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Contact Info
Home Town Alexandria, VA
Last Address Fort Lauderdale, FL
Date of Passing Dec 17, 1975
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 46 981-18
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Rear Admiral John S. Phillips, whose exploits during World War II included safely sailing his heavily loaded tanker clear of Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked, died Wednesday at BethesdaNavalMedicalCenter after a brief illness. He was 80 and lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Adm. Phillips, a native of Alexandria, attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and was a graduate of the Class of 1918, which actually graduated in 1917 to speed the young ensigns into battle during World War I.
Between the two wars, Adm. Phillips served in various posts around the country. On Dec. 7, 1941, he was stationed aboard the naval oiler Neosho at Pearl Harbor. During the Japanese attack against the naval base, Adm. Phillips, then a commander, ordered his ship to clear the harbor to remove the Neosho as a serious hazard. They steamed safely clear under a hail of bullets and bombs. Adm. Phillips received the Navy Cross for his heroism.
In May, 1942, Adm. Phillips and the Neosho were part of the American fleet that turned back the Japanese advance toward Australia during the Battle of Coral Sea. The Neosho's luck ran out during the battle -- on May 7, the tanker was struck by seven bombs and soon sank, taking more than half its crew with it. Adm. Phillips and the survivors escaped in the ship's boats. They bobbed for four days in the open sea. On May 11, a Canadian aircraft participating in the search flew overhead, signaling: "Do you need help?" Adm. Phillips signaled his response: "What do you think?"
Adm. Phillips later served in naval intelligence and taught naval courses at the university level. He retired in 1947 and settled in Arlington, where he pursued his interest in golf. He and his wife moved to Fort Lauderdale in the late 1950s.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Neosho (AO-23)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander John Spinning Phillips (NSN: 0-17172), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Fleet Oiler U.S.S. NEOSHO (AO-23), during the Japanese attack on the United States Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941. At the time of the attack the U.S.S. NEOSHO was moored alongside the gasoline dock, Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor, and had just completed discharging gasoline at that station. When fire was opened on enemy planes, Commander Phillips realized the serious fire hazard of remaining alongside the dock as well as being in a position that prevented a battleship from getting underway, got underway immediately. Mooring lines were cut, and without the assistance of tugs, Commander Phillips accomplished the extremely difficult task of getting the ship underway from this particular berth in a most efficient manner, the difficulty being greatly increased by a battleship having capsized in the harbor. The conduct of Commander Phillips throughout this action reflects great credit upon himself, and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of the Coral Sea
From Month/Year
May / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Description The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.
In an attempt to strengthen their defensive positioning for their empire in the South Pacific, Japanese forces decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet, including two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion fleets, under the overall command of Japanese Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue. The US learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence and sent two United States Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force, under the overall command of American Admiral Frank J. Fletcher, to oppose the Japanese offensive.
On 3–4 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were surprised and sunk or damaged by aircraft from the US fleet carrier Yorktown. Now aware of the presence of US carriers in the area, the Japanese fleet carriers entered the Coral Sea with the intention of finding and destroying the Allied naval forces.
Beginning on 7 May, the carrier forces from the two sides exchanged airstrikes over two consecutive days. The first day, the US sank the Japanese light carrier Shoho, while the Japanese sank a US destroyer and heavily damaged a fleet oiler (which was later scuttled). The next day, the Japanese fleet carrier Shokaku was heavily damaged, the US fleet carrier Lexington was critically damaged (and was scuttled as a result), and the Yorktown was damaged. With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two fleets disengaged and retired from the battle area. Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet, intending to try again later.
Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies for several reasons. The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies. More importantly, the Japanese fleet carriers Sokaku and Zuikaku – one damaged and the other with a depleted aircraft complement – were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway, which took place the following month, ensuring a rough parity in aircraft between the two adversaries and contributing significantly to the US victory in that battle. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean. Two months later, the Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign that, along with the New Guinea Campaign, eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing factor to Japan's ultimate defeat in World War II.
