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SM1C Virgil Leroy Adams
Monument

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SM1C Virgil Leroy Adams Veteran

Birth
Wilson, Carter County, Oklahoma, USA
Death
25 May 1945 (aged 23)
At Sea
Monument
Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA Add to Map
Plot
Courts of the Missing
Memorial ID
View Source
Virgil entered the service from Oklahoma with service-number # 352658.

Virgil served on the USS Bates (APD-47). He was KIA when the ship sunk by an enemy Kamikaze attack off the coast of Okinawa.

At 1115 on 25 May, while patrolling two miles south of Ie Shima, Okinawa, Bates was attacked by three Japanese aircraft. The first dropped a bomb, scoring a near miss which ruptured the starboard hull of the ship, and then crashed into the starboard side of the fantail. The second aircraft, almost simultaneously, made a suicide hit on the pilothouse. Shortly thereafter, the third aircraft made a bombing run scoring a near miss amidships, portside, rupturing the hull. At 1145 the commanding officer ordered Bates abandoned. Twenty-one of her crew were either dead or missing from the attacks. During the afternoon, the tug Cree (ATF-84) was able to get a line aboard and towed Bates to Ie Shima anchorage. At 1923 on 25 May 1945, the still burning Bates capsized and sank in 20 fathoms of water.
Virgil entered the service from Oklahoma with service-number # 352658.

Virgil served on the USS Bates (APD-47). He was KIA when the ship sunk by an enemy Kamikaze attack off the coast of Okinawa.

At 1115 on 25 May, while patrolling two miles south of Ie Shima, Okinawa, Bates was attacked by three Japanese aircraft. The first dropped a bomb, scoring a near miss which ruptured the starboard hull of the ship, and then crashed into the starboard side of the fantail. The second aircraft, almost simultaneously, made a suicide hit on the pilothouse. Shortly thereafter, the third aircraft made a bombing run scoring a near miss amidships, portside, rupturing the hull. At 1145 the commanding officer ordered Bates abandoned. Twenty-one of her crew were either dead or missing from the attacks. During the afternoon, the tug Cree (ATF-84) was able to get a line aboard and towed Bates to Ie Shima anchorage. At 1923 on 25 May 1945, the still burning Bates capsized and sank in 20 fathoms of water.


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