Henry Levell McNair
Gunnery Sergeant Henry L. McNair served with 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 198070
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
July 11, 1902
at Philadelphia, MS
Parents
Thomas Luther McNair
Mary Lula (Hogue) McNair (d. 1937)
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Professional Marine
Service Life
Entered Service
December 2, 1924
at San Diego, CA
Home Of Record
260 Wembly Road
Upper Darby, PA
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Jennie (Grisi) McNair
Military Specialty
Gun Captain
Primary Unit
USS Quincy
Campaigns Served
Atlantic Patrols
Guadalcanal / Savo Island
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Gunnery Sergeant McNair, a highly experience Marine whose career encompassed sea duty, time in China and Haiti, and a stretch as a recruit instructor at Parris Island, served with the Marine detachment aboard the heavy cruiser USS Quincy from 1941 to 1942. Much of that time was spent on patrol or escort duty in the Atlantic; as a gun captain, McNair was in charge of one of the ship’s 5-inch secondary 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.
Gunny McNair 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 resting place.
Memorials
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
The wreck of the Quincy was discovered by Dr. Robert Ballard in 1992.
Next Of Kin Address
Wartime address of wife, Mrs. Jennie McNair.
Location Of Loss
The Quincy sank in Iron Bottom Sound at 0240 hours.
