Macomb (DD 458 DMS 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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lui' l't'lillt'lltl in ti awww in lx'-i.iiii.i lwttti X- llll- Ill lluli in 1- -nliexlinllv-l Q- ? l 'HIE l','Yl'Rl ISI INIUX UI lxlltllll IH IIH ilillt' NIU!! Nl. lluw lltlw' tlittiv'sxxa'a'ltt't- tml iiiim-lm:-i. the' Nl.u'itmli. twin'--t tl--t---it if itklll. lutliul tliviiisrlxvs liiivxiu-vtvtllx tw th minlst nl tui ttlktlsllitl. ls In-,Intl-It ttt-- Mitt, ul its lxllltl in the' htstwix -it N.ix.il it vtiit llillt' lilsl frm tlitN' ul' tltv' sttlttwlltlvil lllxttv tt-it 'iN!'t'lllllLZ uin'i'gititm umm' i'tviiiplf't-'il tivttl Ht: tlllll Nils stlptiusml IH I't'iiile'lxt-its with ,i t.if'stf . . . , . ll' r- Nllllli saiilvil tliiuiigli tht' :mix-ws. tivtt.iimli.ir f trailwi' tu tht- txt-ixiiim ttt-ilu .tmttt-r.ig--. ttvft itlllllll lllt'lIIWt'lXl's Vttltglll iii tht' iiiitltllf' -it ti t'l'nss-lin' lu'tm'e'ii jaiptirivsf- -ttttiv lnittviiivs .init Xiiiwiraiii ships guilt vrulit st.m-ling in t-itmift ' ' i llll' lN'ill'll. Fulttvllim. tht- luiiiiiimltiif' lm-l iw :Utlvll tht- mural that tht- IIIXLIHIHII --t lxvi'.i1rt.1 livttn Imtt lwvn dt-tnyt-it limit' txwritx-tw-itil' lit-iris Xinpliiliiuus tanks unit lamliiig vrtitit l--.ntl-il with troops pourvtl in tmturtl tht' slittrv limi ti- the uinam-nwnt of tht- DXlS's.. while- 4-ii tht- tw-.wilt tilted the air. Hy this timv tht- sxwvpt-rs iw-latin-it iiiltt lit otlll Hitt t 1 t.1,,...M.i.i. t.. tm.. A tlt- slimy- IlllIllt't'1l Mitt ,qs tlisx tu'i1'1l v P H' Kilim--it ,ffl -'iiilwcl t.itt1aif'- -iitlflviilx ' ,twin ,it:iil.iltlrt:iigg1l. - 'flux -'tif thuiiilvs :iiifl 1 wiv- mari-it-.lx tltliiltlff Xl' Xl 1- ' llmt 't-.is :Ill lltitt with ? t with! ul tha- VIIHIA of iw it tts. X'-9-Y tlzf Xififfttiilv limi sinrll lill't' li t-AHL 'Q ' 1' shutter, tlzf' -lwrv lim- with smt- ft' it Har f-ttwiwt -titxfm that 4l'?llf'll up ii fzixv. tttf- -tzwz int tif tttfiht' ei tm-it flvpzlrtlirv. t-its mf.. tt..it -.tvilfl it'-t tw flum' until ziftvr thi' tti -tml ziwigfztf-i' hail lffl thi- iiitrf-pill. un- rtvt iii' gi liliiafl zillf-x tthirh f'ilUSfPll -Him .iivxi ii- rvt-i:itf-iit- fit turning ziruiiml in 8 f . the cliattvr uf lllill'llilN' gun tin' nt' tmth t'--i'w'- mfr-txt. i...f lmrtf-fl flmrtm-l. thus f'llflf'fl mir: uf thi- tix'-t iiifi-'l'-rtt- in uzirlzirr' in ishiffh a Sup- lllat tlwy wen- llltkilllltll intrutlvrs. uint tm-lin: it-is'-ftlx rdtittmt unit uf -hips imkmmiiigzly sailed like the pl'ovQrhial paiaiiiu-vlail imlixitlual at gi lvlinrllx iiit-- tht- tlliflfllf' nf an imiasiuii. 45 i ......,... ,......W 5 E i I t i t t l t i E t s t l

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' I taking 75 hours from first contact to sinking. For this engagement Captain Hutchinson re- ceived the Bronze Star Medal, and our gunnery officer, Lieutenant Rengel, the Navy Commenda- tion Bar, and the crew added a star to their campaign ribbons. We had come face to face with death that night, and though we had es- caped unharmed, no one who participated in that battle came out of it with the same burning desire for action. From now on, we would con. tinue to do our part, but with a different per. ception. W e knew now that our careless assump. tion of immortality was indeed false, and that we were engaged in a desperate struggle for life, in which any one of