The Rescue of 10 Men Off Truk, Micronesia
On April 30, 1944, the USS North Carolina was protecting aircraft carriers whose planes were assaulting Japanese encampments on Truk, a Micronesian island. Her Kingfishers were assigned rescue duty. That Sunday morning, Lt. J.J. Dowdle landed in Truk Lagoon to attempt a rescue. In the process, rough seas tipped over his plane.
Lt. John A. Burns, in his Kingfisher, made a safe water landing and rescued the two USS North Carolina airmen and the stranded pilot. He taxied to a submarine in the area, the USS Tang, to drop them off.
He and radioman Aubrey J. Gill flew away to search for three life rafts reported drifting off the island. Lt. Burns spotted a raft with a lone fighter pilot. He landed and the pilot climbed into radioman Gill's lap. It took two hours of taxiing around Truk Lagoon before finally locating the three-man crew of a torpedo plane. Now Burns' Kingfisher held six men.
Lt. Burns began to taxi through choppy seas towards the USS Tang, now 20 miles away. Two hours into their travels, the men came upon another raft with three aviators. Burns told them to tie their raft to the pontoon but the plan proved impractical forcing the men to climb onto the plane. Now, a plane built for two had 11 men on it. Two men sat on each wing to balance the plane and the other hung on the fuselage.
Six hours later, the plane reached the USS Tang. The Kingfisher's pontoon had ruptured and was out of fuel. Everyone boarded the submarine. The USS Tang's guns destroyed the plane.
The USS North Carolina lost both of her Kingfishers that day, but her heroic pilots rescued 10 men.