My dad was assigned to the USS Gwin April, 1943 so he was only on her a few short months. However, this does not lessen the amount of action he saw. After the Gwin was sunk, he was then transferred to the USS Buchanan (a Bristol class).

When the Cruiser, Helena was lost in the first battle of Kula Gulf July 5-6, the USS Gwin went in to rescue the survivors on the beach. One of the sailors rescued and my dad had a reunion while they were on leave in the Phoenix area. This gentleman told my dad the survivors of the Helena had given up hope of being rescued and pretty much resigned their fate in the hands of the Japanese

The night the Gwin was sunk was the Second Battle of Kula Gulf, or more commonly referred to as: "Night Battle of Kolombangara." It also has been referred to as "Hell Night."

About 1:30 a.m., while the Gwin was in a hard left turn, she took the salvo in her stern. The explosion jammed her rudder in that position. The entire aft section was in flames and smoking heavily. She was bearing down on the crippled Honolulu but a hard right turn is what kept the two ships from collision. Right after this, the enemy retreated.

The Gwin's damage was serious and the crew was able to bring the fires under control. She still had power although her rudder was still jammed and her fantail underwater. The Ralph Talbot took her in tow while the Woodworth circled on guard. Twice the task of towing her had to be dropped to fight off air attacks. At 9:00 a.m., the Gwin developed a pronounced settling by the stern and began to take a list. The Maury went alongside and took aboard the survivors: Commander Higgins (the division commander); The Captain, Lt. Commander Fellows; eight other officers; and 44 men.

At 9:30 a.m., the Ralph Talbot stood off and fired 4 torpedoes into the Gwin. Someone on the Talbot recited the service for burial at sea while she was sinking. She sank approximately at: Lat 0.41 S.: Long 157.27 E . Three days after the battle, the USS Dent and Waters picked up two Japanese sailors adrift in a motor whaleboat belonging to the Gwin. They were survivors of the Jintsu.

This entire battle was plagued with problems, confusion, calamities and poor judgment: The TBS system (Talk Between Ships) went down for a period of time, no one knew what ship was who’s. In the middle of this, a squall appeared. It is really a miracle the Gwin was the only ship that was lost.

Poor judgment was apparent throughout this battle. Admiral Ainsworth radioed the Buchanan that the Japanese were escaping and to leave the task force in pursuit. However, it was only transports that were leaving and now, the Buchanan was separated from the rest of the group, and the cruiser were unprotected. Another example was near collision of the Buchanan and the Woodworth.

The Woodworth and Buchanan were on a parallel course - but heading right for each other. At first it looked as if they would pass but apparently, the Woodworth did not see the Buchanan and made a right turn, heading straight for the Buchanan. The stern of the Woodworth clipped the Buchanan and crushed the bow. The Woodworth's port depth charge rack was ripped from the ship, dumping depth charges into the water. Although they were all set on safe, one of the charges exploded underneath the Buchanan. Incredibly, no further damage was done.

On a personal note: My dad, although a machinist mate, was assigned to the upper handling room of main battery gun number two as his battle station. He had been moved out of the machine room. When the torpedo hit, all the men in the area he had been stationed did not make it. On another occasion, my dad was moved to the aft gun, only to have his superior officer bring him back to the 2nd gun. Ironically, the aft gun took a hit and all the men there were killed. My brother said if he was on the Gwin when my dad was, he would have glued himself to my dad. Apparently, my dad's future was his 5 acres, a cow and 6 kids.