| Caption | Destroyer USS Laffey (foreground) and cruiser USS Juneau in Luganville anchorage, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 16 Sep 1942. Both ships arrived with survivors of the sunken USS Wasp (Wasp-class). Photo 1 of 4. ww2dbase | ||||||||||||||
| Photographer | Unknown | ||||||||||||||
| Source | ww2dbaseUnited States Navy Naval History and Heritage Command | ||||||||||||||
| Identification Code | NH 97867 | ||||||||||||||
| More on... |
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| Photo Size | 740 x 581 pixels | ||||||||||||||
| Photos in Series | See all 4 photos in this series | ||||||||||||||
| Photos on Same Day | 16 Sep 1942 | ||||||||||||||
| Photos at Same Place | Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides | ||||||||||||||
| Added By | C. Peter Chen | ||||||||||||||
| Licensing | Public Domain. According to the US Navy Naval History and Heritage Command, as of 21 Jul 2010: Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you. |
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| Colorized By WW2DB |
Colorized with Adobe Photoshop |
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Modern Day Location
| WW2-Era Place Name | Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides |
| Lat/Long | -15.5257, 167.2202 |
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"You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terrors. Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival."Winston Churchill
27 Mar 2018 10:20:05 PM
The official US Navy caption for this photo says the USS Laffey is maneuvering alongside either the cruiser USS Pensacola or the cruiser USS Salt Lake City but the War Diaries are very clear about where those ships were. USS Pensacola was at sea when this photo was taken and USS Salt Lake City was in port at Espiritu Santo. Specifically, the Salt Lake City War Diary lists taking aboard Wasp survivors from Laffey. Since the photo clearly shows Laffey’s decks covered with Wasp survivors, it is clear that this photo was taken as Laffey was approaching Salt Lake City, or about 1530 hours local time.
The Salt Lake City War Diary goes on to say that when Laffey cast off at 1635, Laffey rammed Salt Lake City’s starboard anchor tearing a hole in Laffey’s forecastle about 3 feet above the waterline. Then, after Laffey had cleared the side, the destroyer USS Lardner came alongside to transfer more Wasp survivors and accidentally dropped a 300-pound depth charge overboard. The depth charge was on ‘Safe’ so it did not explode.
Anyway, this photo shows a piece of the Salt Lake City, not the Pensacola, no matter what the Navy says.