Witness to Neptune’s Inferno: The Pacific War Diary of Lieutenant Commander Lloyd M. Mustin, USS Atlanta (CL51)
288 pages
Captain Andrew Welch FNI Royal Navy Retired
After a couple of introductory chapters, this book consists of daily entries in Lt-Cdr Mustin’s diary – getting the new AA cruiser, USS Atlanta, into service[1] and then into the Pacific War until she was sunk off Guadalcanal, 10½ months later, on 13th Nov 1942. His diary ceases about a fortnight before his ship was sunk (because he obeyed the order for everyone in the USN to stop keeping war diaries), but he gave the author oral testimony about Atlanta’s final actions. The second half of each chapter consists of the author’s commentary on the accuracy, or otherwise, of Mustin’s, often acerbic, observations.
The main problem with this book is a complete lack of maps. There are a few formation plans, but nothing showing the geography. I knew where the Solomon Islands were, but not the geography around Guadalcanal. Atlanta was constantly moving around the area – for refuelling, providing AA cover (she had eight twin 5” turrets) for assorted high value units and whilst holding off outside Japanese aircraft range, but there is no clue as to where these other operating areas were. This lack of an overall operational picture made getting through this book quite hard work.
That said, Lloyd Mustin’s extensive gunnery experience (he had been involved in the shore development of Atlanta’s fire control system) and his extensive network within the USN’s senior ranks[2] meant that he had an unusually wide-ranging and well-informed point-of-view.
However, because the diary entries are contemporaneous and describe day-to-day life in the wartime USN, there are lots of interesting observations. In a one hour fifty-minute NGS engagement on 28th October 1942, Atlanta fired 4,093 5” rounds. This is not a misprint – 4,093 rounds, bombarding the Japanese troops dug in on Guadalcanal. On being asked about barrel wear, Mustin pointed out that this was only 50 rounds per barrel. Re-ammunitioning must have taken some time.
The USN’s disdain for the ability and performance of the US Army Air Force[3] exactly matches the kind of comments one regularly heard from the RN about the RAF in the late 20th century. The brutality of their crossing-the-line ceremonies (including mains-electrified salt water) came as a surprise – an embedded journalist ended up in the sickbay, he was so badly injured. The Pacific Fleet in 1942 was using the “goddam British convoy zigzag plans, and using their Merchant Signal Book (mersigs)”. Some of the (original) language is distinctly non-PC (and, perhaps surprisingly considering the author’s in the US Naval Academy and Naval War College, not given a sensitivity warning!) – for example ‘pollywog’[4] and it seems that the USN has a tradition that the first entry in the log of any new ship is in poetry.
So, there is quite a bit of interest for members in this book. David Winkler is a retired USN Commander and has been a Staff Historian for 25 years. This book does read a bit like a Naval Staff History – factual and, no doubt, accurate but rather lacking readability. I would recommend this book to members who are interested in the way the USN operated in the Pacific and what front-line life was like then, but it’s not recommended if you want to know about the naval war around the Solomons.
[1] She left her building yard on 23 December 1941.
[2] The Mustins are a, possibly the, most naval of USN families – from Capt Henry C (1874-1923), who was a pioneer aviator (No.11), to the diary author (who became a VAdm) & two of his sons, who made VAdm too. Along the way, there are several more naval Mustins & the present Arleigh Burke USS Mustin (the second USS Mustin), is named for the family’s centenary of USN service. His step-father, George Murray, commanded the carrier, USS Enterprise during most of Lloyd Mustin’s time in USS Atlanta & went on, in mid ’42, to command all the US Naval Air Forces in the Pacific. He & Lloyd wrote regularly & met when they could.
[3] The US Army Air Corps until 1941 & the USAF from 1947.
[4] A novice, new boy, etc. According to a 20-year retired USN Captain, often just abbreviated to ‘wog’. And they were subject to considerable hazing in his time.
