CVL-23 USS Princeton

Eyewitness to Tragedy: Death of USS Princeton

The 600-foot light carrier USS Princeton (CVL23) was commissioned in the Philadelphia Navy Yard on February 25, 1943, and was sunk 20 months later, on October 24, 1944, in Leyte Gulf during heroic efforts to retake the Philippines from the Japanese. One of two light carriers in Task Group 38.3, Princeton carried 23 fighters and 10 torpedo bombers. I am probably one of only two living eyewitnesses to a tragic event. Except for a buddy and me, everyone who had been in a position to see the start of the explosion that eventually sank Princeton was killed outright that day. Official tallies on casualties from the death of Princeton were 347 killed, 552 wounded and 4 missing.
The majority of those casualties were not aboard Princeton, however, but were, as was I, aboard USS Birmingham, a light cruiser that was also part of the task group. Birmingham had drawn alongside to assist Princeton after the light carrier was crippled by a successful bombing run by a lone enemy plane. Aboard Birmingham, the tally was 230 dead, 408 wounded, and 4 missing.
I am convinced that it would have been impossible to improve upon what a single Japanese pilot, flying a Yokosuka D4Y “Judy” dive bomber with two 550-pound bombs, achieved that day, had the bombing been the result of a meticulous plan rather than a chance encounter. In the explosion that occurred hours after the Judy’s bombing run, my right leg was blown off at the knee and buried at sea. So, in effect, I already have one foot in the grave.
More:http://www.historynet.com/eyewitnes...uss-princeton-may-97-world-war-ii-feature.htm

An amazing account of an incident witnessed by only a few