"We Will Not Disappoint You:" Tom Eversole's Sacrifice at the Battle of Midway

By Laura Orr
HRNM Director of Education

Tom Eversole and his mother, Sarah (Courtesy of the Eversole family)

On April 28, 1942, almost five months after the United States entered the Second World War, U.S. Navy pilot Tom Eversole wrote a letter to his mother, who lived in Pocatello, Idaho. He wrote, “These are difficult times for Mothers everywhere and I am sure that the one message all sons would send their Mothers is ‘Have faith in us. We will do our best, and regardless of the price we may pay, remember that in the ultimate we are striving for those things you spent so many years teaching us. We will not disappoint you.’” Eversole’s actions held true to that sentiment when he gave his life for his country just over a month later. He died fighting in the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, a clash that became the first major victory for the U.S. Navy in the Pacific War.

This is part of Tom Eversole’s letter to his mother from April 28, 1942. (Courtesy of the Eversole family)

John Thomas Eversole—Tom to his friends and family—graduated from the Naval Academy in 1938. He served in the surface fleet for two years and then trained as a naval aviator, graduating from flight school in Pensacola in February 1941. The Navy assigned Eversole to Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6), which was attached to USS Enterprise (CV 6), an aircraft carrier based out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Prior to World War II, pilots did not choose the plane they flew but were randomly assigned to either a fighter, dive bomber, or torpedo bomber upon completion of flight school. Eversole was one of the unlucky ones assigned to the TBD Devastator. These unreliable torpedo planes had a number of troubles, including slow speed and poor maneuverability. Worse yet, the bombers carried the Mark-13 torpedo, a notoriously defective weapon that tended to misfire during prewar ordnance tests. With all of these difficulties, the TBD aviators believed that when a battle happened, they would be unlikely to survive it. Aviation Radioman Third Class Ronald Graetz, a rear seat gunner in VT-6, later recalled, “We knew this was a death squadron. Everybody was satisfied that we were going to lose planes.” Another VT-6 pilot, Ensign Irvin McPherson, recollected, “We had no illusions about those planes of ours. They are good work horses or training planes by modern standards, but their lack of speed and lack of armament made them practically worthless.”

A TBD Devastator drops a torpedo (NHHC)

On the morning of June 4, 1942, three squadrons of torpedo planes—Eversole’s squadron from USS Enterprise and one squadron each from USS Yorktown and USS Hornet—charged into battle. These pilots and rear seat gunners went into the fray knowing it would be their last flight. Lieutenant (junior grade) Jack “Dusty” Kleiss remembered his final goodbye with his good friend Tom Eversole. He wrote, “We shook hands and bid each other ‘good luck.’ It was a gut-wrenching goodbye. I knew this was likely farewell forever. . . . There is nothing quite so dark and terrifying as knowing your friend is about to be killed and being utterly unable to help him.” Without fighter protection, the three TBD squadrons reached the Japanese carrier fleet, dropping low to do what little damage they could. Ensign McPherson of VT-6 recollected, “We were all worried—not scared at this time because we weren’t in the thick of things as yet—but things looked bad. Here we were without protection, alone, and certain to get the full force of the concentrated Jap antiaircraft fire as we approached for the kill."

TBD Devastators attack the Japanese carriers on June 4, 1942 (R.G. Smith, Navy Art)

In the space of just fifty minutes, the three torpedo squadrons lost 37 of 41 planes, 68 of 82 crewmen, and they didn’t score a single hit. With their sacrifice, however, they distracted the Japanese fighter planes so the U.S. Navy’s dive bomber pilots could come in and sink three of the Japanese aircraft carriers in what became known as the famous five minutes of Midway.

Only four TBDs made it back to USS Enterprise. Lieutenant (junior grade) Tom Eversole’s plane was not among them. While no one saw his plane go down, his squadron’s survivors assumed he was shot down by the Japanese. In the aftermath, the Bureau of Naval Personnel declared Eversole missing in action and notified his family. His girlfriend, Betty Ensor, sent a telegram to Eversole’s mother, stating, “Just notified by Navy Washington our darling is missing. You have all my love and sympathy. We must be brave and pray for his return.” Unfortunately, Eversole, like many other World War II aviators lost at sea, would never be found.

