Dashiell (DD 659) - Naval Cruise Book

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-4 '5 ships to Manus Island. This mission completed, the 3659 proceeded singly to Humbolt Bay, arriving on 24 November. The ship remained in Humbolt undergoing routine repairs for 9' days except for one sortie she made to investigate, without results, a sound contact outside the harbor. At noon on 3 December the ship stood out with another task unit bound for Leyte. The night of 4-5 December was spent anchored of Biak Island, Dutch New Guinea, following which the convoy proceeded to San Pedro Bay, arriving the morning of the 9th. . For 3 days the ship remained at Leyte. Then on the afternoon of the 12th she sortied with an amphibious attack group for the most strenuous operation she had yet been assigned to. This group, in company with a close covering group of cruisers and supported by aircraft from CVE's and land bases, was to consolidate further our hold on the Central Phil- ippines in preparation for subsequent invasions of Luzon and other Islands. In order to provide new bases for uninterrupted naval and air operations the forces were to seize the San Jose and adjacent areas of Min- doro Island. The primary difficulty to be met by the task group was the fact that the route, which was through the Mindanao and Sulu Seas, was at all points within a short distance of mountainous land areas and exposed the naval units to the continual danger of sudden attack by enemy aircraft. The first morning out general quarters was sounded for Japanese aircraft in the vicinity, and at 1500 a single engine plane, materializing it seems from nowhere, crashed suicidally into the port side of the flag- ship U. S. S. NASHVILLE. Almost simultaneously the DASHIELL op- ened fire on the enemy plane coming in from starboard and obtained a direct hit on the tail, causing it to retire northward. On the Nashville communications were disrupted and casualties were heavy. A new Hag- ship was required, and for this important task the U. S. S. DASHIELL was chosen. At 1645 she went alongside the crippled ship to effect the transfer of Rear Admiral A. W. Struble, the task group commander, Brig. Gen. W. E. Dunkel, commander of the landing force, and their staffs. The difficulties that faced the ship's company in accomodating fifty ex- tra oiiicers and war correspondents under battle conditions, at the same time providing facilities for direction and coordination of the invasion, were manifold. Throughout the operation until the return to Leyte the formation was under constant threat of air attack. It was only because of accurate U. S. air strikes that the attacks were broken and sporadic.

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Philippines resupply group. A stopover was made in Maiiin Bay, Dutch New Guinea, from the 4th to the 6th, and for two days the crew made use of Army facilities for beer and soft ball parties. Boat crews had to be carefully instructed as to which side of an important little fence their liberty parties were to be deposited on, for it was assumed that the ball players did not want to take a busman's holiday and challenge a nine from Yokahama. At night it was strange to see the Army's projectiles screech by overhead enroute to nearby Japanese encampments, but the DASHIELL merely posted a double sentry watch and went on with her movies. The task group entered Leyte Gulf the early morning of the 12th. By the time it reached San Pedro Bay an LST in the formation had al- ready shot down an enemy plane. At noon the DASHIELL went along- side a tanker to fuel. The proceedings were brusquely interrupted when nearby firing called attention to 3 low-flying Japanese planes. So sudden was the attack that the ship's alert machine-gun battery disposed of one plane which had strafed the fueling group before the main battery could be brought to bear. Two nearby ships fared less well, however, for a lib- erty ship and an LST were crashed by the second and third planes. It came as something of a shock when the DASHIELL's crew realized that the enemy pilots were intentionally using their planes for double duty as aircraft and projectile. It was good that the men accepted the Divine VWinds with defiance, for the unfortunate tendency of Japanese airmen to use U. S. destroyers in lieu of the conventional airstrip was in the fu- ture months to be held more and more emphatically to their notice. On being attacked the 3659 got underway immediately to patrol the bay, returning to anchor for the night. Next day she got underway with two other destroyers to meet another resupply echelon and reinforce it during the last stage of its trip to Leyte. The first night out a Japanese bomber made several passes over the formation. It was not taken under fire and the plane, having no point of aim, retired after forty-five min- utes. The three ships rendezvoused with the convoy the following day and arrived in San Pedro Bay on the 15th without further incident. On the afternoon of 16 November the DASHIELL got underway with a convoy bound for Hollandia. At dusk some LST's joining the formation were strafed by an enemy float plane. It was taken under fire by the DA- SHIELL and other ships but escaped unharmed. The DASHIELL and a DE were detached from the task unit on the 20th to escort three of the fi

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In the face of all these odds, personnel performance aboard the DASH- IELL was of the highest quality. Landings at Mindoro were successfully carried out on 15 December. The only further naval casualties suffered were 2 LST's that were crashed by Kamikazes. After six days during which the crew ate and spent much of their time at their stations the DASHIELL stood into San Pedro Bay the morning of the 18th. That afternoon the Admiral transferred his staff to a command ship after expressing his deep appreciation for the DASHlELL's services and performance of duty. Each time the u659 dropped anchor off Leyte, her fantail became a gathering point for native sailboats and dugout canoes of every size and type. Soon the strange sight of diminutive Filipinos in their ragged shorts and broad-brimmed straw hats padding around barefoot among the crew became a familiar one. The wares they offered were legion, al- most as much as tl1e articles which DASHIELL men produced for ex- change. Abacuses were traded for shirts, coolie hats for trousers, Jap- anese invasion currency for cigarettes, baskets for candy, souvenirs left by the recent impostors for mattresses, and so it went. Finally an order had to be issued to keep any more clothing from going over the side. Pre- vention of flashhurn, to say nothing of the demands of decency, made such a ruling mandatory. I Many of the natives were educated and intelligent and told in fluent English of the Japanese atrocities. Such stories were far more precious than souvenirs and were rewarded by countless gifts and favors for which no further recompense was asked. They also detracted significance from reports about other Filipinos who reputedly stole through the lines and delivered the fruits of their dayls barter into enemy hands. The most eager reception was reserved for the attractive Filipino girls who flashed their white teeth in smiles from boats alongside and regaled their enchanted audience with tuneful melodies. But there was a grimmer aspect to these Leyte sojourns. Even at anchor the ship kept an underway watch on stations, and usually the crew was sent to general quarters several times a day for the enemy planes that tried to sneak in unobserved, singly or in two's and three's, over the hills of Leyte and Samar. At dusk on 20 December the DASHIELL received its only casual- ties of the Philippines campaign. A Japanese bomber came in low over the anchorage and appeared to make a strafing attack on the DASHIELL Q22 0 i