Person:Earl Harvey (1)

Headline: Bombed S.F. Liberty Ship Home; 100 Killed

A San Francisco merchant vessel, bombed, machine gunned and blistered by flame until more than 100 dead and fifty wounded littered her decks, was back here in port today. With the vessel - manned to a large extent by men of the immediate San Francisco Bay Area - came stories of human courage so amazing they challenge the wildest of fiction thrillers, tales of sacrifice and determination unfolded here for the first time to the Call - Bulletin. The ship, attacked by Japanese bombers in the combat waters of the Philippines, is a Richmond built Liberty ship. On her battle gray funnel are painted four Japanese flags and planes - symbols of enemy aircraft blasted out of the sky by the Navy's dead-eye anti-aircraft gunners stationed aboard the lumbering cargo craft. Skipper Killed Exact location and date of the ship's action, date of her return to San Francisco Bay, and certain details of the engagement must, for reasons of military security, remain secret. Skipper of the ship, Captain Harry J. Manwaring, of 546 Valle Vista avenue, Oakland, died - but only after he remained on his feet, calmly issuing orders despite his mortal wounds. Three others of the ship's Merchant Marine compliment - all of them from the bay area - were killed. They were Chief Mate Earl K. Harvey,of Burlingame; Radio Operator Operator Henry W. Brown Jr., 764 Fiftyeighth street, Oakland, and Third Assistant Engineer Carol Larson, 19 Mateo street. Second Mate Louie W. McAlister, 43, also of 19 Mateo street, was standing with three other men on the boat deck of the vessel when enemy planes were sighted coming over the crest of a nearby hill ashore. The other three men now are dead.

Blown Into Air (Quotes are from Second Mate Louie W. McAlister) " I saw one release his bomb and I hit the deck - fast. Then came the blast. The bomb had hit close by and the blast blew me right up in the air and right on my feet. The flame was coming at me then and I hurried aft - away from the fire."

Captain Manwaring, McAlister said, literally was blown out of a room.  Save for a portion of a pair of trousers, there were no clothes left on the Oakland skipper.

"All the hair had been burned off his head and he had 90% body burn," McAlister continued. "Skin was hanging on just in threads and he had to hold his arms away from his body. But he came right to the boat deck and began giving orders. Despite his burns (from which he died less than four hours later), Captain Manwaring spoke in a steady, normal voice. He ordered the boats cut away to reduce the fire hazard and to aid in the rescue operations."

Fuel Set Afire "No, Mac," Captain Manwaring protested when McAlister sought to send him to a hospital. "I'd rather not leave the ship." With the Captain mortally wounded and Chief Mate Harvey dead, McAlister took command. Both Harvey and Radio Operator Brown were killed when a bomb exploded as they tried to make their way to their battle stations. Meanwhile drums of fuel touched off by machine gunning and bomb flash, turned a large area of the ship into a blazing inferno. Hundreds of Army troops were aboard. Many of them were killed. More than 100 of the men were killed outright. Another thirty to forty were wounded seriously and some of these casualties died in hospitals ashore, McAlister said. As the flames threatened destruction to the ship, Merchant Marine, Army and Navy men joined together in fire fighting parties.

