Santa Fe (CL 60) - Naval Cruise Book

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Oi! refervoirs, bufldingf and many q'1'.ffflnd'5 permanent de enses were buf!! during lhe twenly odd yearr ezpun held Mzzrxlzaflf mandate transports were in the lagoon and the boatloads of Marines were circling them. As H-Hour approached the support ships opened fire on the inner beach the landlng craft llned up and headed 1n The nearer theV came to the beach, the more lntense became the barrage Then when the boats were nearly beached a spottlng plane that had been c1rcl1ng overhead dropped a cluster of Hares Im med1ately the shells were llfted to a point 1 few yards up from the water s edge, then the troops landed beh1nd the curta1n of Ere, and advanced up the 1sland So perfect was the coord1nat1on between land, a1r and sea forces, the lnvadlng troops found onlV one small pocket of aps, halfcrazed by the shell fire, on a corner of ROI and this was llquldated bw the 7nd of February At dusk on 6 Februal V the SANTA P14 negotrated the narrow channel 1nto lVIa1uro Atoll and dropped anchor br1ng1ng her part Ill the second step of the Centr1l Pacrlic Cillhpilgll to 1 close , 3 V c 7 T f ' 1 r -ww - A J c J - 2 LA L c . .

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LCM's, LCVP's, LCT's and LST's provide all-important transportation W' troops and necessary equipment from sea directbf to beach. Troop transports, freighter transports and supply ships q' every description hover a few miles ofshore while waiting to unload. ., -Y - '- fri - is g il in J I .ont 1 J, ,L turned and headed out to sea again for two days OI battle practice maneuvers off San Clemente while 1300 men groaned in disappointment. However, back at Long Beach on the 3rd, all hands made the most of5 glorious liberties before the sailing date, dawn 13 January. Underway again, the force cruised steadily toward the Marshalls, ,by-passing Pearl with only a one night stopover in Lahaina Roads, Hawaii. On Dog-minus-one, the day preceding the Mar- shalls invasion, the ship swung south and came into bombard Wotje on 30 January. This bombardment was part of the plan to catch the laps off guard. It was evident the well-equipped outer shell of the Marshalls would be expensive to capture, but by simply feinting, then side stepping and passing on to the more vulnerable center atoll of Kwajalein the effect, control ofthe air and sea lanes of the mid- Pacific, would be the same at a minimum cost in life. Completing what would appear to the Japs as the usual pre-invasion bombardment, the SANTA FE and the other bombarding ships slipped away from Wotje during the night and steamed north at high speed to arrive in the firing line to seaward of Roi- Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll at dawn the next morning. The bombardment started immediately and the ships covered their sectors with high ex- plosive shells over and over again. By mid-morning, after the minesweepers had cleared a channel, the 1 l Faced with such overwhelming odds and not wishing to throw awa ' ' ' l y their lives necdlessb soldiers ' T1 ' ' . . the f7aps. They die on battle feld with the ideh itls f1'ee0iiidzci1'llo6iS?hiZZdh'i'tizZc?tii would befwred to Jwrmderi but not so 44 4

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Senile Kanaka, gaunt, toothless and wrinkled, in eoarre lainclotlz, Jquats in Hindu fashion, grinning a friendLv welcome to Majuro. Upon a table Qf white coral benealh eoeonul palm, a Kanakafamib prepares, in HOLLYWOOD IDEA OE TROPICAL IS- LANDS IS ONLY 180 DEGREES OUT AJURO, a true atoll of the Marshalls, is typical of I , the low lying Micronesian islands that became I forward bases for assaults against Japan. Formerly German colonies, purchased from Spain in 1899, the spacious anchorages and potential airbases have had great strategic importance since acquired by Japan under the 1921 League mandate. Of Micronesian stock, the natives, a mixture of the superior, sturdier Polynesian to the east and of the Melanesian to the south, have ine bronzed physiques, dark hair and broad negroid faces with large expressive eyes. The Kanakas are good agriculturalists, outrigger canoeists, fishermen and divers. In their thatched huts of palm fronds and driftwood, they live a simple, lazy life on fish, domestic animals and fowl, coconuts and tropical plants. .Tattooing is still practiced on their almost naked bodies, but paganism has given Way with the introduction of Christianity and Buddhism. On all the Marshall Islands that the U.S. was forced to occupy, the native population displayed great satisfaction that their Japanese rulers had been ousted. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Spherel' was evidently a selfish, cruel program ofjap exploitation far removed from what Nip propaganda promised. primitive manner, a poi-lz'e meal ax :1zip'.v Boatrwain watches. f ' ' f- ' nt. ,, H A , A s X sPN,SXxNmsXf. XXAXR u.