Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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1117 scattered and attempted to sift through our de- fenses, bent on just one endha crash dive 0 American carrier. Although five divisions of Ameri- can fighters, or a total of twenty planes, at various times attempted to intercept the raid, estimated to total seven planes, only one attacker was shot down before coming within range of the ship's guns. The final dive was as determined as the approach had been elusive. The first plane was deflected only because the tail was completely shot off by a five- inch shell. The second plane, though seen to shud- der numerous times from the impact of the explosive shells poured into it, and though on the point of disintegration when it struck, held on its course, dropped its bomb, and crashed into the starboard side of the island structure aft. The havoc that followed, though localized and soon brought under control, will never be forgotten by any man aboard. Much of the island was wrecked and numerous guns put out of commission. All of the radars went out temporarily, as well as much other similar equipment, the largest radar antenna was reduced to scrap metal. The list of several communication leads and other electrical connections takes up six single-spaced typewritten pages in the reports. The gasoline explosion from the plane and the bomb blast together started many heavy fires, though prompt work by fire-fighting parties had the blaze under control within twenty minutes. I'1C1l'1 The human damage was more tragic and less reparable. All told, forty-seven officers and men lost their lives as a result of this blow, and 127 more were injured, many seriously. Flash and fire, as - always in these cases, was the chief cause of suffering, while a few lost limbs or suffered frac- tures, and many were struck by fragments, and still others stunned, all were burned. lt was found difficult to care for the wounded in the cramped spaces in which they were caught, and even more so to evacuate them, under combat conditions, to more proper quarters. All hands turned to help, both medical department and others, tending their shipmates and carrying on with their regular duties at the sarne time. Too much cannot be said in praise of the splendid performance of the corpsmen and of all others involved in this arduous task. After the first six hours only two of the patients who were wounded had died, one from intra-cranial injury, the other from third-degree burns involving 90 per cent of the body surface. l-lighest praise was given to the Medical Department of this ship and the personnel who cared for the wounded by the Senior Medical Officer of the hospital' ship, U.S.S. Solace, for the excellent treatment which the in- jured received. The laundry and galley crew worked around the clock to keep sick bay supplied with fresh linens and special foods. ' Incredibly, through all the shock and confusion, the ship continued normal operations. All planes in 1 r' Bogeys on the screen. The intercept officer studies the track of an incoming raid on the plotting table before giving instructions to.the defending fighters. Left to right, seated: Lt. Com. Winston Csince killed on the Franklinj. Whithcrm, Rdm. lfc, Lt. Deaver. Lt. Reed, Lt. flgl Iohnson.

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Though the exact position of the target was I'1Ol known, heavy strikes were launched at dawn, to-- gether with more Search planes. After considerable suspense, the enemy force was once more dis- covered, and the attacks quickly closed for the kill. The enemy was caught with the bulk of his planes, according to lapanese practice, on shore at Luzon, the twenty-odd defenders they managed to put up were quickly smothered by our Hellcats. For the rest of the day the groups planes had the unprecedented opportunity of working over an im- portant eenniy force at their leisure. Altogether, they sank three carriers and severely damaged the fourth, sank one cruiser and damaged a cruiser and a battleship. The Lexington's Air Group Com- mander, acting as target coordinator in the after- noon, became the first aviator in any war actually to see three carriers sink at one time. At sunset the groups cruisers were detached to finish off the dam- aged carrier, while the rest turned south, After two more days off the Visayans, the group finally re- turned to Ulithi. THE LEX EORGETS TO DUCK Cn November 5 the ship was hit. Qnce more oft Luzon, she had sent successful strikes over Clark Eield in the morning, and definitely sank a heavy cruiser in Manila Bay. Early in the afternoon, how- ever, a few enemy planes slipped by our fighterg and closed for the attack. At 1:37 PM two Zekes dove out of a heavy cloud cover at the Lexington, One was shot down by her guns, but the other, though on fire, kept on coming, and struck the ship, The whole attack was typical of a new style sui- cide raid. Largely gone were the days when twelve friendly fighters could gloriously wipe out an attack- ing force of twice that number, and so, too, were the long and nerve-wracking night attacks, such as that in which the Lexington had been hit before, Now the attacking planes refused to shoot it out with our defenders. With great skill they made all possible use of available cloud cover, which was heavy at the time- good Kamikaze weather, as the fleet had learned to knowe-in order to evade ou.r fighters. On sighting American planes, they l -gifs: f lf' X Not all war is shooting. The Lexing- ton crosses the line in September and in April. Left: The Royal Barber at work. Right: Running the gqunf- let. Below, left: The Royal Pgny approaches fhprill. Below, right: The Royal Court fSeptemberl. fr 5, ' .. 3 ff-- A

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d 1 t A Chitose class light carrier lies burning and dead in the water in the Second Battle.of the Philippine Sea. Cruisers from the I.exington's task group later finished her off With gunfire. Altogether four carriers were sunk in that engagement. the air were landed without accident. All the next lo d ' ' ng ay the ship continued to operate, sending off strikes and patrols 'as scheduled. 'Only on the 7th was she relieved, then at last she began h er retire- ment to Ulithi, transferring the wounded to the USS. Solace on arrival. She remained there during Nov b ' ' em er, undergoing repairs. On the way, the Lexington learned that she had been sunk again. The report did not seem as far wrong as usual. THE WEATHER TAKES A HAND ' During November, Air Group 19, who, since the occupation of Guam, had developed into a really magnificent air group, returned to the States, and were relieved by Air Group 20 from the Enterprise. On December ll the Lexington sortied once more from Ulithi flying the flag of Rear Admiral G, F. Bogan, Commander of Task Group 58.2. A Air G 2 ' roup Us war turned out to be more with the weather than with the lapanese. After three days CDecember l4-l6J of strikes against airfields in the Luzon area, in support of MacArthur's landings on Mindoro--strikes so successful that almost no enemy opposition developed-the force found itself for several days in the center of a typhoon. Luckily, the Lexington rode out this punishing storm with only minor damage, until finally the entire force was able to return to Ulithi on December 23, in time to spend th h l' e oiday season at that well-known resort. After a week of rest, the task group Cnow Task Group 38.23 ll sa ied forth again for three tough weeks of operations that included the first entry of the Fast Carrier Task Forces into the stormy South China Sea. The common purpose of these opera- tions, ranging from Indo-China to Okinawa, was to support the Army's landings at Lingayen Gulf, which began on lanuary 9. The first nine days of Ianua ry were spent in strikes on airfields on Luzon and Formosa, in which little enemy opposition was encountered. On the night of Ianuary 9, the force entered the China Sea, intending to seek out and destroy major units of the lapanese fleet which might threaten our landing operations. When no such units could be discov- ered, the operation developed into a far-flung hunt for enemy shipping. Attacks were launched on ship- ping and airfields at Saigon and Camranh Bay in lndo-China, Hong-Kong, the Pescadores lslands off Formosa, and Formosa itself. The most successful day was lanuary l2 at Cam- ranh Bay when planes from the Task Group wiped out one convoy of four merchant vessels and four escorts, a d n destroyed at least twelve vessels in another Durin th' - Q is time almost no airborne oppo- sition developed, and the chief obstacle was the weather, which seemed on occasion even to veteran fliers to be about as bad . as men could fly in. The strain on the pilots was correspondi ON TO TOKYO On lanuary 20, the force left the China Sea and proceeded northward to launch two more ngly great. strikes, 1 9 ls JNX s. ls N l . Q,-.