Dashiell (DD 659) - Naval Cruise Book

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'N company, the ship got underway with the battleships and other destroy- ers for San Pedro Bay. When she left, the DASHIELL was the only ship that had stayed in the Gulf since the invasion. The crew was fatigued from the long hours spent at battle stations and weary of the diet of canned meat and rice to which the dwindling food supply limited them. The return trip was uneventful. Then on arrival at Leyte the DASH- IELL received orders to proceed with the U. S. S. Pennsylvania and the U. S. S. Stevens to Manus Island. The task unit left Leyte the day it arrived, 13 February, and reached Manus the 18th. Throughout the journey rumors had been rife about a possible return to the States. At Manus they were proved to he without foundation, but the ample rec- reation facilities which the hig naval base furnished gave all hands a chance to relax and calm their war nerves. The ship, too, profited hy her overhaul availability. r But there was little rest for the weary. On the afternoon of the 24th the DASHIELL got underway with at convoy of two merchantmen and a tug, bound for a port hitherto unvisitcd hy her: Ulithi in the Caroline Islands. Landfall was made the morning of 28 F ehruary, and on arrival in the anchorage the ship reported for duty to Commander Fifth Fleet. 744: Quake Smead During the first two weeks in March the DASHIELL remained an- chored at Ulithi. The repairs necessitated by her arduous months in the Southwest Pacific were completed, and all hands got the chance to con- sume ample quantities of beer and swim in the waters of the lagoon. It was a period, however, not merely of relaxation and overhaul but of intense preparation for things to come. The u659 was no longer to operate with the slow moving amphibious units and small escort craft which were dwarfed by a 2100 ton destroyer She was now assigned to a fast car r1er group comprised of elegant cruisers, hattleships, and carriers Any one of these groups was two or three times as powerful as the whole force which the DASHIELL had accompanied on her first Pacific raids The array of plans and operation orders that descended upon the ship con tained much that had to be reviewed and much to be learned F, Because of her trip to Bremerton the DASHIELL had remained ln the forward area 157111.16 the rest of her squadron had returned to the States durmg the winter She now reyoined them at Ul1th1 Fresh from their ov erhauls her sister vessels were already familiar with F zfth Fleet bu LI

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Japanese fighter appeared without warning, succeeded in getting through the heavy AA fire, and crashed head-on into one of the transports. The enemy, however, was powerless to halt the advance of the at- tack force, and on the early morning of 9 January the ships entered Lin- gayen Gulf. Her escort duties completed, the DASHIELL joined three other destroyers and commenced patrolling the entrance to the Gulf. It was an odd coincidence that the screen commander, Captain McLean, had been the DASHIELUS first commanding officer. The procedure- employed by the destroyers was to patrol the Gulf in close formation during the day and to deploy across the entrance on a line of bearing at night. There were numerous reports of and con- tacts with enemy planes in the area, the two outstanding incidents he- ing the following: On the afternoon of the 9th two uZeros were sight- ed astern of the formation. Both commenced dives from 5000 feet. The ships' heavy volume of fire caused one to retire, but tl1e second head- ed for the U. S. S. Bush. Emergency maneuvers by that vessel caused the plane to crash in the water close aboard her port quarter. The following morning, while the DASHIELL was rejoining the patrolling formation, an enemy dive bomber came up astern of her and commenced a dive. The ship increased speed to twenty-eight knots and changed course hard over to the starboard. As a result of these tactics the plane crashed in the water fifty yards off her port quarter. On the afternoon of ll January the destroyers formed in column and proceeded north at twenty-five knots to San Fernando harbor, where one large and twenty small enemy ships had been reported. On arrival the task group commander assigned the southeast portion of the harbor to the DASHIELL. The ship soon destroyed the four cargo ships in her sector and shifted fire to two fuel tanks on the beach, which were ren- dered unserviceable. Its mission completed, the task group returned to patrol station. During the remainder of her stay in Lingayen Gulf the DASHIELL on numerous occasions provided fire support and starshell illumination for our troops that were engaged with enemy in and near the town of Rosario. On 5 February she exercised at tactical maneuvers with heavy units and other destroyers in rehearsal for possible enemy counter-at- tack. At various other times the ship screened, patrolled, laid smoke screens to cover the harbor, sank a mine, and assumed investigation duty. At length, on the afternoon of 10 February, to the joy and relief of her fs'-

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procedure by virtue of their participation in the Iwo Jima campaign. This was a double advantage which the DASHIELL could overcome only by hard work. The scope of the forthcoming operation was impressive. Com- mencing with the invasion of Okinawa on 1 April, numerous enemy-held islands in the Nansei Shoto were to be seized during the summer. From these new bases not only would Japan's communication with the vast body of her empire be severed, but attacks upon the enemy homeland it- self could be initiated. The DASHIELL was assigned to a group of Vice Admiral Mitscher's renowned Task Force 58. Prior to D-Day this force was to launch fast carrier strikes on Japan proper and then on Okinawa. Subsequently it was to remain in a covering position east of the island chain to furnish further strikes and air support as needed. The enemy seemed to get wind of what was in store, for on 11 March a Japanese aircraft hit one of the carriers in the anchorage. It was a solitary incident, however, and on the morning of 14 March the DASH- IELL sortied with her task group as scheduled. The first three days were mildly bewildering. It was hard enough getting used to the new formations and task organization. But in addi- tion there were gunncry practices all day and tactical exercises all night. On top of that came the discovery that in carrier groups a destroyer is frequently regarded as a glorified bcllhop which rather than be allowed to stay on station more than Hve minutes at a time, should he summoned to pass mail, freight, or passengers among the big ships. It was an out- fit, though, with which one was proud to be. On the 16th the first rendezvous with the fueling group was held. These were the efficient tankers and provisions ships through whose efforts it was possible for striking forces to remain at sea for weeks and even months at a time. The run in to Japan proper commenced on 17 March. The DASH- IELL was assigned to a scouting line stationed thirty-five miles ahead of the force. During that night the enemy planes began to look the situa- tion over. Apparently they came to the justifiable conclusion that these were not Japanese fishing boats, for at 0537 next morning a torpedo plane swooped out of a cloud a mile on the DASHIELJIS port quarter. As the ship maneuvered radically, lookouts reported something dropped from the plane. A minute later a loud explosion in the wake a hundred yards astern indicated that the visitor had not been scattering leaflets. f N 9 'lf and