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Page 130 text:
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The Big Push The Japs became aware on July 10 that a new fleet operation was in pi ' ogress when cai i ' ier- based fighters, bombers and torpedo planes swept in, blasting air fields and installations in the Tokyo area. For two days Mamie supported carriers as their planes carried out assigned missions of destruction. On July 14, the planes struck again at the island of Honshu, this time farther north. Then, shoi ' tiy before noon, watchers along the coast near Kamaishi — the Empii ' e ' s second lai ' gest iron and steel producing center — saw an imposing and portentous sight. A line of big, fast battle- ships, escorted by cruisers and destroyers, was moving swiftly in over the sunlit water. The U. S. Navy, after sweeping all opposition from the Pacific, had penetrated to the very shores of Japan and Mamie was there. She went in so close that it looked like her men could toss a heaving-line over to the shore with no strain, and steamed nonchalantly about until the spotting planes got into position. Then Big Mamie and her accompaning ships opened fire and the war ' s first bombardment of the Jap- anese Homeland was underway. The big shells crashed into blast furnaces, open hearth works, and factory buildings. Oil storage tanks were hit and billowed into smoke and flame. A railroad bridge was straddled by our fire. For an hour and a half Mamie continued to pound away, tossing projectiles into the target area. No Jap planes were sighted and there was no return fire from shore batteries. When she withdrew, a huge column of dark smoke was rising to blend with the clouds over Kamaishi. For- the next two weeks she was with the cai ' i ' iers as they made continued strikes, while other ships of the fleet bombarded. Then, on July 29, Mamie went in to participate in the spectacular midnight bombardment of Hamamatsu, an industrial and railroad center. Her particular target was the Japan Musical Instrument Company. The attack on this was not an advance form of musical criticism, but arose from the fact that the factory had been converted to the manufacture of aircraft propellors. Admiral Halsey sent Mamie and her companions a Well Done and dubbed them the Hammer Hamamatsu Club. On August 9 Mamie returned to Kamaishi and worked over what was left after her first visit. As she withdrew fi ' om the bombardment, an officei ' — who would rather forget the whole matter — said something over the public address system about proceeding Eastward. But what with continued assaults by the Third Fleet, the entry of Russia into the war, daily postings by the B-29 ' s with a few atomic bombs as exclamation points, and imminent threat of invasion, the Japs decided to throw in the sponge. Peace did not come suddenly. Its advent was very hesitant and fighting continued in many areas while messages flashed between the capitals of the warring nations. Even as Admiral Halsey was broadcasting concerning the Jap capitulation, carrier based fighter planes shot down foui- Jap planes approaching the formation. But gradually the fighting died out, the Japs went to Manila to get word from General Mac- Aithur conceining surrender proceduies, and Mamie began dispatching landing forces. On August 19, her entire contingent of Marines and a number of Bluejackets assigned to the Marines and to a special pool for operating small boats in Jap harbors, were transferred to an attack transpoit. The next day, a bluejacket landing force went to a high speed transport, a ticklish job as the APD was acting skittish in the choppy water. The end the war- found the U. S. S. Massachusetts still cruising and fighting, a member- of the Third Fleet, pr-esent at the kill.
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Page 129 text:
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Stormy Weather The Japs were not the only opponent In the Pacific; the weather frequently proved to be a difficult adversary. On June 5, the Massachusetts weathered a typhoon — the third since coming to the Pacific. A typhoon is the Pacific ' s version of a hurricane — with trimmings. The first one came as Mamie was riding the hook In UllthI in the early morning hours of October 3, I 944. The entire task force group hurriendly got underway and by the time she stai-ted through the channel, the visibility had dropped to zero. Radar, the magic eye of the Fleet, was used to bring her safely out to the ocean where she had sea-room for battling the stoim. The next typhoon, one of the worst in Naval Histoiy, struck while the Task Force was refueling off Luzon. Heavy seas and winds in advance of the major part of the storm forced discontinu- ance of the fueling operation. The next day — the I 8th — the storm struck in all its fury with screaming winds and mountainous seas. Many ships sustained damage, with fires breaking out on some of the convei-ted carriers, and three destroyers, the Spence, Hull, and Monoghan, went down in the storm. Luckily, the Massachusetts, except for loss of a seaplane, suffered only minor damage. An equally vicious typhoon struck early in June — again Interrupting a fueling operation. Many ships ran into difficulties, one cruiser lost her bow, and another reported her bow had been buckled by the mountainous waves. The peak of the storm was reached in the early morning houis of June 5 when estimated wind was bettei ' than one hundred knots. At 0700, Mamie passed through the eye of the storm, and though the wind force dropped sharply, the waves became even more huge. Again Mamie came through with only mlnoi damage, but with a Kingfisher damaged beyond repair. On June 10 the Massachusetts bombarded MInami Daito Shlmo, firing both main and sec- ondary batteries. Three days later she came to a new anchorage in San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf. Recreation facilities In the Philippines were much the same as Ulithl except for the addition of a longer- boot ride and mud. Going Home On July I, Big Mamie took off on what proved to be the final offensive action of the war — the Third Fleet ' s month and a half of operations in Japanese waters. Which brings to mind the fact that disappointments aren ' t too common In this life, for ' thei e aren ' t too many things to set heor-ts upon. One case, however, stands out and tops them all . . . even tho It is not without Its amusing sidelights. July I 5th, 1944, was the day Mamie left the Stotes, and on July 16 scuttlebutt was already cliculotlng regarding the next yard period. There isn ' t a minute of the day that there Isn ' t a new rumor- stai ' ted regarding the ship ' s chances of going bock, and the officers and men devour- every bit of It. Well, It wasn ' t so long ago that the scuttlebutt took on an air- of authenticity. Smiles looked out from ever-y stanchion and clean- ing space on the ship. Even the Captain was hopeful. Big Hearted Mamie opened up her- heart and storerooms to distribute well-hoarded supplies to the ships that were to be loss fortu- nate and were to stay while Mamie enjoyed some Stateside fun. Cigarettes, clothing stores, gun parts, point, paper-, radio tubes, etc., were carefully packaged and presented to all comers . . . with the compliments of the Massachusetts. Then . . . rosy-fingered dawn in the nature of exigencies of war . . . , Mamie didn ' t go home. Opcrotlon oftei- operation, bomboi-dment after bombardment and she is still In the forward area. Did someone soy stateside?
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