| 12. |  Luke, Floyd Vance 'Pig' was born on 11 Jan 1918 in Clay City, Clay County, Illinois (son of Luke, John Albert and Graham, Nella 'Nellie'); died on 2 Oct 1969 in Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma; was buried on 6 Oct 1969 in Sperry Rest Haven Cemetery, Sperry, Osage County, Oklahoma. Other Events and Attributes:
- Reference Number: LUKE.F001
- _FGRAVE: 15941040
- Military Service: World War II, Chief Machinist's Mate, United States Navy
Notes:
NOTES FROM STEVE LUKE:
researched and written by J.Lee Ready
Floyd Vance Luke enlisted into the U.S. Navy in late 1940 and received training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. At the end of February 1941, he graduated Fireman 3rdC and took a leave at home. At some time during the year he joined the USS Holland,(Capt.J.W.Gregory) a submarine tender of 8,100 tons and a crew of 388, based at San Diego, Ca. The purpose of the ship was to repair damaged submarines,ie. (bad weather, battle, collision, normal wear and tear).
The "Holland" therefore had two " crews"; one whose job it was to sail the vessel; and the other whose job it was to repair submarines, and in time of emergency ( bad weather, combat, etc.) was to man damage control teams, medical rescuesti-aircraft gun teams, and to take over any job if the normal job holder was injured.
At the end of October 1941, the "Holland" sailed for Cavite Naval Base, Phillipine Islands and arrived 22 November, 1941. It was normal for new arrivals to receive a week off to aquaint themselves with the area, so Floyd probably visitedn a pass.
By December 1, the ship was certainly back to normal, pulling routine maintenance on submarines, which of course meant that it's mechanics often had to board the submarines.
On Monday 8 December, 1941 all ships were alerted that Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the major U.S. Naval Base in the Pacific ( and 4,000 miles closer to the USA than Cavite ) had been bombed by Japanese aircraft. Obviously this meant war. The Holldered to put to sea at once and it's feeble anti-aircraft guns were manned. ( a few .50 caliber machine guns and possibly a couple of 20mm cannon )
Before the ship could exit Manilla Bay, Japanese planes arrived and the Holland had to dodge enemy bombs and machine gun strafing by using wild manuvers, lay smokescreens and shooting back, hoping to put the enemy pilots off their aim. Ate planes left, but the night was spent docking and sending repair parties ashore to fix bomb damage to the shore facilities, which were on fire.
Next dawn the enemy planes arrived and the whole affair was repeated. That evening the Holland docked again.
The third day was a repeat of the second and by evening of the 10th it was decided that the Holland should make her way to Balikpapan on Dutch Borneo, over 2000 miles to the south.The Holland sailed and soon realized that the ship had toenese warships in the dark ( neither were equipped with radar ) and hole up during the day close to an island, where often times the trees hung over the water, hoping not to be seen by Japanese aircraft which were patrolling at will.
On the 12th the Holland miraculously missed running into a major enemy task force sailing to the southern Luzon. By hiding at times against the islands of Mindara, Panay, Negroes, Mindinao, Java and Borneo, the Holland finally reached Balowever, they found several vessels wrecked by Japanese aircraft, and at dawn the Japanese returned. The Holland stuck out like a sore thumb - a fresh target and a USN ship to boot. The Holland fought off the planes all day. ( By radio the Holland had learned that two British battleships had been sunk by enemy plane in just minutes, so the crew must have suspected that every moment under air attack would be their last)
The second day was a repeat of the first and that night the captain received permission to leave, the Dutch port was obvioously not as safe as it was declared.
By skirting the Borneo coast the Holland kept hidden and then made a 300 miile dash, in daylight, across the Java sea. The Holland safely reached the port of Sourabaya on Dutch Java. Once there the Dutch defense vessle.
" Sourabaya" and the shore guns provided protection and the Holland was able to survive the days air raids. They even managed to repair a submarine while there. This port was obviously not safe and the Holland received permission to sail to Pt Darwin, Australia, that night.
By hugging the coast of Java, Lombok, Bali and Timor islands, the Holland reached Darwin Australia in January 1942.
Safe now, the Holland began repairing submarines and other vessels. Over the next few days they learned that Cavite and Balikpapan, indeed all of the islands they had " hugged " had fallen to the Japanese, with the exception of Java.
On February 3, 1942 the Holland was asked to go back to Java to rescue Admiral Lockwood and several other americans. The reason a non-combatant vessel was chosen was that no allied warships were available
( either sunk, crippled or locked in combat ). The crew agreed and set sail. Ignoring the chance of being seen, the Holland sailed full speed in daylight and after six days reached the small fishing village of Tjilaljap and rescued the party whe under air attack. As the Holland returned across the Java sea, they passed two Japanese task forces, each about 100 miles north, and also the gunboat "Tulsa". The Holland reached Darwin Australia on February 14, 1942.
