USS Columbia - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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75 (apparently carrier based) enemy aircraft developed. Enemy planes seemed to be every- where. All ships kept firing almost continuously to beat off the attack. Ships reported being hit by suicide planes in rapid succession. The CALIFORNIA was hit at 1720— the AUS- TRALIA at 1 727. At 1 729 the Gem commenced firing with all weapons at a Japanese Val diving at her superstructure from off the star- board bow. This plane was seen to be hit by 40mm fire in its right wing which caused the plane to swerve to starboard missing the Gem ' s bridge. As this plane passed down the port side it suddenly dove and crashed into the Gem ' s main deck on the port side of turret number four. The plane, pilot, and engine penetrated the main deck and the 800 kg bomb which the plane carried penetrated the second and third decks before exploding. Several fires resulted on the main and second decks. All power including steering control was lost aft. The magazines in the vicinity of turrets three and four were sprinkled and it is believed that this action coupled with the sea water admitted through six holes in the hidl is all that saved the ship from destruction from a magazine explosion. Turrets three and four were put out of commission and remained so for the rest of the operation. Nine compartments were flooded causing the ship to settle about five feet by the Damage — Kamikaze crashed main deck aft through large hole, bomb through small hole. 27 Cf A , 4 j Above: Number two Kamikaze coming in — January 6. Below: She hits and explodes. stern. A total of 77 casualties were sustained of which 17 were killed or died of their wounds and 20 were listed as missing in action. Upon loss of steering control in the pilot hou.se, shift was made to the starboard cable as it was believed that the port cable was severed. Steer- ing control was momentarily regained by this method but soon lost again as the starboard cable was flooded out. Steering aft then took control. Between 1732 and 1735 (two to five minutes) after the ship had been hit, the COLUMBIA fired almost continuously at enemy planes attacking other ships. At 1800 all fires were