Cecil W. McCloud US Navy USS Nevada

Cecil (Mac) McCloud joined the Navy in Jan. of 1940. His first assignment after training was on the USS Nevada. Soon after,  he was designated the "Ship's photographer", in charge of taking photo IDs, etc. I have compiled his story from newspaper interviews he gave through the years. It's in his words. " I was standing on the gangway waiting for the liberty boat to take me ashore when I noticed 3 planes with red suns on their wings. I ran to my primary assignment on one of the deck guns but we didn't have any ammunitions. As the second wave of planes swept in on the ships, I made my way to my secondary assignment, on the 5" broadside guns. There were two other sailors, Bissell, who was manning one gun, and Little Willie, who was locking and loading. These guns were made for ship-to ship combat and had a max elevation of 17 degrees. It was hard to aim at the incoming aircraft.  We would just try to find a plane flying low and use "Kentucky Windage" when we aimed. The ship took a hit where ammo had been put for another gun and there was a terrible explosion. We lost a bunch of guys there.

Information provided by Joan Mecteau

We spent a lot of hours putting fires out that engulfed the Nevada. We filled every hatch-hole with water. It wasn't until the fires started to smolder that I realized what had happened, and I was scared. We didn't know what to expect next. The Nevada eventually lifted anchor and was able to sail out of the Harbor. That night I slept on the steps of a recreation center because by then the ship's stern was submerged.    We got the Nevada off the ground and headed for dry dock within sixty days. I remained aboard her for the rest of the war.We saw several other battles together, Normandy, The Aleutians, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Mediterranean." One story I remember my dad telling is when they were off the coast of Normandy during one of the Nevada's battles. He was down in the boiler room of the ship trying to calm several young men who were terrified while the guns were blazing above them. After all, he had been at Pearl Harbor so he went through one of the worst. He did all he could to take their minds off what was going on.The average age of these boys was 19.  My father was the ripe old age of 25. Dad retired from the Navy in 1970 and settled in Connecticut with his wife Evelyn and 5 children.. He passed away on December 7, 1999.