A Near Miss
By Dan Hanson as told by Bill Otterman, Quartermaster 3rd Class, USS New Mexico
May 9, 2011

In the late summer 1945 before the Japanese surrender to the United States , an incident happened on the USS New Mexico battleship that is probably not known by many people. Bill Otterman, as Helmsman, was steering the ship under orders of a naval officer, doing a zigzag course in the North Pacific Sea to confuse the Japanese submarines that were known to be in the area. Suddenly in the afternoon an officer on the starboard wing of the bridge yelled out, "TORPEDO STARBOARD AFT - EMERGENCY LEFT RUDDER!" As Bill started to obey the command of the officer, another officer on the port side of the ship yelled out "TORPEDO PORT AFT - EMERGENCY RIGHT RUDDER!" Bill is now faced with two conflicting orders from two separate naval officers. Bill asked the Officer of the Day who was giving Bill course directions for the ship, "Can we hold the course steady until they get their heads together and decide the best course?" The Officer of the Day concurred with Bill's suggestion and thus the ship stayed on an original course with "steady as she goes."

As a result of Bill's suggested course of action, both torpedoes passed the ship in the same direction, one on each side of the ship without any contact to the battleship. Thankfully, the torpedoes sank in the sea ahead of the ship. Had Bill turned the ship's rudder in either direction as per the two officers' conflicting orders, the ship would have been hit by at least one of the torpedoes. According to Bill, any torpedo that hits a battleship would have sustained loss of life and significant damage to the ship. The chances of the ship sinking with one torpedo hit would be unlikely. Bill says the many sealed compartments on the USS New Mexico and on other battleships would have likely kept it afloat until repairs could be made.

Bill goes on to say that at a USS New Mexico ship mates' reunion in Tacoma, Washington he learned from a former naval officer (Lt. Erickson who gave the first order on the starboard side to steer to the left) that he never heard the second order given by the other naval officer. Therefore, "keeping the course steady" was the only thing that saved the battleship from a torpedo hit. To Bill's knowledge this incident of a "Near Miss" in the North Pacific Sea in the early summer of 1945 has probably never been written down until this day.
© 2011 Dan Hanson all rights reserved





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