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Page 18 text:
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.--5 could not get ashore occasionally to visit Oahu's increasingly populous centers of work and recreation. Old-timers now, they could wistfully remark to newcomers that in the old days one was able to squeeze into a Honolulu bus without the aid of a shoehorn. On 5 March the DASHIELL bid adieu to Pearl Harbor and set forth with two other destroyers and the renovated light cruiser Birming- ham. Four days later King Neptune and his Royal Party boarded the '4659 to initiate the many pollywogs who had accumulated since the iirst visit. His arrival was unannounced, despite the alertness of numerous pollywog lookouts placed at vantage points beneath the equatorial sun and providently equipped with heavy weather jackets and overalls, gloves, boots., goggles, fur hats, helmets, and binoculars. On 10 March F unafuti Atoll in the Ellice Islands, a stopping place on the westward voyage, was sighted and at 134.5 the DASHIELL anchor- ed in the lagoon. That afternoon there was swimming call for all hands, though no one was allowed to explore the beach. Schemes for clandes- tine visits to the one island where all the native females lived segregated from the troops were abandoned when the accuracy of aim and diligence of the guards became known. Funafuti was like the many atolls the men had seen and would see more of-low-lying formations of coral and sand enclosing polygonal lagoons, sometimes as much as thirty miles across, made accessible by one or more channels. These atoll fringes, broken into many islands, nourish little other vegetation than the weed-like co- conut palms. For the ship's company coconuts soon ceased to be an ex- otic delicacy. At 1630 on 11 March the 659 was again underway to escort an LSD to the Solomons Islands. On the morning of the 16th she entered the narrow body of water that runs up through the island group all the way to Bougainville and is known to all Navy men as the slot . Her men were duly impressed as they saw, most of them for the first time, the now historic islands of Guadalcanal, Savo, and Florida, scenes of some of the bitterest land and sea engagements the war has produced. Having left the LSD at Guadalcanal, the DASHIELL anchored in Gavutu Harbor, Florida Island. Twenty-one hours later she was underway from Tulagi for her first action against the enemy since Tarawa. Having picked up an officer passenger and secret mail, at Guadal- canal, the DASHIELL proceeded to a point north of the Solomons where at 1800 on the 18th she eHected a rendezvous with Task Force 37. This force, composed of four of the old hattleships and nine destroyers and 53- F y S
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Page 19 text:
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fig F fn.. 1 ,V ,W ' Eg. fm., Ar, 9,1 645' supplemented by an air group of two CVE's and six destroyers had been directed to arrive off Kavieng at the northernmost tip of New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago, and bombard Japanese batteries, supplies, and installations in that area as a diversion for the Emirau Island land- ing which was to take place concurrently. The rendezvous and approach to Kavieng came off as scheduled. During the night of the 19th the ship went to general quarters twice for air contacts which later proved friend- ly. The objective was reached in the early morning of 20 March. On arrival the air group stood off to provide anti-submarine and combat air patrols. Task Force 37 split into two bombardment groups. The DASHIELL, with her division, was assigned to screen the Tennessee and the Idaho and bombard the eastern area, the other group taking the region to the north. Throughout the morning the DASHIELIJS group made seven passes, with the 2659 firing on northwest legs and screening on southeast ones. . Near the end of the first run an enemy battery, assumed to be four mortors of approximately 5 caliber, opened up, straddling t.he Tennes- see and the Sigsbee on at least two salvos. Though no hits were sustain- ed, several projectiles exploded close aboard. The Japanese position was promptly taken under fire by the 5 ,f38 guns of the DASHIELL, Tennessee, and Sigsbee., No further molestation was experienced. The firing runs continued for three and a half hours at ranges of 12,000 to 15,000 yards, an excessive distance for any smaller caliber guns the enemy may have had. During the firing, salvos were observed and coach- ed by the battleship's observation planes. At 1230 the retirement dis- position was formedg shortly thereafter a shadowing Tony was brought down by planes of the covering group. Upon leaving the Kavieng area Task Force 37 headed south for Efate. The efects of the bombardment could only be estimated. It was known that a large oil fire was started, several explosions were caused including a large ammunition dump, numerous hits were made on a four-gun coastal battery on North Caper, many buildings were destroyed and several fires started. Rather a substantial diversion it would seem. After an absence of over four months the DASHIELL dropped the hook in Havannah Harbor on 25 March and all hands got their first chance to set foot on land since departure from Pearl. The insects and choking dust encountered were at least a change from shipboard envir- onment, though perhaps not such soothing relief as the suggestive mu- rals in Efate's rustic oiicers' club. 5 . l N if x5-21 1' H 2 '- '9 TW? 31 ' . if 4 Q - li , S521 ' ??vw2a- I - F ...
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