The American destroyer USS O'Bannon (DD 450) was one of the lucky ships of the US Navy. The vessel was named after a legendary marine officer Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon, who distinguished himself in the First Barbary War (1801-05).
The Fletcher class destroyer was launched in 1942. She developed a maximum speed of 35 Knots and her main armament consisted of five 127mm guns in an equal number of turrets. It carried particularly heavy anti-aircraft armament consisting of 10 40mm and seven 20mm guns. She also carried 10 torpedo tubes and depth charges.
He received his baptism of fire in Guadalcanal and then in the Solomon Islands. There the Japanese had just lost the Runga Point base and airfield. Not being able to understand it, they tried to destroy them.
Duel with a battleship
On 13 November 1942 a strong Japanese squadron consisting of the battlecruisers Hiei and Kirishima, a light cruiser and 14 destroyers. Hiei, one of four cruisers (fast battleships, against the Japanese), of the Kongo class, like Kirishima, was armed with eight 14in (356mm) guns, 16 152mm guns, eight 127mm guns and several lighter anti-aircraft guns . It had a displacement of 37,000 t. and developed a maximum speed of 30 Knots.
Against these forces the Americans opposed two heavy and three light cruisers and eight destroyers. Nevertheless they attacked bravely. O'Bannon attacked Hiei. Quickly closing in on the rival Goliath, the small destroyer neutralized the giant's advantage in power and number of guns. The destroyer came so close that the Japanese battlecruiser's missiles flew over it!
On the contrary, O'Bannon's missiles from such a close range caused great damage to the Japanese vessel. At the same time, the other American ships concentrated their fire on the Hiei, causing it such serious damage that it could not, in a short time, face the American aircraft that began to attack it. The Japanese vessel finally surrendered under fire from B-17 heavy bombers and Avenger torpedo planes.
The battle of the potato
The lucky O'Bannon, however, was about to live up to his reputation once again, now facing the Japanese RO-34 Kaichu VI class submarine. The Japanese 1,219 t displacement submarine. submerged, it developed a maximum speed of 19 Knots on the surface – 8.25 Knots submerged – had a range of 15,000 km and was armed with four 21in bow torpedo tubes, one 76mm gun and one 13.2mm heavy machine gun.
On the evening of April 5, 1943, the Japanese vessel surfaced near the Russell Islands in the Solomon Islands. The US destroyers O'Bannon and Strong were also sailing in the area. The O'Bannon spotted the submarine and immediately rushed to attack.
The destroyer sailed up to the submarine with the intention of ramming it. But it changed course when an officer thought it was not a submarine but a Japanese minelayer. So the embolization was ruled out as well as the American vessel would suffer serious damage.
The O'Bannon turned so sharply that it came alongside the Japanese submarine, unable to fire on the low-lying submarine. But the Japanese could score and they did. With no other weapons available, O'Bannon's sailors began throwing potatoes at their Japanese opponents.
Of course potatoes don't kill. But panic sure kills and the Japanese panicked thinking they were receiving a barrage of grenades. The Japanese started throwing potatoes into the sea. However, time was gained this way. The destroyer was removed from the submarine and was now able to use its weapons.
After that the result was predetermined. The Japanese submarine was sunk. O'Bannon also shot down two Japanese aircraft later that day. The O'Bannon became the most "decorated" American destroyer. He was honored with 17 decorations and a presidential honorable mention.
The battle cruiser or fast battleship Hiei.