Macomb (DD 458 DMS 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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Two days after this, while on night patrol. thc- Macis radar-controlled five-inch guns knmfked flown a two-enginerl Jap hmnlwr. Thv plane il- luminatcfl thc' hlafrk night with an spe-1'tzu'ulnr sheet of fire as it hit the water. The next clay was a had one, anfl the Xlaf-mul. lost her sister ship. the l'.5.5. Ennnmns: anal another ship from the squaflmn. the LQS5. llml- man, was badly damaged. 'llwro we-rv lap planes in the vicinity alnmst umtinuuusly that day, aml the Navy racluefl up u te-rriliar tntul of japs fur the IIHEVS slmuting. During tht- fnlllm- ing :lays the- Nlighty Mac' was luvl-gy she' lnflpml ...hi waitin ' . . , - . g .il tht lmln injured ships lunp han-l-. lu purt. was ulefrtvcl mghl: lmubh, hurling countless tinws, rlrme- ull' nunn-rmif alla:-l-.s. lnul never sullercrcl zz svruta-li. 'l'ln- 4-lim-ft smart- Vllllll' when a lust Jap :live--lmmln-r utturl-.1-ul in an Fll'H' ru-nn lu lln- vhn-l in rlmrge- of tht- fn roaring cliw nut ul' the- sun. With lf-rrilir ape-ml thu ,lap 1-lim-tl the' ship lllfilllgll the' l'n-mi'-cl X X - M ' ' llll ' ' . ' A ' - . . .. llarruw' l 'f'll?- 'll lmul l ful th' lllm' fnulll mul nl lhe- um l In Vullllllg illlilllgh. rvleurwcl its lunnh. It 1-xplmle-il in the- wut:-r ulmut 50 fvvl ull our pnrl lwzun. zuul tha' Nliu- luirlx r- luapml nut uf the- mule-r. hut se-ttle-cl almsn x-.ith I . I . . , ,. . plamv- in uluvh -hv llNllllIH'1i t :-lllrlalv lllii. nu se-rims:-i elumzuge- eluna-. lht- gre-uh-st alnwlt ul the vxplnsinn was fe-lt in tht- t'Ilg1lIlt't'I'lllA!l ,pam--. sslwrc il snumli-fl us if thc- ship haul ln-vu lnlmsn npnrt. We- wvrr making mp spew-fl mul iununwli- ' - - utvly after tht- vxplusiun thi- fnllmsing re-nmrlt ' ' wus lunch' hy thc' 1-hit-f in Vllllfgt' ul the- alt:-in ' .intl twin lla-1-lf.-. l.:uh-r an lla-4-I Ing l'l'lll'Yt'4l ll ugml vngim- imma. lla-I that elaunm-il engine Xn nnllulgvtlulnli- ,ight may illill uf thu- -'ullalnl l,4lIl'.-x Llllil'l he-n ln-mis' luillle- with lhe- killlliliilll' Ihv llm' in e'e- al lu lll'I' aiiel all lnp r-pe-vel. llillliillfl Vllllllllt' mils lung vu-ulpll In pump ai 4ii5f,lllSll'li lint-.lir pil-it will ul lln' uallvr. illllvll tu' lnmlt tha- l.4ille-x in hm. while' -ln' f-lime-lc-sl tht- wl'1-vlt nge- lin-l rlnnn-il Nl mp- ul lnmllvs ull lwl' fulllvcl 5 fig? ax fs Nu .J ev x wp. , -. t. Q, Leaving dork at Pearl Harbor Waikiki Bmfh 23

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lfniwetok. the Mac tried for her first Japiliill. hy depth charging a sound contact. Results were negative, however. During the stay at Iflithi continuous flrills were stressed in View of the forthcoming operation. and then on March IU, l9-15 the Nlaeoinh in re-oinpany with the rest ul the squadron texeept for the Fitch. who hacl run LlL!l'UUllflt joined 'litl 32.2. and sailetl for Ukinana fiunto. Ukinana. which was to he the first footholfl in litlllilft? Waters. antl the serene of the niltla-st ship-xersus-plane fighting in history. fXrrixing1 ut Ultinana I5 flaps lnefore le.-clay. the Nlut' nnrl tn-r uwoiinpttityiing sneeps t'onnnent'etl tht- urrlnons task ul 1-learing tht- extensixe areas ztssigiwtl to l.ltl'lll. 'lille islttntl ol' Ultiituuzt lay silent nntl lJ0'ilf't'illl. floss- nt hatntl. l'lllilllf. on the flux ol' the inxu-ion til' lx:-rgmnt lit-tto. the Nine' sun tn-to lilst ,lamp plantes. Noi'-'ensuite at group ol' 'll-A Tal. lin- Xian-:init nat- one ol' the lil-tt to -ight .1 group ul lit-gms soon tht- nit' nn- till.