Part two- WWII, that is.
Chapter 12:
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked the military base at Pearl Harbor. Luckily for the USS Chicago, a light battleship from the early 20th century that served in WWI and was nearly sunk 5 times, all with luck on her side. But read until the end, and you will cry, for even I almost teared up just thinking about it.
The USS Chicago was brought back into service on the 11th of february, 1942, to serve in the war. She was overhauled, her rusting 5 inch cannons made anew, and she was outfitted with modern technology. She was ready for her duty yet again. A new Captain, Mr. Bailey F. Larson, was to command the ship. A new crew of fresh sailors was assembled. Later, within the next few months, she would set out to defend her country.
Chapter 13:
The Chicago was steaming on the Pacific Ocean on the 2nd of June, 1942, on her way to participate in the Battle of Midway, as it would be known. She was to be a support ship this time, accompanying the bigger, more deadly ships, and keeping them as safe as they can be. So there she was, sailing on the Atlantic once again. If the ship could breathe and feel, she’d be feeling the salty ocean water and the chilling blow of the wind. She arrived at Midway Atoll to refuel, then set out to defend the place.
On June 4, the Chicago encountered the IJN Akagi whilst escorting the USS Yorktown. She opened fire on the seemingly defenseless aircraft carrier. After several minutes of shelling, the ship launched a barrage of Japanese Zekes, or Zeros at them. The Chicago opened fire again, this time, with the 5 inch cannons aimed for the Akagi, and the Bofors 40mm AA guns aimed at taking down the planes. The tactic wasn’t very good, but every couple of minutes, there was a flaming aircraft that crashed into the ocean. The Akagi sank after about 7 minutes of shelling, so that made the Chicago’s crew happy. Later that day, there were several more Japanese aircraft carriers that sent more planes to sink the Allied Fleet. The Yorktown, which the Chicago was escorting, sank from being torpedoed. Later, the Chicago sank the Japanese submarine I-168, earning her a new white star to add to the already present three from WWI. On the 5th, the Chicago was put back into port to undergo replenishment. Bailey didn’t like that. He wanted to head back out and destroy the enemy. For the rest of his time in port, he was in a bad mood. If a sailor sneezed as he was passing by, he would be in trouble. If there was a single station that wasn’t manned, he would be furious.But, luckily for him (and the crew), the Battle of Midway ended on the 7th of June, 1942.
Chapter 14:
The Chicago was put temporarily on standby until October 1943, when she was put back into active service for the Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign. She was to be a frontline ship this time, and she had been painted with disruptive camouflage to confuse enemy submarines. She was sailing alongside the USS Washington (BB-56), whose firepower could waver every souls’ courage.
On the 14th of November, the Chicago was steaming toward the Marshall Islands, along with the other US warships, to defend the Marshall Islands from the control of the Japanese. Once the convoy got there, the Chicago set its sights on the Island of Kwajalein, one of the least defended, but one of the most strategically important islands of the seven islands. She began shelling the earth, sending projectile after projectile, while the AA guns were focused on other, less important sections of the land. The Chicago was told to stop the process once the landing craft got ashore. As the shelling commenced, the Chicago saw Intrepid’s Air group 18’s TBM-1C Avengers dropping bombs on the beach. Later, the next year on October 25, 1944, the Chicago heard word from Admiral Halsey stating that one of Japan’s greatest battleships, the IJN Musashi, had been sunk from aerial torpedoes and bombs sent by Air Group 18. Admiral Kurita’s Center Force had turned back. The crew of the Chicago cheered. A possible opportunity for the ship to prove itself arose later when Halsey reported that Kurita’s force turned around and started heading back through the Surigao Strait. Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf ordered the battleships Mississippi, California, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, and Chicago to form the cross-beam of the “T” to completely enclose the exit into Leyte Gulf. The battleships were sailing in a line, reversing formation when the lead ship reached the edge of the strait. At about 23:00, the formation opened fire on Kurita’s center force from about 26,000 yards, or 14.8 miles. This was the very limit that the Chicago’s 5 inch cannons could fire. The crw watched as the tracers that were the American shells sailed into the unknown.
