Arkansas (BB 33) - Naval Cruise Book

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around the can, but still she fought on. At last, upon orders from the group commander, the can was obliged to move out and let the larger ships take care of the target. This the destroyer did most reluctantly, it seemed, and even then she continued to spot for the big guns, pointing out the target with tracer fire. During D-day, the antiaircraft gun crews were spectators, little more. However, the first night they well-earned their pay shooting at repre- sentatives of the Luftwaffe. just at evening twi- light, our alert was high-lighted by aJU-88 drop- ping out of the sky, across our port bow. A few seconds later, the ship was shaken by a near miss just off the starboard beam, estimated to have been a thousand-pound bomb. Gur guns and those of ships around us were blazing and few of the planes lived to return to tell any tales. It was this night that we downed the two planes gener- ally accredited to us. One of the most awesome sights I believe I witnessed during the operation was that of the underwater mine fields near the beach being ex- ploded. It looked like solid areas hundreds of yards square were being cast up from the sea amid a pall of smoke and flame, accompanied by hun- dreds of sharp, staccato explosions. After the mine fields had been set off, and the beachhead area heavily bombarded by naval gunfire and aerial bombing, a dense, heavy pall of dirty gray smoke clung to the shoreline. It was under and through this dirty-gray cloud that our first troops hit the beaches. From then on, the multi-varied assortment of landing craft moved past in a steady stream. Off to seaward, the big transports and supply ships, with their many barrage balloons, or Hrubber cowsf' hovering above them, con- 'gfNJSlN-J'Jxvvvvvvgvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv-vw'vvvvv3yv1xv1nv1nv1y'g5y tinued to move toward the beach, until by the sf fe IQ.-'f?31fi '5'i3lQ'l-if f,,,,.1Q:' f-L-. 31 3 -'Q ,g V 52713 3133623 11 1 .i -' i f-aff.'EiifffY't - s -- .aff if is e ' J f i fre , , , ., ,i , 1 . J' 'K -7. ,L V 'Vs' . t '. - 'I .. V t 12513 .5-ga' gn . fourth day they had by-passed us and were fast becoming emptied and sent back for more. Invariably troops passing close aboard would wave friendily and shout remarks like 'fGive 'em helllw, ffSee you in Berlinln and Save a few for us! They are great fighters and gallant heroes, and deserve the well-earned ovations paid them. It was dusk of the ninth day that we experi- enced one of the most harrowing experiences of the entire operation, and here the officers and crew unanimously averred, 'fThere are no atheists in foxholes - or on battleships, either! just as the sky was growing dim, a spine-chilling sound, difiicult to adequately describe, filled the air all around us, terminating in a large splash just off the starboard beam. It sounded like an ear-filling whistle, sans the shrill whistle sound, or like a gigantic rush of air. Unconsciously, we all hit the deck and hugged it, bracing ourselves for the ex- plosion. At last, a thousand years later, when it did not come, we cautiously looked up and saw thousands of tons of water settling back down. Needless to say, the crew were painfully alert the remainder of the night, and not at all in vain, for, I 'k ----J-.1-.------v.A.1i Xvlvvvsvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

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