Foote (DD 511) - Naval Cruise Book

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GhosT Force OT U. S. DesTroyers ---Sinks Ten Jap Ships--- UniTed Press Aboard a U. S. DesTroyer aT sea, lDelayedI. IT The Japanese are righT, The ships in This Torce musT be ghosTs. This Torce, which Tokyo Radio says has been sunk since The beginning oT The Bougainville campaign, has a record unegualled by any desTroyer ouTTiT in This area. Since November IsT I943 iT has sunk IO Japanese Warships, damaged Three oThers, shoT down aT leasT I22 enemy planes, bombarded Buka on The norThern Tip oT Bou- gainville Island Twice and The enemy seaplane base in The ShorTIands once. The C5hosT Torce, accompanied by cruisers, meT and conquered an enemy Task Torce The nighT oT November I-2 oTT Empress AugusTa Bay, Bougainville Island, sink- ing Tive ships. ATTer The engagemenT, The U. S. Torce was aTTacked by an esTimaTed 60 Jap plane armada. The desTroyers shoT down I2 and The cruisers bagged 5 oThers. SanTa Ana RegisTer December I 5, I943 When The Yanks smashed aT Japs in Empress AugusTa Bay, Admiral Aaron Tip Merrill showed ThaT a Mississippi born genTleman could also be a TighTer. The name oT The Commander oT The Task Torce was wiThheld in reporTs oT The baTTle and noT revealed unTil Admiral Tip was presenTed a Navy Cross aboard his own Tlag ship, a cruiser in The SouTh PaciTic. As relaTed laTer by The Admiral, reconnaissance showed I2 enemy ships ap- proaching our area. We opened Tire abouT 2:40 A.IvI. They reTurned Tire almosT im- mediaTely and senT planes in The air To drop Tlares over our TormaTion. You undersTand ThaT in These nighT acTions everyThing is as vague as can be. We exchanged Tire wiTh- ouT a break Tor an hour and IO minuTes unTil The enemy sTarTed To wiThdraw. Then we pursued The enemy ship Tor an hour longer unTil 5 A.IvI. while They were reTreaTing inTo The Solomon Sea. LaTer reconnaissance esTablished ThaT Tive ships had been sunk. This was The de- cisive nighT baTTle oT November I-2 in which accuracy oT Yank Tire sank a Jap cruiser and Tour desTroyers and made possible'The landing oT our armed Torces on Bougain- ville. Tip received The Legion' oT IvIeriT Tor his work in The shelling oT Ivlunda and Vila. Following This baT+Ie The Admiral uTTered a quesTion ThaT has become a classic ThroughouT This area and received iusT abouT The kind oT an answer you would expecT Trom Admiral Bull I-Ialsey.-The signalman sTared aT The message in inTeresT, smiled and Then relayed iT.- Bagged Two desTroyers. WhaT's my IimiT? When The answer came back The signalman was ready To choke. No limiT, was I-Ialsey's answer. IT's open season Tor The basTards. , From Our Navy magazine- Ivlid November l943 The monTh oT November has been a glorious one Tor The DesTroyers oT Task Force XX. During This period ships oT DesTroyer Squadron XX have been involved in The Tollowing acTions: III FirsT bombardmenT oT Buka Island I- November 43 I2l BombardmenT oT ShorTIand Islands I I- November 43 l3l NighT surTace engagemenT oT Cape Torokina, Bou- ganville Island I-2-November 43 l4l Day air aTTack by enemy planes oTT Bougainville Island 2- November 43 I 52

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Commander DesTroyer Squadron XX, Commander DesTroyer Division XX and The DesTroyer CapTains oT This Squadron have ThroughouT The currenT operaTions, demon- sTarTed The bold, deTermined, aggressive leadership which wins baTTles. The oTTicers and men oT DesTroyer Squadron XX have been resoIuTe and skilled in Tollowing The wishes oT Their leaders. lvluch damage has been inTlicTed To The enemy's ships, insTalla- Tions, and personnel. They have maTerially conTribuTed To The growing Japanese TraiT which Commodore Burke so apTly describes, When They make up Their minds To run, They Ief noThing inTerTere wiTh carrying ouT Their decision. ln addiTion To The above acTions This ship was on separaTe duTy Trom iTs squadron during The period 24 SepTember I943-OcTober 4, 1943 and operaTed under The conTrol oT Commander Task Force XX. During This period while operaTing wiTh Task Force XX.X, The ship parTicipaTed in a barren sweep beTween Kolombangara and Choiseul Islands on The nighT oT 30-SepTember-l OcTober. Also as a uniT oT Task Group XX.X, during daylighT oT OcTober I, I943, This ship parTicipaTed in repelling an enemy dive-bomber and TighTer aTTack oTF Niarovai, Vella Lavella, Solomon lslands. lnserTed ln our service records. OTT l-lagushi Beach The nighT ThaT Okinawa erupTed pyroThechnics in celebraTion oT The TirsT rumors oT Jap surrender, older members oT The crew oT This 2lOO-Ton desTroyer, grimly saTisTied, could remember a nighT oTf Bougainville almosT Two years previously, when a Nip Torpedo blew oTT her sTern, snuTTed ouT The lives oT I9 oT her men, and leTT her helpless in The dark waTers oT Empress AugusTa Bay righT in The midsT of a raging air and surTace baTTle. ATTer This unTorgeTable nighT Commander AlsTon Ramsay, USN, oT Salisbury, NorTh Carolina, said To his men: We are going To a navy yard To be repaired aTTer which we will reTurn To geT our revenge. The FooTe reTurned To The STaTes Tor a new sTern, Training and re-Training. STill under The command oT Commander Ramsay The 5l l made Tor The PaciTic war area in laTe CDcTober I944 in Time To assisT in The Tinal sTages oT The l.eyTe compaign, screening jeep carriers whose planes were saTeguarding The convoy lanes along which viTal cargoes were sTreaming To The Philippines. When newly-capTured lvlindoro was an embaTTled island surrounded by a sea oT Tar Trom impoTenT Japanese, The FooTe was in The proTecTing desTroyer van ThaT ToughT iTs way wiTh The TirsT resupply ships To The brand new American airTields There. On This Trip The Special ATTack Corps, Japan's suicide airmen, made a bid Tor ETernal Glory. Two oT Them Tound iT - Trom The business end oT The FooTe's guns - and The resT were splashed by oTher ships oT The TormaTion or puT To TlighT by The concerTed acTion oT all. ReTaliaTion again was The l:ooTe's when she moved in wiTh Three oTher DesTroyers To wiThin l5OO yards oT WhiTe Beach qli2 aT Lingayen GulT on January 9, I9-45, and pumped round aTTer round oT Tive inch shells inTo Japanese shore posiTions, baTTeries, Troops, and observaTion posTs, soTTening up The area Tor our armed branches and The Tin can sailors did Their biT while The heaT oT rapid Tiring blisTered The painT on Their guns. The nasTiesT, and yeT The mosT saTisTying iob oT all was Okinawa. Now skippered by l.ieuT. Comdr. l-l. W. Mclflwain, USN, oT Deer Lodge, MonTana, The FooTe in early May joined The pickeT desTroyers, ThaT Tar Tlung ring oT Tin cans whose mission iT was To warn The landing beaches, The TransporTs, oT approaching enemy aircraTT and To beaT down The Nips when They Tried To geT Through: and They Tried oTTen. 53