Belleau Wood (CVL 24) - Naval Cruise Book

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The E P11115 CRUISE 15 july 1-September 10, 1945 refs Fl-ask Group 38.1 left San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf the morning of July lst. Commanded by Rear Admiral T. L. Sprague, it was the largest task group in which we had ever served. At the heart were live carriers: BENNINGf TON, LEXINGTON, HANCOCK, SAN JACINTO, and BELLEAU WOOD, supported by a wall of battle' ships and cruisers: SOUTH DAKOTA, INDIANA, MASSACHUSETTS, ATLANTA, AMSTERDAM, OKLAHOMA CITY, SAN JUAN, TOPEKA, and DAYTON. Around all was a seven mile wide circle of 20 destroyers. With 34 shipsfthis task group alone was larger than an entire task force at the start of the war. The powerful outfit steamed northward from the Philip' pines. Our sights were on Japan.

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2 1 Through the months the same story had been repeated time after time-the story of the Task Force striking into enemy territory ahead of the amphibious forces to clear the way for one invasion after another. With the conquest of each new base the carriers received an anchorage that much nearer Japan. They could then strike that much deeper into enemy waters. The seizure of Iwo Jima and Ukinawa brought us to Japan's front door. Continuous carrier strikes and B429 raids could now be maintained over the homeland. The handwriting of the amphibs was on the wall. Japan was next. For us was the job of clearing the way, keeping sus' tained pressure on the harried Japs, and delivering cripf pling blows where they counted most. . It was on july 9, as we bored in towards Tokyo, that the following transmission came over the TBS: 'sBull Durham, this is Lefty. I have a mine close aboard to port The flag promptly dispatched a destroyer to sank the mine with gunfire It wasnt long until sharp lookouts on another ship spotted a second mine Each time a ship reported a mine the quartermaster on our bridge scratched a chalk mark above the formation data board At sunset there were 13 marks Cpening day this time was July 10 with drives at air' fields on the Tokyo Plain. Strike Baker destroyed seven and damaged ten 'planes parked on Kumagaya field. Strike Charlie ran into a torrent of AA fire along the coast and had to detour south on their way to Irumagawa where they destroyed four and damaged seven aircraft. Strike Easy got five more on Kumagaya in addition to obtaining complete photographic coverage of three fields and the Kasumigaura aircraft plant. Strike Fox skirted the foot' hills of Mt. Fujiyama to reach Kodama Field. The day'S score was 14 and 20, destroyed and damaged, all on the ground. Not a single airborne Nip had been encountered. Withdrawing northeast of Tokyo the following day the formation again sifted through 13 mines. Each was sunk or exploded by cans from the screen. For the three days of July 1345 we plowed through fog off Hokkaido, waiting for the weather to break. The soup was so thick that other ships were frequently ob' scured from view Flight operations were curtailed With prime airfield targets closed in our strikes destroyed two freight trains a roundhouse and warehouses in Shiranuka Village About 'SO sixty foot barges were blown up at Kushiro On the 14th our blttleships moved in off Kam aishi to stretch and exercise their sixteen inchers this waS the first helvy shelling of japin I X 4 - . . . , x . . c , . . V C 3 ' 1 - . . . . . , c 3, Z c - . , . . . H . . , ' C . . e Q D . . Q . f , . , , . c . f 7 C D ' ' r d J - ' X v A . 4 . . 7 p . 8 . ' - x I ' 3 . . E ' 2 , - .g r M , l , , ...,. .... - -........ .W -- . ...... ...ie . .. . A A A . .- - - ' Y