Coxswain Robert James Canavan of the Coast Guard

Creator

Preview

Identifier

20028814

Description

Coxswain Robert James Canavan of the Coast Guard Canavan, 19, is standing in front of a large interior column in a service men's club building. He is wearing his Coast Guard uniform and hat with military ribbons and insignia. Behind and beside the column are a table, lamp, newspapers, and in the background are ornate windows. Clipping: "Sailor Plays Dead and Fools Japanese Killers Coxswain Robert James Canavan of the Coast Guard, only survivor of the crew of an antisubmarine patrol boat sunk by a Japanese cruiser in the Marine assault on Guadalcanal and who owes his life to his expertness in playing dead, was in Fort Worth Monday en route to visit his mother in Chicago. He recently was released from a hospital in San Diego. While here he visited the SMC [Service Men's Club]. The former drug store delivery boy, who entered service two years ago when he was 17, was attached to the first Marine division to land on Guadalcanal. The morning of Aug. 19, 1942, his patrol boat was spotted by a Japanese cruiser, which opened fire. The patrol boat was sunk and its crew leaped overboard. The cruiser headed in among the men struggling in the water, CAnavan related, and machinegunned them. 'I played dead,' the young coxswain recounted, and gave myself an eagle spread and floated perfectly still as the ship approached. I could see the crew hanging over the side looking at me and could hear a bugle blowing and the rattling of mess kits. I started getting hungry.' After 19 hours in the water he reached Florida Island and began walking inland. He discovered a friendly tribe of natives who fed him and gave him a place to sleep. He was picked up by a Marine craft after several days and was taken to Guadalcanal. Canavan wears stars designating participation in five major engagements."

Archival Date

1943-10-25

Collection Name

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection

Collection Number

AR406-6-293

Original Format

Negatives, Black & White

File Format

JPG

Rights

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License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Subjects

Canavan, Robert James; Guadalcanal; Rescues; Military decorations; Military ribbons; Military uniforms; Survivors; United States. Coast Guard