Daly (DD 519) - Naval Cruise Book

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,-,.....,.. Her Adventures fcontmuedj I n time lt was a cruiser destroyer task force Task Force 74 including the Austral 1an cruisers Shropshire and Australia Australlan destroyers Arunta and War ramunga Destroyer Squadron 24 and the American cruisers Boise Phoenix, and Nashv1lle 0 s 0 . . n 9 . 9 u u 0 . , o 9 n . 0 0 o 0 3 . , 0 THE ASSAULT AND- OCCUPATION OF THE ADMIRALTY ISLANDS The first mission as a unit of Task Force 74 brought the DALY to Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands, for the initial assault and landings there. During the pre-landing bombardment, every gun from the five-inch to the 20- millimeter hurled shells into enemy positions. This was the first operation in which the guns hurled shells in enemy shore installations. The area around the Admiralty Islands was given a thorough going-over by the force of cruisers and destroyers. After long, tiresome days and nights of patrolling, fire-support, and various other combat duties, the force returned to base in New Guinea. r Most of the talk in the mess hall now, was whose gun was the best and whose gun was putting out the most salvos, etc. Every member of the main- battery gun crew was proud of the record they had thus far obtained. The DALY maintained an excellent record in all her operations because she had a great team. When it came to bombarding enemy shore installations, the gun crews, CIC, director crew, plotting-room crew, lookouts, soundmen, bridge per- sonnel, engineers, and every other group were performing their jobs with pre- cision and a thoroughness that spelled defeat for the Japanese, and the fact remained obvious that one group was no good without the other. The ship arrived at Milne Bay on the I2 March 1944. Although it seemed like a holiday, it was far from that actually. There was routine ship's work to be carried on, replenishment of ammunition and provisions, correcting defects noted in the last operations, etc. RAIDS ON ENEMY SHIPPING AND BOMBARDMENT OF SHORE INSTALLATIONS AT WEWAK, NEW GUINEA On the I6 March 1944, the DALY was directed to lead a force of destroy- ers 1nto Wewak Harbor to destroy enemy shlppmg and to knock out shore ln stallatlons at Wewak Polnt-the most darlng operation yet performed by the Shlp With lncomplete and outdated charts and very llttle knowledge of what mlght be encountered 1n Wewak Harbo-r, the DALY led the force of destroyers into the objective area That night will never be forgotten by any of the boys As the ship steamed into the harbor, Japanese signal llghts flashed their challenge If only the .I ap code could have been known to us, what an answer they would have received' After steaming into the harbor on a zigzag course to avoid numerous enemy barges the ship got into position to make careful radar sweeps of the mner harbor How we ever got out of the harbor wlthout casualties, no one will ever know For the first time slnce our battle practices the torpedomen had the pleasure of firlng their deadly fish Thelr target was an enemy merchantman lying at anchor in the harbor A beautlful colored ball of fire lndlcated that their fish had h1t the target with deadly results Now it was the enemy s turn Shore batterles opened up from various positions on the beach Thanks to the cover of darkness and poor marksman shlp and some execellent defensive maneuvers the enemy s shells passed harm lessly overhead or short of thelr target A small escort vessel opened up wlth three mch guns from the inner har bor the main battery answered her fire She fired no more It proved to be quite a nlght Just before the scheduled tlllle of retire ment enemy planes were detected taking 0E from an alrfield on Wewak At O , C O ' 0 9 l - - cc 97 - - 9 - ca 99 ' ' O . 9 ' ' u 0 s 9 - 9 9 s y - - 9 . . Forty five

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I 5 .5 - yr. ? :ff-f-45-v Fifa-1+-if lm DJ' H fp, 7. 1 F I -1. 5 . ...i.......hlnlw,... ,ff 1... f Her Adventures fcontinuedl approximately the same time, surface radar detected small, fast-moving targets, believed to be Japanese motor torpedo-boats, steaming up the coast, The git. uation looked bad for a while, but everything turned out for the best. After shooting up all the shipping that could be found, and blasting shore installa- tions on Wewak Point, the force of destroyers retired from the area without a causalty. ' . During they months of April, May, June, and July, the DALY participated in operations taking the shipl from Milne Bay all the way up the coast of New Guinea to Cape Sansapor on the northernmost tip of the island. BOMBARDMENT OF HANSA BAY, ALEXISHAVEN AND MADANG On 10 April 1944, the guns of the destroyer DALY poured death and de- struction into troop concentrations, piles of stores, trucks, and other installations at Hansa Bay, New Guinea. Following up Hansa Bay, they hurled their shells into enemy installa- tions at Alexishaven and Madang, New Guinea. ASSAULT AND OCCUPATION OF HUMBOLDT BAY, HOLLANDIA, DUTCH NEW GUINEA ' On 22 April 1944, our '4Mighty QD' commenced knocking out shore batteries and destroying installations at Humboldt Bay, paving the way for the scheduled landing parties and the swift occupation of Hollandia. Following the initial landing at Hollandia, the ship, as a unit of the cruiser-destroyer task force, patrolled the sea lanes leading to Humboldt Bay to prevent enemy surface forces from interrupting the operations there. BOMBARDMENT OF SAWAR AND WAKDE ISLAND 4 AIR DROMES, DUTCH NEW GUINEA On the 29 April 1944, as part of the patrolling protective force of cruis- ers, destroyers, and escort aircraft carriers, the DALY, accompanied by a small force of destroyers and cruisers, broke oil' from the main force to conduct an attack on enemy airdromes at Wakde and Sawar Islands, New Guinea, where it was believed enemy planes were taking off to raid our forces at Hollandia, About 0100 on 30 April, the bombardment commenced. The destroyers' accurate guns first hurled their shells at installations in the Sewar Area, then at installations on Wakde Island, causing tremendous explosions and violent fires in the areas. When all the designated target areas had been thoroughly covered, the force retired to join the main force and continued patrolling the area around Hollandia. With the situation well in hand at Hollandia, the force of destroyers, cruisers and escort carriers left that area for retirement to the newly won base at Seeadler Harbor, Admiralty Islands, for replenishment of ammunition and provisions. THE ASSAULT AND- OCCUPATION OF WAKDE ISLAND, ' DUTCH NEW GUINEA The next event in the DALY's battle history took place at Wakde Island. As a unit of Task Force 75, the ship left .Seeadler Harbor on the 16 May, arriv- ing at Wakde Island the following day for the scheduled pre-landing bombard- ment of that island. Her guns poured death and destruction into enemy installations on the beach at Wakde. The scheduled pre-landing bombardment completed, troops stormed ashore without opposition. Reports came by radio from the shore fire control parties that there were scores of enemy dead around the little island. The bombardment force of cruisers and destroyers then departed from the scene of action for retirement to Humboldt Bay, Hollandia, for replenishment of fuel and ammunition. A portion of the destroyer-cruiser force remained in the covering area north of Wakde-Toem Area patrolling the area in order to prevent the enemy from interfering with further operations on the beach. Fo rty-seven