Macomb (DD 458 DMS 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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At 1200 visibility was clusing in. The nim- bus clouds enveloped us in a small imrld ..f our own. We were given a temporary cofssutinn of activity as the f?!lf?lIly.S planes as me-ll as nur own were grnunrlefl. That evening MP wen- juiu.-tl lhff lljxllzljl ii 22llll-lun tl.-. strayer mine-layer. liristling with Zllmm. llimm. anrl twin 5 muunts. sln- gan- ueleliliunul lin- powfvr. In lllff Nlavl vrvxs Ll mufl n.e'le'uluv figlll, The rffmaimlo-r uf ilu' night mul morning li-,nw prowfcl lu ln' llle' usual ruutim' ul' uni-Luau' rairlem 'l'lu's4' in-rv turnn'uting. -e-mningly in-ig' nificant, but Illillslllg il :ww-fsui'y ln ln- win-lannllx ulufwl, anlllmugll tlu-y ne-xo-r funn- uilluiu lining rungv. Un April IU. in Ilia' 1-aulx l'-m'u.--nn. lln- li.S.S. Wil:-5 l'l'IlHI'll'll!lI0'llil1lil pn--ilrlw -ul, um' lalvt uml nun im:--lignling. Sigrmlnn-n wp.-it-'-l alla' Nil!-i lisn-lrlewlxilng lll'I' Iilm-k lwnnnut in im-lun rlllinll fur alrupping cle-pill 4'llill'vL1l . All lmmla no-rr Nillllllg lm tht- iumlflf- --li llIHll'l Nill0'l' vxplmling olvlvlln rlmlgo'-. ul:--n it VMI! l'l'lml'l1'1l alle' llilll tlilvlwel lI1'I lH'lHV.HIl. lfwl 4'nnlzu'l. mul nun lrjnifiillgg l.Hl'lIhlllHH. H.ik-tall.-.I -lu 1 U uw: 1 ' ' Q -' Q 0 5 , ' 1 . E

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quickly relieving us of our burden, and we in turn proceeded back to our station-Roger Peter No. 3. April 17 on the 00-04 watch we were once again patrolling RP No. 3 with all hands tense from the strain of the previous day and with the memory of the Laffey vividly engraved upon their minds. Bogeys closed but always opened before coming within range of our main battery. Ships were holding down RP St2:1ti0f1S at VHTIOUS well chosen spots encircling the island. From these positions radar could pick up in-coming raids from enemy held islands north of the Okin- awa chain-Kyushu and Honshu to the North, Formosa and China to the Xvest. Any island with air strips large enough for planes to take oll on their one-way' trips represented potential danger as such. tiontinually over the voice radio circuits were heard the emergency' calls of RP stations under attack. Ships damaged or Sllllli-'f'-Ulllt'I'S moving up to take their places a seemingly endless chain. As time crept along we were beginning lo ponder oyer the question. was it necessary' for our ship to be literally' torn apart by these suicide attacks. with inevitable death lor many ol our slnpmutes. ltelore ridding ourselves of this duly 'f ttyttn. general cpxarters. sunrise alert: Our S. tif. radar repeatedly made its 360 degrees sweep without any indications ol enemy' ac- tiyity. :Xt 0000. lil' No. 2 reported they were under attack. The general announcing system lvlared lorth throughout the ship Mall hands stand hy to repel air attaekln Combat reported 3 Bogey 'l ?! in and we directed one cap to inter- eept them: ll-T0-'7-8 miles. closing rapidly. On the bridge. flank speed was rung up-out of Nowhere. as one enemy' plane came diving in l'l ' Us lmlll Putt. too close for the main bat- tery and plot to track. The speed was increased to 30 knots: hard right rudder. hard left rud- der. The ship was swerving and swaying, 20nnn's opened up. The plane was dropping nearer and nearer. Then it released its bomb. .-Xnnd the crashing sound of a loud explosion the ship jumped from the water-it had missed! F00 Cl0Se for comfort, but it had missed! It P35503 ever us amidships so close. that the radio 34 I t I--. . Suicide plane over Hagushi Anchorage antenna strung between the stacks was cut down. This was our closest view of the emblem of the rising sun. No personnel were injured. and there was no serious damage to the ship. A few' bent frames and strained plates caused by the eon- cussion served as a reminder of the narrow es- cape. Almost invariably, the opinion ol the members of the crew was that high speed and rapid course changes had saved us. April 18th rolled around with us patrolling flip No. 3, accompanied by 3 LCS's and a Ptiitl as fire support ships. At 1754 combat reported 3ogeys on the screen. CQ sounded with all iands manning their battle stations, donning their prescribed wardrobe of life jackets and iielmets. The engine room answered the ring for flank speed. A deafening roar as the mall! battery opened up. Plane coming in to star- board-is this another suicide attack? Over the phone circuits, much to the amazement of the crew, came the word to cease firing-friendly plane. The Mac as a whole breathed a sigh of relief. Reconnaissance plane reports warned the ships with a short and terse sentence that dal? Nfor all the ships Okinawa area to expect heavy air attacks. Such messages had been received many times previously, and were not to be taken lightly.

