Denver (CL 58) - Naval Cruise Book

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Fontaine ami Hattlcr in Pilot House Houston, Barry, Lt. Comdr. Wagner, Alli ' n, Captain Dardcn, Lt. (jg) Waters on open hridgc {26}

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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}-

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removing fuses from projectiles and trying to keep powder cases from shiftmg — the sick bay boys swabbing up broken ether bottles — and Sammy Gould in the canteen up to his knees in broken Coca Cola jugs. During the next four weeks the ship ' s personnel roamed the beaches and backroad of Wakanoura in search of souvenirs on their liberty days. Then, on the fifth of October in 1945 at midnight, the Captain awoke the ship with the pleasing announcement, The Dtiu ' tr has just received orders to return to the United States on the twentieth of the month. The DcmtT departed Japan on the twen- tieth as scheduled, heading east. After a two-day stop at Pearl Harbor, vhere the boys vented some of their pent-up steam, she left, streaming her 1040-foot home- w ard-bound pennant, supported by aero- logical balloons. On November fourth she arrived at San Pedro, California, and moored in continental U.S. waters for the first time in more than seventeen months. After four days of liberty for the men she headed south to the Panama Canal, which was transited on the sixteenth of November. The liberty in Panama City and Balboa was second to nothing the men had ever been through. The trip from there on in was uneventful, and on the morning of the twenty-first of No- vember, the Denver arrived in Hampton Roads — home at last. While statistics are not always too inter- esting. It IS believed that a few facts will round out the story of the Denver at war. Rear Admiral R. W. Hayler flew his flag as Commander Cruiser Division Tw elve in the Denver from August to December, 1944, when he was relieved by Rear Admiral R. S. Riggs, who remained in the Dcm ' cr until April, 1945. Her war-time commanding officers were Cap ts. R. B. Carney, R. P. Briscoe, A. M. Bledsoe, and T. F. Darden. At the orders of these four officers, the Dcm ' cr ' .s gunners fired 18,249 rounds of six-inch, 22,746 rounds of five- inch, 65,993 rounds of 40 millimeter, and 32,074 rounds of 20 millimeter projectiles — and that is some shooting; under their watchful eyes and guidance she steamed slightly over 150,000 war-time miles — and that IS getting around. Her mileage record is relatively not as high as her shooting record, but her men are willing to attribute that to the fact that she got where the fighting was going on and stayed there until it was over. DENVER MARINES UNITED STATES MARINES are found aboard every capital ship in Uncle Sam ' s powerful fleet. The Diiuit Marine Guard, though small in number, definitely established themselves as one of the most outstanding organizations of this fighting Cruiser ' s complement. Manning two quadruple forty-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, the Dcmir leathernecks proved their mettle. During the incessant Japanese Kamikaze attacks in the battle of Leyt e Gulf in the Philippines, the Marine guns were a potent contribution to the heavy machine-gun battery. Duties of a sea-going Marine are not so glamorous as those of a Fleet Marine who stormed the beaches of many a Jap-infested Pacific isle. Serving high ranking Naval {21}