Denver (CL 58) - Naval Cruise Book

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C-hildcrs, Fliicto, Kiiriilccliiuii, MiiIlnL-v Iiisf ' alioM I ' v Ciif ' tiiiii Carney of the TliiiJ Division 24}

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British submarine), so the Diiiivr and her group were detached from the area when the landing was completed successfully about lune 1 1 . The division proceeded to Tawi- tawi Island in the Sulu Archipelago for re- plenishment before the Balikpapan operation — perhaps the longest and shootingest in the Dcm ' cr ' 5 career. The group left Tawitawi on June 13 to cover the preliminary mine sweeping opera- tions and to furnish pre-landing bombard- ment. From the fifteenth of June until the DciUYT was detached on the first of July, she was in continuous Condition 1 or II during the daylight hours — along with some more of the same as conditions required at night. By Dog Day, July 1, our Naval forces off Balikpapan totalled eight United States, three Australian, and one Dutch cruiser and their accompanying destroyers. Our shore bombardment was so intense that Australian troops landed at the oil-rich Jap-held hot spot without casualties. The high points for the Denver were several: she was ordered to sink one of our own mine- sweepers that had been damaged by Jap shore batteries; she got her last assist of the war when one of several attacking Jap planes was shot down during a night raid; and she had two more close calls, once when Jap bombers dropped three sticks of bombs which landed within eight hundred yards of her and again when one of our own B-24 ' s headed for a strike on the beach inadvertently dropped a bomb much too close for comfort while the Demer was alongside — of all things — an ammunition ship. Whew! Plank owners as well as boots cussed and discussed that incident for some time. The Demcr does not claim all of the firsts ' and lasts of the Pacific War, but the unique experience of firing at shore installations while fueling is certainly worth mention. While along- side the U.S.S. Cliefiielict for fuel, with the smoking lamp out, Jap shore batteries opened up on our mine sweepers. The Deiirer im- mediately returned that fire and silenced the batteries, for the time being at least, all to the delight of the crew of the tanker, for it was not often they got to see big guns in action so near at hand. After further replenishment and a week ' s rest at Leyte, the Deiu ' cr and her gang joined up with some larger fellows to go north. With Rear Admiral F. S. Low in command of the task force which included the mighty battle cruisers Giuuii, and Alaska, the Demer left Leyte the morning of July 13, 1945 for the now famous Okinawa Island in the Ryukyus and entered Buckner Bay at 0739 on the sixteenth. Even the old-timers aboard the Demer felt they were entering hallowed waters, for it was in these waters that the Kamikaze at- tacks reached their peak, and more such attacks could certainly be expected any time. The task force remained to fuel just that day, and before nightfall was underway again on what was expected to be one of the most exciting operations of the Deiu ' er ' s career — an anti-shipping sweep of the China Coast north to Shanghai. After playing tag with two typhoons for nearly four days, the task force entered the sweep area the evening of the 21st and early the next morning made contact with the China Coast. But except for tossing a few five-inch shells at a bogy that night, which turned tail in a hurry, the Denver had no targets. Subsequently sweeps made during 03}-

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the following several weeks proved as fruit- less; the Japs were gone or were saving up for another occasion. Without knowing it, the Denver ' s gunners at 2145, the night ot July 21st fired their last shot in anger driving off an enemy snooper, for at about 0815 in the morning of August 1 5 while she was going alongside a tanker in Buckner Bay to refuel, the news of Japanese Government acceptance of Allied surrender terms was received. While this news was somewhat anti- climactic and had been expected, it was re- ceived with great enthusiasm by all hands. The ever-sharp and on the ball signal gang hoisted the general signal cease present exercises, designating WAR along with one or two other miscellaneous and strictly irregular items in competition with other signals hoisted by other ships. But if such activity caused an arched eyebrow by a senior officer, it was certainly unnoticed; besides, everybody was feeling pretty good. So still in a spot that could be hot at any moment, the Dciiivr saw the end of World War II — just exactly two months short of three years of continuous fighting, or licking her wounds in preparation for another tussle with the enemy. Remembering that Japs are tricky and lacking official confirmation of the surrender of Japan, Denver remained in a full war-time status. As time passed the fact was realized that we had won a decisive victory, and delay of the surrender was of a technical nature onlv. On the ninth of September, Demer de- parted Buckner Bay for good and steamed to Japan, where she was to act as a part of the covering force for the evacuation of prisoners of war, and later tor the landing of our Sixth Army troops in the Wakayama, Japan, area On arrival off the target area she steamed back and forth for several days before enter- ing, covering her accompanying escort car- riers. On the fifteenth she entered and anchored in Wakanoura Wan, just oft Wakanoura and Wakayama, Honshu, Japan. On the seventeenth and eighteenth of September the Dciiier experienced perhaps the worst weather she has ever faced in the form of a typhoon which swept the area. The ship rolled severely, registering a thirty- six degree roll at the height of the storm. Winds were registered up to eighty knots while gusts were as high as one hundred knots. Life lines were rigged to keep men from being washed completely overboard by the tremendous swells that washed over the main deck, foaming around the turrets. The pilot house was a scene of feverish activ- ity with the Captain at the con jockeying the ship around the anchor trying to keep her headed into the seas and oft the beach. Some of the ships were not so lucky, for they ended up on the shores of Wakanoura with some loss of life. In fact the Deiiivr dragged anchor with only one anchor down less than a thousand yards — a shorter distance than any other ship in the harbor with the excep- tion of the hospital ship CoiLsuliituni. When the center of a typhoon passes within fifty miles of a ship, things begin popping — in- cluding the barometer, which fell to 28.88, a new low for most of the old salts. The coming of the cold gray dawn, with the calming sea, saw some mighty weary men seeking their sacks — C and R who had been kept busy with the anchor chain and running after leaks about the ship — gunners ' mates 05}-