Comet (AP 166) - Naval Cruise Book

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i P mowing lawns, and Chief Hicks, the Royal Doctor, passed out his medications with malice instead of mercy. 24 shampoo ' of gooey black fuel oil followed, and then the soon to be shell- ibacks were given over to the mercy ofthe' gauntlet. Many a man had to eat off the mantel the next few days. Following the ceremonies by the crew, the Army passengers aboard took ooer and initiated their men. A The ships anchored in Seeadler Harbor, Manus, on 3 October. At this time it was learned that the date for the invasion of the Philippine Islands was to be advanced from December to 20 Oc- tober, and that the task group of which the COMET was a part would participate in the initial assault on Leyte Island, P.I. For this operation the Task Group designation Was changed from 33.2 to 79.2, and the USS AURIGA QAKD was added to TransDiv 28. Leaving lManus on 14 October, the group steamed toward Leyte Gulf preparing to join, on D-day, a huge task force composed of over 1000 ships. Due to continuous operation Without time for maintenance or repairs, the COMET suffered minor engine room casualties which caused it to break out of formation once, and on two occasions the gyro-compass was out of order for a brief time because of generator troubles. i' The course and speed of the group were frequently changed and many tactical maneuvers were carried out. General Quarters be- came an order of the day both morning and evening. At 0300 on 20 October the Task Force entered the Leyte Gulf from the east para- vanes streamed, and this group anchored in Transport Area 2, which was several miles east of the coastal town of San Jose. At 0922 debarkation of troops and equipment began, and progressed as scheduled. During the day casualties were received aboard and in the late afternoon a Filipino civilian was given medical treat- ment for a superficial bullet Wound and was questioned regarding military intelligence but could give no definite information of value. He was returned to the beach the next day after orders had been received not to treat civilians aboard ships. 52

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This was to prove a memorable afternoon. After the COMET had shifted berth to No. 3 anchorage, a Japanese torpedo bomber ap- proached unnoticed at 1603 from behind the hilly terrain of the island, skimming the surface at an altitude of about 15ffeet. When only a few yards from the COMET, it launched a torpedo which struck the cruiser HONOLULU in an adjoining anchorage. The explosion blew a large gaping hole in the port side of the ship just forward of the bridge, flooding a boiler room and other compart- ments, and causing her to take on a heavy list. The attacking plane apparently escaped although fired upon by destroyers. One of the 5 inch shells landed about ZS yards off the COMET'S starboard beam and exploded, but luckily caused no damage to the ship. Even though the plane flew directly over the COMET, gun crews were unable to open fire because of endangering the other ships. It is understood the HONOLULU was beached to prevent it from sinking and thus saved to fight again, although she suffered a large number of casualties. . D , E . Enemy planes were reported overhead several times during the night, and in the early morning hours some passed over the ship at a very low altitude, but they were not sighted due to the dense smoke screen which had been laid to hide, the 'anchored transports. Unloading continued throughout the second day despite Flash Red alerts and attacking enemy planes. With the aid of two LCT's and one LST the ship was completely unloaded on schedule and got underway at 1911, 22 October, leaving Leyte Gulf with a convoy bound for Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea. Ar we leftLeyte Gulf under cover oftmolee Jcreerz we were to have more excitement. Our sitter Jhip, the USS WARHA WK, rammed the battlethip, USS TENNESSEE. She came thru with a large hole in her bow,lea1fing the battle wagon with .tome Juperjicial scratches in the paintworki on her armor plated rider. I 1 , 54