Dashiell (DD 659) - Naval Cruise Book

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i if? in, mfs, i'w.. STV .Q I. 3 y ii, ' ot: f ,I yu 1 , l 5 i : 4 1 t I 4 Q 5-, Q , Q . I , 3 . 6 A 5 c 4 I .W X 'wg ni f. 1 A 'T H A in . tw U. S. S. Pittsburgh marked the spot with her bow, which became detached from the rest of the ship. But at length the skies cleared, the seas calm- ed, the sun shone, men smiled, and the huge task of cleaning up the ship was begun by all hands. Aside from several large holes in the whale- boat, no damage was sustained that could not be repaired by the ships force. Aboard the DASHIELL there were no personnel casualties. On 7 June this vessel and the Ringgold were detached to search for two downed Seaplane pilots from the U. S. S. Tennessee. Results were negative, but the rescue was later affected by ships of another group. ComDesDiv 50 transferred his flagship from the H6593 to the Ringgold the same day. Having weathered Kamikazes and typhoons for almost a year and a half without major overhaul, the DASHIELL on 10 June began to ex- perience severe vibration at certain speeds over fifteen knots. The Task Group was at the time conducting exercises en route to Leyte Gulf. When it was considered inadvisable for the ship to maintain fleet speed, she was directed to proceed independently with another destroyer. As in December 1943, speculation ran riot regarding the possibility of a trip home. The question was soon answered. On arrival the ship went into a floating dock, and while hands turned to on scraping and painting the bottom, the screws and shafts were repaired and readjusted. A trial run showed that the ship was then ready for more action. San Pedro Bay provided a far safer and better haven than it had during the DASHIELUS previous visits, but since large elements of two fleets were in port, the new recreational facilities were cramped. ffm! im Wcbdcwq .f At dawn on 1 July the DASHIELL stood out of the harbor with Task Force 38 on a mission presumably designed merely to soften up the enemy homeland with heavy strikes and to gain more intelligence information on the North Honshu-Hokkaido region. Little did any of the ship's company dream that this was their final wartime sortie. For the first nine days, long hours were spent in battle drills. On the 10th the initial strikes were launched against the Tokyo plains area. Bad weather caused cancellation of strikes which had been scheduled for the northern area on 13 July. The following evening the DASHIELL with her squadron joined a cruiser Task Force for a night anti-shipping 6 F 1 fi ' L I' ,s igns I 'gf - 1 xt wi A , -1 -A . 1 1 E 8 . 1' Q .:5'w E 5 ral , I kti5f , :Y Y 15,5955- . 5? 5, wg. , gf--446 ',:4-Ja. ' 'iff' . ff? 't gui. 'H .. 3:5f5a4i f',f' 'gi' 'fi 4 5 A .3211 21335121 I ,. , .' Z. -CVE: ' if N . .fy 'Viw x f - 1.-' if L1-,V-- 3 I 'Xi ., gf':1,' .'q, , , , . ,.'-',S',,Li' .N f '?'f5.?5,f,f

