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Ajax Lilly Sea.1c USN USS West Virginia 1940-1941 |
This information is being submitted in loving memory of our father, Ajax
Lilly, who departed this life on June 25th 1998, at the age of 77.
Sandra Wood, Carol Reed, Ronald Lilly & Patricia Williams
Ajax Lilly grew up in the depression era. Jobs were
scarce in Southern West Virginia in those days. He graduated from
Spanishburg High School in 1939. Wanting to see the world he
decided to let Uncle Sam foot the bill and joined the navy after
graduation.
Following 8 weeks basic training at Norfolk, Virginia Dad
was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, then home ported in
long Beach, California. Shortly after that, the "Wee
Vee", as crewmen affectionately called her, sailed for Hawaii.
As fate would have it, Dad was off duty but topside in
the early morning hours of Sunday December 7th 1941. At first he
thought the planes circling overhead were our pilots practicing bombing
maneuvers. The strafing, torpedo wakes, and bombs falling soon
ended those thoughts. The men of the West Virginia fought back but
with limited resources due to their location and the damage they
sustained. In the course of the battle, the ship took 6 torpedo
hits and several bombs. When the order to abandon ship was given,
our father dived overboard and swam about 400 yards thru burning oil and
other debris to Ford Island. Not being injured, and with the West
Virginia sitting on the bottom of the harbor, he was quickly reassigned
to the USS Salt Lake City which left port soon after.
From December 1941 until the end of the war, Dad served
continuously on the Salt Lake City. We always felt that, even though
being aboard the West Virginia on December 7th 1941 was his claim to
fame, his true love was the "Swayback Maru." Over the
years we heard many stories of the heroics of his shipmates and the love
they all felt for the SLC during its long, dangerous period in the
Pacific. Our wish is that he could have lived long enough to read
all the stories about the SLC and its crew, which appear on your web
site.
This info was submitted to the USS Salt Lake City web site by Ajax Lilly's family. The family also submitted the same info here to the USS West Virginia web site and it has been published unedited. See Ajax Lilly's page on the USS Salt Lake City web site at http://www.ussslcca25.com/lilly.htm |