The following is a representation of the headlines, photograph, and article announcing the infamous collision of the USS Wasp with the USS Hobson. The article appeared in the The Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, New York.
____________________________The Buffalo Evening News (No Date)
____________________________
Skipper Changed Ship's Course
Just before Crash, Aide Says____________________________
Special to the Buffalo Evening News.
Bayonne, N.J., May 10. - The
skipper of the Hobson, who went
down with his ship, ordered an
abrupt change of course which
brought him directly into the path
of the carrier Wasp on the night
of April 26, according to testimony
Friday before a court of inquiry in-
vestigation the collision of the two
ships.The first witness before the
court, sitting at the New York
Naval Shipyard annex here, a few
hundred feet from the drydock
where the crippled carrier is being
repaired, was Leiut. William A.
Hoefer, Jr., senior surviving officer
of the Hobson, which sank with 176
lives lost.Leiut. Hoefer told the court he
was junior officer of the deck of
the Hobson. He said:The Hobson was making 25 knots
with clear visibility when he first
sighted the Wasp off the port bow.Skipper Leaped Off Bridge
Lieut. Commander William J.
Tierney, the Hobson's skipper, first
called a right turn and then or-
dered two successive left turns
after the Wasp had signaled it was
changing course so planes could
land.As the 34000 ton carrier rushed
toward the Hobson at 27-knot
speed, Lieut. Hoefer said Com-
mander Tierney ordered an "all
ahead emergency flank," all en-
gines ahead at full power. Then
Lieut. Hoefer said he himself
shouted: "Stand by for collision."About five seconds later, Lieut.
Hoefer said, the bow of the Wasp
cut the Hobson in half. Before he
was swept overboard by the water,
Lieut. Hoefer said, he saw Com-
mander Tierney leap from the
bridge.Lieut. Hoefer, who was picked up
45 minutes later by the destroyer-
minesweeper Rodman which, with
the Hobson, had been escorting the
Wasp, said the aircraft carrier's
communications section warned
that it was making a turn 158 de-
grees off the Hobson's left bow.Warned of Turn
He said Commander Tierney's
first order of "right standard rut-
ter" would have made the Hobson
turn in the same direction as the
carrier but at a considerable dis-
tance away from the big flat-top.Less than 2 minutes later Lieut.
Hoefer said, Commander Tierney
called for "left standard rudder.""I stepped into the wheelhouse
to see if it would clear the Wasp"
Lieut. Hoefer said, "It appeared
she would pass about 800 yards to
port at our closed point of ap-
proach."The Wasp was about 1240 yards
away when Commander Tierney
again ordered left standard rudder,
Lieut. Hoefer said. Then, as the
Wasp had narrowed the distance
between the two ship to about 750
yards, Commander Tierney called
for the "all ahead emergency
flank."Within a few seconds, the Wasp
and Hobson collided.
_________________________
Go back to the Hobson Index
Go back to the first page, Hobson I
Go on to the third page, Hobson III
