The Most Bizarre Move that Kept a US Ship in Combat

Under cover of night on November 29, 1943, USS Minneapolis led Task Force 67 into Ironbottom Sound. Their quarry was a Japanese Navy convoy bound for Guadalcanal.

Minneapolis’s 8-inch guns roared to life, signaling the beginning of the Battle of Tassafaronga. She swiftly sank an enemy transport and aided in the destruction of another ship, but the Imperial Navy would not go down without a fight. The tide of the battle shifted, and two torpedoes tore open a hole in Minneapolis.

Despite losing her bow, she managed to limp back to a nearby shore where the crew, alongside Navy Seabees, faced the immediate need for emergency repairs. Lacking proper supplies and equipment for such significant damage, they gathered thick, sturdy coconut logs to shape and wedge into the gaping wounds of the cruiser, creating a makeshift but crucial patchwork.

Although still battered, the coconut logs gave Minneapolis the necessary buoyancy to reach friendly waters for proper repairs.
Patched up but still vulnerable, Minneapolis set sail again, hoping to avoid the Japanese patrols looking to finish the job and send her to the bottom of the Pacific.

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