Hamlin (AV 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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LEFT TO RIGHT, FIRST ROW: Phaneuf, Lusk, Lt. Cigl Rountree, Lt. figj Kennedy, Lemkey, Hackett, Kellogg. SECOND ROW: Guide, McConaughy, Haag, Slaven, Woods, Stapleton. LEFT TO RIGHT, FIRST ROW: Toth, Whalen, McKinley, Hale, Lauzon, Chambers 'Carpentry and repair are full time iobs. Kennison, Bermeier, Alstott, Bowling, Blankenship, Rose, Weber, Carter, Tireyi SECOND ROW: Johnson, Buikema, Hanke, Scott, Glen, Fitzgerald, Harriot, Brooks, Therkelson, Trevino, Kasik, Welch, Pugh, Rummel. THIRD ROW: Smith, Dutt, Newman. LEFT TO RIGHT: Freeman, DeMore, Grotenhuis, Jacobs, C Shiptitters keep the ship in top Condition.. bergson, Buss, Dobrovolny, Mazur, Casey, Lauri, Edwards SECOND ROW: Cooke, Books, McCartney, Kuiala, Hurley, arroll, Helm. Page 20 Boorn, Folks, Davis, Taylor, Burke. LEFT TO RIGHT, FIRST ROW: Mines, Teunder, Weber, Tor-

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A new phase in our life at sea was beginning. It could be sensed in the faster tempo of activity which pervaded the entire ship. The supplies and ammunition which we were lcading were not items of cargo essential to sea- plane operations in quiet harbors. Rumors that a big invasion was in the offing reached us and soon it became the most talked of subject aboard that the HAMLIN was slated for combat with a large task force. Life at Saipan was getting a bit monotonous and the prospect of excite- ment was stimulating. Not for long were we kept in doubt as to our next assignment. After a short trip to Guam for aviation spare parts, we headed north beyond the Marianas. A day out of Guam, the Captain confirmed our hopes. In an announcement to the entire crew, he told us of our desti- nation, of what we could expect there. Our day to meet the enemy had come. We were on course for Iwo Jima. It was early morning of February 20 when the HAMLIN and her escort swung out of convoy. The dawn, cold and gray, found us proceeding cautiously toward our desti- nation. Not far ahead, dimly visible on the horizon were warships of the Fifth Fleet, and the dull roar of heavy guns carried to us. Throughout the hours before morning twilight, the skies had flared with the flame of naval batteries. lt would have been unnecessary to sound the general alarm, for the weather decks and life lines were crowded with early risers, eagerly watching for a first view of the battleground. An atmosphere of tense excite- ment seemed part of the dampness which hung in the air. Then, out of the mist, appeared an island, a very small island with a hump at one end and flat everywhere else, packing more fury in its seven square miles of mud, clay and volcanic ash than any other battlefield of the war. For this was Iwo Jima of the Volcanoes. The time was D-Day plus one. Our purpose in this invasion was to set up a seadrome at the base of Mt. Suribachi and from there to fly in blood plasma, medical supplies, important dispatches, air freight and mail. On outgoing flights, our planes would carry press and military dispatches, critical hospital cases and mail. VPB I9 was to be our squadron, replacing VPB I7. .Though our intended operations were delayed by the unexpectedly stubborn defenses on Suri- bachi, it was only a short time before the seadrome was laid out and actual flying begun. During our seventeen days at Iwo, we witnessed a display of air and sea power which would have stunned an observer unfamiliar with invasion warfare. On each side of us were ships of every class, and overhead the planes from carriers beyond the horizon filled the sky. Illl BAT IF YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN COMBAT, YOU CANNOT KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE, AND IF YOU HAVE, YOU CAN'T DESCRIBE IT. It was evident that the Japanese needed more soften- ing up and the Naval Air Corps was on hand to do iust that. Helldivers plunged from the clouds, dropping their payload of bombs on Hot Rocks at the foot of Suribachi where enemy batteries were firmly entrenched. Rocket- carrying Wildcats sent their fiery missles into concrete blockhouses and anti-aircraft emplacements. Circling slowly at low altitude, where tiny Piper Cubs and Avengers, the pregnant sharks of the fleet, spotting