USS Columbia - Naval Cruise Book

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H.M.A.S. Australia — Lingayen Gulf, January 8, 1945. reported out. At 1828 the Gem ' s forward 20 mm ' s did a beautiful job of shooting the tail off an enemy plane attempting to crash dive the H. M. A. S. AUSTRALIA. The remainder of the task group commen ced retiring shortly thereafter, but the Gem remained temporarily as it was believed (in view of the bombardment schedule for the next three days) imperative that she recover her planes which had been aloft. At 1930 all power was lost to the steering engines. By means of an auxiliary electric lead to the crane, and while steering with engines, one plane was recovered. Darkness set in and the second plane (after rescue of its occupants) was sunk by one of two destroyers standing by. At 2027 steering control was regained in steering aft and the Gem was able to rejoin the task group forming outside of the Gulf. The ship was steered by trick wheel from steering aft until 1430 two days later at which time emer- gency repairs permitted steering control from the pilot house. Since 163p on January 5, a total of 21 ships had been hit, several of these had been hit twice. In view of this fact and because of the possibility of a Jap surface attack, the Third Fleet was ordered into the South China Sea. While the Gem ' s doctors worked without respite during the night (their facilities by now greatly overtaxed) to save the badly wounded, the Gem ' s crew buried their dead. It was indeed inspiring to witness the manner in which all hands turned to tirelessly to repair and prepare the ship for action the next day. Throughout the night the Task force was snooped continuously, but entry was made into the Gulf again early on the following morning and no doubt presented a sight the Japs did not expect to see. At 1015 the scheduled bombardment from Lingayen Gulf commenced. Throughout the 7th, 8th, and 9th days of January, the complete 6 bombardment schedule of the Gem was carried out with turrets one and two. The COLUMBIA had been assigned a close-in support mission including 40mm fire on the beach areas to cover the work of the underwater demolition teams on the seventh. Although the fathometer was out of commission (due to the hit on the previous day) , and the ship was down five feet by the stern, necessity demanded that the ship go in close in order to carry out its assigned task. The ship was brought in to within 3200 yards of the beach from which station the required covering fire was delivered. In addition, adjacent areas were covered because the vessel assigned to these areas had been ordered to retire from the Gulf after being hit 28

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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

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Number three Kamikaze fails to stop the Columbia — January 9, 1945. {n C- fUf r on January 6. At 1700 the Gem ' s medical, billeting, and messing problems were multiplied by the receipt of 26 survivors from another stricken vessel. On the morning of January 8, a minor attack occurred and the H. M. A. S. AUSTRALIA was hit again. Scheduled bombardment was commenced that day at 1000. At 1400 between bombardments (with probably 30,000 Japs looking on) Chief Carpenter J. T. Keenan, USN, went over the side of the Gem in diving gear to inspect the hull for underwater damage. It was hoped that an inspection might reveal that temporary repairs could be made by the ship ' s force with the possibility of removal of the 17 men trapped in flooded compartments below. This time was also utilized to carry serviceable 6 ammunition from turrets three and four forward to turrets one and two, whose supply was rapidly becoming exhausted. Emer- gency repairs to steering gear were also accom- plished and steering control regained on the bridge. Upon completion of diving operations the bombardment was resumed. During the night of January 8-9, transports and assault craft entered Lingayen Gulf. At 0745 on January 9, while proceeding to bom- bardment station, the Gem took under fire a Japanese plane diving at her superstructure. This plane, without any previous warning, was detected approaching from the beach area pro- ceeding from an area in which friendly planes were operating. At this time the Gem was only 4000 yards from the beach. This enemy plane (a Tojo, Zcke, Tony, or similar type of fighter, tracked at 400 miles per hour) strafed continu- ously throughout the approach and although hit by 40mm fire continued on and with a 250 kg bomb aboard, crashed into the Gem ' s forward main battery director. The force of the plane striking the director and the attendant bomb explosion carried the main battery director over the side. The forward 5 director was also put out of commission as well as 5 mount No. 2 (both barrels holed by shrapnel) and four ma- chine gun directors for 40mm batteries. Gasoline was sprayed over the forward superstructure causing a flash fire in the upper works. As a result of this hit, one officer and 16 men were killed or died of their wounds, one officer and six men were listed as missing in action and seven officers and 90 men were wounded in action. At 0757 all fires were brought under control. Although the COLUMBIA had again been critically hit she was soon ready to fight on. A message from the task force commander ask- ing if the Gem could carry out her bombard- ment mission was answered in the affirmative. As the Gunnery Officer and Air Defense Officer had both been wounded their assistants pro- ceeded to the remaining 6 and 5 control sta- tions aft and took over control of their respective batteries. At this time, as a result of the 3 hits sustained, a total of 199 officers and men had been killed, wounded or were missing in action. At 0818 (33 minutes after the hit) on schedule with all remaining serviceable weapons that could bear, the COLUMBIA commenced the pre- landing bombardment. At this time the follow- ing message was received from the WASATCH : THE WASATCH SENDS SYMPATHY FOR YOUR LOSSES. WE ADMIRE YOUR 29