing office work That's how I became a Yeoman 3C. I went aboard the ship in Yokusta, Japan. I did personnel office work. The biggest difference with the aircraft was that the jets were much noisier, and deck crews all wore ear protection and earphones to communicate with the bridge and aircraft. They had the F9F Panther Jets, and I felt it was more dangerous with the jets, because they landed faster and had less vision than the prop planes. Planes still had deck accidents, and went off the end of the carrier.

After the war I ended up in the Burbank, Los Angeles area doing mechanical, electrical drafting for such companies as the Marquardt Corp. in Van Nuys, Ca., but I didn't stay with one company long enough to get a pension. I was married twice and have one son, but do not see any old shipmates. When my knees were hurt, because they did not cause me problems until later, I did not claim an injury.

Tom in Honolulu in August of l951. His mustache was red, and he usually had a red goatee as this was allowed.

Tom with friends is second from the right with the eyeglasses hanging from his shirt and Kimiko is next to him.

THE USS SANGAMON WILL HAVE A REUNION IN COVINGTON KENTUCKY IN SEPTEMBER 2008

ON MAY 4TH 2008 AT THE NIMITZ MUSEUM A PLAQUE WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE SHIP AND HER CREW ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATTACK.
I WILL TRY TO GET ADDITIONAL DETAILS, PHONE NUMBERS AND CONTACT INFORMATION.

Sangamon a 2 in 1 Ship. Former oil tanker that now has wings
IN RESEARCHING THE UNITS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE ATTACK THERE WERE MANY THAT COULD HAVE BEEN INVOLVED.
- At first I thought that the attack may have come from Kyushu though I knew units were comimg up from Formosa and using the Sakishima Island group as staging points. The Sangamon along with British carrier forces had been pounding these airfields to the south of Okinawa.

This data was found on the Japanese Aircraft Forum (thanks timtom) I think most of these are Kyushu (Japan) based. With the evacuation of Formosa after the war the records there were less likley to have survived the war much less given space to be returned to Japan.

KI-45 Toryu units
Hakko Dai Hachi Tai Kinno-tai Ki-45 formed 1944/11/16
24th Shinbu-tai Ki-45 formed 1945/02/09
45th Shinbu-tai Ki-45 formed 1945/02/14 There were 9 planes that sortied on May 28th and sank the USS Drexler. Other units on the main islands were the 24th and the Hakko Dai Hachi Tai Kinno-tai unit
114th Shinbu-tai Ki-45 formed 1945/02/24
These remainder were formed in the month of May
201st Shinbu-tai Ki-45 450504 - 202nd Shinbu-tai Ki-45 450504 - 203rd Shinbu-tai Ki-45 450504 - 209th Shinbu-tai Ki-45 450518 - 210th Shinbu-tai Ki-45 ? - 211th Shinbu-tai Ki-45 450523 - 212th Shinbu-tai Ki-45 450528 -

KI-61 Hein ( Swallow / Tony ) units are as follows and realistically only the first three come close to the date of the Sangamon attack with a formation date.
54th Shinbu-tai Ki-61 450501 - 55th Shinbu-tai Ki-61 450329 - 56th Shinbu-tai Ki-61 450414 - 110th Shinbu-tai Ki-61 450501 - 149th Shinbu-tai Ki-61 4505XX - 159th Shinbu-tai Ki-61 450528 - 160th Shinbu-tai Ki-61 450528 - 165th Shinbu-tai Ki-61 450529 -
BR>

KI-84 Hayate ( Hurricane / Frank ) units are as follows. These are the aircraft our KI-45 pilot was the leader of to navigate them to the target zone. These dates look to close to the attack and may all have been Kyushu based.
Tatebayashi Shinbu-tai Ki-84 ? 26th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 450501 27th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 450501 - 57th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 450329 - 58th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 450329 - 59th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 450329 - 60th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 450329 - 61st Shinbu-tai Ki-84 450329 - 179th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 4506XX - 180th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 4506XX - 181st Shinbu-tai Ki-84 ? - 182nd Shinbu-tai Ki-84 ? - 183rd Shinbu-tai Ki-84 4506XX - 184th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 4506XX - 185th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 ? - 186th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 ? - 195th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 ? - 197th Shinbu-tai Ki-84 ? -
Again with many thanks to Mr. Ryusuke Ishiguro who gave of his time to research the May 4th attack and help identify Corporal Saburo Mizukoshi & Probationary Officer Mitsuharu Takamura (a Korean) from Saga prefecture.

7 Additional Sangamon Crew life photos. Thanks to Richard Katt for making them available.

Thomas Madison Lowry was from Philadelphia, Mississippi and entered the Navy on 10/24/1941 and served until 9/7/1945. When released he held the rank of "Aviation Chief Ordananceman First Class (AA)(T)". He received the "Bronze Star" for service during the May 4th Kamikaze attack. He passed away after a long illness in 2003. These photos are from the family collection.

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MORE PHOTOS FROM THE USS SANGAMON CRUISE BOOK COURTESY TOMS COPY SCANNED BY LLOYD HARRIS

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THE REUNION OF THE USS SANGAMON WILL BE HELD Covington Kentucky in September. LINK:
Photos of Sangamon courtesy of Don Schroeder & Nav SOurce On line.

Sangamon History Navy source on line

CVE Sailors & Airmen Association

Sangamon History Navy list of ships DANFS

Sangamon - Ships of the NAVY

Sangamon& Her sisters ship yards and final fates.

VC-26 A Sangamon Air Group association contact?

USS Sangamon CVE-26 plus Airgroups VC-26, VC-33 and VC-37

Kamikaze Book by Mr. Ryusuke Ishiguro and Mr Tadeusz Januszewski available from Mushroom Books Krzysztof Wolowski & Zygmunt Szeremeta - Illustrators Orange Series No 9101 ISBN-10:8389450127 Publishing date: summer 2007 220 pages (32 in colour) 295x 210mm (A4)

Mushroom Books On Line Book Store

Wesleyan Kamikaze research project

Japanese Aircraft.com Contains an excellent message board / forum

The Virtual Aircraft Museum Source of KI-61 & KI-84 Artwork

Japanese Language WWII Website. Source of a very brief comment on the Sangamon attack but listed the unit.

Japanese Language WWII Website. Some data on Army JAAF Units

Japanese Language WWII Website on the Toryu

The photo of the KI-45 of the 3rd trainig squadron is copyright from Mr Yoji Watanabe.
In Senshi Sosho, you can find only one line in Japanese as "The escort plane of 123rd squadron also attacked directly." DATA FROM:
"Senshi Sosho: Rikugun Koku Sakusen" and "Model Art Special: no.451," Ki-45 Found the name "Saburo Mizukoshi" in the register of the special attack dead as:
In the book "Hien vs Grumman", This is confirmed by the author, who was actually the pilot in those days was the following data. Not only Corporal Mizukoshi, but another crew was on the Ki-45 attacked directly USS Sangamon. It was Probationary Officer Takamura (he was a Korean).

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