West Virginia (BB 48) - Naval Cruise Book

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SYM l l 'O 'O up brighter than ever, and we saw grea - ,. :'z 1a:4f,gjwa-rwal,-,,,,,,,.. , A -Wk 3-Tr, ..,,.:. H loot into the sky as the flames evidently on the horizon-enemv ships ablaze! The largest re si 0'low began to die down, when suddenly it loomed- reached the powder magazines and blew the re- The Yamashiro. So Sorry, Please! U t clouds of mains to smithereens. Bring On Some More! By o73o we had secured from General Quarters, and gathered in small groups on the quarter- deck to talk it over. VVe learned that our escort carriers were en- gaging another force to eastward, and that our fast carriers had been in action to the north. As this is written we have but fragmentary reports on the action-we donit even know just how large a fleet we'd taken on. But it was something pretty big, and the Hscrap iron Navy had really done a job. With no air sup- port in our phase of the battle, weld done more than send them back licking their wounds-we'd sent most of them to the bottom. The VVee Vee was no longer a virgin-but she was still a lady as she proudly maneuvered with her sister ships awaiting further orders. . 'I . Wi ii-ii X ug: X 5 , se, eff, sa l we 'J ii fl K7 - 733. Vigil ' I 3 Ft- ' X .L T. F- at ,Hy QQ. fi.. 55' 'X' fo t it .4 f a i la70l

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Commence firing! Commence firingll' Fire one, was the calm word from plot, and the Wee Vee rocked back on her side in a great cloud of flame as our first salvo was on its way. My eyes were glued on the spotting glass now, waiting for the signal that tells us when our shots will land -hoping to get a glimpse of the target so as to spot the next salvo on. At this range it was almost too much to hope for a hit or even a straddle on the first salvo. The buzzer sounded, and Isaw our balls of fire arcing downward and WHAM! Right on: Ya hit 'iml Ya hit 'iml No change, no change! Out there on the horizon I saw a tremendous burst of flame. Only a heavily armored target would ex- plode our 16 inch armor-piercing projectiles on impact, and almost immediately we fired again. Salvo after salvo went out, and nearly all of them were right on. Part of the time I was halfway out of the director hatch, not even conscious of the concussion from the giants below, and Part of the time my eyes were glued to the spotting glass to help guide them to their mark. Our cruisers had opened up in rapid fire now, and soon our next battleship in column was Hring. Sheets of flame were bursting from the targets. Sometimes I caught glimpses of a great hulk sil- houetted in the flares-other times it looked like Niagara Falls out there from the splashes of the many salvoes. My pointer claims he saw the pagoda superstructure of a battleship. I was too busy on other details to confirm or deny. Plot reported the target slowing in the water, then turning around-and the Captain ordered Cease firing. Why Waste Bullets? And then I watched the great glowing masses on the horizon as reports came in that only one of our destroyers had taken a hit, and she was still under 9 I l -Courtesy Time Magazine control. One PT had rammed an underwater ob- struction, and the Strait was filled with Nips who had abandoned ship-or whose ships had abandoned them. The destroyers were picking up survivors those that would come aboard A few small targets were escaping out of the southern end of the Strait, but we had word that our planes would be out there to work them over as soon as It was light enough Until dawn we watched the great fires burning l6l

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