Navigator Stephen Jurika

One of the most fascinating people involved in the events onboard the USS Franklin was Stephen Jurika. Born in California, his family moved to the Philippines during his childhood. He grew up speaking several languages including Japanese, and after graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1933, served on board several cruisers before entering the naval aviation program.

Assigned to the USS Saratoga and VT-3 (torpedo bombers) he became a talented aviator. He was trusted enough that he was one of several that were allowed to test landing on a carrier with a live torpedo, something that had been against policy up until then.

In 1936 he participated in the “attack” on Pearl Harbor, a war game that foreshadowed the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. He authored an article in the Saturday Evening Post which garnered a note of compliments from Admiral Earnest King and in 1937 he participated in the search for Amelia Earhart.

He then served as the naval air attaché in Tokyo where his fluent Japanese language skills came in handy.

In October of 1941, he was assigned to the USS Hornet as its intelligence officer.

In January 1942, he assisted in the planning of the Doolittle Raid by providing information on high value targets in the Tokyo area.¹

“The ship’s intelligence officer, in lectures, took the Army fliers up and down every alley in Tokio. He hadn’t overstated it when he said he knew the city ‘like a book.’ He gave them history of Japan and China, political set-ups, the psychological differences between Chinese and Japanese, dress and uniforms of both countries, modes of living of all classes from peasant to military.²”

Jurika became somewhat well-known on board the Franklin thanks to his portrayal in the 1944 movie about the Doolittle raid, “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,” by actor Leon Ames. He was also present onboard the Hornet at the Battle of Midway and was with her when she was sunk at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

In December 1944, Lt. Cmdr Jurika reported to the USS Franklin which was being repaired in Bremerton, Washington after its October 30^th Kamikaze attack.

One of the things I’ve learned about Captain Gehres is that the men either hated him or had a great deal of respect for him. Jurika falls into the latter category. In “The Reminiscences of Capt. Stephen Jurika, Jr., USN (Ret.) Vol II,” he states about Captain Gehres:

In fact , he had been ComAir in Alaska and had made himself extremely unpopular with the high command in Alaska by sticking to what I considered to be sound and very prudent decisions. Nevertheless, he had been fired from that command and demoted from a one-star job to command of a ship, which he loved. He had grown up in destroyers, he was a magnificent ship handler, he never spared himself, and he never demanded anything of his officers that he himself didn’t produce. In this sense, I thought he was clearly a remarkable man.³“

“High Command” is right! On more than one occasion Admiral Nimitz himself cautioned Gehres against using his PBYs as bombers.⁴ And Jurika’s opinion is in stark contrast to numerous oral histories by enlisted men aboard the Franklin that referred to Gehres as what today would be termed a “toxic” leader.

He goes out of his way to laud Captain Gehres several times about his ship handling skills, but he fails to mention the incident at Pearl Harbor when the Captain slammed the ship into the pier after refusing the offer of a harbor pilot. He barely mentions the 704 Club and doesn’t mention the court martial attempt at all. He’s also factually wrong in several other cases, due perhaps to a faulty memory and wanting to protect Gehres’ reputation.

Jurika may have convinced the doubting Captain Gehres to save the ship rather than abandon her. Captain Gehres asked:

‘Steve, what do you think we should do? Do think we should abandon ship?’

I said, ‘No, I don’t think so. I wouldn’t. I think we’ll pull through and there’s no reason we really shouldn’t if everybody gets to work.’⁵

This aligns with what several other sources, including Gehres, say as well.

He would go on to be awarded the Navy Cross for his actions that day conning the ship during and after the attack.

Despite numerous errors in his Reminiscences, I still find Jurika fascinating. He could be considered a Renaissance Man or a polymath, given his numerous skills. After the war, he served as a diplomat and later earned his Ph.d and taught for a number of years. His papers are housed at Stanford and I look forward to reading them.

¹ USS Hornet Museum Web Article

²Alexander Griffin, A Ship To Remember: The Saga of the Hornet (New York: Howell, Soskin, 1943) p 61

³Stephen Jurika, The Reminiscences of Capt. Stephen Jurika, Jr., USN (Ret.) Vol II, (Annapolis: US Naval Institute, 1979) p 605

⁴Joseph Springer, Inferno: The Epic Life And Death Struggle of The USS Franklin In World War II (Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press 2011) p. 171

⁵Jurika, The Reminiscences… pp 646-647