North Carolina (BB 55) - Naval Cruise Book

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' 106 Task Force 58 leTT UllThl on I4 March l945 and headed Tor Kyushu There our sTrikes sTirred up a veriTable horneT's nesT of reslsTance which damaged several oT our ships including The Ill-TaTed Franklin For The nexT six weeks we saw Jap suicide h hT Th SI hT of THE SHOWBOAT. BuT The Japs paid TacTIcs aT Their worsT running To over Ten The number of our s ups I WI In g I ll Thousand lanes and many oT'Their T'leeT uniTs To d Th nexT da NORTH CAROLINA T' heavily During The supporT oT The Okinawa campaign They osT we over a P The 5Th FleeT alone O On 23 March heavy air sTrikes were launched agaInsT Okinawa an e y and oTher baTTleships bombarded. HiTTing Trom boTh sea and air, The Navy had once again soTTened The enemy preparaTory To a major landing. ExcepT Tor brief respiTes when we reTired To reTuel, we were subiecT To incessanT air aTTacks, nighT and day VV is Tor The remainder oT This campaign. On 20 April THE SHOWBOAT sTeamed In To bombard once again In supporT oT a co- Z' ordInaTed push On The 46Th day of The operaTlon NORTH CAROLINA was ordered To proceed To Pearl Tor overhaul and repair of baTTle damage susTained oTT Okinawa. Diamond Head was a welcome sighT aTTer seven monThs of conTinuous acTion O Repairs eTTecTed THE SHOWBOAT was underway again on 28 June l0II'1II1g The rampaglng 3rd Flee+ well inTo Jap home waTers. Our airmen sTruck Tokyo on I0 July. For The nexT Tive weeks our TleeT air arm ravaged Japan from Hokkaido To Kyushu all buT eliminaTing The remnanTs oT The Jap TleeT and knocking mosT of her airTields off The map. On I7 July, aT 2300, NORTH CAROLINA and six oTher heavy ships sTeamed silenTly in To The shadows oT The coasT and bombarded The HiTachi lndusTrial I .- , ...ss I ' . . . - . u I I , , , , . -. Q I . . . . . . . ' ' ' I I l I A 1: 54 la 2 E 25 I I I ll I E f I I I E 1 Q I s l ll i E I I I I I I I I I 5 I Works, a sca-nT sixTy miles from Tokyo. O Twice during The TirsT week of AugusT TIeeT acTion was momenTarily suspended while q The Army conducTed a revoluTionary and Tar-reaching experimenT - The aTom bomb. BeTween Times our air sTrikes conTinued relenTlessly. SuperTorTs and army planes were now a common sighT The inTegrITy of The Navy's TighTer dIrecTion was now such s eTTecTing a daring rescue oT a TighTer piloT downed In an inland bay In Honshu. LT Jacobs and LT. i.g Oliver received The DFC Tor Their heroism. I On I5 AugusT our air sTrikes were recalled beTore reaching Their TargeTs While planes ieTTIsoned Their bomb loads iusT ouTside The TormaTion, The CapTain addressed The officers and men of THE SHOWBOAT: Japan had agreed To capiTulaTe: hosTiliTies had ceased. All heads were bowed in silenT prayer, all hearTs lighTened wiTh profound relief A proud ship, NORTH CAROLINA bore her crew Trom war inTo peace I I I I 3 'Q . . I ThaT Tew iT any bandiTs were ever seen. O In The lasT week oT The war, OSZU piIoTs broughT drama To THE SHOWBOAT by V 0 - s I y .1 . j ,IA JAP CRUISER -I

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