USS Hughes at Midway

June 2, 1942

Night Order Book:

N.E. of Midway

Tuesday, June 2, 1942

Task Force 17, 16 is in vicinity

Formation L-

Posit #5

Course 305°T Axis 270°

Speed 14

At 2230 ships left to 227°T

At 0030 Zig Zag plan #7

All hands on watch alert for eventualities

Radar search astern only – where directed. Keep sharp lookout astern and on both quarters. This is very important.

Call me in event of any contact.

Call me just prior to start of morning twilight.

Respy,

DJ Ramsey

Captain Ramsey wanted the OOD (Officer on Deck) and watch standers to be especially watchful that night. The attack on Midway was approaching and they needed to be ready for "eventualities." At any moment, they could have come into contact with an enemy vessel. Combat was expected and deemed inevitable considering the intelligence the fleet had gathered. At the bottom of most of Ramsey's log entries you may have noticed what looks like signatures and times such as 0-4 or 4-8. These most likely represent Sailors, the OODs to be exact, under Ramsey acknowledging his orders during their respective watches. The men of USS Hughes needed to heed their Skipper's orders and keenly observed their surroundings because a predator lay in wait for them underneath the seas.