Dashiell (DD 659) - Naval Cruise Book

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17th. The view of the tactical situation, customary equatorial ceremon- ies were postponed on crossing the Line. ' The purpose of crippling enemy facilities on Taraw'a was to ease the pressure then being applied to our Ellice Island bases, and, as at Marcus, to provide training for future large scale operations. In the early morning of 18 September air strikes were launched to destroy air- craft and installations, buildings, fuel and munition dumps, docks, and ships. All Japanese planes seeking to counterattack were shot down or turned away by combat air patrols. In accordance to plan the force retired the same night, at 0800 the next morning the ship secured from general quarters. On the afternoon of the 22nd, during the trip back, King Neptune and his retinue made their belated appearance. While the monarch's henchmen were in the very act of drubbing posteriors of, administer- ing vile fluids to, and creating stylish coiffures for bewildered and be- smeared pollywogs, all hands were awakened with suddenness to the real- ity of their environment. Without warning a TBF from the U. S. S. Princeton made a crash landing in the water close aboard. The DASH- IELL stood by immediately to recover survivors, her entire crew dis- playing a grim attention to duty that gave startling contrast to the care- free antics of a few moments before. The plane's pilot and gunner were saved, but the radioman lost his life. Next day the ship put into Pearl Harbor. Back at Pearl there were more training exercises, and then on 29 September the 659 sorticd with Task Force 14, the largest force she had yet worked with. The objective was Wake Island, then an integral part of the Japanese perimeter defense. This operation was designed to influence enemy strategic dispositions by the appearance of a car- rier task force in the area. Japanese forces and installations were to be the target not only of air strikes but of surface bombardment units. Once again the DASHIELL was assigned to screen the carriers. The force arrived off Wake on 5 October, the first strike taking off at 0420 to hit aircraft, shipping, base facilities, and air installations. At 0700 the northern and southern bombardment groups proceeded on their mission. Enemy planes made their appearance in the afternoon but were intercepted by fighters long before they reached the force. The attack lasted for two days On the mormng of 6 October a fig ter plane from the U S S Cowpens flew close aboard the DASH u S 5 1 l s . l A, V 1 . h i 3 f V 1 A if u if ll 0 . 'X A p gh . . . . ff gg. ' - :F ' Pei pf-L V, Ja. jr-5 - ' . 5 vm if! fef 'rits J ' -. E I lfgflifl 451-,.,hl:'. ,flf ,i1 i'AQll - 939' 'ri . .-1 ft fl' J ii ', ..- il TY ' 'fi If . f 0 A it P - -at ' ,-.3311 rsh., is -Q , --,ff f , :H '27, , .31 ' ,

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,fa 4 5 f I si! -K l T I 1, xii, E lf El S, I fr 5' 1 1 . 5. if' 1? 4 li I us P gs, F 1 it j J I if , thx W ship. This could be accomplished only by vigorous training under sim- ulated battle conditions. The ship was usually underway for four or five day stretches demarcated by respites in Pearl Harbor. It was dur- ing this period that the DASHIELL's squadron assembled and operated asaunit. On 22 August the 659 shoved off for what was ostensibly' a rou- tine training exercise with the light cruiser Nashville. Interest in the mission was considerably heightened upon receipt of orders to rendez- vous with Task Force 15 at 0800 on 23 August. This force, comprised of three carriers, a battleship, two cruisers, two ships of the train, and destroyer squadron Twenty-five, was to proceed to the vicinity of Mar- cus Island with the intent of destroying enemy forces and installations, training for future operations, and nudging Japanese complacency by causing a carrier task force to pop up unexpectedly 1000 miles from Tokyo. I Early on 31 August the force arrived at the appointed position 150 miles from the objective, and at 0420 the first planes of the striking group were launched with orders to bomb and strafe aircraft, shipping, base facilities, and air installations. The DASHIELL with other des- troyers formed the screening group, whose task it was to oppose any hostile air, surface, or underwater attack. For most of the ship's com- pany this was the first meeting with the enemy, and not one of them failed to appreciate the possibilities. Individual plans for withdrawal in the event of casualty included objectives from nearby Marcus all the way to the Aleutians and south to the Solomons. Several expressed ap- prehension over intelligence received that prevailing winds and cur- rents tended toward Tokyo Bay. The operation was accomplished as scheduled and without mis- hap, all hands performing efficiently. Retirement was made in the evening, and the return to Pearl, where the ship arrived 7 September, was without incident except for a submarine contact which produced no results. The Marcus raid was for the DASHIELL and for the Japanese merely a foretaste of events to come, and the next event came soon. On 11 September the 659,, steamed forth again as part of a slightly recon- stituted Task Force 15. The destination was Tarawa, an atoll in the Gilberts that was to achieve conspicuous fame before the year was out. The DASHIELL detoured to Palmyra enroute to deliver secret mail and rejoined the formation in time to go to general quarters at 1400 on the I 'N , N , N A sg' ij. V , , '35 - 1 it L if -f, 1 9-if! .' ' H:.xT'fY'3xi, ,' ' 'i9F'f7'?s.. Y is , - 11. -1 , ' Q . -if f.. ' 'Mt-z., ' 151,43 R as Q u ' , f' 1' ., ,, ,,,,,.,,,,, ,

