Belleau Wood (CVL 24) - Naval Cruise Book

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Hmmm Flames, wreckage, and hunks of metal shot skyward and outward with a roar. billowing clouds of angry black smoke soared hundreds of feet into the air, while burning gasoline sloshed about the tlight deck and cascaded over the starboard side. The gun crews on 10 and 11 were ordered to llood their magazines and abandon their staf tions, but all other mounts remained to tire at succeeding attackers fof which there were 3 who dived on and barely missed the SAN JACINTQ and ENTERPRISEQ. All other mounts, that is, except mount 9. One of our own flaming planes, which had been parked near the explosion, was blown oil the deck and down on top of the gun mount. Wreathed in burning gasoline it smothered the entire area with a blanket of death from under which no man escaped. On the flight deck the airdales sprang into immediate action, moving as many planes as possible away from the fire, especially the torpedo planes loaded with depth charges. With foam and spray they fought the forward edgeg-the only accessible edge!-of the blaze which had

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engulfed the after end of the ship. Assistance was given by the U. S. S. MUCFORD, DD 389, which came along' side our port quarter to ight the side of the fire. , Contributing to the performance of the flight deck crew was the Air Oiiicer, Commander Joe Clymer, whose calm voice of assurance flowed over the bull horn with direc' tions for playing foam and moving planes. On the back porch fthe fantaill the crash sounded like a dull thud which rocked the ship. A heavy shroud of burning gas and smoke drooped down to engulf the area, which for some time was completely blockaded from the rest of the ship. Several men on gun crew 11 were burned. All this time there was live ammunition in racks on the gun shield with flames of fire licking close. It was Joe Butchko, GM2c, who alone threw most of that hot live ammunition overboard. fEor this and general leader' ship he received the Silver Star.l The inferno on the flight deck was punctured by the sharp staccato of detonating ammunition and whistling shrapnel. Every now and then a heavier explosion crushed the atmosphere as another depth charge responded to the intense heat. Some men topside were caught in the grasp' ing arms of flame and with clothes afire jumped overf board from the flight deck into the sea. Vernon Black, Slc, and Sam Harrington, Slc, had been pumping away on a .50 calibre gun on the extreme after port corner of the flight deck when the greenfnosed meat ballvfstudded plane streaked by. He was afire in the engine , said Black, then something hit me. Burning gasoline sprayed all over. It got awfully hot . . . my clothes began to burn. There was only one place for Black to go to extinguish his blazing garments. He went. At the bottom of a 45ffoot leap, water can be awfully hard. HI hit every way but the right way. I paddled and choked and fought for life in the boiling wake of the ship. There was a lot of screaming in the water and whistles blowing. I blew up my life belt as soon as I caught my breath, but the belt burst immediately-fabric burned through. A destroyer, sidestepping through the sailorf studded water, sowed life floats and nets in all directions. Black fought his way to one raft. Fortyffive minutes later the U.S.S. PATTERSON, merciful can, picked him up along with a dozen other BELLEAU WOOD men. Down in the engineering spaces nobody knew at first what had happened. Ensign Bob Reich remembers: Word had been passed over the PA system that bogies were closing. Suddenly the guns were heard rumbling away and the odor of cordite billowed down the air vent. A few seconds later a thump from Usomewherel' rocked the ship. The ship Hinusrhed down as if it had just slid off a ledge. Smoke billowed into the machinery spaces from the ventilating system which had to be secured immef diately. The smokefwatch man up on the bridge called down on the phones that a Jap had just hit starting a pre on the jiight deck. Nobody got partie' ularly excited, as jiight deck pres were no novelty- and none of us up to that time had heard of the word Karnikaze . Not until we secured from GEL did we discover what actually happened. 58 aa.,-M--M A ,. . Vw.. . A l Y