Santa Fe (CL 60) - Naval Cruise Book

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SANTA FE, ABLY ASSISTED BY 5th FLEETW SUPPORTS MACARTHUR N 13 APRIL 1944 the SANTA FE sortied from Majuro with Task Force 58 and proceeded south- west to New Guinea to support the invasion of Hollandia by land forces of SouVVesPac. On 21 April the carriers launched air strikes to cover Hollandia and to neutralize Wakde and Sawar airfields, one hundred and fifty miles to the westward. During the afternoon a friendly plane was reported forced down off VVakde Island and the SANTA FE catapulted two seaplanes for possible rescue The OSZU s landed near VR akde and iescu fl the pilot and crew of a TBF which had b en shot down that morning by Japanese anti aircraft fire That night 21 22 April theSANTA FE with CruD1v13 and DesD1v 91 were temporarily detached from the carrier task group to conduct a bombardment ofthe air installa tions on W akde and Sawar At 0109 on the morning of the 22nd the SAN1A FE and company opened fire and proceeded to pour over 10 000 rounds of five and six inch projectiles into the installations on Wakde and at Sawar on the mainland The operation was com pleted bv 0210 and the group returned eastward and resumed station with the carrier force The bombard ment was conducted entirely by radar b cause the land was not visible from the ship The results could not be observed but reports from observation planes sent over the next day indicated that the firing was excellent At dawn 22 April MacArthurs forces made their first big iump moving from Saidoi 500 miles along the north coast of New Guinea and landing at Hollandia and Aitape This came as a complete surprise to the apanese who it developed later had prepared fo the invasion by moving reinforcements from A, Madang Hollandia and V1 akde to V1 ewak Fray P 40,1008 6 where the landing was expected On 26 April Task Force 58s duties at Hollandia were completed and the SANTA FE with the rest of the force moved east ward to the vicinity of Manus Island to iefuel and to supply carriers with aircraft replacements On the evening of the 28th the Task Force departed from Manus and took a northerly course headed for Truk After crossing the international date line on the second 29 April Task Force 58 launched an attack on Truk The strikes were repeated on 30th and additional strikes were launched against Satawan Although there were several alerts during the day no planes attacked the force The force next proceeded eastward strik ing Ponape with air attacks and a battleship bombardment on way to Kwaialein CA PTAIN WRIGHT F04-772 17 ff rrowr Oflf qf-50 wgf A P ffawffo fv wguna wifi, fhgj Q S urn J. aj U! IYVTIYFEJ lfmygpnord P mfg kpfj 2 to gmbard tpfplgfforato 77 ! 7 . ' IC! N15 . D - A s., if . - H F n - - ' . . . . 4 ff 9 ' J A F C, , . - 7 fe. . 7 - '11 ' 1- ' I 1 ' ' 'I .' Q , kr I. x I 3 7 g . ' 9 1 L 2 L . 1 1 9 J , , , 1' . . 7 . . - v 7 J 6 , e 7, I. - . 6 61 .ff ' 1 :C - , . 1 I 6, 6. ' fc , 5 . if Ee D fa? I . fl .. . 7 Q 7 . . . 'V -x 5 4 3 f In 1 9' L 1 L - .1 . , 8 L 4 .

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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.

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