Betty Ensor, Tom Eversole’s girlfriend, sent this telegram to his mother after she heard he was missing in action. (Courtesy of the Eversole family)

But Eversole’s sacrifice at Midway would not be forgotten. In early 1943, J.M. Schelling, the Navy’s supervisor of shipbuilding, recommended that a new destroyer escort be named after Eversole. Schelling sent this news to Sarah Eversole, Tom’s mother, and the Navy Department asked her to be the sponsor for this new ship. In December 1942, the Navy commissioned USS Eversole (DE 404), a John C. Butler­-class destroyer escort. On October 28, 1944, at its first major battle, the Japanese submarine I-45 torpedoed USS Eversole near Leyte Gulf. Over fifty crewmembers died when the ship exploded.

This framed photograph of USS Eversole’s commissioning in December 1943 was recently donated to the Hampton Roads Naval Museum from the Eversole family. (photo taken by author)

Recently, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum received artifacts from Tom Eversole’s family, including a framed print from the commissioning ceremony. On the back of this print are the signatures of the crewmembers who survived the ship’s sinking. In the top left corner is the signature of Lieutenant Commander George Marix, USS Eversole’s captain. Over 150 Sailors signed this photograph and gave it to Sarah Eversole, Tom’s mother, as a remembrance of this first ship named after her son. In 1946, the Navy launched a second ship named after him, which served in the Navy until 1973 when it was transferred to the Turkish Navy.

This is the back of the commissioning photograph, with signatures from the survivors of USS Eversole after the ship sank at Leyte Gulf. (photo taken by author)

On this 80th anniversary of the Battle of Midway, we remember the sacrifice of LTJG Tom Eversole and his fellow torpedo pilots. As dive bomber pilot Dusty Kleiss once said, reminiscing about the legacy of the Battle of Midway, “Our torpedo plane crews should get the real honors. They were flying obsolete planes with the world’s worst torpedoes. . . .Only a handful of all three squadrons survived. These torpedo plane crews kept the Japanese ships in disarray and kept all their fighters at sea level.” As we contemplate the 80th anniversary of this crucial turning point in the war in the Pacific, remember the sacrifice made by these young naval aviators to win this victory.

Letter from Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox to Sarah Eversole, confirming Tom’s status as missing in action, July 29, 1942. (Courtesy of the Eversole family)

A Casualty of Leyte- October 25, 1944

In quiet repose within the collection of the museum rests the pristine model of a feared and deadly class of enemy warship.  Its namesake, IJS Mogami, slipped beneath the waters of Surigao Strait, Philippines, at a little after 1 pm local time, October 25, 1944.  After being rendered dead in the water by American shells and bombs overnight, it was scuttled with a Type-93 “Long-Lance” torpedo by destroyer IJN Akebono during the retreat from the Battle of Surigao Strait, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf.   

Both the model and the real Mogami began construction at the Kure Naval Arsenal almost 13 years before the battle, ostensibly under armament and displacement limits set by the London Naval Treaty of 1930.  Although Japan was a signatory to the treaty, which set displacement for cruisers at 10,000 tons, the Mogami-class “light-cruisers” not only weighed in at more than 13,000 tons when launched, but were designed from the beginning to be upgraded with heavier deck guns.  The design emphasizing such heavy armament on a relatively light hull resulted in warpage and stability issues during trials, to the extent that she and her sister ship Mikuma, both launched in 1934, had to return to the dry docks at Kure for an extensive refit.

Here we see turret three as it would have appeared until the end of the decade, like the four others of Mogami, equipped with three 155 mm guns each (Only the third and fourth turrets were equipped with rangefinders).  The turret rings were conveniently designed for swapping-out with turrets housing two 203mm guns each, which was accomplished before the war with America began.  