-it with XXlvni-t- .unix tht- x.n.l nas nipetl out to tln- In-t lvl.un', Nwvlnl unit- sn-lninetl ll'lllt't t' llllt' lwilv' tltv' 1-lil llxlx l tltt' llwlsvt t A .. - .- . . which was hit hy 2 planes that just IlllSSCtl th.. Mae. The Macomb stood by to pick up s11rviv,,,.S. of which there was only one. Later in the clans the Macomb and 3 other DNlS's xsantlered intl, the Keraina Rotto invasion antl tleliweretl at hw. salvos at a Cave. and got a eonple of near misses in return. With this first fierce clay of intimate enum,-1 with the enemy. the Nolan' reatlietl herself for nhat she knew nas going to he at rnggetl tom of clutx. the ,laps hail hegnn then' netne ale- fense of the Okinawa Cnnto. A len days later the Sine uns steznninu in eolnntn with three other llllgs nhen lntt on th. mater out ol the setting snn eanne n ,Inp sniritlt plane. lt nns at Neat. All four ships opt-neil nl. on the plane antl the hlnes -ltlnnn. sin-lls eonltl he seen ripping into the fuselage. The plane n- iusetl to tllSlIllt'Q1I'Ltll' antl eznne on llt lntrronh missing the seeontl ship in the eohnnn. 'liht plane hrolxe np ancl sanlt lllltllt'tllillt'lt. Naples Hnrlmr ! ww .,.,zym.?. if ff . M, - ajyi .54 Lf?

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Kamikaze! nl our burden and wt- prom-crlctl ln our radar picket station. 'lihc Maris clay was coming soon. ln the early pl'c-stulrisc hour on flpril 27th a raid was pickctl up by liaclar. :Xt least fl planes closing in for an attack on our picket station. The next sixty ltlitttIlt'S were busy oncs hring almost continuously. making top speed. turning. dodg- ing but at tht- end of the hour 3 planes had crashcd in llann-s as a result of the ll'c' . e , at s ac- vuratc lirc. with one assist from the l'.S.S. XV. llittcr. Une plane had just missed the Mac. splashing into the wake a scant 30 wards astem, willvlt May rolled around the Macomb had been in there pitching.. as long as anvong, Then on the 3rd of Nlay. on a Thursdavi eve- ning. hcr luck ran out altogether. Whenia big .lap twilight raid was picked up heading our Wilt- the usual shiver of apprehension went over the shipa--then a Tony ta Jap suicide-fighter planet. broke off into a dive but was splashed near the Macis companion destroyer. the l,7.S.S. liache. A second Tony coming in fast at a low altitude got through the AA fire and swerved to crash into the Mac at the No. 3 live-inch gun 24 mount. The ship raced on at high speed while her damage control crews quickly subdued the flames. The five-hundred pound bomb which the plane had carried, miraculously crashed through one side of the ship and out the other without exploding. The doctor and his pharma. cistis mates and volunteers worked throughout the night treating the wounded. Three deadg one fatally burnedg three missingg live seriously injuredg eight injuredg one slightly injured. This was the sad accounting the Macomb made that night. Vlfhen the Macomb had to retire to a repair base lsaipant to liek her battle wounds, she received commendatory messages from her squadron commander. from the connnandcr of minecraft, Pacific Fleet, and from thc comman- der of all Navy forces in the Okinawa Clllll- paign-she had earned a uwell done. Alter almost 3 months at Saipan where battle damage was repaired. the Macomb got under- way for Okinawa on the morning ol August lst. Nightly air raids greeted the ships arrival and short stay at Buckner Hay from August 5 to 9th, The afternoon of the 10th saw this vessel under- way for a combat sweep operation near Alumni Shima. Thirty minutes after the amiouncemeut of the laps, first ofler of surrender the ship went lo C.O. However, no shots were hred as the Gun Ill after suicide hit