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This craze to kill and be killed by death dives into the ships proved one of the most demoral- izing influences encountered by fighting men in this war so far. Tugs were hovering in the background, waiting for the word to proceed and take another crippled veteran under tow- if fortunate enough to have withstood these crip- pling blows. uPractice damage control, more damage control, plug up your holes and keep on firingf,-This message received by the pick- et ships best describes the situation. As soon as we were anchored in Kerama Retto, a raid was reported approaching from the north. All ships commenced making smoke, the results of which hang like a heavy fog, so thick that the person alongside you is almost indistinguishable. That night as well as through- out the next day and night the Mac constantly maimed her UQ stations while trying to carry out logistics. Never a period of ease or rest was to be had. Un April 23rd. having completed logistics. we got umlerway for ffagushi Beach anchorage, Ukinawa. All hands were pondering the ever-present question as lo our next assign- ment. Most of the erew were inclined to be pessimistic. while a small minority remained op- timistic. lloweyer. tht- majority ruled. as a lighter-direetor team reported aboard this was a group composed of two ollieers and two en- listed men especially trained in organizing in- formation obtained in filtf and using it to in- tercept enemy raids. Un April 2-tth the ship was underway for our new picket station -lil' No. ltt. relieving the l'.5.S. Wadsworth. Un station as we ar- rived were the destroyer l-.S.S. Cainard and an LCS as fire support vessels. Checking pre- yious action reports of this station. everything pointed toward a quiet post. Throughout the ship the seuttlebutt was flying about to the ef- fect that some considered this assignment to be a break. This station was situated 85 to 90 miles west of Okinawa. 20 miles west of Kume Shima. an enemy held island with a small air strip upon it. Our planes usually flew over this island and any activity noted would quickly be hindered by a few well-placed bombs. Previous weeks had shown that enemy raids were ap- proaching from the North and South, and in doing so had been by-passing this station. Eve- 36 ning brought forth a number of Bogey 1-aids that closed no nearer than 8 miles. The day of April 25th passed without inci. dent. So far the station had been living up to the predictions. The drawn and haggard look was beginning to disappear from the faces of the crew, and a little of previous days' playful skylarking commenced about the ship, The early hours of April 27th were among the calm. est experienced while on picket duty. No re. ports of enemy activities had been forthcom- ing from combat, and everyone had thoughts of another comparatively quiet day. However, within a few minutes combat reported enemy aircraft 31 miles distant. As the range constant- ly closed, it was possible to track three Bogies. Again the gun crews stood ready. and as the range dropped to 8 miles they swung into action. Suddenly a plane was sighted in the early lt't0I'II- ing darkness, making identification extremely difficult. The main battery commenced radar- eontrolled Hring. All hands tensed and waited for some signs of a hit as the 20mm and 40mm presently commenced their chattering. Un the bridge everyone was seeking shelter as the plane zoomed past the pilot house-so close that the throbbing of its motor could plainly he heard above the din of the battle-torn air. One of the men in the repair parties reported having seen a yellow light glowing from its fuselage--in all probability flame from a direct hit. The next instant the plane nosed over ill its death plunge and crashed into the sea close astern. The men on the fantail received 8 shower as the plane displaced a huge hlallliffl of water, then slowly disappeared from sight. The gun crews relaxed, but the air plot tcamS in combat could not, as their attention was need- ed in tracking another Bogey, sending rang0S of 18-15-10-7 and 6 miles to the director and bridge. As this last report was received, the engine rooms were called upon to make turnS for 30 knots. Once again the main battery began radar COD' trolled firing, as yet the early morning gfai' was still darkened by a heavy dark cloud for-