Santa Fe (CL 60) - Naval Cruise Book

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Survivors Q' HO US TON rescued from sea hy destroyers are rapidb' brought ahoard--two to a coal bag--via three stores travelersf' dpproximatebf two hundred men are jinalbf transferred to SANTA' FE from crowded DD's. fi.. I .l , 1 'll ll ll FTER the Jill's attack the SANTA FE took half a ,f'Ll,moment to catch a breath, and then again turned her o' attention to the twice hit HOUSTON. There the smoke had cleared away, revealing the shambles that had been her after main deck. She had an added list to star- board, but Damage Control was effective and the Group was not forced to reduce its already slow towing speed. There were sporadic enemy attempts that afternoon to finish the job on the HOUSTON and CANBERRA, but no more planes leaked through the splendid CAP provided by the CABOT and COWPENS. Sunset that evening saw the last raid of the day. Most of 17 October was spent transferring portable pumps to the HOUSTON, water to the CANBERRA, and fuel to two destroyers. Bogeys were detected again, but friendly Hghters intercepted and destroyed all before they reached the Task Group. During the day the sea calmed and the force was able to make good almost 3.7 knots. Late in the afternoon the HOUSTON survivors were transferred from the SANTA FE to a tanker. That evening, when about 400 miles from Formosa, the LUCKY LADY was detached to rejoin her original task group, 38.3. The five days during which the SANTA FE led' TG 30.3 had been tough. Long hours had been spent at cramped General Quarters stations waiting for and fighting off enemy bombers. There had been the strain of constant guard against submarine attack on the slow, crippled force-plus the additional work of fueling the DD's and caring for 200 extra men. But now all that was past and the ship headed northwest for a Task Force rendezvous on the 18th preparatory to the Philippine Invasion. A fit high speed, destroyer plane guardi' rushes over to disa ' ' ' ppearzng azrcraft to rescue water-log ed crew r t th - ' ' 74 coveted zce cream reward. Such operational accidents causefar m 1 g 1 ' 7 e min em to mower HUP, wmegumtb receive ore personne casua tzes than does actual combat wzth enemy. .4

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if i - THE LUCKY LADY COMES MIGHTY CLOSE TO LOSING HER NICKNAME . NLY four minutes after the second torpedoing of the V' HOUSTON it appeared the SANTA FE was to meet ii a similar fate when a low-flying, single engine torpedo bomber roared in from the starboard quarter. All the ship's guns that could bear opened fire. Seconds later, jinking its way miraculously through the hail of 2O's, 40's and 5 inch, the Jill launched its torpedo. A moment after, the plane burst into Hames and the pilot did a wing-over in a last desperate attempt to crash-dive the ship. Everyone, including the 200 HOUSTON survivors, braced himself for a double-header Under full rudder the ship sheered sharply to port, bringing the bow away from the fiery, gasoline-laden casket and swinging the stern out of the torpedo's path The tin fishl' exploded harmlessly in the SANTA FE's wake, but the Jill plunged into the water so close to the ship's bow that the men operating the foc'scle 20's were severely burned by the spattered flaming gasoline 'N Same Nzp torpedo plane shown on opposite page continues its fiery ran on SANTA FE Photographer is aboard destroyer which crossed ship s bow Dereiving smoke and ame rom exploding ill causes witnesses to say scratelz one cruiser. Exeeptfor casualties damage is negligible M QQ S as 1 M mn

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-NPs i i w 1' ...L I as-.., ll i :tm lltr Here :he . .Ili xr - . X l5t1I-i 'N x .. ..il' llruup 'll .s , of sired. -2 fffflti in to Bl but ,raided T5 Ptmblf BFRRAIQM :fa 33155. but ' :hifi :fe they if ffl calmed 'TU3-' knots. 33475 Were Vfkii. That the LUCKY -IN Eroup, .:.1 TG 30.5 ' at cramped ull' Y C lflifdfll A. tapplej .: DDE and Las pas: and 'ZT.i3Z'-'JUS SANTA FE leads the way our of port, sen zz course into sailing Jun, and lzerzdsfor Pizifippines. Soon ship.: willform regular circular di5porz'tz'on. NIP FLEET CHALLENGES U. S. NAVY IN WAR'S GREATEST SEA BATTLE HE ramifications of the strategy involved in the p various surface engagements, air assaults, offensive 4 tactics and defensive maneuvers of the battles at Surigao Straits, San Bernardino Straits and Cape Engano will provide material for naval histories for the next ten years. However, these few pages can be concerned only with the role played by the SANTA FE in her particularf chapter of the dramatic Second Battle of the Philippines, and cannot contain a description of the clever ambush the Seventh Fleet laid for the Jap Southern Force, nor the heroic tale of self-sacrifice enacted by the badly out- numbered, outgunned CVE and escort group at the mouth of San Bernardino. The seventy-two hours of 23, 24, and 25 October 1944 were the time of the foolhardy attempt by the Japanese Imperial Fleet to destroy U. S. seapower standing off the Leyte invasion beachhead. Throughout the same period the SANTA FE found herself a unit of Sherman's Task Group 38.3, a part of Mitscher's Task Force 38 within Halsey's Third Fleet-itself one of two American Fleets covering thousands of square miles of water east of the Philippines. An attack against 'the Philippine Liberation forces was expected and the enemy surface force sighted heading north 23 October looked like it. The U. S. Fleets im- mediately began laying plans for the next morning, when the Jap would enter striking range. Sleep that night was impossible. At 2345, when the first bogeys began closing, the beeper called all hands to their battle stations. The planes stayed with the formation all night, occasionally they came within Hring range, but usually the snoopers just circled 20 to 25 miles away. At 0610 the next morning, after search patrols had been launched, CIC reported a large raid estimated at 40 planes. A Even as Hellcats were being scrambled from the carriers, still another raid of 30 aircraft was approaching 75