Dow “Doc” Ransom, M.D., being transferred to La Vallette. Click on this image to view it and two more images—showing his dunking—in more detail

This section contains:

• Two accounts—by Chuck Witten and Jack Wilkes—of the Battle of Rennell Island, 29 January 1943 and the air attack the next day, in which cruiser Chicago was sunk and La Vallette, screening her, sustained damage from an enemy aerial torpedo that sent her back to the states for repairs, and
• The diary of Dow “Doc” Ransom, M.D., La Vallette’s medical doctor from 16 July 1943 and her return to sea until she was mined and made her way back to the west coast again, 30 May 1945.
• Sinking the Chevalier, George Eisenberg’s recollection of speeding to the scene of the Battle of Vella Lavella, torpedoing the stricken Chevalier and retiring as enemy bombers approached, 6–7 October 1943.