The Center Force wasn’t going to face another battle, not after losing the Musashi. The Yamato was now the sole pride of the Imperial Japanese Fleet. She needed to be protected. The forced retreated again, knowing that they could not withstand more shells from the Allies. The Fuso and Shigure sank from shelling. The Fuso was split in half and sunk, with both halves going to meet Davy Jones. The Chicago retired from the scene, with the crew buzzing with excitement. She sailed back into the gulf, this time, called up north to sink some Japanese Carriers that were threatening the shore landing ships. The USS Princeton was already scuttled from damage by a Jap bomb. The Chicago didn’t want to have to suffer a similar fate. Alas, the ship didn’t have to head North, as she was being requested in the Atlantic. She left Leyte and steamed West for about a dozen days until she rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Then she sailed North along the coast until she reached the English Channel and docked at Southampton. This would be the first time the USS Chicago had docked in Great Britain since the first World War. Much had changed since then. The Chicago had a new antenna tower, new guns, new boilers and engines, and almost everything had been replaced at least once. There was a veteran that greeted the ship as it came into harbor. It was one of the sailors that was in the original crew. He was very happy to see the ship again. As she docked, he asked to come aboard. He was given permission to, and asked the skipper (Captain, in naval jargon) if he could see his old bunk room. This privilege he was not granted. He was sad to not be able to see his bunk once more, but he understood. The ship was back in service, and there were enemy saboteurs about. Later in the day, after the old salt had left, the crew was allowed to go ashore for several days while the Chicago refueled and rearmed for the oncoming journey. This liberty (shore leave in naval jargon) was the last that they were going to be seen for another sixty eight years.
Chapter 15:
The Chicago went back underway, this time to France to escort refugee ferries across the English Channel. The first run held three ferries, each loaded with about 300 refugees. They all were frightened of what lay in England. They were used to the fancy life they had in France. There were children, infants, seniors, and parents. If they died from attack, then the Chicago would be put under heavy punishment. There was no margin for error.
The Chicago was steaming back from France on the 4th of May, 1945, with the three ferries, when there was a blip on the RADAR. The radioman checked the identification chart to see if the ship was friendly, and was shocked to find that there was a fleet of German battleships and cruisers sailing through the channel. The radioman counted four battleships, seven heavy cruisers, three PT boats, or torpedo gunboats, and no more than 15 destroyers. There was no way that the Chicago could maneuver around them without being spotted, so she set her sights on the closest boat, a heavy cruiser. The guns opened fire, startling the refugees on the ferries. The fleet started to round the corner, guns sending wave after wave of shells at the ferries. Within minutes, the poor ships were on fire and sinking rapidly. If the Chicago got out of this alive, she would be looked down upon severely. The Chicago kept firing on the fleet, with every gun, big and small, heavy and light, trying to sink as many ships as it could. The Chicago was taking heavy damage, with the smokestack in ruins, the number 1 gun blown to smithereens, and at least two thirds of the guns on the starboard side inoperable or inaccessible due to damage. The damage below the waterline was significant enough to cause the ship to list twelve degrees to starboard. The crew had practiced counter flooding to prevent capsizing, and the technique proved successful. The Chicago stayed upright, but the bow was already eleven feet past the draft (the ship had sunk eleven feet in the water at the front). The crew was suffering dozens upon dozens of casualties. Bailey called abandon ship. The crew started loading the lifeboats that weren’t inoperable into the water on the portside of the ship. Bailey resolved to stay behind with the ship. As the last crewmembers were loading into the lifeboat, a shell flew into the bridge, knocking Bailey out. One of the ensigns, Ensign Alfred H. Jacobson, who was hoping to survive and become a captain, saw this, and rushed to save the captain. As he was running towards the bridge, the ship started to capsize. Alfred had to run on the walls that became the deck in order to reach the near-dead captain. He grabbed the captain, and rushed out of there, when the rear lookout tower collapsed in front of him. Alfred jumped overboard to avoid the exploding hulk of metal. The Chicago plummeted toward the bottom of the English Channel, taking nearly 370 crew members with her.