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+- as .cv f .E . . 1 - f f . t :tx I ,af Q V 1 L , if .P 'A lc fi 5 -ft f if f 5 I 1' If 15 al , Y' 1 ' 3 ' gf: i gd ,U My ek? V. ,, N 1 Q si ' QA f , ug , 1 5 'w n. algi 5' -Ke A 3-,SA , J 2 . 1, fl- , 5 Q . f A ,,. , I -ff-as., ' Q. - .nr 'NM . , I f 1, X ' ' it V, in fs, 5 'N ,, Q- -- ff x-wwfig. 5 QQ - 4 1 ' in F ff' 'fif , k ., 2 . fs.- ry e.-, ff ' 'I l'--' vc, i x.- -.f.,,..: as 1-iw. 'W rzjlfl-feffr, 5' 7 - 'V f S 75 iw E 'Nt K fx- , .sg IELL, its pilot motioning toward the water. The plane, whose landing gear was inoperative, thereupon made a crash landing and the DASH- IELL stood by to recover the pilot. The latter proved to be a happy-go- lucky individual, quite unruffled by his experience as he paddled about in his small rubber boat. At dusk a lone enemy plane flew high over- head, at too great an'altitude for gunfire. Retirement was commenced shortly thereafter, and at 0645 on 7 October the DASHIELL secured from a fatiguing 63 hour general quarters. On ll October the ship was back in Pearl. After Wake the DASHIELL was assigned to other types of duty, and the thrill her men had felt on looking into the darkness to see the wing lights and fiery exhaust flames of a powerful pre-dawn air strike just off the carriers gave way to new forms of experience. For the 'G659 ', as for many other new fleet units, these raids had been a testing ground for new-found power. On the basis of such trials it was reasonable to expect that offensive actions of greater size and more permanent results would be in the offing. The DASHIELUS participation in shore bom- bardment practice on 19 October presaged events soon to come. mama .Z On 21 October the USS DASHIELL steamed out of Pearl Harbor with a powerful task group of four battleships, four cruisers, three carriers, and fourteen destroyers that in turn formed a part of Task Force 53. The destination was Efate, southernmost of the New Hebrides group, where these ships of the assault group were to conduct training exer- cises preparatory to the most ambitious operation that the DASHIELL had yet been party to. Efate's Havannah Harbor, once a sleepy colon- ial outpost, had been transformed into a bustling and well equipped naval base. On arrival, however, the ship's company had to content themselves with contemplating the tropical setting from afar. Since they already possessed details of the forthcoming action, visits to the naval base were considered out of the question, let alone excursions to the settlement of Vila on the other side of the island, where certain French mesdemoiselles of liberal outlook were said to be established. The period from arrival on 5 November till a week later was given over to rehearsal of landing operations at nearby Meli Bay, during which time the '6659 became acclimated to the duties that assignment to a fire support section involved. 6 F 5 1? : YT.,1? , -' 'ey-my , Ni