Wisconsin 5 skipper, Captain Burrowes, delivers his accolade
to Marine Corps Captain Blake-whose prompt action saved the ship from damage, and her officers from humiliation.
stern had come into contact with the Hudson's muddy bottom. On a positive note, the grounding eased pressure on the forward, downstream moor. The tide was low, with high ride scheduled at 1349. These tidal conditions bode well for refloating. Unfo rtunately, the engineers reported a slow loss of vacuum on turbo generators 5 and 6. Lacking circulating water due to the intakes resting on the mudflats, the engineers shut down the power plants at 0715. Power was lost throughout the ship. By this time six tugboats had joined the gaggle ofLCMs on the starboard quarter in a seemingly futile attempt to move 45,000 tons of steel. But these efforts kept the battleship from moving farther toward the New Jersey shore. Over on the New York shore, Wisconsin's gig headed toward the 79th Street pier to pick up Captain Burrowes and the chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander G. Gardner. At 0727 a message was dispatched to the commander of Naval Base New York to "expedite" sending additional rugs and a pilot. With the after emergency diesel generator coming to life, lights throughout the ship began to flicker. However, attempts to restart generators 5 and 6 using circulating water cut in from the firemain fai led and the lights again went out at 0755 when the after emergency diesel had to be shut down due to overheating. By this time both Burrowes and Gardner had returned. Heading down into the darkening engineering spaces, the Chief Engineer fo und out that the feed water supply in fireroom three was running critically low. He approved the transfer of reserve feedwater from fireroom four so that boiler 6 could continue steaming. With electrical ventilation systems shut down, the heat below became nearly unbearable as the boilermen rotated in on five-minute shifts. Four men suffered heat exhaustion. 18
Up above, more tugs responded to Wisconsin's pleas for aid. And at 0844, the Coast Guard icebreaker W-91 rook position on the starboard quarter and began pushing. The icebreaker's powerful thrust proved decisive. At 0855 the sounding of the depth of water aft, which had been reading 23 feet four inches, deepened to 25 feet. Wisconsin's stern began to swing back into the main channel of the Hudson. A few min utes later, lights and ventilation came on as the forward emergency diesel generated power to the main switchboard. Along the New Jersey Palisades, thousands watched the drama unfold. Still, "Wisky'' faced the predicament of being latched to two buoys, and there were concerns of fou ling one of the battleship's four screws in the wires. Burrowes cut loose the wires from Buoy B, aft, and the port anchor chain latched to Buoy A and raised the starboard anchor to get underway. With a pilot aboard and rugs alongside to guide the way, Wisconsin tested her engines. At 1057 she was under her own power, making her way down to an anchorage at Gravesend Bay near Coney Island. Aware of the calamity of the Missouri grounding and the subsequent investigations and hearings, Z umwalt began drafting a chronology of events leading to the grounding. He never got to send it. As he readied the message for transmission, a message arrived from ComBatCruDiv Two. Z umwalt recalled that Olsen wrote: "Regret the report of your incident but I am delighted to note there was no command error involved."
After four days of liberty, the mighty
Wisconsin once again raised her anchor and headed out to conduct gunnery practice and further training at Guantanamo, prior to her return to the Pacific for action off Korea. Eventually on 15 January 1952, while on the gun line off the Kosong area of Korea, Captain Burrowes recognized Marine Corps Captain Blake with a letter of commendation, crediting him with actions that were "measurably responsible for the prompt return of this vessel to safe waters." Unlike the Missouri grounding, there were no courts-martial, boards, hearingsnot even a standard JAGMAN investigation. RADM Olsen, by accepting immediate responsibility for his error, shielded the battleship from unnecessary scrutiny and protected the careers of her officers. RADM Olsen was relieved as ComBatDivTwo shortly after the incident, but went on to serve the Navy for several more years with a final posting in Norway. Both Burrowes and Zumwalt attained Flag Rank. The recently deceased Zumwalt served as Chief of Naval Operations, 1970-74. As for the cause of the grounding, the weather was blamed. Heavy summer downpours in upstate New York had flooded the Hudson's tributaries, leading to an unusually strong downstream current rushing up against Wisconsin's stern. The battleship's sailors clearly learned a lesson that remains valid today-that the true danger may arise from well beyond the horizon. !,
Dr. Winkler is an historian with the Naval Historical Foundation and author of Cold War at Sea: High Seas Confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union,
due May 2000 from the Naval Institute Press.
The lithe form and power.fol armament ofUSS Wisconsin, here offjapan in 1353, were of little avail when failed moorings let her drift into danger.
SEA HISTORY 92, SPRING 2000