Mogami and Mikuma scored their deadliest victory against American and Australian (and, ironically, Japanese) forces when they helped sink the Newport News-constructed heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) and light cruiser HMAS Perth (D-29) in the Battle of the Sunda Strait (depicted above) on the night of February 28-March 1 1942.  After-action analysis determined that torpedoes from Mikuma and destroyer IJS Fubuki also sank or disabled four of the Japanese troop transport vessels the Allied ships were trying to attack in the first place.  

The sister ships encountered further misfortune when attempting to escort Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo’s invasion force to Midway Island in June 1942.  In the ensuing debacle, Mogami collided with Mikuma on June 5 when the latter executed an emergency turn before the former could respond.  Mogami’s bow was crushed, cutting its top speed by over half, and one of Mikuma’s main fuel tanks was punctured, leaving an oil slick any aircraft could follow, and follow they did.  

Over the next 24 hours, Marine, Army, and finally Navy planes followed the trail.  Dive bombers from USS Enterprise (CV-6 ) and Hornet (CV-8), both made in Newport News, left Mikuma a smoking ruin after five direct hits set off unexploded ordnance, particularly the Type-93 torpedoes.  Although the most advanced torpedo in the world at the time in terms of range, speed, and firepower, the Long Lance would ultimately prove fatal to three of the four ships of the class because of the compressed oxygen they carried.  

Mogami would have suffered the same fate had it not been for its damage control officer, Lieutenant Commander Masayushi Saruwatari, who ordered all remaining torpedoes and depth charges jettisoned after the collision when it became clear that aerial attack was inevitable.  The dive bombers only scored two significant hits, but one forced Saruwatari, in his words, to take the “apparently unmerciful step” of sealing off the sickbay to keep a conflagration there from spreading to the rest of the ship.  Those within not killed by the bomb perished in the flames. “I trembled with great sorrow toward them,” recalled Saruwatari. 

Mogami survived to fight another day, but when it did resume the fight, it had undergone quite a metamorphosis.  After essential repairs at the island of Truk southwest of Midway, Mogami made it back to Sasebo on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu in August 1942 where engineers worked feverishly to reinvent the warship to cope with a combat environment drastically changed from the one it was designed to fight in.  Mogami’s fourth and fifth turrets ( the "light cruiser" kind shown in the model above, the heavy cruiser replacements in the illustration immediately below) were removed and a flight deck and rail system supporting up to 11 reconnaissance floatplanes was installed. 

Its dual 25mm anti air emplacements (on either side of the searchlight in the photo above) were replaced with 10 triple-mount 25mm guns along with an air-defense radar.  During two subsequent refits back in Kure, four more triple-mount and 18 more single-mount 25mm AA guns were installed along with two more radar targeting systems.  By the time it was assigned to help repel the American invasion of the Philippines as part of the Southern Force, the “aircraft cruiser” Mogami had more than 17 times the number of 25mm anti-aircraft guns than it had at the start of the war.  

But in the end, Mogami and 192 of its crew of 850 would perish in the last sea battle decided by old-fashioned gunplay.  Four well-placed 8-inch shells lobbed by Rear Admiral Jessie Oldendorf’s task group defending Leyte destroyed Mogami’s bridge and its air defense center.  As the surviving vessels of the Southern Force attempted to withdraw back through the strait amid the smoke and darkness, the cruiser IJN Nachi collided with the crippled Mogami.  This time, there was no time to jettison the volatile torpedoes and five exploded, knocking out Mogami’s starboard engine.  More 6 and 8-inch shells rained down from the pursuing cruisers USS Denver (CL-58), USS Louisville (CA-28), and USS Portland (CA-33), and the cruiser’s port engine then failed.  Now adrift in the morning light, Mogami was hit by two 500-pound bombs from a group of 17 TBF Avengers which attacked shortly after 9 am.  The crew started abandoning ship around two hours later, and two hours after that, Akebono struck the final blow. 

