Munda and Fletcher’s Shadow
January 5, 1943
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In the midst of the firing, Lt. Comdr. F. L. Johnson, Fletcher’s new skipper, at the head of the column, suddenly saw the outline of a ship dead ahead and ordered “left full rudder” to unmask his batteries while transmitting an emergency warning over the TBS. As Fletcher came left, so did the stranger only at a greater speed. Johnson estimated his adversary’s speed and had it cranked into the torpedo director preparing to fire. But neither the gun director, with its FD radar, nor his SG radar could detect anything. He checked with his sound gear – no noises at all in that direction. He was sure that he had sen the silhouette of a ship and still saw it from time to time.
Johnson wondered aloud about what he was seeing. Briscoe, standing beside him on the Fletcher’s Bridge, was equally perplexed. Gradually they realized what they were watching. Each time the cruiser closest astern blasted out with a forward turret, the outline of Fletcher was etched in the light haze rising from the sea. The phantom ship was Fletcher’s shadow when the cruiser’s guns flashed astern.
On July 6. 1943 the USS Radford DD-446 experienced a similiar incident when she spotted what she thought was another 2100 ton destroyer that was preventing her from complying with course changes ordered by the task group commander while participating in the Battle of Kula Gulf. After several minutes Radford realized it was her own shadow on the mist made visible when the guns of the nearby cruisers were fired. Fletcher would likely have been a participant in this battle had she not experienced a disabling engineering casualty to the starboard engine on June 9th. On July 6 Fletcher was at sea enroute from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco for repairs. Fletcher’s sister destroyers Jenkins, Nicholas and O’Bannon also participated in this battle.
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