Santa Fe (CL 60) - Naval Cruise Book

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Batter cd smoking more dead than ahve Big Ben of hostile Shzkoka fghtx or a .vurvzval -whzchfcfw witnesses thought wa: possible it SEAMANSHIP ENABLED UB 1 G tf':iE,HE FRANKLIN'S shelltorn odyssey began March f 19, 1945 as she prepared to launch an attack Cdnd .vo began thc mighty climax to the SANTA FEE fight againyt the cncmy- thc Lucky Ladylffjinal action Q' thc watch S 1 Fifty miles off the coast of Japan, Task Force' 58 was. launching an air assault against Shikoku and Kyushu when a Jap bomber dropped out of the low overcast, rocketed in over the bow of the 27,000-ton carrier FRANK- LIN Q Big Ben j and swept the length of her Hight deck. From the Jap's belly two 500-lb bombs plummeted down . . , The first bomb hit near the bridge. The second smashed through the flight deck amidst the parked planes. The explosions rolled into one tremendous detona- tion . . . Fire engulfed the planes, shot up and swept the fantail, from which men jumped or were Hicked overboard. . . MAGAZINE, 5'28'45' i Men know there is nothing more valuable than lic. 98 againstthejap homeland. . . UNITED PR1-Essji I BEN TO ESCAPE DEEP SIX The toll of almost 1000 dead or missing and approxi- mately 200 seriously wounded was one of the greatest single disasters in the history of United States naval war- fare... fl P 'iN5iiot'her'shitp in American history ever has survived a like ordeal . . . H UNITED PRESS . In that hell on water big girders twisted like tahcy and melted steel ran like ice cream in the sun. I-Ialf-ton bombs blasted great chunks from the Hight deck. Deto- natedyirockets swept the blazing deck at waist level. craft engines were tossed aloft like pingpong balls . . . N. Y. HERALD-TRIBUNE. To control the smoke, Captain Gehres of the FRANKLIN was steaming the only possible course, cross- wind, and this was taking him directly toward Iapanli' . . . UNITED PRESS 1 Again and again the in- trepid escorts risked destruc- tion to help the crippled carrier. Among them werei the destroyers HUNT, I-IICKUX and MILLER'and, Ccontinued on page 1025 Q MARSHALL, TINGEYQ

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Flanked by eruzxers on ezfhez hand and dzvzszon offglzters overhead carrier ESSEX zn eompany wzlh 5th Fleet headsfor Yap 5 sacred Tokyo ,Slz1'p'.f rrew rigy in Jlaraoaral gangway and prepare: to get SANTA FE ana'erway no! knowing dextinalion 145 7ap eapiial. NAVAL AIRCRAFT PAY FIRST CALL ri , TEAMING within 150 miles of Hirohito s Palace on 16 S oi' A February flat-tops of Spruance s Fifth Fleet launched S S the long awaited vengeance strike against Tokyo. Greatest surprise to the SANTA FE's crew was the almost total lack of resistance to the well-executed on- slaught. Though several bogeys were reported some- where in the overcast skies, none ventured near the ships. Foul weather cancelled operations the following noon and the force headed south. The 18th, the SANTA FE was detached from the carrier force, but after a brief 'Achange of pace at Iwo Jima she rejoined for the second Tokyo raid on 25 February. Bad weather continued to favor the laps, but it was apparent that their air force and Heet had no strength left to defend even the homeland. The two raids destroyed 667 Jap planes, damaging many more on airfields and in factories, sank l CVL, lO AK,s, 16 SC's and l PC, damaged l DD, 2 DEB, and 72 SCS. With Qld Glory two-blocked over Mouiit Suribachi and Tokyo stunned by two startling raids, the last of February saw U. S. Forces leaving Japanese waters and heading for Home,'-Ulithi. 97

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