Gun Officer Killed The Navy's armed guard gun crew aboard the bombed Liberty ship arrived here under the command of Gunners Mate Second Class William I. Tripp, 27, of Wynnewood, Okla. Lieutenant (J.G.) Carl M. Kube, whose lives in Sunnyvale, commanding officer of the gun crew, died after a display of courage matched only by the merchant marine captain. First Assistant Engineer Leon Nazaroff, 36, of 742 Athens Street told of speaking to Lieutenant Kube shortly after the attack. "He had a big shrapnel hole in his forehead, one eye was just about gone and there were two large shrapnel holes in his back," Nazzaroff said. "He looked pretty bad, but he was standing up and trying to carry on." "He said I guess I'm all right," but he knew he wasn't. He just said that. He was that type of a guy. He had a lot of fortitude." Lieut ant Kube, removed to a shore hospital with other wounded, died three hours after the attack. Men in Hold Stick Nazaroff, himself, was included high among the numerous heroes of the battle by McAllister and other men of the ship. "I Went below to see that the fire pumps were working at full force," the engineer said. "Smoke kept coming down through the ventilators an it was choking and suffocating. The boys down there did a good job and stuck to their stations. We were losing steam and water from the boilers because some of the lines had been damaged. Working feverishly to keep the vessel from capsizing, Nazaroff and his men cut off the leaking lines, and switched their power to the bilge pumps. "It was pretty tough in the hold where all those men were killed," Nazaroff recalled grimly. "Equipment, clothing, bodies and flesh clogged the screen to the bilge lines and we couldn't get all the water out of there. We were able to correct the list eight degrees, however. In charge of many of these fire control crews was another San Franciscan, Second Mate Daniel de Lucia of 1055 De Haro Street. "The heat from the fire was so intense that several fire hoses blew open," De Lucia said. Radioman Third Class Robert E. Cyphers, 19 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence E. Syphers, 851C Thau Way, Alameda, was one of the Navy men who had a narrow brush with death. He was close to the point where the bomb exploded, but escaped with burns about the back. Another who won high praise from the survivors was Purser Herbert C. Kindred, 38, of 512 Elm Avenue, Mill Valley, who divided his time between the wounded and dying casualties and the fire hoses. The ship, operated by the Norton Lilley Company, made its way to its home port with Captain Callan H. Ritch of New Orleans serving as master. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAN FRANCISCO DAILY COMMERCIAL NEWS (Friday, February 2, 1945)

Headline: "Waterfront"

    Jeremiah M. Daily, Named After Former Marine Exchange    Manager, Is Richmond Yard's First Repair Job.

The first ship under contract to be repaired by Richmond's Yard One arrived at the yard outfitting dock survey. It was the Liberty ship Jeremiah M. Daily, launched in September, 1943 in Yard Two, and named after a former manager of the Marine Exchange San Francisco. It was damaged during the invasion of Leyte, while in that island's San Pedro Harbor. The Daily, lying at anchor, was attacked by a Japanese bomber. The enemy was shot down by the ship's gun crew on the forward starboard side. Out of control, the enemy plane crashed into the ship below the gun tub, from which it had been hit. It demolished the flying bridge, including the gun tub, and the forward bulkhead of the wheelhouse below. The entire bridge will have to be replaced. The radio room, the chart room, the captain's stateroom, the radio operator's room and the gunner's room will have to be rebuilt. The plane tore a hole in the overhead of the chief mate's room on the deck below and it, too, will have to be completely refinished. A minor disaster, the setting fire of the diesel oil barrels from the heat, scorched the steward's and the deck engineer and the wipers' quarters on the port side main deck, and they will have to be refinished. The number three hatch covers, also, will have to be replaced. The ship now has to its credit three other Japanese planes besides the bomber that crashed it. On her battle-gray funnel are painted four Japanese flags and planes. Captain Harry J. Manwaring, of Oakland, died from the results of burns received during the fire, but only after he remained on his feet, calmly issuing orders despite his mortal wounds. Chief Mate Earl K. Harvey, of Burlingame, and Radio Operator Henry W. Brown, of Oakland, were killed when a bomb exploded as they tried to make their way to their battle stations. Third Assistant Engineer Carroll Larson of San Francisco was also killed during the action. The ship had passengers - hundreds of soldiers. Many of them were killed. The Jeremiah M. Daily's launching was an eventful day for the Marine Exchange. Peter B. Kyne, creator of the famous character of early West Coast shipping days--Cappy Ricks, and who frequently referred to his old friend Jerry Daily in these tales as "Jerry Dooley," was present to make a short address in honor of the occasion. Miss Elizabeth Ann Cramer, daughter of the present manager of the exchange, christened the ship. May the spirit of the red-thatched and indomitable Irishman--Jerry Daily, continue to sail with this ship.