USS Columbia - Naval Cruise Book

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remained but Luzon to complete the initial offensive. In January, 1945, the COLUMBIA joined a large task group composed of TGs 77.2 and 77.4. The mission of this force was to arrive at Lingaycn Gulf, Luzon, P.I., on the morning of January 6, 194.5, and accomplish the follow- ing, prior to the landings of U. S. army assault troops on Luzon on January 9 : ( 1 ) Cover the minesweeping and UDT operations. (2) Destroy by surface and aerial bombard- ment, enemy personnel, shore installation.s and facilities along the south coast of Lingaycn Gulf. (3) Furnish counter battery fire. (4) Bombardment of beach area on Janu- ary 7th, 8th and 9th prior to the landings and furnish call fire thereafter. On the 3rd and 4th days of January, this TG transited Surigao Strait, Mindanao Sea and Sulu Sea. Enemy reconnaissance planes shad- owed the large formation and at dusk on the 3rd day of January an enemy plane attempted a suicide crash on the H. M. A. S. SHROP- SHIRE but missed close aboard. At 1716 a single enemy plane came in out of the sun and crashed dived into the carrier OMMANEY Loss of the USS Ommaney Bay off Manila — January 5, 1945. BAY. The fire on this carrier soon got out oi control, planes on her deck caught fire and ammunition began to explode. The ship was aoandoned and destroyed by torpedoes. At 2345 the Gem received 6 officers and 1 1 2 enlisted survivors (17 of them urgently in need of medical attention) from the OMMANEY BAY. At 0745 on January 4, the TG entered the Entering Lingayen Gulf on January 6.

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Splashing one Betty in Sulu Sea — December 15, 1944. lowing day many enemy raids started towards the formation but all these were intercepted by the Combat Air Patrol of the accompanying carriers. The attacks continued in the afternoon. At 1556 the Fighter Director reported (apologetically) that several Jap planes had gotten by the Combat Air Patrol. These planes made futile attacks and were disposed of by the combined fire of the ships in the TG. The next Recalling the loading of ammunition on Christmas Day, 1944. morning, several groups of enemy planes started in towards the formation. At 0821 the COLUM- BIA fired on two planes making suicide dives on the MARCUS ISLAND. Both planes missed. At 0943 five enemy planes were seen coming in. One started up the starboard side of the formation and 40mm fire from the COLUMBIA could be seen first hitting the tail surfaces and then walking up the fuselage towards the cock- pit. This plane began to burn and then exploded. At the time the Gem was turning hard to port and the 40mm battery opened up on still another plane approaching from that quarter. This plane was also shot down. On the morning of December 15, the army troops were successfully landed on Mindoro Island. There was scarcely any opposition to the landing and the Americans now had facilities for air bases only 90 airline miles from Manila. Upon receipt of news of the success of the land- ing operations, TG 77.12 commenced retiring. The COLUMBIA was officially credited with the destruction of three enemy planes during the Mindoro operations. Christmas Day was spent at Manus loading ammunition and provisions. This necessitated a delayed Christmas dinner on December 26. The Japs had now been routed out of two of the major islands of the Philippines and there 24

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Number one Kamikaze — January 6. South China Sea. This was the first group of U. S. surface ships to enter the South China Sea since the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese. At about 16.30 a major, determined, concentrated enemy suicide plane attack devel- oped. In rapid succession the LOUISVILLE, STAFFORD (DE), MANILA BAY, H. M. A. S. ARUNTA, and H. M. A. S. AUSTRALIA were hit by suicide planes in spite of the tre- mendous fire put up by our ships. In the fray the COLUMBIA succeeded in shooting down two of the attacking planes. Two days later, on January 6, an enemy dive bomber dropped a bomb just off the Gem ' s port bow. No damage was sustained. Air attacks continued throughout the morning. The TG, however, by this time had reached a position off Santiago Island at the entrance to Lingayen Gulf and at 1023, the scheduled bombardment of this island commenced. At 1 1 55 that day an enemy suicide plane crashed into the destroyer R. P. LEARY. Enemy planes at this time were continuously in the area and fire was opened whenever one came in range. At 1251 the destroyer WALKE was hit by a suicide plane. At 1423 the Gem commenced firing with all weapons at 3 Zekes headed for her superstructure. One plane was turned away. Another crashed into a nearby destroyer and the third although badly hit by the Gem ' s fire continued in his dive (strafing all the way). This plane overshot (fortunately) passing down the COLUMBIA ' S radio antennae and crashed close aboard her. The explosion that followed showered gasoline over the entire superstructure. Salt water from a hose on the forecastle was immediately sprayed on the super- structure and undoubtedly prevented a flash fire and many casualties. One man was slightly wounded. At 1525 that afternoon the fire support ships formed column and began entering Lingayen Gulf to support the minesweepers. This forma- tion, with necessarily restricted maneuverability and slow speed in the narrow channel swept by the minesweepers, seemed to be what the Japs were looking for. At about 1615a large, con- centrated persistent attack by approximately 26