Foote (DD 511) - Naval Cruise Book

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STaTes soil - alThough we didn'T know iT Then - Some oT The boys goT inTo Trouble wiTh Those pleasanT NorTolk shore paTrolmen Tor having Their haTs aT The wrong angle on Their heads. On Ivlay I9Th we IeTT NorTolk bound Tor Coco Solo, Canal Zone. We spenT a shorT Tew days aT Balboa on The wesTern side oT The big diTch. We leTT Balboa on June 3rd, i943 wiTh The USS CLAXTON and had an unevenTTuI voyage To Noumea New Caledonia, arriving on June 28Th. fl There Tollowed a period oT Two or Three monThs consisTing oT convoy, drills and anTi-subramine warTare. In SepTember oT 1943 we Toined up as a uniT wiTh DesTroyer Squadron 23: CI-IARLES AUSBURNE TDD57OT, SPENCE TDD 478T, CONVERSE TDD 509T, EOOTE TDD 5I IT, DYSON TDD 572T, STANLY TDD 478T, TI-IATCI-IER TDD 5l4T, and The CLAXTON TDD 57lT, all welded inTo a uniT desTined Tor The Solomon Islands Tame as The LITTLE BEAVER SOUADRON'. DESRON 23 was Toined wiTh TE39. The heavier uniTs oT The Torce comprised The USS COLUMBIA TCL 56T, USS DEN- VER TCL 58T, USS IVIONTPELIER TCL 57T and The USS CLEAVLAND TCL 55l. The lasT days oT SepTember and The TirsT days oT OcTober are a mass oT TighT- ing memories. We made almosT nighTly runs up TI-IE SLOT The narrow corridor oT waTer ThaT bisecTs The Solomon Islands-so narrow ThaT larger uniTs Than a desTroyer were helpless in iT. lVlosT oT our sailing we did aT nighT because oT The consTanT ThreaT oT The enemy airpower. In Those days America was noT as sTrong in The Solomons as she mighl have been. By day we would lie in PorT Purvis on Florida Island across The channel Trom Guadalcanal. We made our own liTTle recreaTion beach and had swimming parTies over The side when we were aT anchor. Islanders would come ouT in Their Bum BoaTs and skin The hide oT The crew Tor souvenirs which in general were carved Trom ma- hogany wood. Here again iT was The same as Casablanca .... The only language The naTives knew was. . . FIVE DOLLARS ...and up. Some nighTs we sTayed in porT and had movies on The TanTail. IT seemed ThaT every Time we did This The Japs would sTage an air-raid on Guadalcanal. They would send abouT I5 planes over I-lenderson Eield while we sTood aT our baT+le sTaTions waTching and waiTing all anxious To geT back To The movies. EighTing a war is one Thing buT why make iT personal by robbing you oT your movies. On The las+ nighT oT OcTober we were up The sloT wiTh The PATTERSON and The lvIcCALLA hunTing Tor barges when The IVICCALLA had a sTeering casuaIiTy and rammed The PATTERSON sheering oTT her bow and killing eighT oT her crew. We screened The Two inTured ships during The nighT and in The morning we Took aboard CapTain E. R. Walker, COMDESRON 4, Trom The damaged PATTERSON. By dawn a Tug Took Them under Tow while we sTayed, To convoy a group oT LST's To Vella Lavella. There was also a number oT APD's in The convoy. When They had unloaded aT Their desTinaTion we headed To The rear area wiTh The APD's leaving The LST's beached. We had TusT arrived aT New Georgia Passage when we goT word ThaT planes I 3

