Jessie Mahaffey, USS Oklahoma survivor, passes
Not sure how we may have missed this at the time, but Jessie A. Mahaffey, a seaman on the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor, passed May 1 at the age of 102.
Mahaffey joined the Navy in the summer of 1941 after graduating high school in Louisiana. After attending boot camp in San Diego, he was assigned to the Oklahoma.On the morning of the attack, he was preparing for an inspection when Japanese torpedo bombers attacked the Oklahoma, he told KTBS-TV in Shreveport in a Dec. 7 interview.He and five other sailors were scrubbing the battleship’s wooden deck using abrasive holystones attached to broomsticks, he said.
The Oklahoma was a Nevada-class battleship which sank in 45 minutes after being hit by five torpedoes in the attack. With 429 crew casualties, the Oklahoma is second only to the Arizona in casualty count.
Japanese planes immediately targeted the Oklahoma, and it was struck by three torpedoes within 10 minutes. As it began to capsize, two more torpedoes slammed into it, and crew members were strafed as they abandoned ship.“It turned upside down and we had to slide over the bottom of the ship into the water,” he recollected in the interview. He swam to and boarded the USS Maryland, which was moored beside the Oklahoma.
You would think that would be enough excitement in one war for anyone, right?
Mahaffey was later assigned to the cruiser USS Northampton, and he once again cheated death when it was sunk Nov. 30, 1942, during the Battle of Tassafaronga in the Solomon Islands.The Northampton was part of a cruiser-destroyer force tasked with preventing Japanese reinforcements from reaching Guadalcanal. Two Japanese torpedoes ripped open the Northampton, and within three hours the crew was forced to abandon the sinking ship. Stars & Stripes
As of the time of the article in May, there was only one surviving Oklahoma survivor and by their count 14 Pearl Harbor survivors total. Seems to me we have lost a few others in the interim – it is a ‘band of brothers’ disappearing fast.
Hat tip to my friend Oleg (maybe the smartest guy I know) for his post.
Category: Navy, We Remember, WWII
Rest In Peace.
We have the watch now
(Slow salute).
Rest In Peace, Sir.
Jessie Alton Mahaffey
November 23, 1922 – March 1, 2025
https://www.warrenmeadows.com/obituary/jessie-mahaffey
Salute.
Calm seas and following winds forever Sir. RIP. May your reunion with shipmates, friends and family be joyous.
USS Northampton at Tassafaronga? He served aboard the same ship as Jason Robards Jr… at the same time!
Rest In Peace, Sir
I consider my self very fortunate to have met many WW2 vets, a few WW1 and one of Canada’s last 2nd Boer War vets
Rest in Peace good Sir. Thank you for your service to this great nation. Fair winds and following seas.
Thank you, Sir.
A Rest well deserved.
{slow salute}
They have all manned the rails and have left port for that final journey home.
Rest in Peace, Jessie. Slow Salute.
*Slow Salute*
Rest In Peace Warrior, you’ve earned your place in History and Valhalla.