Arthur Deane Gutman
Second Lieutenant Arthur D. Gutman served the Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Quincy (CA-39).
He was lost at sea in the battle of Savo Island, off Guadalcanal, on 9 August 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number O-8134
Current Status
Lost At Sea
Pursuit Category
Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
November 30, 1919
at Nassau, NY
Parents
Arthur H. Gutman
Helen (Dean) Guttman
Education
Syracuse University (1941)
Occupation & Employer
Commissioned from college
Service Life
Entered Service
July 30, 1941
at Syracuse, NY
Home Of Record
1308 Iola Drive
Valdosta, GA
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Helen S. Gutman
Military Specialty
AA Battery Officer
Primary Unit
USS Quincy
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal / Savo Island
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Second Lieutenant Arthur Gutman served with the Marine detachment aboard the heavy cruiser USS Quincy. He first joined the ship in the spring of 1942 during a refit at the New York Navy Yard; as a detachment officer, Gutman was in charge of the Marine-manned five-inch antiaircraft batteries.
Quincy’s Pacific service started in the summer of 1942; on 7 August 1942, she fired the opening shots of the battle of Guadalcanal, and provided fire support and anti-aircraft defense for the Marine landings. She then assumed patrol duties with sister ships USS Astoria and USS Vincennes.
At 0147 on 9 August, Quincy received a report of “strange ships entering harbor.” General quarters sounded; a few minutes later, the first shells hit the cruiser. Marine Corporal Jasper Lucas recalled the sudden surprise and horror of the battle that followed.
Quiet as a graveyard. Then, all at once, we were caught in a sweep of searchlights. The Jap fleet was coming at us.... We were being hit by shellfire, and shrapnel was whizzing about like hail. You could see it raining off the turret – it looked like rain hitting a window and bouncing off.
Somebody yelled below, "We're on fire! The Quincy's burning!" The gun deck was aflame. A torpedo had hit us, going through the main engine room..... We knew we were sinking. We knew we were out of the fight. We had no power, no control over the ship; she was beginning to list, and we knew she was on her way out....
She went down like the dignified old lady she was. Deliberately, easily, without fuss or bother, she turned her fantail right in the face of the entire Imperial Japanese Navy and with all screws turning sank beneath the waves. The screws whirred like a fan in the air, then, as it went, churned the water white. The commotion in the water died down. The USS Quincy had gone under.
Lieutenant Gutman was listed as “missing” after the battle of Savo Island; no eyewitness accounts of his final moments are known to exist. He was officially declared dead on 10 August 1943 – one of approximately 370 sailors and Marines who lost their lives in the sinking of the USS Quincy.
Burial Information or Disposition
Remains lost at sea; ship considered to be final resing place.
Memorials
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
The wreck of the Quincy was discovered by Dr. Robert Ballard in 1992.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of wife, Mrs. Helen Clarice (Smith) Gutman.
Arthur and Helen were married in May, 1942.
Location Of Loss
The Quincy sank in Iron Bottom Sound at 0240 hours.
