Obituary: Bart J. Connolly III
January 2nd, 2009 From
>Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 21:02:16 -0600
>From: Brooks A Rowlett
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>Subject: Obituary: Bart J. Connolly III
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>By Tom Long, Globe Staff, 09/09/97
>
>Bart J. Connolly III, a Brookline native who was
>awarded a Navy Cross for bravery as a 22-year-old
>PT boat skipper during World War II and was captain of
>the aircraft carrier Oriskany during the Vietnam War,
>died Aug. 29 in Rancho Vista Retirement Community in
>Vista, Calif. He was 76.
>
>Mr. Connolly attended Boston Latin School and graduated
>from the US Naval Academy in 1942.
>
>During World War II, he was the commanding officer of
>PT-115, which fought in the same flotilla in the Solomon
> Islands as John F. Kennedy’s PT-109.
>
> Mr. Connolly earned his Navy Cross on an overcast night
>in 1943, when he and his men were called upon to
>intercept a Japanese fleet resupplying Guadalcanal.
>Another PT boat skipper, William C. Godfrey, described
>the action in a story published in the Globe on Oct. 14,
>1943.
>
>”Picture a dozen American fellows climbing aboard an
> unarmored plywood speedboat, navigating her down in pitch
>darkness through reefs, with Japanese planes hovering
>overhead watching their phosphorescent wake in the black
>water and shying bombs down at it.
>
>”When I say dark. I mean black. Sometimes you can’t see
>100 yards. No lighthouses. No lights on shore. No moon.
> The Japanese pick that kind of a night to move. And dead
>ahead looms the sooty shadow of a big Japanese cruiser.
>So the PT boat lets her have a couple of torpedoes and
>knows they register.
>
>”Somewhere in the blackness are other Japanese ships.
>Connolly’s crew sees a ring of Japanese destroyers
>materializing around them, rushing at top speed to the
>defense of their stricken cruiser.”
>When a Japanese destroyer was dead ahead, Mr. Connolly
>fired his last torpedo and turned to escape, but found
>his line of retreat blocked by another Japanese destroyer
>steaming down on his boat, which was now illuminated by
>the burning ship.
>Mr. Connolly told his men to prepare to abandon ship, but
>reconsidered when he detected a freshening breeze. ”Hold
>on,” he shouted ”I think there’s a squall coming. We’re
>going to make for the squall for cover.”
>
>And, according to Godfrey, ”He steered the PT boat into
>the heart of a tropical squall, put a curtain of black
>clouds and pouring rain between it and the Japanese.
>Connolly’s boat came back to the base without one
>casualty – not one man wounded – and Admiral W.F. Halsey
>authorized the award of the Navy Cross to the
>lieutenant.”
>
>Two years later, Mr. Connolly entered flight training
>school. He became a naval aviator in 1947. He later was
>captain of the carrier Oriskany, whose aircraft flew more
>than 12,000 combat sorties during its deployment in
>Vietnam.
>
>Mr. Connolly retired from the Navy in 1970.
>
>During retirement, he was a guidance counselor at Auburn
>High School in Auburn, Calif., for 13 years.
>
>He leaves his wife, Marjorie (Driscoll); two children,
>Bart J. IV and Diane Ware; and four grandchildren.
>
>A funeral service will be held in October at the US Naval
>Academy in Annapolis, Md.
>
> This story ran on page A27 of the Boston Globe on
> 09/09/97.
> © Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.