Torpedo Attack off Butaritari Island
At 0430, November 24, reveille was made in Liscome Bay. The ship went to routine general quarters at 0505 as flight crews prepared their planes for dawn launchings. There was no warning of a submarine in the area until about 0510 when a lookout shouted: . . . here comes a torpedo! The missile struck abaft the after engineroom an instant later with a shattering roar. A second major detonation closely followed the first, the entire interior burst into flames. At 0533, LISCOME BAY listed to starboard and sank. ... Admiral Mullinix, Captain Wiltsie, 53 other officers, and 591 enlisted men down with her; 272 of her crew were rescued. Gallantly her men had served; gallantly they died in the victorious campaign giving their lives for the Nation's future.
