In the photo above, a 5-inch/51 seacoast gun of Battery A, 1st Defense
Battalion, rests at the Marine Corps Base, San Diego, on 21 October
1940, prior to its being deployed “beyond the seas.” Private Edward F.
Eaton, standing beside it, serves as a yardstick to give the viewer an
idea of the size of the gun that could hurl a 50-pound shell at 3,150
feet per second up to a range of 17,100 yards. These guns gave a good
account of themselves at Wake Island, particularly in discouraging
Admiral Kajioka’s attempted landing in December 1941.
]
[Sidebar (page 13):
[Illustration]
Captain Henry T. Elrod (seen at right in the fall of 1941), VMF-211’s
executive officer, distinguished himself both in the air and in the
ground fighting at Wake, with deeds which earned him a posthumous
Medal of Honor. Born in Georgia in 1905, Elrod attended the University
of Georgia and Yale University. Enlisting in the Corps in 1927, he
received his commission in 1931. Elrod is the only Marine hero from
Wake who has had a warship--a guided missile frigate--named in his
honor.
]
‘_Still No Help_’
Well before dawn on 12 December, unsynchronized engines heralded
the approach of a Japanese flying boat. Captains Freuler and Tharin
scrambled their planes to intercept it. The enemy plane--a Kawanishi
H6K Type 97 reconnaissance flying boat (Mavis) from the _Yokohama Air
Group_ dropped its bombs on the edge of the lagoon and then sought
cover in the overcast and rain squalls. Tharin, although untrained in
night aerial combat techniques, chased and “splashed” it. None of its
nine-man crew survived.
Later that same day, 26 _Chitose Air Group_ Nells bombed Wake Island.
Returning aircrewmen claimed damage to a warehouse and an antiaircraft
gun in the “western sector.” Antiaircraft fire shot down one plane and
damaged four; Japanese casualties included eight men killed. Once the
bombers had departed, “Barney” Barninger’s men continued working on
their foxholes, freshened the camouflage, cleaned the guns, and tried
to catch some sleep. The daily bombings, he wrote later, “were becoming
an old story, and it was a relief from waiting when the raid was over.”
[Illustration: _Capt Frank C. Tharin (seen here as a first lieutenant,
8 August 1939) would earn a Silver Star Medal, a Distinguished Flying
Cross, and two Air Medals for his performance of duty at Wake Island._
Marine Corps Historical Collection
]
Weathering bombing attacks, taking the enemy’s blows, was one thing,
but striking at the Japanese was something else--something to boost
morale. At about 1600 on the 12th, Second Lieutenant Kliewer, while
patrolling, spotted a surfaced submarine 25 miles southwest of Wake.
With the sun behind him, he dove from 10,000 feet. Convinced that the
submarine was Japanese, Kliewer fired his four .50-calibers broadside
into the submarine. Turning to the right, and seeking to increase his
chances of scoring maximum damage on the enemy, he dove and dropped
his two 100-pounders at such a low altitude that bomb fragments ripped
large holes in his wings and tail surfaces. Emptying his guns into the
submarine on his next pass, he looked behind him and saw her submerge.
Major Putnam flew out to verify that the sub had been sunk and spotted
an oil slick at the spot Kliewer indicated.
[Illustration: