Denver (CL 58) - Naval Cruise Book

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Shrine End of Liberty Wakanoura W ' liii oo

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LIFE IN A BOXKITE THE aviation unit of the [Xiuvr came aboard on the East Coast and stayed aboard throughout the Pacific War until she returned to Norfolk and went into the Re- serve Fleet. During this time the unit oper- ated as a scouting force, did visual spotting for shore bombardment, and accomplished air-sea rescue w ork. The record of the ac- curate shore bombardments in which plane spotting was used is proof of the fine work done by the aviators. Spotting for shore bombardment was not always merely a matter of lazily flying in circles watching the shells explode far be- low. During the first bombardment of Iwo, pilots Haseltine and Yesko, with their radio- men Ivy and Lyons, narrowly missed death when attacking Jap Zeros were diverted by a scout from the SiiiiUi Fc who was shot down instead. A few weeks later during the Jap operation the fly-boys were called upon to demonstrate their daring by landing in Jap infested water s to rescue a downed fighter pilot. All the hazards of cruiser aviation are not encountered during actual combat. Perhaps the two most dangerous times in a cruiser flyer ' s life is the catapulting and the recovery of his aircraft. Never in all the many launch- ings of Denver ' s planes has a single plane been lost; however, two planes were lost during recoveries in rough weather when they broke loose from the sled and were sucked into the ship ' s wake and capsized. Ensign Anderson and Tucker, pilot and radioman of the plane lost at Angaur, were picked up by the Dcmcr, but Ensign Wyss and Mendez, occupants of that lost at Borneo, had to wait for a destroyer to rescue them. The Dtiuir ' .s airmen even have the dis- tinction of being fired at by Jap ground troops. While flying at a very low altitude on a spotting hop at Leyte, Yesko and his raidoman Tucker ran into some AA fire from a 25-calibre automatic rifle. Thinking that since the Japs opened up against him they must have been guarding something impor- tant, he went down for a closer investiga- tion. On this run one of the Jap bullets went through the radioman ' s shoe, but the plane returned safely with only a few holes. At Balikpapan the buzz-boys ran into the greatest opposition in the way of anti-air- craft fire. All experienced the unpleasant- ness of being shot at — this time by 20mm. and 3-inch gunfire. They even had to do a little dodging of our own shells when a U.S. ship mistook our SOC for a Jap Pete and took a few pot shots at it. Borneo was dangerous to the air spotters on yet another count — the Jap shore batteries. Ensigns Wyss and McNickles were maneuvering in their spotting circles for the shore bombard- ment from the Denver when suddenly the Jap five-inch batteries opened on a group of minesweepers approaching too close to the beach. This caught our two SOC ' s in a deadly crossfire as the shells whistled by them in their downward trajectory. For- tunately they were able to get out of that hot spot immediately. Perhaps the less glamorous, but nonethe- less important job of the aviation unit is the maintenance crew. It may be said for them that the Dawcr never lost a plane because of faulty workmanship or lack of proper care. 05

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JAPAN ON the 21st of September, 1945, the Sixth Army transports steamed into Wakanoura Wan and began unloading troops into landing barges. Soon there was a mov- ing line of LCI ' s, LST ' s, and other small craft dumping the fully equipped soldiers onto the beach by the Wakayama steel mills. The soldiers, ever alert for Jap trickery, quickly formed their units and cautiously began moving inland to secure their beach- head . ' hile this tense drama, the armed in- vasion of the Japanese home island, was being enacted, the Dim ' cr ' . ' i first regular liberty party was calmly disembarking onto the concrete ]etty a short distance away in Waka- noura, Our invaders, instead of being armed with rifles and machine guns, swarmed ashore well equipped with cameras and a craving for souvenirs. The Japs were at first a trifle bewildered, uncommunicative, and patronizing; however, when they became aware that the American sailor was more interested in souvenir hunt- ing than in the destruction of their homes and property, their attitude rapidly changed. This change was most noted in the price of their goods as the cost began to rise. What at first cost but a yen or two soon required ten or twenty yen as they discovered the gullibility of the Americans. The small fishing village of Wakanoura became a huge business enterprise. Hundreds of street- front stores and counters sprang up over- night, well stocked with typical Japanese warrior dolls, chopsticks, trays, pottery, picture scrolls, kimonos, and sheer silk. Some few who were a little more adept at scavenging and had more capital were able to pick up Samurai knives and swords. It was not an uncommon sight to see a Dtiiivr sailor standing perplexedly in front of a wizened little Jap trying to convert yen to dollars and cents to see whether he was get- ting gypped or not. It didn ' t take long for the bartering bargains to become mere pur- chases. This of course took most of the glamour out of the buying spree, but so goes the trend of economics. Some of the more adventurous roamed the back streets looking for bargains of one type or another. Most of them found what they were looking for. Those who walked as far as Kainan or Wakayama found evidence of what a few of our B-29 ' s can do — crumpled walls, flattened buildings, and cities burned to the ground. No matter how ciiligent the liberty parties were in looking for beautiful kimonos or swords, they still were not able to match the souvenirs brought back by the Di;ni ' cr ' .s permanent shore patrol. These men, living right in the village of Wakanoura, soon had the local natives and police force acquainted with the fact that they weren ' t kidding when they spoke. That permanent shore patrol gained more fear and respect from the natives than any other group of Americans, and they capitalized upon it quite well. More than one declared he would not mind staying on in the Japanese area if he could have that type of duty all the time. With the exception of the Manila affray, liberty in the Wakayma-Wakanoura area was 37