Massachusetts (BB 59) - Naval Cruise Book

 - Class of 1945

Page 131 of 134

 

Massachusetts (BB 59) - Naval Cruise Book online collection, 1945 Edition, Page 131 of 134
Page 131 of 134



Massachusetts (BB 59) - Naval Cruise Book online collection, 1945 Edition, Page 130
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Page 130 text:

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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