Dutches (APA 98) - Naval Cruise Book

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y 'rttusmultous and squally Western Pacific Wegtf-yer. , T y e drills were heldj particularly condition l-A CDebarkqti0i13 . -4 ' . ' 1 , the gunnersf lust Opportunity to practice on aerial tar ets. - 1 Island the 26th of Apfii, T Q The Ship anchored Off erway on the 27th for the last leg of her voyage the Dutchess' fgrmed Convoy in company with the USS. Dorothy Dix CAPA-671 COTCJ U S S qApA-1703, U.s.s. sttsfssume QAPA-2059, ss. Exchange and the.S'S .Bess The escorts, composed of the U.s.s. Pofiertterd rub-eszt Uss KDD-4415, Cifld U-S-S Gfefldffifiu CDE-5393 were a formidableflbaftery Cmgyaircraft guns and anti-submarine weapons. s Q The course was now north by westg there was nothing standing between Cqnvoy and the enemy except a few picket ships. The lookouts needed no qifgirng in ottte1TflVGHGSSz the Commanding Cfficer and Officers-of-the-Deck intense concentration and ,vigilance as for the first time they must fsteerl the Dutchess while zigzagging at night in a tight formation and frequent rain squalls blotting out visibility, radar was invaluable. Cross- mg the ,Tropic of Cancer, the Dutchess left the tropics behindg the weather steadily becoming cooler, all hands were poised for action. lonely outposts came flowing in a an in reasing rate Early on the morning of the lst of May the Dutche s passed close by the spot where the hospital USS Comfort CAH SD had suffered many dead and wounded from a Kamikaze plane attack the preceding day The target was at hand lt was Love Day plus 30 fl May l9115l The rumble and thud of the heavy guns were felt before land was signied Entering the China Sea the formation closed Okinawa Shima s southwest coa t at Hagushi Beach steaming in column fsingle filel in 'order to make all guns clear for action. , 'Orange-red dots of -flame now accompanied the thuds and pierced the rainy murk. Okinawa's jumbled d-ark-green clad hills rising in the overcast were alive with smoke and flame. A.s the squadron sailed north up the west coast, close by the battle lines outside of Naha, the volume of fire and intensity of eicplosive noises grew. Battleships and cruisers pointed their large N16-inch, l49inch, 8 and Seinch gun barrels into the hillswith deliberation sent salvo after salvo crashing ashore. From the ltlth Army positions many guns poured their fire southward into the smoke. From the lap lines to the south, bright orangeflashes were followed by an express train roar and either a crumpi flame, and great column of earth if ashore, or resulted in a great spout or Waterjif a ship was the target. This ubiquitous hammer, roar, crack, thud, throb-trob-throb of the artillery dual was never ending. . The great concentration of American Shipping at HCIQUSM Beech WGS' oth 'T The casualty reports from stricken picket ships,-destroyers, destroyer escorts, and LSC flranding Craft Supportl, under heavy air attack at their y T 1 C ' , ' u X I I 'F'-L V- I 'L T iff! K X- . 11- J- I Q. I u ff expo ed lnstead of being spacea in precise equidistant fleet e patterns the hundreds of unloading transports were huddled as together as possible against the beach. Surrounding, them WSIS T10 flelb er protection, but merely a meagercircle of smallgunboats to 9109053 from the open sea possible from the north, west and SOtl'fl1- 'FOI' the timed 7i1'1 their lives the Dutchessmen found themselves in a situation oveir 'the United States, its Army and Navy did not have complele C01'1l1f0 Q time, the question of survival on the morrow depended on a'strOE1Q ' - H H ,V way into the close packed huddle of ships, the 98 e drgliyi Y hoisted out her' 28 boats and 111 The Tflllflr and golfi if 4 193 in order to perfect the Dutchess techniques so at t' ' the target On entering the Marianas Island water S O preven '

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at anchor and quickly retreat into the concealment of their caves. 3rd of May brought clearing weather and the enemy in force Un- was progressing satisfactorily. Then the Divine Wind fliamikazel started and kept on coming necessitating frequent stoppages of bun Scores o lap planes were downed on the picket lines- durin thg none got through. Ship after ship Cdestroyers, destroyer escorts T.CSl hit on the line. They continued to come limping into the anchorage with iulls crumbled and their dead layed out on deck for burial ashore The Nav was experiencing more casualties than the Army. . Y At dusk some Kamikazes kept on coming past the picket line. This time fall ships made Hsmoke' Ca thick oily fogl, each ship laying a blanket for the -'Ships to the leeward, each ship sending out its own sn'pke boats to fill up the holes in the blanket. Soon even the adiacent ships were blotted out of vision and all sounds became curiously mutedg the well-trained gunners stood helplessly by their guns unable to see and forbidden to fire in the crowded anchorage. The Bogeys passed overhead and were gone, the smoke stopped, Q11 hands sighed with relief, the discharging of cargo was resumed. .y The respite lasted but a few hours. Ashore the laps were staging a general attack. ln the air the bombers got past the pickets in force. As the Dutchess rolled up her white blanket of fog-smoke, word came through that small suicide boats were on their way to crash against the American ships and explode themselves into glorious eternity. As the fog thickened, and visibility dropped to five. feet, the apprehensive moments of waiting ticked on, marked only by th thud, shudder, thud, thud of the big guns. Word came in that the U.S.S. Corine CAK-745 at the edge of the anchorage was badly hurt from a suicide boat detonation. At length, the drone of many motors overhead through the fog announced the arrival of the Tokio Express. Despite contrary orders, trigger happy gunners through the anchorage opened up on the unseen tarkets. Misaimed projectiles and falling shrapnel whined by and landed on deck. The position of the smoke boat officer, Ens. F. E. Martin, U.S.N.R., and his crew totally exposed out in their boat astern awaiting more make smoke orders was unenviable, they remained sanguine as falling flak plunked into the water all about them. The bombers released their loads on the nearby Yontan Airfield, a few bombs landing on the beach. All night long the lap Air Force expended itself. Occasionally the fog Would grow .thin and silhouetted against the moon a doomed bomber would fly steadily on to his destiny. Immediately the Dutchessmen would cover them- selveswith smoke, a few bombs were dropped in the transport area. By dawn another hundred planes were eliminated and several more ships hit. During the night an attempted landing by several hundred laps was broken up by Iidval gunfireg however, a few successfully made the beach. At dawn it was with relief .that all hands secured and commenced discharging cargo. 1 Suddenly, the enemy broke through before the warning was effective. Cibove the fleet in sunny daylight a Nippon lazily weaved into position his dive. A hundred ships opened fire. Down, down, down came the lap. deviating smash into the cruiser Birmingham CCL-42l WTIOSG IOOW blew .:11'1'CII'1 explosition of fire and smoke and a hundred men were dead. or once more resumed discharging cargo-onlY to find that each 3 C10 miles behind the lines? was immobilized under sniper fire infiltrating laps. Eventually, the lap was eliminated Gnd Unlfxldlflg. ' In mid-afternoon, Army and Marine wounded from, the pge-f kip onslaught commenced coming aboard, some were stretc ,vera sobered, and apprehensive as damaged ships continuedto arrive, Bt , ,y , f 21 l