USS Utah
11-16-2013, 11:48 AM
USS Tennessee (BB-43) was one of the battleships caught at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Along with the other battleships in port that day, Tennessee was said to be "old enough to vote." Because she was old, she was also slow, which gave rise to a story fabricated by her crew, and passed along by war correspondent Robert Sherrod.
"Just astern of us on the Tennessee pranced a majestic new battleship. It was as though a haughty race horse were forced to follow a plodding ox. From the Tennessee Admiral Kingman sent a blinker-light message to the captain of the new battleship, ordering him to stop that smoke from pouring out of his incinerator -- the smoke might give away the task force to enemy patrol planes. The captain answered, so the story went, 'Smoke unavoidable. Have been forced to cut out the boilers and burn garbage to slow down to your speed.'"
Source: Sherrod, R. (1944). Tarawa: The Story of a Battle. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
"Just astern of us on the Tennessee pranced a majestic new battleship. It was as though a haughty race horse were forced to follow a plodding ox. From the Tennessee Admiral Kingman sent a blinker-light message to the captain of the new battleship, ordering him to stop that smoke from pouring out of his incinerator -- the smoke might give away the task force to enemy patrol planes. The captain answered, so the story went, 'Smoke unavoidable. Have been forced to cut out the boilers and burn garbage to slow down to your speed.'"
Source: Sherrod, R. (1944). Tarawa: The Story of a Battle. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.