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t 1, it s rpm 1, . 5. ' ,.,m,..1,-xg -4' u N' :mme :wmv- ,. Er is-1 if sf t' V. t tif- . ff ft ii it 5 1 4 if 2 A Miami when the tow line parted at 1800. The following morning, after the Miami had in turn been relieved by a tug, the Division Comman- der shifted his pennant to the DASHIELL. This looked a little omin- ous for the u659 as the Commodore had previously been forced to trans- fer to the Sigsbee when his former flagship was damaged by collision. In the evening of 16 April the formation rendezvoused with the logistic group. For four days the DASHIELL steamed in the replenish- ment area repairing damages. The principal casualty, however, was a condenser leak which exhaustive efforts by the sl1ip's force could not ameliorate, so on 20 April the ship proceeded with a CVE and two DE's under orders to continue independently to Ulithi upon crossing the 140th meridian East. After the harrowing events of the preceding weeks, the sight of Ulithi anchorage on 23 April was a welcome one. Again ready for sea, the 2659 sortied on 9 May with Task Group 58.1, which had also retired to Ulithi for upkeep. All hands spent the next day drilling for the air attacks that they well knew could be expected. On the night of 13 May while tl1e DASHIELL and Schroeder were proceeding to picket station a plane closed from the northeast and re- tired after being taken under fire. Next morning a Val was fired on. There were subsequent alerts, but no further planes came within the DASHIELIIS range. On 17 May the Fifth Fleet was redesignatcd the Third Fleet and passed from the command of Admiral Spruance to that of Admiral Hal se The DASHIELL and Schroeder were detached the night of 1 2 June to escort a waterlogged PBY rescue plane to Kerama Retto As the shlps drew near the islands their rugged outlines could be seen etched against the flare of shore based AA fire The m1ss1on however, was completed without attack from enemy planes Some of the most anxious moments were not furnished by Japanese weapons On the nl t of 4-5 June despite the would be avoiding ac tion of staff aerologlsts weather prophets and navlgators the DASH IELL Wltll her task group steamed courses whlch neatly lntercepted a violent typhoon Wands reached 130 knots the barometer reached 28 13 rolls reached fifty two degrees and the crew reached for thelr llfebelts Had the storm s dead center been marked by a reef, the task group would have run aground at 0645 In the absence of a reef, the si w . 4 at 2 1-211, Q lk: ' , . I . y, P I QE ' Q Q 1 sf , - Q' . . . . FE ,- I E ' L, n , rl ' I -i . . tl . . I . I I I . . . - gh - t ' ' 7 . 0' 9 9 9 , . . , . i - 'J U . , ' 3 - o I Q i ii X dh E . 1 1 W Ia . 1. v . - , . Pi HST! , . . .,, 5 jg, ' 1 'iQ7Q'iii '14 f' , ,- S , 'r--L , r ,,: , A Riff? . 8 'XX ' ff 1 . .. K-..,....,.,P V ' 2 QL I I ,5 K3 e- 1-

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G all X ,-5 1 sweep along the coast of northern Japan. At 2300 the vessels formed in column and commenced the sweep on a northerly course from a point seven miles off Honshu at Latitude 390 N. Fires left by earlier battle- ship bombardments were still plainly visible. No enemy contacts were made during the run, and at 0145 after passing Latitude 400 N. the Task Group proceeded to rejoin Task Force 38. Q Strikes against the Kure-Kobe area were launched on 24, 25, and 28 July. The month was brought to a spectacular close by Destroyer-Squad- ron 25. On the night of 30-31 .luly these ships made the deepest and most daring penetration of the Japanese homeland effected by surface vessels during the war. At 2200 on the 30th the seven destroyers en- tered Suruga Wan with the task of destroying shipping and bomharding the city of Shimizu. There was a full moon that night which intermitt- ently played its beam from behind the scattered clouds like a giant search- light. An eerie green phosphorescence streamed aft from the bows of the trim, swift-maneuvering ships. Surely they would be spotted by the enemy. Where were the shore batteries? The planes? The suicide craft? On the way in, a small picket boat was contacted but was left un- molested. DesRon 25 had more grandiose plans for announcing its presence. Deep into the bay the destroyers went, following the shore past Shimizu, where they were only 6000 yards from land. At three minutes past midnight they began an intense four-minute rapid Ere bombardment of the city's aluminum, plants and railroad yards. Simul- taneously a ship was picked up within a half mile of the reported posi- tion of a 2000-ton cargo vessel. Her guns still blazing, the DASH- IELL fired two torpedoes at the new target. At the time and place it was computed the torpedoes would hit, three men in main battery con- trol reported ilashes followed by a red glow. Meanwhile 150 rounds of 5 ammunition had been expended without casualty and been observ- ed to cause large fires. During the Squadron's flank speed retirement the flagship disposed of the picket boat that had been contacted earlier. At 0100 the destroy- ers stood out of Suruga Wan - safe, intact, and making thirty-two knots. It was a glorious feeling. Owing to heavy weather, further air strikes were postponed until 9 and 10 August, when Hokkaido and Northern Honshu once again felt iv-KN. f