Coincidentally, at almost the same time on October 25, Mogami’s sister ship Suzuya also succumbed after aerial attack by the planes of Task Unit 77.4.3 (“Taffy 3”) off Samar.  The ship sustained no direct hits, but indirect damage caused its Long Lance torpedoes to explode.  The final ship of the class, IJS Kumano, survived the Battle off Samar despite sustaining the loss of her bow to a torpedo from USS Johnston (DD-557), but she was sunk exactly one month later by aircraft from the Newport News-made USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) as the ship underwent repairs in Dasol Bay, around 175 miles north of Manila.

The model remains an intricately-fashioned but mute reminder of the grand plans and desperate measures other navies have undertaken to win supremacy of the seas, only to be stopped by the mighty United States Navy.

(Sources: Gordon W. Prange, Donald Goldstein and Katherine Dillon, Miracle at Midway (New York: McGraw-Hill), 339-340; "Japan's Light/Heavy Cruiser Mogami," worldofwarships.com; combined fleet.com.  Special thinks to HRNM Registrar Katherine Renfrew)

5-Inch Guns at the Battle of Leyte Gulf

On the morning of October 25, 1944, the escort carrier group “Taffy 3” was surprised by a large Japanese force which included cruisers and the heaviest battleship in the world, the Yamato.  This small group of escort carriers and “tin can” destroyers was all that stood between the Japanese and the American invasion force at Leyte in the Philippines.  In part of what was to be called the Battle of Leyte Gulf, a handful of destroyers and destroyer escorts protected “jeep carriers” (CVEs) in a suicidal run against a vastly superior Japanese force.  The names USS Johnston (DD-557), USS Hoel (DD-533), USS Heermann (DD-532) and USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) are among those of naval lore for their actions in this battle as they tried to screen the carriers. Of note in these tales of bravery are the stories of the men who kept firing their comparatively small five inch guns against heavily armored Japanese vessels after their ships had been severely damaged or they were out of ammunition.  

Note the five 5-inch turrets on the Fletcher-class destroyers.

The 5-inch gun was not the main weapon in a WWII-era USN destroyer’s arsenal. That honor belonged to the Mk 15 torpedo.  A Fletcher-class destroyer usually mounted ten, while a destroyer escort such as Samuel B. Roberts had three. Yet after these were fired, they could not be reloaded at sea, and the 5-inch guns became a ship’s primary weapon. The Mk 30 single mounted 5-inch/.38 caliber gun was the largest cannon on these ships. Widely regarded as the best dual purpose gun in WWII, it was put on almost everything afloat in the U.S. Navy.

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During the battle, the heaviest guns that the escort carrier group Taffy 3 had at their disposal were the 5-inch ones. Besides the destroyers’ guns, each CVE had a single 5-inch gun in an open mount.  As the group desperately tried to run from the shocking appearance of the Japanese fleet, American sailors and pilots tried to throw everything they could to delay the onslaught.

 The Mk 30 5-inch gun fired a round which weighed 55 lbs.  For comparison, the 16-inch guns on an Iowa-class battleship fired shells weighing 2,700lbs, and the Yamato fired shells weighing over 3,000lbs out of her 18.1-inch guns. In addition, the small shells fired by the American destroyers could not penetrate the armor on the heavy cruisers that were at the front of the fleet overtaking the American carriers.  Even with these facts, the small ships, led by Johnston, engaged the heavier Japanese ships, firing hundreds of shells during the course of the battle.  Samuel B. Roberts reportedly fired over 600 rounds in just over a half hour, which is astounding as there were only two guns onboard the ship.  Numerous Japanese ships were hit in the barrage flying from the guns of the American ships.  The accuracy of the destroyer’s gunfire was helped by the proximity of combat, the superior American radar guided fire control system, and the sheer size of their foes.

In this David versus Goliath drama, the courage and determination of the “small boys” proved decisive in slowing down and confusing the Japanese fleet.  In the end, the Japanese admiral called off his fleet and Taffy 3, as well as the invasion fleet, were saved.  The men on the destroyer screening force paid dearly as several ships were lost, but their sacrifice helped prevent further disaster. 

