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291 CHAPTER FOURTEEN “Thousands of Men Gone Completely Mad” up on the signal bridge of the USS Langley in the early morning of Friday , February 27, 2nd Lt. Bill Ackerman was beginning the sixth day of his self-styled “joy ride” on the old seaplane tender since leaving Fremantle for Java. The 13th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional) pilot was standing next to 33rd Pursuiter Gerry Dix, sharing lookout duties on this the Sydney, Nebraska, native’s twenty-third birthday. From the bridge Ackerman and Dix had an unobstructed 360-degree view.1 Suddenly, at 0810 their spirits took a dive when they spotted a plane very high up. Suspecting it was a Japanese reconnaissance ship, they reported their finding by voice tube to the navigation bridge to Captain McConnell. With no previous experience in such situations, Ackerman felt it was probably only a routine inspection by the Japanese pilot, but the others knew better —Japanese bombers would soon be on their way. This was bad news—the Langley still had about one hundred miles to go before it would reach its destination , Tjilatjap harbor.2 At 1140 their fears were realized: two formations of what appeared to be twin-engine bombers were approaching the Langley and its escorts, the destroyers USS Edsall and USS Whipple. Captain McConnell sounded general quarters and climbed a ladder to the signal bridge to join Dix, Ackerman, and the other eleven men there: McConnell’s talker, his gunnery officer, and nine machine gunners. They all watched as the bombers took up a position dead astern, closing rapidly at about fifteen thousand feet. On each of the four corners of the signal bridge the gunners were ready to fire their .50-caliber machine guns.3 292 Chapter Fourteen Flak from the Langley and the two destroyers burst below the seven bombers of the first group as they went into their bomb run on the old seaplane tender. As each bomber released a 250 kg (551-pound) bomb in salvo, McConnell called for hard right rudder over the voice tube, and the Langley heeled to the left. All seven bombs exploded in the water, but two close to the ship’s side buckled plates, allowing tons of water to pour through the openings.4 When the second group of nine bombers approached for its run in three Vs of three ships each, the Langley zigzagged while its four three-inch antiaircraft guns fired at the Japanese. Concentrating on picking the moment of release, McConnell yelled “Hard left rudder!” and the Langley turned away from the expected bomb drop. But the Japanese withheld releasing their bombs as they passed over the Langley’s original track, then swung around in a wide turn for another try. This time the Japanese leader came in slowly to avoid overshooting the Langley’s turning point in changing course. Just as McConnell called for a turn to the left, the bombers followed the ship, dead astern, then picked up her turn to the right. The formation again turned with the Langley, lined up on her, and began releasing a mixture of 250 kg and 60 kg (132-pound) bombs. The first bomb exploded on the main deck on the starboard side, starting fires and spraying shrapnel in all directions. Shrapnel from the second and third bombs that had landed on the port side of the elevator and set fire to P-40s on the main deck hit Dix and Ackerman, one piece slicing into Dix’s left arm and another shattering his jaw. Ackerman took shrapnel in the hand and arm. The fourth bomb also hit on the port side, shattering P-40s on the flight deck. The fifth bomb penetrated the flight deck on the starboard side aft, starting fierce fires.5 After the bombers finished their bomb run, Dix and Ackerman were carried from the signal bridge to the sick bay. Dix was given morphine, and the wounds of both pursuiters, as well as the sailors wounded in the attack, were dressed. But it was not yet over for the Langley. Suddenly sweeping in, six Zeros began firing their 20 mm cannons into the forecastle, bridge, and flight deck, setting fire to several of the P-40s. After finishing their run, nine more Zeros dived down and repeated the strafing attack on the P-40s and the deck structures, killing a number of Army Air Force and navy personnel.6 As the Zeros concluded their attack and formed up on the...

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