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SI-IIP'S HISTORY oT I942, The FOOTE was commissioned in CharlesTown Navy Yard, BosTon, MassachuseTTs. ThaT was a cold day. A skeIeTon crew had broughT her down Trom BaTh, Maine, where she was consTrucTed and They had broughT her aT Top speed. Ice coaTed The boaTs and supersTrucTure. The ship sTayed around BosTon Tor a Tew eks and Then made a shake-down run To OuanTanamo Bay, Cuba, along in The IaTTer N laTe December we parT oT January I943. When The FOOTE was commissioned she had a quarTer inch oT linoleum on nearly every TooT oT her deck space and since ThaT was iudged To be a Tire hazard every IasT biT oT iT had To be scraped up and Thrown over The side. In addiTion To This Tull Time iob There were drills and inspecTions and seasickness, ThaT banded TogeTher To keep The crew Trom resTing. The ship arrived back in BosTon To Take on a Tew exTra guns and a Tew new men on February I8, I943. We sTayed in The yard Tor abouT a monTh unTil March oT 43 and Then wenT To Casco Bay, Maine, Tor more Training duTy. Few men aboard will TorgeT The suTTering one had To go Through To make liberTy - anchored a million miles Trom The nearesT land and only a whaleboaT Tor TransporTaTion. The TemperaTure mosT always seT below zero as we made our way Through The choppy waTers oT The Bay Towards The coasT. You Thawed ouT whenever you reached a warm spoT leaving a puddle oT waTer wherever you sTood. There was'n'T much There anyhow, mosT oT The crew managed To geT Thrown inTo The local BasTiIe Tor some minor inTracTion oT The rules. There was one nighT ThaT ChieT OuarTermasTer P. A. Campbell Tried To pay oTT a PorTIand BarTender wiTh a bag Tull oT pennies-Too many pennies. Early in April we leTT New York convoying a group oT merchanT ships bound Tor Casablanca, French Morocco. IT was There ThaT we goT our TirsT TasTe oT Toreign liberTy, aTTer an unevenTTul Trio across. The nighT we arrived a red alerT was seT Tor Three enemy aircraTT reporTed in ThaT viciniTy which we knew noThing abouT Till The nexT morning. MosT oT The crew goT ashore aT leasT once while we were There. The only English The naTives speak well was, FIVE DOLLARS . . . and up. Nice liTTle place, Tull oT sleezy looking Arabs ThaT looked as Though There was noThing They would like To do beTTer Than TiT Their knives To our ribs. We shoved oTT Trom ATrica laTe in April arriving back in BosTon on The 8Th oT May I943. By This Time The word was preTTy well circulaTed ThaT we were To Take COMMANDER DESTROYER SOUADRON 23 aboard and head Tor The beauTiTuI blue PaciTic in a week or so Tollowing our arrival in BosTon. We Took The SOLIADDOC5 aboard and moved on down The CoasT To NorToIk where our TirsT Skipper CapTain Bernard L. AusTin, was relieved oT his command by Commander AlsTon Ramsay. CapTain AusTin Took over The duTies as DIVISION COMMANDER oT DESDIV 45 aboard The USS SPENCE. On May I8Th I943 we were given our IasT liberTy on UniTed 9 I 2

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. were aTTacking The beached I.ST's. Orders came Through ThaT we were To reTurn and screen The TIOaTing TreighT Trains againsT TurTher aTTacks. The USS CONVERSE and The USS JENKINS accompanied us To The scene OT acTion. One OT The LST's had been hiT bad and was burning. The Tire and rescue parTy was called away Trom Our ship To aid The burning LST. We began TO circle abOuT and in a Tew minuTes gOT word ThaT anOTher TIighT OT Twelve TO TiTTeen enemy aircraTT was approaching and had eluded our cOmbaT airpaTrOI. This was our TirsT TasTe OT whaT mighT be called ACTION. A couple OT The planes aTTacked us, One OT Them coming Trom dead asTern, dropped several bombs which landed TiTTy TeeT broad on The pOrT beam. The OTher planes never gOT ThaT close. The damage TO The enemy was Tour or Tive planes: One deTiniTeIy by The EOOTEQ One probably by The EOOTE: One by an LST: One by The CONVERSE and One by a Triendly TreighTer. We suTTered a Tew shrapnel holes and Tive minor personnel casualTies. We were an exciTed and lucky bunch. We IeTT The Torward area Tor EspiriTu SanTOs in The New I-Iebrides abouT The 8Th OT OcTOber and sTayed down There unTiI The 26Th OT OcTober when we joined The cruiser Task Torce and proceeded To cover The American landings on Treasury Island. We really ThoughT we were in Tor sOmeThing wiTh a Torce ThaT size buT The Japs never showed Their Taces and everyThing wenT OTT according To plan. So Tar as we know There was only one ship damaged in ThaT operaTiOn. The USS CONY which Took Two severe bomb hiTs. Toward The IasT OT OcTOber we goT underway wiTh TE 39 To cover The landings aT Empress AugusTa Bay, Bougainville. We swung norThwesT under cover OT darkness and bombarded The Buka-Bonis airTieId area To prevenT shorT range aerial inTerTerence wiTh The landings. The Japs really goT iT poured On.Them ThaT nighT. There iusT seemed To be no end To The sTream OT shells ThaT poured Trom The cruiser's guns. IT was quiTe a sighT. AT dawn The Task Torce bombarded The ShorTland Islands group aT The sOuTh- wesTern Tip OT Bougainville. AT This Time The Task Torce Commander goT word ThaT a Jap Torce was heading Toward Empress AugusTa Bay and we were Ordered To inTercepT. Three hours beTore dawn On The 2nd OT November The Task Torce made cOnTacT wiTh The enemy Torce and a melee ensued. AT 0301 hours a Japanese Torpedo ex- ploded under The EOOTE'S TanTaiI, Taking I9 good men wiTh iT. In addiTiOn To These I9, I5 men and I oTTicer were wounded. For a Tew minuTes iT was Touch and go wiTh shells popping around us and Tlares IighTing The nighT sky buT The cruisers ringed us wiTh a smoke screen aImOsT immediaTeIy and The acTiOn sTarTed To move away Trom us. ATTer we were hiT Paul Caldwell WT 3fc said ThaT he came ouT OT The aTTer Tire- room and said To himseIT, IT I sTand here. one will hiT here Tor sure. I beTTer keep I4