Santa Fe (CL 60) - Naval Cruise Book

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sw H., ,l 3- : X' A .5 it my sy Ng 'XR . K LQ.. xg.-Rx it - Q kgs X A5 X W X XBXNA. - A A - s X f .i si X X s .. A QL xl A, .xx 1 xv 5 Q X . 4' X vw-t 1 Rs, X A Q A X- f X N X- N S i QQ xi A . - is ig- .QQ X N if -X-X X x ji S it EX .Q X 1 .. X N ir. A A ' S 5 k wx ff, X- 5. A N . 1 X ix X X X .5 x X f N XX. , 5 g. A Q - . Q is A Action eharaeter1'st1'c1'of plane versus ship warfare shows Ctopj sp Essex-elass earrier heads into the wind to recover aireraft. . lash near ALABAMA, another on horizong also lower near mzss on CV Vereening tin ran adds firepower to smother low level attack t

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Inflammable remains of same aifacking Belly makes inevitable smoke pillar. :I . 1 C1573 il' Cr I ' - f 7' I A 3 i yy. .,, li . l 5,1 il ,, I f .. 1 --. , -' if . 1 v f. ' ' I H ff ' lr 1 3 , .r - fs f- - a 1 J, .LiL ,.1, TRUK, SAIPAN AIR STRIKES BEGIN NEUTRALIZATION JOB f',jV's'lAsK FORCE 58 is the name of the greatest naval force in history-the force that iolled I the Japs back over ten thousand miles of ocean to their home islands. Before each invasion Task Force 58 swept the seas clear of any enemy power and pummeled the beachheads into dazed and broken resistance, during the invasion it stood as an iron ring between the Jap defenders and any hope of reinforcement. An original member of Vice Admiral Spruance's 58, the SANTA FE fought witliiit throughout the war. After the occupatioiyf the Marshall Islands, on the twelfth of Febnflaijig 1944 the fieet sortied on the first of a startling series of raids, striking from the base at MHj'1lFO hcrdss five hundred miles of en'eQiyj5yafe'fsf'gto'belies,fiemgFegH'ab'1'e-Jgtgmstion of TrulfiXQ'ni'Febigu,ary', siicteenth,.faft1s-liifflsiiee days of undetected cruisirigfl ,il he'iQ,forc9v'llran in and launched six sdifkkffsf.uihopposedtfiV That night at 2110 the first enfemyfwasidetectelix and until 0215 the tropic mQ'on,l'i'ght f,ffwas1f he-tlchexd with tracer patterns as ali Ip,i ships' beatiioff 'lows level torpedo attacks. Theiiheicit day, the aiihigiloiixps continued their strikesguntil noong the totaldfsgore for this one raid was 250 planes destroyed, 18 ships, including two cruisers, sunk. Retiring toward the Marshalls, the Task Force refueled, and on the twentieth changed course to- ward Saipan, the kingpin of Nippon's outer de- fense chain. At dusk on the twenty-first a Betty was spotted as it sneaked away. The Task Force knew that it would have to fight its way into the target. just after dark the battle started and all night long the bogies went down in flames, ignited by American bullets. The Task Force forged ahead. At sunrise the first strike was Tremendous barrage fred by Task Group 58.1 forces bomb and its owner lo crash well astern of carrier. Nofe white phosphorous shellburst. l l

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launched while the guns were still blazing The SANTA FE got one Betty headed directly for the ship Two F6Fs chased three Bettys around the destroy er screen and splashed them A dive bombing attack was shattered as the Vals came through the overcast At noon the battle was over and the carriers continued to launch scheduled fhghts for the rest of the day On February twenty sixth the ship anchored in Majuro During this operation the SANTA FE had completed 100 000 engine mlles One week later the SANTA FE steamed to Espiritu and Joined Admiral Halsey s Task Group 38 1 On the 17th of March the force covered the occupation of Emirau lsland an unopposed landing with no bloodshed On the 27th, having been released from ComSouPac, the ship ioined Task Force 58 1 for the V5 estern Carolines laid Southeast of Palau, on the 29th of March, ap torpedo planes attacked from sunset until about 2200. No ships were damaged, while several enemy planes were destroyed. After the strikes on the 30th, 58.1 proceeded to Yap and that night beat off a heavy five hour air attack. The next day the Navy planes blasted Yap and the following day pounded VVole'i, after which the Force retired eastward to hlajuro. Second: affer carrier plane: begin atlackpfmoke riser from .vlzip and beach ax volcanie Palau learn: meaning if U. S. air warfare. Taskforce lay: down low barrage lo repel torpedo bombers skimming tlze surface lo avoid detection. Few penetrate llze barrier of steel.