Tachna, Lionel Judah (Buddy) ²

  General Notes:

1.) 1939 graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Earne d Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration and a Bache lors of Arts in Literature.
2.) Enlisted in the United States Navy. Commissioned to the rank o f Ensign. Served aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Reuben James until trans fer. The U.S.S. Reuben James served in the North Atlantic ocean wher e it was torpedoed by a Nazi submarine on October 31, 1941. It was th e first United States warship to be lost in World War II.
3.) Served aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Simms in the South Pacific aft er outbreak of war against Japan. The U.S.S. Simms and an accampanyi ng oil tanker were attacked by Japanese warplanes on May 8, 1942 at th e beginning stage of the Battle for the Coral Sea. Both ships were lo st and Lionel Judah Tachna suffered amongst the casualties.
4.) Lionel Judah Tachna, Ensign in U.S. Navy, recieved the Purple Hea rt medal pothumously.

May 18, 1942

From: The Senior Line Petty Officer, U.S.S. SIMS,
(Robert James Dicken, C.S.M., U.S. Navy).
To: The Secretary of the Navy.

Via: The Commander U.S. Submarines, Eastern Australia.

Subject: Personal observations of SIMS #409 disaster.

1. On May 7, I was serving as Chief Signalman on board the U.S.S. Sims . We were employed convoying the U.S. Navy Tanker Neosho when attacke d by Japanese planes, bombed and sunk. After several days we were pick ed up by the U.S.S. Henley and while enroute to Brisbane Australia , I prepared a report which I gave to the Commanding Officer of the U. S.S. Neosho who had been taken off by the U.S.S. Henley.

That report is as follows:

At Sea
May 13, 1942

From: Dicken, R.J., C.S.M., U.S. N.
To: The C.O. U.S.S. Neosho.

Subject: Personal observations of SIMS #409 disaster.

On May 7 at 0930 I was in the Chief's quarters and heard a man in #1 h andling room exclaim that a bomb had lit right alongside. General Quar ters sounded immediately and duty gun opened fire. Upon reaching bridg e the other guns had commenced firing on horizontal bombers. Recogniti on signals were attempted but no reply.

There were a large number of our shells which failed to burst at the b eginning of the attack but after several rounds, number unknown, the f use settings seemed to be operating satisfactory as bursts were observ ed near the enemy planes.

At beginning of attack Sims went to full speed and patrolled on eithe r bow of tanker. Our gunfire seemed very effective in keeping the plan es high and on the move.

Observed one bomb score near miss, port side, amidships. No damage rep orted. One casualty, slight shoulder wound, on #2 gun. Man treated dur ing lull and returned to gun.

High level attack lasted ten to fifteen minutes.

For next two hours several Radar contacts made, distance fifteen to tw enty miles, but no planes appeared.

#1 gun appeared to be blistered.

About 1155 planes approached, identification attempted and upon no res ponse the order to commence fire was given. Enemy planes began dive bo mbing attack on tanker. A steady rate of fire was maintained from al l 5" guns.

About 1215 Sims received direct hit on or near after set torpedo tubes . Bomb apparently pierced deck and exploded in after engine room. Dec k buckled forward of after deck house. Radar fell across gig. Receive d two more hits, one on after deck house, port side forward, which app eared to have caused only local damage. Another hit on #4 gun caused l ocal damage. #1 and #2 guns were continuing to fire by local control.

Personnel was ordered off bridge and reported to Assistant Chief Engin eer Ensign Tachna who ordered us to take off our shoes and put motor w hale boat in water.

Numerous fireroom personnel seemed uninjured by first hit in engine ro om. This force assisted in lowering boat. Two men in boat when lowered . Boat began drifting clear of side. I went over the side, swam to boa t, took tiller and began picking up personnel in water.

The Captain, still on bridge, ordered me aft to try to get aboard to f lood after magazines and extinguish fire on after deck house. This wa s necessary due to fact that main deck between after deck house and ma chine shop was awash.

An attempt was made to get aboard. Ship began settling from aft, whal e boat pulled clear and immediately afterwards the boilers blew up fol lowed by another but smaller explosion. The ship broke in two parts, a nd sank.

All men that were not apparently dead were taken aboard, search made f or two life rafts with from ten to twenty (total) men aboard. We the n proceeded to tanker and placed ourselves under that command. There w ere fifteen Sims survivors in boat.

I have questioned Sims survivors for more data but no further informat ion available.

Respectfully submitted
Robert James Dicken C.S.M.

2. I never saw any sign of panic. Everyone was on their stations doin g their job and the whole ship worked as a well organized unit until t he end. Discipline was excellent.

3. There are a few outstanding things that I can remember in additio n to the above report:

The number one gun crew stood by their gun and kept up a steady rate o f fire after the paint on their gun was burning and the ship was at su ch an angle that the decks were awash. The Chief Engineer was wounde d severely but carried out several duties under extremely difficult co nditions. He tried to fire the forward set of torpedo tubes to assis t the Captain in lightening the ship and to remove the danger of the t orpedoes exploding aboard. He also extinguished the fire on the torped o deck house at the time. One outstanding act was done by an enliste d man named E.F. MUNCH, MM2c, just before he jumped over the side to b e picked up by my boat, he secured a depth charge to the deck so it wo uld not go over the side or accidently explode on deck.

4. The last I saw of the Commanding Officer he was standing on the bri dge when the ship was blown up by the explosion. He showed an exampl e of courage throughout the entire engagement.

5. To the best of my knowledge and belief all muster rolls, log book s and valuable papers went down with the Sims. We did not have any boo ks or papers in my boat at all. My boat was not loaded with a view t o permanently abandon ship. The Captain believed that he could save th e ship and was doing everything in his power to do so right up until t he ship blew up and sank.

6. During the entire four days of hard work in the boat, part of whic h time we were alongside the Neosho, and part clear of the Neosho, th e conduct of the men was very good. We did the best we could to provis ion the boat and prepare it for sea. For the first three days we wer e repairing the 18 inch hole in the boat.

7. Our small boat was left tied up alongside the Neosho when we were t aken aboard the Henley. When the Neosho was fired on and purposely sun k, this boat went down with her.

No property of any kind remains of the Sims.

8. To the best of my knowledge and belief the following are the only s urvivors of the U.S.S. Sims:

NAME RATE SERVICE NO.

VESSIA, V.J. F2c Unknown
LAWES, J. Jr. Sea2c Unknown
TEVEBAUGH, J.W. RM3c Unknown
GOBER, A.C. Sea2c Unknown
CHMIELEWSKI, J. F1c Unknown
SCOTT, M.W. F3c Unknown
VERTON, J.C. Sea2c Unknown
ERNST, G.E. FC3c Unknown
SAVAGE, J. FC3c Unknown
MUNCH, E.F. MM2c Unknown
CANOLE, V.F. MM2c Unknown
REILLY, T.F. WT1c Unknown
CLARK, (unknown) CY Unknown
PELIES, E.M. Sea2c Unknown
DICKEN, R.J. CSM Unknown

I am the senior petty officer in this group of survivors. Of this lis t two men are now dead, they are: Chief Yeoman CLARK, who died the fir st night we were in the boat and PELIES, E.M., who died in the sick ba y on board the Henley. To the best of my knowledge and belief there ar e no other survivors of the Sims.

Robert James Dicken, CSM.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Birth in Week. ² Sunday

• Hebrew name. ² Yitzhak Laybe - Ha-Levy

• Yahrtzeit. ² 21 Iyyar 5702

• Death in week. ² Friday

• Military: Second World War.

• Jewish Birth Date. ² 26 Av 5678