Prologue
Bailey awoke in the bottom of a lifeboat surrounded by solemn-faced sailors. He last remembered his hands on the steering wheel of the USS Chicago, and he remembered making the decision to stay with his ship. He tried to sit up, and saw stars. The surgeon who was attending him told him to lie down and rest. Bailey asked what happened. The surgeon said that he was safe onboard one of the Chicago’s lifeboats. Bailey was horrified to find out that he had let down all those frightened refugees, all those poor sailors, and, most of all, himself. He had been determined to bring those people safely to shore. He had failed. He had been overwhelmed with a force that he could not overpower, which was still sailing towards the lifeboats. After contemplating whether he would survive, several shots splashed into the water next to the boat. Then, a blast could be heard from the fleet, and an explosion ripped through the boat, and Bailey felt a sharp pang appear in his ribs. He fell into the ocean, and sank to the bottom, the crushing pressure pressing the remaining air from his lungs. He passed on feeling like he could have done more to save his crew.

The Chicago sank at 3:53 PM on May 4th, 1945, from numerous torpedo attacks and savage barrages from the numerous warships. There were seven confirmed torpedo hits, and 149 shells fired total from the enemy. The Chicago capsized and sank, but not after dealing some significant damage to the oncoming fleet. Two of the seven cruisers were sunk, with three more disabled. Four destroyers were sent to the depths, and one PT boat met its maker. This battle would come to be known as The Battle of the English Channel. None of the 470 crew survived the battle. The only way that these journeys were recorded was through a journal that was found in a watertight case in the wreck of the Chicago. The journal belonged to the captain.

On May 14th, 2013, an exploration crew was exploring an area where there was reported to be a sunken fleet from WWII. This location was in the English Channel. The dive crew’s USV operator, Dr. Allen Jefferson, lowered the Unmanned Submersible Vehicle into the water and dove to a depth of 560 feet. The drone swept the sea floor, looking for any remnants of a ship. After a couple of hours of searching, the drone found what looked to be a large caliber cannon. Dr. Jefferson became excited. He called to lower the side-scan-SONAR and search over a wider area. The torpedo-like probe was lowered by crane, and the ship zigzagged through the water, making a 3D map of the ocean floor. There was another shape. Another. All of a sudden, there were dozens of shapes. One shape lay alone from the rest. Dr. Jefferson asked to head that direction. The ship turned and stopped when it was right over the wreck. The USV was lowered, and the camera was turned on to record data. The wreck appeared to match that of the USS Chicago, which went down under heavy fire near that exact spot during WWII. The Chicago had been escorting French refugees across the English Channel when a top-secret German invasion fleet sank the refugee ferries and sank the Chicago after she sank several of the German ships. Jefferson searched through the wreckage and found several remnants of what looked to be a skeleton. Jefferson realized with a sudden, solemn thought that these bodies were the last crew of the sunken hulk. But john felt happy, for he was on the discovery crew that had found the lost ship. The crew held a ceremony to commemorate the deaths of the sailors. Taps was played, and the crew had a moment of silence. Then, the crew celebrated the discovery. Champagne was uncorked, beer was distributed, and the party began. Jefferson himself stayed away from the hard liqueurs, partly because he didn’t drink strong alcohol, but mostly because he had to finish important paperwork. He had to log the rest of the findings, research information about the Chicago. He found out that the Chicago was a major enemy of Germany in both WWI and WWII, and one of the ships that helped repel Japanese Admiral Kurita’s Center force. The Chicago had sunk four German U-boats, nearly sunk herself at least five times, and suffered a complete loss of the crew as she sank on May 4th, 1945. There was hardly anything left of the four white stars on what Jefferson assumed to be the smokestack. He had a sudden thought of the last captain of the ship, Captain Bailey F. Larson going down with his ship, and shuddered. He was glad that he wasn’t one of the last crewmembers on board when the ship went down.

So that’s the sad story of the USS Chicago, a Chicago-class battleship that fought in the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Dardanelles Strait, as well as the Battle of Midway, The Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign, and the repulsion of the Center Force, but sank trying to defend herself from an oncoming German fleet. Yes, I know, it’s a run-on sentence.
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