Over the years I became curious about the other ships that accompanied STRONG into the Kula Gulf that fateful night of her sinking to support “Operation Toenails”. In the Cactus Strike Force there were approximately 21 ships total, all various classes of destroyers and light cruisers. I wondered about the fate of these ships and what happened to them after the war was over. Many had a second life in the navy of a foreign country. Some served through the Korean War and Viet Nam before being decommissioned and scrapped, including the two most decorated destroyers in the history of World War 2, the O'BANNON and the NICHOLAS. One of the ships that rescued survivors of both the STRONG sinking and HELENA was sunk in atomic testing in the South Pacific, the USS RALPH TALBOT. I created a spreadsheet of the ship, the class, type of vessel and their role on July 5th of 1943 while they were landing troops and bombarding targets on Kolombangara and New Georgia Islands. The ones colored in aqua are ships that were lost in 1943. There's much more information out there on these ships and their history. If you want to learn more about that evening or the other ships, this table gives you a starting point.
If I've omitted any ships I hope someone will let me know.
-Tammi
*As a footnote, the Artigliere recently discovered and filmed by Paul Allen and Vulcan Inc. is not the vessel once known as the Woodworth, but a previous version of the Italian Artigliere.
If I've omitted any ships I hope someone will let me know.
-Tammi
*As a footnote, the Artigliere recently discovered and filmed by Paul Allen and Vulcan Inc. is not the vessel once known as the Woodworth, but a previous version of the Italian Artigliere.
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