April 18, 1945

18- _____ bombarded all night _ we left south west side & went to N_____ bay and also bombarded there _ we got there early & bombarded through out the day.
____ While on watch from 2000 to 2400 turrit II had an accident.
____ We were firing rapid fire & on the 4th round, the powder can of the center gun blow up & killed 4 men & wounded 13. Those that were killed were

1 Lt Steveans _____ 3 Craddock BM 2/3
2 Cecil S 2/c ______ 4 OcConnal GM 2/c

We bombarded the rest of the night.
48 days out of states
________________________

N = Nahagasuku Bay on the east side of Okinawa.
turrit = turret

The accident happened between 10 pm and midnight. Mobile's official war record states, "In the Okinawa Operation in April, 1945, a six-inch powder case exploded in Turret II during the
ramming of the center gun, killing one officer and five men, and wounding sixteen men, thirteen of them seriously."

The Story of A Ship—USS Mobile And The Men Who Fought Her lists the victims as William Wyman Stephens, Ensign, USNR; Donald Keith Cecil, S1c, V-6, USNR; Leo Lawrence O'Connell, GM2c(T), V-6 USNR; and Howard Edwin Craddock, BM2c, USN.

USNR = US Naval Reserve
S1c = Seaman, 1st Class
GM2c = Gunnery Mate, 2nd Class
BM is, I think, Bosun's Mate

The photo shows the 2 crews responsible for Gun Turret II (Joe in center on steps). Each crew would have had about 20 men. Joe doesn't mention being wounded. He was likely one of only 4 men on the crew to come through unscathed. More of the seriously wounded died later. This survivor's guilt, along with the PTSD symptoms Joe was already experiencing, no doubt escalated his condition to the chronic case he brought home.