Project 888
Name: Leonard Thomas WOODS
Rank / Rating: CWO-Chief Warrant Officer (Radio Electrician)Service #: 316530 DOB: Oct 25, 1918 From: Wrightsville, Johnson Co., Georgia Parents: Meddie Elliot and Olivia Reid Harris Woods Went Aboard: Sep 01, 1943 Age When Ship Went Down: 26 years, 9 months, 5 days Spouse: Adah Melba Brantley Woods Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Patricia Stephens (Admin) |
 WOODS, Leonard T |
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Leonard was the only son born to his parents. He married Adah Melba Brantley, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Brantley of Wrightsville on Sunday, November 7, 1943, in Swainsboro, GA. There wedding announcement happily revealed that Leonard had been in the service for the past seven years and for the last four years had been stationed in Honolulu, T.H. He recently returned to the states and would now be stationed in Washington, DC, for a special course at the Naval Research Laboratory.
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 Leonard was a veteran of the US Navy when he came on board USS Indianapolis CA-35 in September 1943. He had enlisted in the Navy on May 25, 1936, at Macon, GA. His service number was 268 22 59.
It is not known where he served during his first year in the Navy.
Leonard’s first known service was on board USS Robin AM-3, from August 20, 1937 to November 1941. While on board Robin on June 1, 1940, his rate was advanced from RM3c to RM2c (Radioman second class). May 1, 1941, was a proud day for Leonard when his rate advanced to RM1c. His enlistment date is noted in all the records of Robin as May 25, 1936.
His time on board Robin came to an end on November 27, 1941 when he was transferred to the Commander of the 14th Naval District at Pearl Harbor for assignment.
The Navy Yard at Pearl Harbor, T.H., Report of Changes for the month ending November 30, 1941 shows an enlistment date of October 25, 1936 - this is obviously a clerical error. The report for the end of December shows May 25, 1936, the correct date he first enlisted in the Navy.
After serving 4 years and 7 months, he was honorably discharged at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard December 2, 1941, due to the expiration of his enlistment. He re-enlisted the next day, December 3, 1941 at Pearl Harbor for four full years of service and was transferred that same day for duty at the Wahiawa, Navy Radio Station, 14th Naval District, in Hawaii. He arrived for duty at Wahiawa on December 7, 1941, with his proud rating as a RM1c.
“During WWII, the 14th Military District (later the 14th Naval District) in the Pacific region relied heavily on communications for military operations, including radio, telephone, and telegraph. This included intercepting enemy communications, analyzing intercepted data, and utilizing radio for long-distance communication and coordination. The 14th Naval District was essential for winning the war in the Pacific theater”, according to Wikipedia.
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, Leonard was there but his exact location is uncertain. He may have still been at the Navy Yard at Pearl Harbor, enroute to Wahiawa or had already arrived at Wahiawa. It is very likely that he had arrived at Wahiawa. However, this did not remove him from the danger yet to come. He would be in harm's way.
Only 20 miles north of Pearl Harbor, Wahiawa came under attack from Japanese bombers on their approach to the harbor. The planes dove on Wahiawa and strafed the facility. Rising back into the sky, the planes continued their flight path. Pearl Harbor was only moments from being attacked. No record was found listing Leonard as injured during the attack. Pearl Harbor would become one of the most important events in US history and Leonard would never forget that he was there.
At Wahiawa on April 17, 1943, he was promoted to Chief Radioman (AA). The AA denotes this was an Acting Appointment
Leonard was transferred from Wahiawa, April 17, 1943. On April 28, 1943 he boarded USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor for assignment on the West Coast of the US. This was the first sailing for West Virginia since she had been damaged by the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
He arrived in Bremerton, WA., May 8, 1943. His next duty was not until July so it is likely he was granted leave. Also, it is possible that he received additional radio training while he was there.
Leonard went aboard USS Casablanca CVE-55, on July 8, 1943. The ship was to be commissioned that day but was delayed due to reclassification by the Navy to an escort aircraft carrier on 15 July 1943. She was commissioned that same day. Leonard is recorded on the muster roll as having been received from the receiving station at Bremerton, WA, with the rank of USN CRM(AA). After seeing that everyone in the radio room was properly trained, he left the ship about 24 August, before she sailed to the western Pacific.
He was transferred to USS Indianapolis CA-35 and went aboard September 1, 1943 at Mare Island, CA, while the ship was there for refitting.
It is highly likely that Leonard disembarked Indianapolis at Mare Island before she sailed back to Pearl Harbor in late October, 1943. He had been given approval to attend an advanced class in new radio technology.
