Belleau Wood (CVL 24) - Naval Cruise Book

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. 5532.1 CLEAR Tl-IE RMI- . I 'i 'I gi' x sa- -, I ,L n j! VE'- fw 'L 2 , N , gm ,s ,, fn, ,J flirt .I M, lf' it ,f Il I' ' ff A I. ,, A dk 'K if , X ' . af f ' ' Q Z ,fad Al x If li I5 bi nhl' 1- - R I Q 'i ' 'K my each hand, signalled the first plane to unlock his wings. A dozen plane handlers leaped to push those wings for' ward into flying position. To the signals of glowing, wavf ing wands, plane after plane spread its wings and taxied up that carpet of night to the catapult. The ships turned into the wind. Airdales on the flight deck instinctively leaned far forward into the breeze to maintain balance, their loudly flapping clothes wrapped violently around them by the draft and propeller slip streams. Dodging around a crowded flight deck in the twilight amid roaring propellers and trying to keep out of the way of prop blasts requires a nimble JackfbefQuick. At 0643, long before sunrise, Hellcats and Avengers roared off our deck, orbited, joined up with other carrier planes, and turned toward Japan. We caught the Nips by complete surprise and kept pounding the airflelds of the Tokyo Plain for the next two days. It is a matter of record however that unpleasant weather conditions-especially the rain and fog-which hid the ships from discovery also hampered the offensive of our own air groups. As the Yanks stormed ashore at Iwo Jima on February 20, the Task Force took position near the Bonin Islands, commencing a series of neutralizing raids against Chichi Jima and Haha Jima, knocking them out as staging areas for Jap raids at Iwo. It was in this area that the SARATOGA was severely damaged by a swarm of Kamikazes. The unpredictable Japs, after letting us cruise unmolested so close to their homeland shores a week earlier, came way down to Iwo to sock the SARA. After a second weatherffrustrated swing at Tokyo and Nagoya, we swatted the Nansei Shoto on March 1. Six VT's attacked shipping in Sakishima Gunto, between Okinawa and Formosa. Ens. Relyea and his two crewf men, Gruett and Cherry, crashed immediately after a bombing run. Lt. Reisert was critically wounded and his plane badly damaged by AA fire after making a direct hit on a destroyer, he flew for an hour and a half to the position of a rescue submarine where he ordered his two crewmen to parachute. Both were rescued, but Lt. Reisert after his heroic performance could not be revived when picked up by the submarine. Three days later our big hook dropped into the waters of Ulithi where for 10 days Mog Mog Island was liberty grounds for the Fifth Fleet. We had delivered the first Navy blow at Japan. We had ubroken ice on the homeland. 80 W .- .,. .. . .... .. ,... -ar ........ .

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ready to give the word. Attention, all hands, this is the Captain. We are about four hundred miles from japan. You will be interested to know that we have as our des' tination, Tokyo. Tomorrow afternoon we will start our high speed run in. At dawn the sixteenth we strike the 'lap capitol . He also stated what he expected of us and said he had faith that his expectations would be fulfilled. He closed with this appropriate phrase, We aren't send' ing a boy to do a man's job this time . It was a sober crew when he finished. Everybody was a little uneasy but at the same time proud to be in on this one. Our course was northwest. The weather became cold and the seas rough. It began to rain a dismal rain. The mission of the force: destruction of aircraft in the Tokyo area. This we later learned was to knock out Jap air power that could be used against the Marine Corps as it stormed ashore on Iwo Jima. The weather got worse. But that low dismal cloud cover was a perfect concealing canopy as we raced toward Nippon. Nothing happened on the 15th to make us sus' pect that the Japs knew our location. That night, with the distance to japan shrinking, the men in CIC kept sharp eyes on the radar for bogies. The scopes swept 'round and 'round-and happily remained clear. On the cold, blackedfout bridge, the night watches hovered over their surface radar, alert for skunks fun' identihed surface contactsj. The long night hours slowly crept by. The bridge scope remained black as the night, not an enemy craft appeared. Down in the wardroom Lt. Ben Horr and Ens. Bob Coleman broke the tension with vigorous renditions of Don't Fence Me In . At 0630 the next morning, February 16 we were 119 miles from Tokyo. Task Group 5 8.1 was the nearest to Tokyo of the five groups in Task Force 58. And in Task Group 58.1 the BELLEAU WCOD was the nearest carrier. All night long the redfhelmeted ordnance men had been securing bombs, rockets, and machine gun belts in every plane. Before the first ray of light, all was ready. Like sleeping birds with folded wings aligned on a roost, the silent dark planes awaited their pilots. Then up from the ready room came those pilots-in their weird Zoomie suits bulging at the shins and flapping on the back. Time check! Time Check! Cn the mark it will be sixf thirtyftwof' Air Officer Commander Joe Clymer's voice flooded the dark flight deck. Stand by, Mark! Stand by to start engines Stand clear of propellersn Start engines With a cough, a stutter, a pop, and a roar, those sleep' ing birds came to life. Now they were more like wild horses straining at the harness, spitting fire from the enf gine exhausts. A plane director, scarcely discernible in the darkness save for the glowing flashlight wands in 79 ,

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HYLIIHU and UHIN WA lfllll ISE I3 March 14-April 30, 1945 HERE were several reasons why Okinawa should be the next objective of our amphibious forces. By this time we had knocked the props from under the japs in the Marianas, Palau, and Iwo and had delivered a reeling blow to the Philippines. Two sides of and the air above the entire Philippine Sea belonged to us. We needed a third side to box in japan. By snatching Qkif nawa we could control this side. Prom bases in Qkinawa the Bf29's would have only half as far to go as from Saipan and Guam. Patrols could cover the Yellow Sea and much of China. Ckinawa was a must . In midfMarch Task Force 58 set out to pry off the lid and clear the way for the invasion which was coming in early April. Little did we realize as we steamed out from sunny Ulithi on March 14 that we were on the threshold of the most strenuous period of this ship's entire life. The seven weeks which followed added up to the longest cruise the ship had spent at sea and were highlighted by seven significant events: 1. The hectic action off Kyushu 2. The BettyfBaka skirmish 3. Discovery and annihilation of a convoy 4. Invasion of Qkinawa 5. Kamikaze attack 6. Turkey shoot 7. Attack on the Yamato task force