Battleship Gunnery at the Battle of Surigao Strait

This gunnery trophy plaque off USS West Virginia (BB-48) hangs in our World War II gallery. As can be seen on the plaque, West Virginia won it five times in the first ten years after it was commissioned in December 1923. Although the plaque dates from the interwar period, the sailors of West Virginia lived up to their ship’s tradition during WWII. Built at Newport News right after WWI, it was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. Rebuilt and brought back into service, the ship was part of the invasion fleet at Leyte Gulf in October 1944. Sailing alongside it were several other survivors of Pearl Harbor, including other Newport News-built battleships USS Maryland (BB-46) and USS Pennsylvania (BB-38).

In October 1944, the Japanese launched an all-out naval assault on the invasion fleet in Leyte Gulf. Their plan had multiple moving parts which led to problems. The Japanese divided their fleet into three sections. First a diversion force in the north would draw the main American force (under Halsey) away from the invasion fleet. Then two fleets would deploy in a pincer formation to attack the vulnerable landing and supply ships. The southern force (divided into two parts) was to head through the Surigao Strait.

Navy planes spotted and attacked the first part of the southern force under Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura on the morning of October 24 as it cruised south of the Philippine island of Negros. The detection of this force allowed Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf, in charge of bombardment/fire support for the invasion fleet, to set a trap for when the enemy force entered Surigao Strait that night. First the Japanese fleet had to make it through PT (patrol torpedo) boat attacks, then a crossfire of more torpedoes launched from destroyers, before having to deal with both a line of cruisers and a line of battleships, which would be maneuvering in the classic naval tactic of “crossing the T.” This tactic would allow for the greatest number of guns to bear on the Japanese while their return fire was largely limited to the lead ship. Besides West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, the American battleship force included two other Pearl Harbor survivors: USS Tennessee (BB-43) and USS California (BB-44). The sixth battleship included in the force was the Newport News-built battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41), which was doing escort duty near Iceland when the war started.

As the Japanese fleet headed into Surigao Strait, the torpedoes from the PT boats missed, but the destroyers had much better success. The U.S. destroyers were deadly with their torpedo attack, as they sank the battleship Fuso (one of two in the first striking force) and a destroyer, crippled another destroyer, and damaged another destroyer enough that it limped back the way it came. The flagship Yamashiro was also damaged but continued on toward the strait, along with the cruiser Mogami and a remaining destroyer. The second half of the Japanese force (under Adm. Shima) was nearly 30 miles behind, as strict radio silence had prevented close coordination. 

As opposed to their predecessors who earned the gunnery plaque, the sailors onboard West Virginia were aided by a new fire control radar system (Mk 8) which enabled them to detect the enemy at a great distance. In the early morning hours of October 25, the ship’s radar picked up the Japanese force at 42,000 yards (nearly 24 miles, or the length of 140 football fields). By the time they had approached to 30,000 yards, the gunnery crews had a firing solution, and when the Japanese ships approached to about 26,000 yards (nearly 15 miles) away, the 16-inch guns opened fire shortly before 0400 on October 25.

Mogami was badly damaged at the Battle of Midway, so the two aft turrets were removed and it was converted to an “aircraft cruiser.”

Yamashiro was the focus of most of the fire emanating from the American battleships and cruisers. It was hit numerous times and quickly caught on fire. In addition to the gunfire pouring in, the Japanese battleship was struck by more torpedoes, and it sank less than 30 minutes after West Virginia opened fire. Mogami was also badly damaged and on fire. In roughly 15 minutes of engagement, the U.S. battleships alone fired 285 (16 or 14-inch) armor piercing shells. West Virginia expended near half of the armor piercing ammunition, firing 93 rounds from its eight 16-inch guns. The old battle wagons resurrected from Pearl Harbor had exacted their revenge on the Japanese navy.

Shima’s force arrived too late to assist Nishimura’s ships and quickly fled the scene. Some U.S. cruisers and destroyers pursued them, sinking another destroyer and causing fatal damage to Mogami. The Japanese thrust from the south had utterly failed, but the northern part of the pincer was still a major threat, although Adm. Halsey inexplicably ignored it. The consequences of this decision would be readily apparent when the sun came up east of Samar on October 25, 1944.