Mount McKinley (AGC 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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.iii J,9.!?i . -4 ' . , XX .Q 'N 4 1 -H-5' 'f : - ' l'l'll TASK l 0Rf'l'I NINICTY OFF IWO JIM.-X Ular. 21, 105-lj--Nlincty US. Navy warships and over 20,000 marines joined ranks today to make war on this tiny Pacitic lslancl for the secoml time in over a cle-camle. Target for the practice invasion, tah- bed Operation Flap: Hoist, is thc same volcanic beach which Marines stormed Feb. l9, 19-15, to open one of the most vicious battles in history. Some ot' the ollicers and men in toclay's operation took part in the real one which killed -1,503 marines and more than 22,000 Japanese defenders. Nearly 20,000 friendly Ilril Marine llivision leathernecks hit the beach from Navy landing craft to do battle with 1.000 aura-ssors. War-planes flew low on strating' missions as the ships offshore oti'ei'i-il tire support. South Korean and Vhinese National- ist military observers were watching the maneuvers along with American military commanders in the Far East. Still on the landing beach are the rusted frames of landing: craft blown up in 1945. The 3rd Marine Division. commanded by Maj. Gen. Robert H. Pepper. was brought to Iwo Jima by Navy Task Force 90-- the same group which put the lst Marine Division and the 7th Army Division ashore at Inchon in 1950 during the Korean War. The USS Mount McKinley, General MacArthur's old command ship, is the control vessel for the operation. Vice Adm. Alfred M. Pride, Com- mander 7th Fleet, is overall commander of the exercise, while Rear Adm. John M. Will commands the amphibious phase of operations. ww h ' I . '. '- ' ff fe 0 . 2 Q xr L E Y, : ...f ,- X . , ...,. I' A ... I .

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Mlleage to date, l5,66'7. Yoko- suka suioolios. Nagoya: welcome aboard Marines. Iwo Jima: O-450 oamn alert. . .GQ. . .GQ. . . Once again Admiral Will welcomes General Pepper of the Third Marine Division aboard This time the welcome preceded depar- ture for Iwo Jima and Operation Flaghoistn. K, Her Majesty's destroyers CON- STANCE and COCKADE alongside the MOUNT McKINLEY. The two English ships later escorted the flag- ship to the island of Iwo Jima. 5 ,

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,,, .M divlex l THE VALUE, as an exercise, of any amphibi- ous operation, depends upon the training, efli- ciency and team-spirit, as well as the welfare and morale of the thousands of men at the countless stations on all the ships of the fieet. In the following pages are pictured the per- sonnel of the MOUNT MCKINLEY, Shown at work or at leisure somewhere on the ship. The division, working unit of all Naval vessels, will be used here to show the organization of the ship and the duties of the men who conduct such operations as the divlex on this page.