us might be the eternal loser. TORPEDO RUN It was our second night on the Easy Line. the cordon of destroyers that was outer screen for the transport area at the St. Tropez heaeh- heads in the early days after the invasion of Southern France. One moonlit night had passed without threat, although our destroyers persisted in regularly illuminating each other or in lohhing a few shells at returning l'.'l'. patrols. Sunset CQ. was long since secured and the cans re- solved lhcrnselves In the now-routine task of dodging each other in the impossihle task of staying in phase. when at surface contact was picked up some 20 mile- olll from the Nlacoinlfs sector. 'lille Destroyer llutle was nlrearly in the xan- Q.1llllI'tl when the word ln send the 'Wlighty linen into the fray was reeeixed. Cena-ral llltmrtels elanged with urgency. The sttriatre raideis. now live distinct radar pips. were making Xguutl spec-4 and were growing rapidly larger. 'XII four lioil- ers were put on the line. and tht- props cliurm-1 up it great mike in the calm water. ilihcn tht- lloyle reported one-two-three lorpedoes lirer aeross her how hy the enemy. The Captain calmly lnnlt the loud speaker ant announced: this is going ln lie a lightf Stand hy to make torpedo attack! ililie contact was now reported to he two enemy cruisers and at least three destroyers. Back on the torpedo tuhes. there was consternation. Our torpedoes had only heen reaequired three days previously at Taranto. having heen left behind during the original invasion assault. Now only one was ready to tire. and its gyro was not tested. Chief 'l'orpedoman Uillourke fumed hut guaranteed he would get the C . . D . . . id things!! oil if he had to throw them over the side. Now the gap was rapidly elosing. We might he ahle to inlliet some serious damage. maybe get one or two of them. hut this superior force would undouhtedly slaughter the Macomb. Was this the end? Then the report from the Doyle-f r- recognition signals exchanged properly! The charging enemy veered oil on charted course ul a night-retiring shore homhardment unit of two lfreneli cruisers and three trigger-happy lfrench destroyers. who may well have fired lorpedoes at the onrushing Doyle. 'lihe sigh of relief could he heard over the entire ship. Allied intelligence was not mis- taken: there were still no operational enemy capital ships in the lVlediterannean. On the fol- lowing morning the torpedo gang worked hard and long: there would be no more nights on the Easy Line without torpedoes ready to fire! E , C 4

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HE HAD WHAT IT TAKES ! Though there were many men aboard the Mighty Mac who acted with courage and dis- tinction, on the night of May 3, 194-5, surely no one could have done more than Emil Benko, S lfc, who earned the respect of the entire crew by his actions. On this night, the Mac was struck by a Japanese Kamikaze plane while on Radar Picket duty. Benko was thrown into the water by the terrific concussion of the hit, and although his hands and arms were severely burned, he went to the rescue of three shipmates who had also been blasted into the water. john Siebert, Slfc. was the first to request aid front llenko. He snatn to Siebert. and after assuring himself that he was all right. nent on to heed johnny Xlet'eer's cries for ht-lp. Mercer. il gutnn-r's mate striker. was in a bad way. loo 1-xltztttstetl ln inflate his lift- bt-lt. his TOKYU lt was tlw Illtlfllilttl of ,Xttgust 29 .... The d'liN'tlIllll rzteed through tht- gray matters of Sttgunti Wan at flank speed. Soon she rem'l1ed the li.S.S. lfllxson. tht- IINIS stpmdron flagship. and tt-Il into eohnnn usterti nf her. with the l 5.5. lltllllllltdtill bringing np the rear. lv .