RUNNING AGROUND IN KOREA

by Neil J. Goodwill CD,  Master Warrant Officer (Ret'd) RCN.

 
We took ground on the rocky shore of the island Pang Yang-Do, just off the northeast coast of Korea at 0038,  July 13th, 1953. The situation previous to the grounding was the report of land less than a kilometer away by the radar operator. This was either ignored or discounted by the O.O.W. gunnery officer and as a consequence we hit the bottom. The island lay close to shore where North Korean batteries were in place. Fortunately it was dark and they did not fire in the fear it might have disclosed their positions for daylight air attacks later.

From the time of impact to about 5 hours later, ship's company worked diligently to remove Huron from rocks. By some jettisoning some weight (including wardroom piano), and doing tank transfers, we used the main engines to wiggle the ship. First port, then to starboard - that got us off the rocks. The damage was extensive and watertight integrity was in danger. We shored up and repaired through the night and early early morning until we were ready to move at 0500. I must add we were afforded excellent cover and protection by the United Nations forces who we alerted in due course. It seemed everyone was there including air cover. With our bow damaged,  we had to proceed to sea astern, which for long periods, is hard on bearings and machinery.

A floating drydock was dispatched from Japan to meet us in the middle of the Japanese Sea but we were unable to enter the floating drydock. We could not berth because of damage to our Asdic dome. The shaft had been bent and could not be raised to afford access to the drydock so it was necessary to proceed to Sasebo Japan astern to assess and repair the damage.

We were in drydock for some weeks and became quite familiar with the city of Sasebo on Kyushu Island Japan at that time. Some of crew even established credit and accounts with proprietors, who on payday, would be at drydock to get paid. We ended the tour by continuing to circumnavigate the globe via Singapore, Ceylon and the Suez Canal. HURON had entered the the war zone via the Panama Canal, Hawaii and Guam.

As a sidelight, it must be noted that Huron received a cement bow in the Sasebo drydock and it was not to be her last new bow. In 1958, while on NATO exercises, she struck a French destroyer at sea and was towed to Toulon France where her bow received repairs. The complete story of Huron's grounding can be found in "Thunder in the Morning Calm" by Edward C. Myers, Chapter 18 (Vanwell Publishers) which incidentally covered some of the trial events and the inquiry for which the applicable crew were flown home for. I might add the Captain Chenoweth was considered a good skipper by crew and it was sad the navy code says a captain is responsible for his ship and crews actions. He had just laid down in his sea cabin after many hours on bridge when the collision occurred.
 
 

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