( Australian, British and Dutch ships at Darwin refused to sail this month, as they felt it was suicide, with the Japanese controlling the seas. Two Chinese vessels sailed, but returned after 24 hrs after having sighted enemy aircraft. Ten american vessels sailed but only two reached their destination, the other eight were never seen again, and those two were sunk on their return trip.
The Holland therefore was the only ship to sail from Darwin into enemy waters, at this time, and return and had covered 3000 miles doing it.
However, the sigh of relief heard aboard the Holland only lasted five days for on 19 February,1942, no less than 188 Japanese planes arrived. The holland put to sea at once and fought planes. Seventeen ships were sunk and others crippletuck of the Holland held.
A few days later the ABDA (Australian, British, Dutch, American) fleet entered the Java sea and was completely destroyed. Java was then occupied by the enemy.
Over the next four months there were sporadic air raids in the Darwin area, but the Holland moved on the night of 19 Feb.1942 to Fremantle,and on 15 Mar. to Albany to stay out of range of Japanese forces.
In April 1942 the mechanics aboard the Holland were commended for solving the problem of the ineffective torpedo: the single most important maintenance problem for the Navy in WWII.
Floyd was still with the Holland at this time. This is evidenced by a receipt to F. V. Luke for payment of replacement of a skylight for " C. Collins - Bootmaker" dated July 8 1942 in the amount of $4.16 in Albany, West Australia, which is abt 100 miles south of Frementle. Records show that the Holland was in Albany port doing a refit on the submarine Tautog, The Tautog stood out to sea on 8 October 1942.
In February 1943 the Holland sailed to Mare Island,Ca. for an extensive overhaul. The crew were allowed leave in March 1943.
In July ( or slightly later) 1945 Floyd, by now a Chief Machinists Mate, was assigned to shore duty on Okinawa at a naval magazine, an ammunition depot which was preparing for the invasion of Japan. He remained there untill 1946
Floyds decorations would have been:
Navy Unit Commendation Medal
Good Conduct Medal
American Defense Medal w/ 'F' fleet clasp
World War II Victory Medal
Phillipine Independence Medal
Phillipine Battle Star
East Indies Battle Star
(possibly)
American Campaign Medal
Occupation Medal
The Holland saw duty at Pearl Harbor from June 1943 to June 1944. Then sailed, with a brief stopover at Midway, to Guam. Duty there was often interupted by air raids, and going ashore was hazardous because of Japanese stragglers on the island.
November 1944 to January 1945 the Holland returned to Pearl Harbor, then back to a peaceful Guam. In July the Holland docked at Okinawa and September entered Tokyo Bay.
It is not known if Floyd was aboard the Holland at any point between June 1943 - 1945. If so he may have also earned the American Campaign Medal, the Marianas Battle Star and the Riyukyus Battle Star.
NOTES FROM CARL WAYNE GRAY:
Served on the USS Holland AS-3 1941-1943 served in Manila December 1941, East Indies 1941-1942. Participated in the rescue of Admiral Lockwood behind Japanese lines, Unit Citation
Source: http://www.wwiimemorial.com
Military Service:
Served on the USS Holland AS-3 1941-1943 served in Manila December 1941, East Indies 1941-1942. Participated in the rescue of Admiral Lockwood behind Japanese lines, Unit Citation
Source: http://www.wwiimemorial.com/Registry/plaque.aspx?honoreeID=1667514
Floyd married Jenkins, Bessie Elizabeth 'Bessie' on 23 Mar 1943 in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri. Bessie (daughter of Jenkins, James Noley and Nelson, L.M.) was born on 17 Dec 1921 in Grove, Delaware County, Oklahoma; died on 6 Feb 1998 in McAlester, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma; was buried in Sperry Rest Haven Cemetery, Sperry, Osage County, Oklahoma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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Luke, Stephen Gregory 'Steve' was born on 10 Oct 1947 in Miami, Ottawa County, Oklahoma (son of Luke, Floyd Vance 'Pig' and Jenkins, Bessie Elizabeth 'Bessie'); died on 14 Jun 2002; was buried in Sperry Rest Haven Cemetery, Sperry, Osage County, Oklahoma. 
Jenkins, Bessie Elizabeth 'Bessie' was born on 17 Dec 1921 in Grove, Delaware County, Oklahoma (daughter of Jenkins, James Noley and Nelson, L.M.); died on 6 Feb 1998 in McAlester, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma; was buried in Sperry Rest Haven Cemetery, Sperry, Osage County, Oklahoma. 
