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RAID ON SYDNEY
MS E.T. Bedford.
MAY 28, 1942, a week before the Battle of Midway, the Esso tanker E. T. Bedford arrived at Sydney, Australia, with 95,195 barrels of 100 octane aviation gasoline and 20,646 barrels of Pool vaporizing oil or a total cargo of one hundred and fifteen thousand, eight hundred and forty-one barrels -4,865,322 gallons-of refined petroleum products. This cargo was delivered to the Commonwealth of Australia during the most serious crisis of her history, when she was threatened by the onrushing land, sea, and air forces of Japan.
The tanker was commanded by Captain Hubert L. Hassell and her engineroom was in charge of Chief Engineer Ervin C. Haatvedt. The vitally important cargo was discharged at five terminals.
Midget Jap Submarines
Arrival at Sydney was recorded in the deck log of the E. T. Bedford at 11 :06 a.m.; her pumps began discharging Pool vaporizing oil at 5:40 p.m., at Shell Oil Company Pier No.2, Gore Bay. At 6:30 the next morning, an air raid alarm was sounded; fifteen minutes later, when the all clear signal came, the ship had not been damaged.
On May 29 the vessel was shifted to Ballast Point, where some of the aviation gasoline was discharged. After another move to Berry's Bay, more of the Pool vaporizing oil was discharged, this time to the Commonwealth Oil Refinery, Ltd. The next shift took the vessel to the Balman Terminal of the Atlantic Union Oil Company, where additional cargo was delivered. On May 31, discharge was made at Pulpit Point, and on June 2 the Esso tanker returned to the Shell Oil terminal at Gore Bay to finish discharging.
Meanwhile, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey tanker Esso Little Rock had arrived at Sydney on June 1, missing by a few hours a raid on the harbor by Japanese midget submarines. The hostile underwater craft might have done much greater damage if it had not been for the prompt action taken by the port authorities and by the naval and merchant vessels in the harbor.
The master of the Esso Little Rock Captain Roland Whittom, described the circumstances and events of the Jap attack on Sydney Harbor: "vVhen we arrived at Sydney, Australia, on June 1, 1942, we learned from the pilot, who came aboard that morning off Sydney Heads, what had happened the previous night. He told us that 'Great commotion and excitement were caused by four Japanese midget submarines which succeeded in entering the harbor. The cruiser USS Chicago moored to a buoy, detected one of the enemy craft with her instruments and immediately got under way. As the Chicago maneuvered in the darkness, a torpedo glanced off her hull; it went under two vessels tied up together at a pier-a Netherlands submarine
and an old ferryboat which was used as a station ship for Australian naval personnel. Exploding when it struck the sea wall, the torpedo sank the station ship. General MacArthur's headquarters announced that all four subs were destroyed, but that 19 Australian sailors were killed and 10 injured on the ferryboat-the only Allied vessel lost."
(The Chicago was lost while escorting a convoy to Guadalcanal on January 30, 1943.)
Second Mate Fred N. Sigman of the Esso Little Rock said that "On the day of our arrival at Sydney we saw a crane haul one of the Jap subs to the surface. The following Sunday night, June 8, our ship was in the stream discharging to a barge along-side when we heard shots being fired. All lights were turned off. When I went on deck from the pumproom I heard that a Japanese U-boat was shelling the harbor."
Damaged by Concussion
On the night of May 31, during the enemy submarine raid, the E. T. Bedford was shaken and damaged by the concussion of depth charges which were dropped near the ship and she afterward showed signs of leaks in her hull plates. At first the leaks were not considered important, but later the damage was found to be serious.
After loading a small cargo, 20,146 barrels of 73 octane gasoline at Sydney and discharging at Towns-ville, Australia, the E. T. Bedford sailed for San Francisco, where she arrived on June 27. Repairs to hull and engines took considerable time; it was 5 months and 26 days before she re-entered service on December22.
When war broke out in Europe the E. T. Bedford was commanded by Captain Carl Svenson and her engine department was in charge of Chief Engineer Norman V. Hall. On August 31, 1939, the vessel left Baton Rouge with 113,404 barrels of crude oil; with this cargo she arrived in Boston on the 7th of September. During the rest of the year she made seven coastwise voyages and delivered 792,208 barrels of crude.
During the year 1940 the vessel made 17 voyages and carried a total of 1,739,504 barrels or 73,059,168 gallons.
In 1941 she delivered safely 1,863,510 barrels of cargo, mostly from the Caribbean area; in April of 1942 she was given orders to proceed from Pilottown, Louisiana, to the Panama Canal and then to the Pacific.
In 1943 the E. T. Bedford again saw service in the Pacific, first going to Sydney with a mixed cargo of 117,709 barrels of 80 octane gasoline and Diesel oil. Then came orders to proceed to Brisbane, where discharge of cargo was completed. Thereafter the vessel made a series of runs from the west coast to Pearl Harbor.
In March of 1944, while on a voyage from San Pedro to Espiritu Santo the E. T. Bedford was turned over by the War Shipping Administration to the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. She arrived at Espiritu Santo on March 19. After visiting Noumea March 30, Balboa May 1, Covenas May 9, and Aruba May 14, the vessel proceeded to Paulsboro, where shewas delivered to War Emergency Tankers, Inc. on May 28, 1944.
The transportation record of the E. T. Bedford, from September 3, 1939 to May 28, 1944, was in summary as follows:
On June 6, 1945, at Pearl Harbor, the E. T. Bedford was requisitioned by the U. S. Navy and renamed theUSS Guardoqui.
The MS E.T. Bedford was built in 1921 by the Federal Shipbuilding Company at Kearny, New Jersey. She was originally built as a steamship but was later converted to a motor vessel. As a steamer she was a sistership of the E. J. Sadler, E. M. Clark, Walter Jennings, and J. A. Moffett, Jr.
A twin-screw vessel of 15,655 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 28 feet, 101^4 inches, the E. T. Bedford has an overall length of 516 feet, 6 inches, a length between perpendiculars of 500 feet, a moulded breadth of 68 feet, and a depth moulded of 38 feet, lOi/^ inches. Her cargo carrying capacity is 119,414 barrels and her assigned pumping rate 4,500 barrels an hour.
Her Busch Sulzer (two cycle) Diesel engines develop 3,000 brake horsepower and give her a classification certified speed of 9.9 knots.
The masters of the E. T. Bedford from September 3, 1939 to May 28, 1944, were Captains William B. Tucker, Carl Svenson, Walter F. Andrews, Frans G. M. Anderson, John B. Petterson, Hubert L. Hassell, and Urban A. Haughn.
During the same period the vessel's engine department was in charge of Chief Engineers Norman V. Hall, Percy O. Gill, Otto L. Hart, Bernhard R. F. Olsson, Stewart H. Bright, William F. Kronisch, James F. Maher, Ervin C. Haatvedt, and Seth T. Miller.
While the ship was operated for War Emergency Tankers, Inc., her masters were Captains Carl G. Benson, Bernard May, Richard F. Ludden, Robert E. Evans, and Edwin C. Geick, and her engineroom was in charge of Chief Engineers Seth T. Miller and Laurence T. Moore.
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