Eldorado (AGC 11) - Naval Cruise Book

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i¥uton«f 0 S f( i The story begins in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1944. There, on the 15th of August, a com- mission pennant snapped aloft and the watch was set for the first time aboard the U. S. S. ELDORADO. This was a new kind of ship . . . built for a new kind of war; designed to direct amphibious operations. Completing a seven thousand mile trip, the ELDORADO reported to Commander Amphib- ious Force, Pacific Fleet, at Pearl Harbor for duty as his flagship. Then came the practice, the seemingly endless rehearsals, for what each man knew would be the ship ' s first taste of battle. Already destined as that first battle was Iwo Jima, a pin-point of an island in a volcanic chain, the first actual Japanese territory to be invaded. i

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onecMnd We ' d like to tell you a story: A story about a ship and the men who make it a ship. To some of us it is an oft repeated yarn which is always worth another spinning. To most of us, however, it is a story still untold with new pages even now being written.

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Having safely weathered the almost night- ly air attacks, and seeing its mission ac- complished, the command ship embarked for Okinawa and perhaps its most important job of the war. This was to be the largest invasion yet attempted, and everyone knew the dangers involved in striking so close to the Japanses home islands. The American strategy in the Pacific made the seizure of Okinawa a virtual necessity. This island would provide a base for concentrated air attacks on Japan and would serve as a staging area for the ultimate .invasion of the enemy homeland. At dawn on Easter Simday, April 1, 1945, the assault began. During her stay at Okinawa the ELDORADO and the ships of her command mderwent 568 air attacks. Ehiring one of these attacks, a Kamikaze plane dove on the AGC- 11 and, missing it, plunged into the NEW MEXICO. In 47 days of battle, eight crew members were seriously wounded and the ship was credited with downing several Japanese aircraft. The ELDORADO ' S job well done. Admiral Turner handed his command over to Admiral Hill and on the 18th of May, the ship em- barked for the Philippines. In Manila, the officers and crew received word of the Jap- anese surrender and thus ends the first phase of our story. After several tours of duty in the Orient as a temporary flagship, the ELDORADO look part in three major amphibious training op- erations. The first of these was operation Miki in the Hawaiian area, after which the ship reported to the Atlantic Fleet for partici- pation in operation Portrex at Vieques Island in the Carribean. After the last operation, Demon Three , off the California coast, the ELDORADO reported to Pearl Harbor for gen- eral overhaul. The AGC-U returned to San Diego on the 19th of August, 1950 for recreation and leave and to provision the ship. Then, unex- pectedly receiving orders for the Far East, the ship embarked Rear Admiral L. A. Thackrey, USN, and his staff, recalled all men from leave, loaded emergency stores, and on the 28th of August got underway for sea. Eighteen days later she steamed into the harbor at Inchon, Korea to begin, with your help, the current chapter of the story of the U. S. S. ELDORADO (AGC-U).