- . . llwst- three' Ilklr rigged their sm-vp gear and p1'ot'ee1le1l up tht- t'llillltlt'l. slowly and cautiously. :Klong these coasts were placed an intensiye s st 1 1 1 cr II T n 1 awar 'NI ll I X ll N flluf P179 U NIH s olttt I o rt 'tt tt r t xx r D IN N 1 NS ll rt n1 tndus rtdtn t tx ll 1 11 it ful over Nl 1 tn 1 1 1 'l ll lma anf ie IWOIITI proud upt r xt 1 on an four xx ar 1 irx d roxus mn ll hip selemtef 1 Kdnnral Htl tx to tnttr the bax on that hi torx lllilhlllw mornnt-f lhe minutes piwed and notht 111 happened hands horribly burned, and barely conscious, He would have surely gone down if Benko had not blown up his life belt for him. Benko then noticed Joe Ferrara, GM lfe, 3 little distance away, apparently very badly hurt, He advised Siebert and Mercer to stay close together while he went to Ferrara's rescue, Wlieii Benko reached the wounded gunner-'S mate, he found that Ferrara did not have a life jacket, and was unable to stay afloat without one. Supporting Ferrara with one Hflll, he swam to the spot where the other two men awaited rescue. This was soon accomplished by one of the small fire support ships that were standing by to pick up survivors. lienko further assisted in the rescue by tying lines around the wounded. and waited until all three had been hauled to safety before accepting a li11e for himself. For his courageous actio11. Benko has been recom- mended for tl1e Navy and Marine Corps Medal. BA Y as the group reached tl1e point where the chan- nel turns abruptly, with Tokyo Bay only a few hundred yards beyond. There was Yokosuka till the left, and further down, the buildings of the Yokohama waterfront dominated the horizon. The group began to break formation, each ship proceeding to assigned anchorages. Before dropping the hook, the Mac steamed up I0 W 1koha1na to haxe a look at the once busy port Suddenly a startled lookout yelled take a look at the urn on hc all building dead ahead' ' lurx one raised his glasses and read the amaz ing. messaffe lt was THREF CHEERS Us 10 feet high near the top of a prominent water front warehouse Eager L S PWS had some hots gotten the paint and decorated their PYISOU barracks mth the welcoming inscription After a look around the Mac anchored OU 5 okosuka and began to absorb the strange HOW experience the realization that peace had 30 tuallx come coax! dt-tt-11sv sy it '1 1 of large e. l'I1 1 fles- T' ' ' ' ' f T ' ' tht- Klan' and tht- other l HS' were f ll-' . e of 4 -f -A a is tht- po.'. l 'ltr tl at the Jap: N' lil s ', In 1 5. l ' l i i ', this Ill 'tl f r at last t 1. 'l 1 ous pos - 'a il 'T I it ' '- 4 .. r ' tl. . 1 yy' -... g . ' W ' J - , - - . ARMY IIS. NAVY painted in white letters Alia 1 1 'v of this were the lop navy 1n1- - Y - , a ' 3 i ' g he vo big sl'1s 'l il ' l' ' l F , 3 a , lllt' 4 ll' ' ln 'lit lilly. il t ti ' l tl . T Q . i i - - Mft' '. s s 1 - 'z g' s. . d 1 1 - . H ,- Y . . - - rea ' est : 'F 2 tl 1 s ' s : s l I1- T i .- ' ' 1 sly 1 1 1 .- '5- f- g ' ' 1 46 ' T 1 . V '51