The King Bee by A. N. Olsen

Author:A. N. Olsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 2011-12-21T00:00:00+00:00

Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox presents the Silver Star and Purple Heart medals to Mrs. Jean Meyer, widow of Seabee Lawrence Meyer who was killed in action on Guadalcanal on 16 October 1942. This was the first posthumous medal awarded to a Seabee by SecNav. Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks Mrs. Lewis Hempel, mother of Seabee Meyer and Rear Admiral Randall C. Jacobs, Chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, look on.

(Official U.S. Navy photo)

During much of October the Seabees were busy keeping the airfield operational. Between the Japanese artillery and their naval gunfire Henderson Field became a continual “work-in-progress.” The fully paved (PSP) area was 150 feet by 5600 feet, enough for four fighter airships. But with the craters it was at times impossible to find a usable 75 foot by 2500 foot intact area to use for a landing strip. Eventually a fighter capable area would be restored and the aviators got back to work. But sometimes the attacks came while the planes were off on their own mission. When that happened the Seabee runway repair crews had to hustle to restore the strip and allow the planes to land. But the really dicey times occurred when the planes were off on a mission and the airfield was attacked at night. The Seabees did their usual repair job but the section of the airstrip that was acceptable for landing could be anywhere on the matting. After the repairs were completed the landing area would be designated and the Seabees really earned their pay. They would hold flashlights and form a human perimeter around the designated landing area.12 A job guaranteed to “tighten the pucker string” of anyone, even the hard bitten Seabees. The returning planes could be shot up, the pilot wounded or any number of conditions making a standard landing extra difficult, maybe impossible. Any plane that came in even slightly out of control could easily wipe out a number of Seabees.13 The 6th Naval Construction Battalion received the Presidential Unit Citation for their work on Guadalcanal.14 It’s not known if their work as “human runway lights” played a part in the validation of the award but it certainly should have.

But the fight for Guadalcanal was not yet over. The Japanese were planning an all out attack involving the landing of eleven transports loaded with 13,500 infantry troops. The task force included four battleships and two carriers. The naval battle of Guadalcanal on 14 and 15 November ‘42 is well documented. There were substantial losses on both sides including the loss of two U.S. Rear Admirals, Norman Scott and Dan Callaghan, together with 700 officers and men.15 The battle included perhaps the biggest battleship slugfest of WWII. The USS South Dakota was damaged but seaworthy, the USS Washington’s 16 inch and five inch guns smashed the Kirishima. Afire and dead in the water it’s captain ordered abandon ship and the crew scuttled the Japanese battleship. The planes from the Enterprise and from Henderson Field pounded the transports sinking seven of them.

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