Name: Philip Douglas Quinlan Rank: Seaman First Class Service Number: 2018573 Service: USS Juneau (CL-52), US Navy Awards: Purple Heart Date of Birth: March 3, 1922 Place of Birth: Peabody, Essex County, Massachusetts Date of Enlistment: December 27, 1940 Place of Enlistment: Massachusetts Address at Enlistment: Peabody, Essex Co., Mass. Age at Enlistment: 18 Occupation: Student Marital Status: Single Next of Kin: John Henry Quinlan (Father) Date of Death: November 13, 1942 Age: 20 Cemetery: Manila American Cemetery Reference: Walls of the Missing Philip Douglas Quinlan was the son of John Henry Quinlan (1890-1968) Martha M (Matheson) (1898-1988). His mother was born in Whycocomagh, Inverness County, in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. His father was born in Peabody, Massachusetts. His parents met while working at the AC Lawrence Leather Co. factory in Peabody and raised their family of five children on Linden Road in South Peabody, Mass. Philip had one brother and three sisters - Richard Henry Quinlan (1923–1936), Geraldine Anne Quinlan (1921–1987), Martha Elizabeth Quinlan (1924–2001), and Miriam A. (Quinlan) Towey (born 1933). Philip completed his third year of high school in the spring of 1940 with his favorite subject being history and an ambition to be a machinist according to his yearbook. His sister Miriam remembers that her brother loved horses and probably would have worked on a farm, but there were no jobs available when he graduated from Peabody High School in 1940, so he joined the US Navy, in December 1940. Philip served on the USS Texas (BB-35), a New York-class battleship, from April 25, 1941, until he was transferred to the USS Juneau (CL-52), an Atlanta-class light cruiser, on March 4, 1942. After a hurried shakedown cruise along the Atlantic Coast in the spring of 1942, Juneau assumed blockade patrol in early May off Martinique and Guadeloupe Islands to prevent the escape of Vichy French naval units. She returned to New York to complete alterations and operated in the North Atlantic and Caribbean from June 1st to August 12th on patrol and escort duties. The cruiser departed for the Pacific Theater on August 22, 1942. After stopping briefly at the Tonga Islands and New Caledonia, she rendezvoused on September 10th with Task Force 18 (TF 18) under the command of Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes, flying his flag on Wasp. The following day, TF 17, which included Hornet, combined with Admiral Noyes' unit to form TF 61, whose mission was to ferry fighter aircraft to Guadalcanal. On September 15th, Wasp took three torpedo hits from the Japanese submarine I-19, and, with fires raging out of control, was sunk at 2100 by Lansdowne. Juneau and screen destroyers rescued 1,910 survivors of Wasp and returned them to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, on September 16th. The next day, the fast cruiser rejoined TF 17. Operating with the Hornet group, she supported three actions that repelled enemy thrusts at Guadalcanal: the Buin-Faisi- Tonolai Raid; the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands; and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Third Savo). The USS Juneau, June 1, 1942 (from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives #19-N-31264) On November 8, 1942 Juneau departed Nouméa, New Caledonia, as a unit of TF 67 under the command of Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner to escort reinforcements to Guadalcanal. The force arrived there early morning on November 12, 1942, and Juneau took up her station in the protective screen around the transports and cargo vessels. Unloading proceeded unmolested until 14:05, when 30 Japanese planes attacked the alerted United States group. The AA fire was effective, and Juneau alone accounted for six enemy torpedo bombers shot down. The few remaining Japanese planes were, in turn, attacked by American fighters; only one bomber escaped. Later in the day, an American attack group of cruisers and destroyers cleared Guadalcanal on reports that a large enemy surface force was headed for the island. At 01:48 on November 13, 1942, Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan's relatively small landing support group engaged the enemy. The Japanese force consisted of two battleships, one light cruiser, and nine destroyers. Because of bad weather and confused communications, the battle occurred in near-pitch darkness and at almost point-blank range, as the ships of the two sides became intermingled. During the melee, Juneau was struck on the port side by a torpedo launched by Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze, causing a severe list, and necessitating withdrawal. Before noon on November 13th, Juneau, along with two other cruisers damaged in the battle—Helena and San Francisco—headed toward Espiritu Santo for repairs. Juneau was steaming on one screw, keeping station 800 yd (730 m) off the starboard quarter of the likewise severely damaged San Francisco. She was down 12 feet (3.7 m) by the bow, but able to maintain 13 kn (15 mph, 24 km/h). A few minutes after 11:00, two torpedoes were launched from Japanese submarine I-26. These were intended for San Francisco, but both passed ahead of her. One struck Juneau in the same place that had been hit during the battle. There was a great explosion; Juneau broke in two and disappeared in just 20 seconds. Seaman First Class Philip Douglas Quinlan was lost along with 686 men in the sinking of the Juneau. Approximately 100 survived the initial sinking, but only 10 were recovered from the sea after waiting 8 days for rescue search aircraft or ships to arrive. Lost at sea, Philip has no grave but is remembered on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. He also has a memorial marker at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and his name appears on his family grave marker at the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Peabody, Massachusetts. A memorial to the USS Juneau and her crew sits on the Seawalk on South Franklin Street in Juneau, Alaska; the ship’s namesake. The wreck of Juneau was located on March 17, 2018. by Paul Allen's research crew on board RV Petrel. The cruiser rests 4,200 m (13,800 ft) below the surface off the Solomon Islands in several large pieces.