Quincy (CA 71) - Naval Cruise Book

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Gun crews wait to pound target sleeve. A moment of relaxation as the flag band presents a concert. 52 Zin Qvquivm

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with her ki11 . Incidently she was congratulated by Ad' miral Wiltse, OOMORUDIVIO, for fine shooting. The rest of the morning was hectic with intermittent general quarters. After enemy planes vqere chased fr-m the area the men secured from their battle stations and ref sumed sleep only to have the Kamakazies return within the hour. Finally, sleep became impossible, Daylight prcved to observers how exciting the situation actually was, for they could see beaten Jap planes crashing around the task force. At 0704 a Jap plane was seen exploding in midf ai: near a sister ship, the Baltimore. At 0708 another Jap plane was shot down near the Vicksburg. At least Hve Jap planes were splashed around the force, while reports of others in the vicinity kept coming in. It was learned that the neighboring task force some fifty miles away had been attacked even more heavily. As evening came the Quincyfs task group withdrew from the scene and proceeded to a rendezvous with the fueling group. Everyone aboard sighed with relief. kept the ship watertight, and not a man was lost. The Quincy rolled heavily, creaks and sounds of strain came with every pitch. One roll was reported to have been nearly forty degrees to one side. Nervously, some won' dered if the Q's bow, too, might part. Carriers suffered damage when the tremendous weight of the breaking seas bent down forty feet of their flight decks. Outside visif bility was reduced to nil by the spray which the racing winds drove before it. By midfmorning the sun broke through-the first indication that the storm was passing on. After 35 days of being continuously underway while operating off Okinawa the task group was ordered back to a rest base. This time Leyte was the playground. The ship arrived on June 15. Here the weather seemed to give absolutely no relief from the exhausting heat, but the beer The interludes spent in refueling at sea became the only source of pleasure. The tankers invarif ably brought coveted mail, packages, and books from home. Fueling days brought a feeling of safety, a reprieve from possible air attacks, that assuaged nerves, and renewed both confidence and endurance. About this time headlines at home announced that the Third Fleet had relieved the Fifth Fleet in operations against the enemy, One night the Quincy was in task group 5 8.1 of the Fifth Fleet and at midnight she became a member of group 38.1 of the Third Fleet. On Monday, May 28, at 0000 Admiral Halsey relieved Admiral Spruance. As Admiral Halsey uttered the equivalent of, I relieve you, sir , the Quincy became part of the Third Fleet. Typhoon Batters the Fleet A mighty conflict of weather forces was now beginning to appear on the aerographer's crystal ball. By June 4 threatening reports came in indif eating that a dreaded typhoon was headed toward the fleet. At that time the task group was fueling again. Ref plenishing operations were immediately discontinued, and the ships headed on a course to clear the disturbance. Soon it was determined that a second typhoon was in the area. This made navigation rather ticklish. Seas began to mount in intensity as the fulminations of the gigantic Oriental storm overtook the task force, By early morning of June 5 the waves had become mounf tainous and winds of 120 knots were pummeling the man' made toys with implacable vengeance. The dread scourge of mariners was indeed upon the ship. At 0600 that mornf ing a grim report came in that one of the Quincyis sister ships, the Pittsburgh, had lost her bow to the awful fury of the storm. Quick and determined action by her crew The Quincy's'y Atlantic duty is represented graphically on the barbette 53 in the wardroom. was cold and tliere were no dawn alerts. In essence, relaxaf tion was found. Here in Leyte Bay the Quincy marked an important day, June 14, when Captain E. M. Senn was officially relieved by Oaptain J. A. Waters. The new Captain had swung aboard from a rolling destroyer .many days before when the Quincy was operating off Okinawa. The ceremony prof ceeded properly through the vital I relieve you, Sir when a tropical cloudburst drowned out further rhetoric in tor' rents of rain. The speeches had been shortened, but the ceremony was official. The ship then had a new Captain. Liberty in Samar, which was right across the bay from Leyte, offered the world's longest bar, baseball, basketball, a scorching sun, and frequent drenchings from tropical