Pensacola Convoy
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The Pensacola Convoy, also known as Operation Plum, was a United States military shipping convoy, which took place as the Pacific War began, in late 1941. The convoy was named for its main escort ship, the heavy cruiser USS Pensacola. It was intended that the convoy would reinforce U.S. and Filipino forces in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Philippines, under General Douglas MacArthur, with artillery, airplanes, munitions and fuel, as the threat of war with the Empire of Japan loomed.[1]
After war broke out, and Japanese forces invaded the Philippines, the convoy was diverted to Australia.
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[edit] Background
The reinforcement and resupply of the Philippines was ordered by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On 14 November, Roosevelt approved the plan for Operation Plum.
Besides the Pensacola and the gunboat USS Niagara, the convoy included the military transport ships USAT Willard A. Holbrook, USS Republic, USAT Meigs, USS Chaumont, the U.S. merchant ships Admiral Halstead, Coast Farmer and the Dutch merchant ship Bloemfontein.
The convoy was carrying a brigade from the U.S. Field Artillery Corps, made up of 4,600 National Guard (reserve) personnel:
- 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment (Texas National Guard)
- 1st and 2nd Battalions, 147th Field Artillery Regiment (South Dakota National Guard)
- 1st Battalion, 148th Field Artillery Regiment (Idaho National Guard)
U. S. Army Air Forces ground crews were also on board, along with aircraft disassembled in crates: 52 Douglas A-24 dive bombers and 18 Curtiss P-40 fighter planes.
Materiel on board included: 20 75 mm field artillery pieces, AA ammunition, 2,000 500-lb bombs, 3,000 30-lb bombs, 340 motor vehicles, 9,000 barrels of aviation fuel, 500,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition and 9,600 rounds of 37 mm anti-aircraft shells.
[edit] The convoy
The ships left San Francisco on 24 November and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 27 November. The convoy left Pearl Harbor for Manila by an indirect, southerly route. On 7 December, after news of the attack on Pearl Harbor reached the convoy, the crews and soldiers on board began to cover the civilian paint schemes of the ships with gray paint.[2] Extra lookouts were posted to watch for Japanese planes, submarines and surface ships. All personnel were ordered to wear life jackets and carry full canteens of water. Life rafts were installed on deck. Japanese forces landed in the Philippines on 8 December and the convoy was ordered to put in at Suva, Fiji while its destination. was reconsidered.
It became clear over the following hours that the Japanese were rapidly overcoming Allied resistance in the Philippines and many other parts of Southeast Asia. On 9 December, at a meeting of the Joint Board, the chief planners of the respective services, Brigadier General Leonard T. Gerow and Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner agreed that the convoy should be recalled immediately. Turner wanted it to reinforce Pearl Harbor. Gerow agreed and added that if the convoy was not sent to Hawaii, it should be brought back to the continental United States.[3]
However, the Pensacola convoy was discussed in a meeting at the White House the following day, and Roosevelt suggested that that the materiel should be delivered to the Southwest Pacific. He referred the matter back to the Joint Board, which decided at a meeting that same day to send the convoy to Brisbane, Australia.
The convoy then sailed from Fiji in a zigzag course, at a speed set by the slowest ship. To ensure that the rations on board lasted, the soldiers now received only two daily meals.
Meanwhile, the staff of the commander of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, Admiral Thomas C. Hart, considered how the convoy could make its way from Brisbane to Manila. Japanese advances in the Philippines meant that a blockade by the Imperial Japanese Navy was highly possible. Secondary plans to support Dutch and British Commonwealth forces, in the Dutch East Indies, Malaya and Singapore, faced similar difficulties. MacArthur, when advised of Hart's apprehensions, replied that the convoy could reach Manila with an appropriate naval escort and air support. The situation changed however suddenly, on 22 December, when Japanese forces began landing in Lingayen Gulf.
That same day, the day the convoy reached Brisbane. It was received enthusiastically by people in Australia. This was because they were the first U.S. soldiers on Australian soil,[4] at a time when Japanese forces were seen to threaten Australia. The strongest and only battle-hardened Australian Army units — known as the Australian Imperial Force — were involved in the North African and Malayan Campaigns. The U.S. soldiers were accommodated at Ascot Racecourse (later known as Eagle Farm) in tents, while they awaited further instructions.
It had been decided to send the most important articles of equipment by air to Manila, and General George Brett was on route to Australia to establish U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) bases. The airplanes sent with the convoy were assembled. It turned out that important parts were missing, including self-sealing fuel tanks, gunsights and starter motors. The circumstances that led to the omission of these parts were never clarified. It is unclear whether this resulted from an act of sabotage or human failure.
On 28 December, two artillery battalions boarded the Holbrook and Chaumont, in order to sail to Manila, escorted by the Pensacola. However, the Japanese had established naval and air superiority around the Philippines and the convoy soon received orders to return to Australia.
[edit] Aftermath
The Bloemfontein was able to transport the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery to Surabaya, Java, where it joined other Allied forces. The battalion was commended for its service in the Battle of Java, during March 1942. After a general Allied surrender, most of its personnel became POWs.
Most of the USAAF P-40 fighter planes on the Pensacola Convoy were assigned to the 17th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional),[5] formed from USAAF pilots evacuated from the Philippines. From late January, the 17th PS flew its aircraft to bases on Java, where it claimed 49 Japanese aircraft destroyed for the loss of 17 P-40s.[6] In March, the squadron handed its aircraft to the Dutch military and returned to Australia.
Most of the A-24s were destroyed in action over Java with the 27th Bombardment Group. Several others were later assigned to the 3rd Bombardment Group; most of these were shot down on 26 July 1942, while attacking Japanese shipping off Buna, New Guinea.
The battalions of the 147th and 148th Field Artillery Regiments on the convoy were sent to Darwin to reinforce northern Australia. The 147th units were later reorganized as the 147th and 260th Field Artillery Battalions. The 148th units became the 148th Field Artillery Battalion. Both battalions served in the Southwest Pacific.
USS Pensacola served in many notable actions of World War II; she was decommissioned on 26 August 1946.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Australian War Memorial Online Encyclopedia, 2008, "United States forces in Australia" (Australian War Memorial; AWM)
- Gordon R. Birkett, 2003-05, "Early USAAF P40E/E-1 Operations in Australia Part 3V5" (adf-serials.com)
- A. B. Feuer, "Pawn Of Fate: The Pensacola Convoy", Sea Classics July 2004 (article; available through BNET)
- Peter Dunn, 2004, "Pensacola Convoy and Other Convoys Arriving in Australia During WW2" (Australia @ War; amateur military history)
- Carl Molesworth, 2003, P-40 Warhawk Aces of the Pacific, Osprey Publishing (excepts available from Google books)
- Louis Morton, 1953, United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific; The Fall of the Philippines (Chapter IX: "Strategy and Logistics"; "The Pensacola Convoy") (Official history)
