My father was in the Navy during WWII and assigned to the destroyer USS Ellet DD-398. The USS Ellet was in the Battle of Savo Island. I found out that the USS Ellet did rescue survivors from the USS Quincy after it sank. My father's name was Michael Mihalyo and he was a Chief Gunners Mate. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who remembers being rescued by the Ellet or who might have known my father. He died when I was a child so I never got to ask him about his Navy experiences. Thank You for your service.
I was a Firecontrolman aboard USS Quincy CA-39 and survived the sinking August 9 , 1942 . After about 5 hours in the ocean I saw a single stack destroyer coming towards me . Just transfered from the Atlantic where this type ship was never seen I assumed it was Japanese looking for survivors to machine gun . A voice sounded out " Come along the Starboard Side !" That was not a Jap, it sounded real American There was a cargo net hanging from near the bow which I climbed to the deck and removed my water soaked kaypox jacket . The crewmen told me to go aft and get some sleep which I did after removing my wet dungarees and shirt-had left my shoes at the lifelines of my sinking ship . I promptly fell into a deep sleep because we had been at Battle Stations for many hours .