Paul Julius - Luckiest Man in the World?!?

Gato-Class Fleet Submarine, similar to the types that Paul
would have served on during World War II

When I started working at Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries in 1972, we had a lot of World War II veterans in the workforce.  I worked with one gentleman who had been a B-17 pilot, had survived his planes destruction by the Luftwaffe, and had spent the last two years of the war in a German POW camp.  Another colleague was a Pearl Harbor survivor.  There were many and they all had amazing stories to share, but I believe I was most fascinated by Paul Julius, a retired Navy Warrant Officer.  I think he may have been the luckiest man I ever knew from the standpoint of "coincidences" that spared his life.

     Paul Julius had entered the navy shortly after Pearl Harbor.  After boot camp, he attended a couple of electronics schools before being assigned to USS Preston (DD–379), a Mahan-class destroyer.  On the evening of 14 November, 1942, Preston, as part of TF 64, sailed along the western end of Guadalcanal to intercept another Japanese run down the “Slot” to bombard Henderson Field and land reinforcements.  Swinging around Savo Island, the force, two battleships preceded by four destroyers, entered the channel between Savo and Cape Esperance.  At 23:00, the battleship Washington picked up the Japanese cruiser Sendai on her radar, and, at 23:17, the Third Battle of Savo Island began.
     As Paul related it to me, he had gotten off watch at midnight but since it was incredibly hot he decided to sleep in the number 3 gun mount, since that was his battle station.  This ultimately saved his life.  Approximately eight minutes after the enemy was engaged, USS Walke was hit.  Soon after, Preston, preparing her torpedoes, was struck.  One salvo from Nagara had put both fire rooms out and toppled the after stack.  Her fires made an easier target and shells came in from both port and starboard.  The fires spread.  At 23:36, she was ordered abandoned.  Seconds later she rolled on her side.  She floated for another ten minutes, bow in the air; then sank, taking 116 of her crew with her.  Paul Julius was in the water with a life jacket on and was rescued within a couple of hours.  He ended up ashore on Guadalcanal in the company of the U.S. Marines.
     After a couple of weeks, Paul was offloaded and informed that he had been selected for submarine training and found himself on his way to New London, Connecticut.  After 6 months of submarine training, Paul was assigned to a brand new fleet submarine home ported in Pearl Harbor, HI.  He made his first war patrol and after a couple of months, returned to Pearl Harbor.  The day after the boat tied up, Paul proceeded to the base hospital for his required annual physical.  While he was off the ship, shipyard workers were busy installing a new piece of equipment to help locate submarines stranded or disabled in somewhat shallow water.  It consisted of a mechanism mounted on the top side of the hull that contained a small explosive device.  Over this was fitted a flotation marker that, when launched by a stranded sub, would float to the surface, attached to the sub by a cable.  The floating object then acted as a radar reflector and homing beacon to find the boat.
     Paul was unaware as he returned to his submarine that the repair team was preparing to test fire the locator device with a lightweight mockup.  As Paul crossed the brow to board his home vessel, the device was launched and struck him in the groin and testicles.  Ouch!  He was returned to the hospital where he remained for several days.
     His submarine left on its next war patrol without benefit of Paul's presence.  It never returned from that war patrol.
     After Paul recovered, he was assigned to another sub in the South Pacific Command.  He made two successful war patrols.  Upon his return from the second, he learned that he had been promoted to Warrant Officer and was no longer eligible to serve on submarines.  He was being transferred to a Submarine Tender where his skills and knowledge could be better utilized.  You may have guessed - his sub went back to sea and never returned.  Assumed lost at sea with all hands.
     Paul survived the war and remained in the navy.  He eventually became one of only two Warrant Officers ever selected by Admiral Rickover for the nuclear power program.  And after he retired, he came to work at Ingalls Shipbuilding, which is where our paths crossed.  I have written previously about my friendship with Paul's son, Peter.

--000--

Unfortunately, Paul passed away from a heart attack when he was a relatively young man.  It shocked those of us who knew him as a bigger-than-life colleague and committed friend.  In spite of his early demise, I still reflect on his World War II experience and am convinced that his higher power was certainly watching out for him!