Sardaukar
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_William_D._Porter_(DD-579)
On 12 November 1943, she departed Norfolk to rendezvous with the Iowa (BB-61). That battleship was on her way to North Africa carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Cairo and Tehran Conferences.[2] William D. Porter was reported to have been involved in a mishap while departing Norfolk when her anchor tore the railing and lifeboat mounts off a docked sister destroyer while maneuvering astern.[a] The next day, a depth charge from the deck of William D. Porter fell into the rough sea and exploded, causing Iowa and the other escort ships to take evasive maneuvers under the assumption that the task force had come under torpedo attack by a German U-boat.[3] Ships logs from William D. Porter and Iowa do not mention a lost depth charge nor a U-boat search on 13 November. Both logs do mention that William D. Porter experienced a boiler tube failure on #3 boiler causing the ship to fall out of position in the formation until #4 boiler was brought online.[4][5]
On 14 November, at Roosevelt's request, Iowa conducted an anti-aircraft drill to demonstrate her ability to defend herself. The drill began with the release of a number of balloons for use as targets. While most of these were shot by gunners aboard Iowa, a few of them drifted toward William D. Porter which shot down balloons as well. Porter, along with the other escort ships, also demonstrated a torpedo drill by simulating a launch at Iowa. This drill suddenly went awry when a torpedo from mount #2[6] aboard William D. Porter discharged from its tube and headed toward Iowa.[3]
William D. Porter attempted to signal Iowa about the incoming torpedo but, owing to orders to maintain radio silence, used a signal lamp instead. However, the destroyer first misidentified the direction of the torpedo and then relayed the wrong message, informing Iowa that Porter was backing up, rather than that a torpedo was in the water.[3] In desperation the destroyer finally broke radio silence, using codewords that relayed a warning message to Iowa regarding the incoming torpedo. After confirming the identity of the destroyer, Iowa turned hard to avoid being hit by the torpedo. Roosevelt, meanwhile, had learned of the incoming torpedo threat and asked his Secret Service attendee to move his wheelchair to the side of the battleship, so he could see.[3] Not long afterward, the torpedo detonated in the ship's wake, some 3,000 yards astern of the Iowa. Iowa was unhurt, but according to legend, trained her main guns on William D. Porter out of concern that the smaller ship might have been involved in some sort of assassination plot.[7] The entire incident lasted about 4 minutes from torpedo firing at 1436 to detonation at 1440.[6][8]
Following these events, the ship and her crew were ordered to Bermuda for an inquiry into the Iowa affair. Chief Torpedoman (CTM(AA)) Lawton Dawson,[9] whose failure to remove the torpedo's primer had enabled it to fire at Iowa, was later sentenced to hard labor, though President Roosevelt intervened in his case, as the incident had been an accident.[3] Contrary to Internet legend, LCDR Walter was not relieved of command following the incident and remained in command until 30 May 1944.[10] He later commanded other ships and eventually became a Rear Admiral.[11][12] William D. Porter was in Bermuda from 16 to 23 November 1943; no mention was made of awaiting Marines or the entire crew being "arrested" in the ship's logs.[13][14]
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"To meaningless French Idealism, Liberty, Fraternity and Equality...we answer with German Realism, Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery" -Prince von Bülov, 1870-  |
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