Daly (DD 519) - Naval Cruise Book

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F zfty two Her Adventures fcontinuedj D p A Change of Command, Enemy planes seemed to appear' in the area on schedule, just before sun set and sunrlse. We were always at our battle statlons, wa1t1ng to g1ve them a hot receptlon, and d1d so on many occaslons Our cool manner and expert marksmansh1p turned away many a plane that had our stacks 1n 1ts bombsight approachlng us for the k1ll. 1 - Durlng the period from 21 to 24 October, the 519 performed a number of fire support dutles, depart1ng from fire support areas to- Joln the covermg force at nlght in preparatlon for mterceptlon of ant1c1pated enemy surface at tacks ' On the nlght of 22 October the DALY encountered a small salling vessel and proceeded to lnvestlgate lt Wlth all guns tralned the shlp pulled alongslde and took aboard three of 1tS occupants Two of the occupants were F1l1p1no members of the U S Army, and the th1rd an Amerlcan naval officer, Enslgn I D Rlchardson fMaJor, U S underground forces ln the Ph1l1pp1nes s1nce the J ap attacked Cavlte 1n December 19415 He was orlglnally attached to a U S Navy motor torpedo boat squadron after sunset, on 24 October, the DALY relleved from her fire to ICJOIII the naval forces 1n Leyte Gulf Thls group proceeded entrance of Sur1gao Stralt to mtercept a strong Japanese surface approachlng the southern entrance to the stralt The enemy was estlmated to have three battleshlps, four heavy crulsers, four llght crulsers, and ten destroyers Motor torpedo boats kept the force 1n whlch the DALY was a un1t 1n formed as to the pos1t1on of the enemy steamlng onward to threaten the entlre operatlon at Leyte Shortly support dutles to the western force reported At 0248 the DALYS surface radar contacted the enemy force, and at 0321 the 519 1n company wlth two other destroyers of Desllon 24 commenced a hlgh speed torpedo attack on the heavy unlts of the enemy force The crew was eager to see what thelr destroyer could do agalnst the tremendous odds the sh1p was headmg 1nto The enemy attempted to lllumlnate the torpedo attack Undoubtely thelr b1 guns were tralned on the U S destroyers, the1r furlous attempts to destroy the feared destroyers proved poor I 7 ' 9 - n n o a ' s . . ' ' ' s o , . o

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-,..,....-...1...-,.,,,M,.,s.. ,. 4, , t Her Adventures fcontinuedj I Finally the Captain did call the crew together and let go with the dope. As the Captain expressed it, this was the operation long awaited. All those successlve battles in the Southwest Pacific had been completed according to schedule, and the big blow was just around the corner. Leyte Island was the objective. We were told we could expect all kinds of opposition from the enemy while at Leyte. The battle for the Philippines was expected to draw out the enemy fleet and bring forth an all out battle. The DALY got under way on 11 October 1944, in company with Task Force 75, en route to Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, to join Rear-Admiral Dan- iel E. Barbey, Commander Northern Attack Force. Arriving at Humboldt Bay on 12 October, the ship anchored with the rest of the force, remaining overnight. During the afternoon of the 13 October the ship departed from Hum- boldt Bay as a unit of the Northern Attack Force en route to Leyte Island, Philippine Islands, via a route south of the Palu Islands. While assault forces were approaching Leyte, great Naval Task Forces of our Third and Fifth Fleets were battling it out with the enemy in areas around the Philippine Islands and sea lanes of Formosa. Extravagant claims made by the enemy based on the destruction of units of our Third and Fifth Fleets brought about a worried look on the face' of every man on board. Huge air-sea battles were in full progress for- days. Mighty U. S. carrier forces were sweeping enemy airfields on the Philippine Islands and Formosa. Everyone knew that, without these assaults by our carrier forces, the operations at Leyte would prove much more dangerous and destructive to our attack forces. The Captain kept up the crew,s morale by announcing 'over all loud- speaker systems that all the enemy claims were exaggerated and our carriers forces were hurling successful attacks at the Japanese in the Philippines and Formosa. The boys,began to cool down, because they all knew that the Captain was getting the straight dope from the radio waves, and there was nothing to worry about. Everything was under control. At midnight on 19 October, the DALY with the Northern Attack Force arrived at the entrance to Surigao .Strait and commenced the approach to Leyte Gulf. Mines were sighted much too close aboard for comfort, but the approach continued without damage to the ship or any unit of the attack force. At 0600 on 20 October, silence was broken by intense anti-aircraft fire from a number of ships as two enemy planes made an unsuccessful bombing at- tack on our force. 1 At 0900 the ship's guns blazed' once more. The target was a small island suspected of containing an enemy three-inch battery. From 0925 until 0952 the guns blazed continuously on assigned targets in the San Ricardo Area, thor- oughly covering the target areas. Everything had gone well thus far. The DALY watched eagerly for counter fire from the beach as the first wave of troops landed at 1000. Our mission was now to cover the troops as they advanced on the beach. The guns blazed violently at enemy installations, and the results of the firing was gratifying to see and something to be proud of. The desperate enemy conducted numerousair attacks on the forces of Leyte. There was very little sleep for the boys. Endless days and nights on battle stations. When conditions were such that the crew could be sent below decks to eat, the opportunity was always taken advantage of. As the tired, weary, hungry, homesick sailors started appeasing their appetites with chow which at that time was priceless, the general alarm would sound and everyone would scatter for his battle station. They knew that that sound meant trouble and lots of it. The first few bites were good, anyway. F lfty one

