{"title":"USS Juneau (CL-52)","description":"\u003ch2\u003eUSS Juneau (CL-52): The Five Sullivans\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCommissioned on 14 February 1942, USS Juneau was an Atlanta-class anti-aircraft cruiser that earned her place in American memory not through years of combat but through a single catastrophic moment on the night of 13 November 1942, when she took a Japanese torpedo hit and exploded, killing 687 of her crew. Among the dead were George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert Sullivan of Waterloo, Iowa, five brothers serving together on one ship, all lost in seconds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJuneau was a brand-new ship when she arrived in the Pacific. She had participated in the convoy support and carrier escort operations typical of newly arrived vessels, building her crew's readiness for the combat operations that awaited in the South Pacific. She was assigned to the Guadalcanal theater at the height of the critical naval campaign in late 1942.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the night of 12–13 November 1942, Juneau was part of the force that fought the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the chaotic, close-range night action where American cruisers and destroyers plunged into a Japanese battleship force. During the fighting, Juneau was hit by a Japanese torpedo that caused significant damage. She was withdrawing from the battle with the other damaged American ships when the Japanese submarine I-26 fired a torpedo at the crippled San Francisco. The torpedo missed San Francisco and struck Juneau's damaged hull, hitting precisely where the blast could reach her ammunition magazines. The resulting explosion was immediate and total, Juneau was gone in a matter of seconds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOf approximately 700 men aboard, only 115 survived the initial sinking, and due to fear of Japanese submarines in the area, rescue was delayed for eight days. By the time a PBY Catalina finally reached the survivors, only ten were still alive. The five Sullivan brothers were among the 687 dead. Their loss prompted the United States government to issue the Sole Survivor Policy, protecting surviving family members from being sent into combat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA Navy destroyer escort, a Greeneville, Iowa monument, and the film \"The Fighting Sullivans\" have kept their memory alive. Four battle stars cannot measure what Juneau's crew gave. Tactically Acquired's USS Juneau (CL-52) collection honors the five Sullivans and every man who made the ultimate sacrifice aboard her.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/tacticallyacquired.com\/collections\/uss-juneau-cl-52-merchandise.oembed","provider":"Tactically Acquired","version":"1.0","type":"link"}