At a unknown time and from an unknown place, Leonard traveled home to GA where he married on November 7, 1943. As already mentioned, the wedding announcement stated that Leonard was “now stationed in Washington, DC for a special course at the Naval Research Laboratory.”
“During the war, the Naval Research Laboratory scientific activities necessarily were concentrated almost entirely on applied research. New electronics equipment - radio, radar, sonar - was developed” according to the history of the laboratory. I located only one course taught at the NRL - Mechanical Practice, Radio Materiel School, Naval Research Laboratory, Bellevue, D.C.
There is little doubt that when Leonard completed the Radio School program, he advanced to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer - Radio Electrician. He may have had additional training at a unknown place.
Leonard returned to Indianapolis on Oct. 20, 1944. His new bride must have lived in agony the next five months knowing her husband's ship was fighting in the Asiatic-Pacific area.
Her heart would be relieved when she heard the news that Leonard was not injured when a kamikaze pilot struck the ship on March 31, 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa.
Indianapolis arrived back in the US at Mare Island, CA, for repairs from the attack. Adah, his wife of two years, joined him there. Neither Leonard nor Adah could know these would be their last days together.
On July 13, 1945, Adah watched as Indianapolis pulled away from Mare Island toward Hunter's Point, waving among the crowd. She would wait at Mare Island for her husband's return.
On August 13, 1945, after receiving the second telegram informing her of Leonard's death and overcome by heartache and despair, Ada suffered a miscarriage of their only child.
Chief Woods served almost two years aboard Indianapolis. When the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945, Leonard’s heroic efforts were remembered by some of the survivors of the sinking.
“The ship’s transmitters were located in Radio 2, but the receivers were located in Radio 1 in the forward half of the ship.” Another crew member, Hart, noted that the transmitter pilot lights were on, indicating there was still power to the room after the attack.
“About five minutes had passed since the torpedo strikes. Hart could feel that the ship had taken on a slight list, and that she seemed to be settling gradually. He was thinking maybe they hadn’t been hit too bad when Chief Warrant Officer Leonard Woods entered the shack, burned and covered with soot. Woods did not seem to notice his burns. Instead, he simply took charge.
Woods did not know whether Radio 1 would be able to transmit remotely, but he did know this: The radio shacks had just become the most important compartments on the dying ship.”
Chief Woods would not leave the radio room. “With the ship heeling rapidly to starboard, it had become almost impossible to stand..... Woods braced himself against the starboard bulkhead, leaned over the key, and kept tapping out his SOS.” No coordinates were available to add to the SOS signal but the powerful transmitter was capable of sending the basic message across the Pacific.
“In Radio 2, Woods was still tapping out the SOS.....He knew Indianapolis was headed for the bottom. He waited as long as he could for orders, but none came. He told the few men remaining with him to abandon ship. One sailor, Miner, had to crawl through the starboard door, now located on a steep downhill angle. He took one final look back at the radio room. Chief Woods was still there sending the SOS signal. He had not moved."
Indianapolis sank in only 12 minutes. The crew members who had made it into the water watched in horror as their ship rolled over to 90 degrees, stood up on end and plunged straight down.
The USN investigation of the sinking revealed that none of the communications station logs or other ship logs showed receipt of the multiple SOS messages that Chief Woods sent.
It is assumed that Chief Woods went down with his ship while working heroically, but in vain, to save the sailors of Indianapolis.
Well Done, brave and faithful sailor.
His name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, Philippines.
A cenotaph was erected in the West View Cemetery, Wrightsville, Johnson Co., GA.
Leonard was honored in VOICES OF THE LOST AT SEA. View from Time Stamp 31:15 - 35:38.
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Official USN records US Navy Casualties, WW II, AL-MO; Georgia, citing Leonard T. Woods, Chief Radio Electrician US, Army. Quartermaster General's Office. Roster of World War II Dead (all services), Washington, DC. Citing Leonard T. Woods, CRE, 316530 The Macon News, Macon, GA, Sunday, Nov. 21, 1943, page 16 citing the marriage of Leonard T. Woods. US Naval Research Laboratory, The Dept. of the Navy’s Corporate Laboratory; NRL Centennial History, 1923-2023. Vincent, Lynn and Vladic, Sara, (2018). Indianapolis, The True Story of the worst Sea Disaster in US Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man. Simon and Shuster, New York. p. 156-7, 167, 173, 429-30. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116090197/leonard_thomas-woods: accessed May 27, 2025), memorial page for Leonard Thomas Woods (1918-1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 116090197, citing West View Cemetery, Wrightsville, Johnson County, Georgia, USA. Purple Heart photo from poster tom2001 at usmilitariaforum.com, 2014 https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/220942-uss-indianapolis-kia-purple-heart/#comment-1746932
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