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Y WWAH , , ....':f.,.........,.....-z.s.1,::..--.......2 ... .. , r. ,,, -1 .fsvevr-sau Her Adventures fcontmuedl I 9 Just before the DALY launched a half salvo of torpedoes at their mam body, two enemy torpedoes whlzzed by not more than 50 yards ahead The attack continued The ship was then 1n the most dangerous P081 tion It had ever before steamed mto our hearts were in throats but all were ready to carry through The torpedoes were fired on an enemy battleship, and many of the boys fortunate enough to have topslde battle stations saw three large exploslons as three of the five torpedoes the shlp had fired struck the enemy battleship This was just the beginning for the 519 ,A second attack was made with just the five lnch caliber guns hurling salvo after salvo into enemy ships First an enemy destroyer absorbed' our shells then the ship s blazing guns hurled salvo after salvo 1nto a Japanese heavy cruiser completely catching her by surprise Every salvo ripped up the steel decks exploded her magazines and caused her to burn furiously leaving her powerless in the water Then the 519 salled away from the crippled enemy ships that were burning and explod mg and sinking Our guns crippled an enemy heavy cruiser another large enemy warsh1p and an enemy destroyer Our torpedoes struck an enemy battleship leaving lt in such a condition that its escape was lmposslble and lt served as a sitting duck for our heavy umts ' It was later discovered that the battleship which the DALY had so sever ly damage with torpedoes was the Japanese battleship Yamasharo Little was made known to the public of the action of the 519 1n the Battle of Surigao Stra1t, although 1n Naval C1I'C.lCS the history of the ships performance of duty in the battle was known to be highly commendable. Most important of all, the Battle of Surigao Strait and our part in it shall always remain engraved in our memories. o 1 u Q C o Q s , . Q n n o o 9 9 n o p u u a . 1 Q I c o a u 0 a o . n a s u u 9 . s . 7 ' 9 o 0 n 9 Q o Q ' 9 n o 4 9 o Q Q Q o , u 4 , o Q 4 Q 9 9 1 0 ' 9 . . as . . Q . 54. Q 9 99 ' o Q o e Y n n Q . a Q . . a . Q 0 0 a 9 CAPTAIN R. G. VISSER RELIEVED On 29 October 1944, the Captain announced to the crew that they DALY was going to return to the United States .for an overhaul period on the West Coast. Cheers could be heard throughout the ship. Before setting sail for the States, Captain Visser relinquished his com- mand to Commander Richard Rumel Bradley, Jr., U. S. Navy. With a new skipper at the conn the DALY set her course for home. Back to the Golden Gate F zfty three