the locations of men and weapons. Using these spots, the bombarding ships were able to drop ton after ton of high explosive proiectiles on positions invisible to ship-board gun crews. At point blank range, battleships and cruisers maintained steady fire with deadly accuracy. Close inshore, destroyers moved, aiding the ground troops with anti-aircraft bat- teries, as effective on tanks or troops as on airplanes. All through the night, the island was bathed in the artificial light of star shells, and the fighting on land con- tinued undiminished. We saw much of this midnight com- bat, for the Japs were not giving in easily. From sunset to sunrise we were prepared to man battle stations to repulse attack by air. It was at Iwo Jima that we learned why so many hours had been spent at Ulithi and Saipan under smoke. Before, we had cursed the smoke because it irritated our eyes and throats and now we cursed be- cause we could not see the raiding planes. With the smoke screen so effective, it was unnecessary for us to fire-a single round of ammunition. Such was not the case on other ships -with radar-controlled guns. Such vessels threw up a terrific barrage of A. A. fire, lacing the sky with tracers. No man topside on one particular night, will forget the sight of a Marine ammunition dump rendered a holocaust of exploding flames by heavy mortar fire. For hours it burned and periodic detonations were of sufficient force to rock the ship. Each huge ball of fire which mushroomed from the conflagration was a signal to cover our ears against the sound of the blast. For over two weeks, we lay off this island of concen- trated death operating with squadron by day and manning guns at night. On shore, living and dying in the dust and grime of volcanic ash, U. S. Marines were fighting as no group of men had ever fought, grasping victory only at the cost of thousands of lives. Many of these men were treated for wounds in our sick bay and while aboard, gave us actual accounts of the bloody conflict. So it pro- gressed, with our aircraft and ships supporting in daylight hours and hand to hand fighting at night. Every known weapon of warfare was used except gas, including rockets, Page 21 mortars, flame-thrcwers and phosphorous bombs. Many times, when shrapnel from our own anti-aircraft fire was dropping to the decks or bursting in the water around us, we longed for the protection of armor plating. But God was with us. Aside from a few shrapnel scratches and a hole in the stack from a stray five inch projectile, we suffered no damage. It was not without relief that we got underway for our return to Saipan. This was March 8, and though the island was not yet secured our usefulness there was at an end. We watched over the fantail as Iwo Jima sank into the sea. Mt. Suribachi, on which two vessels before the Stars and Stripes had been raised, finally faded into the grayness of the sky. Even before our arrival at Saipan on March IO, there was talk of our participation in another invasion. The fact that there was no perceptible lapse between our anchoring and the replenishing of stores, fuel and ammu- nition, lent strength to this bit of scuttlebutt. Our first concern, however, was the reading and answering of letters from home which had accumulated during the seventeen days at Iwo. Little time was lost and before many days we were certain that the HAMLIN was again to be part of a task force moving in on the Japs. It seemed that the ldes of March would lead us to many things. A short cruise to Guam and back again netted us more aviation engines as well as a few members of our new squadron, VPB 208. Last minute details were cared for on our return from Guam. When the last boat had been hoisted aboard and all departments reported ready for sea, we got under- way for the most hazardous of our months in the Pacific. Though we did not know it, the trial ahead was to make Iwo Jima look like a Sunday school picnic as far as ships and sailors were concerned. Perhaps it is as well that we did not know, for it is not good for men to think about dying. . KERAMA RH ETTO A naval bombardment was in progress as our convoy moved past the southern tip of Okinawa. It was during morning twilight on the 28th of March that the men at battle stations obtained their first- look at one of the greatest battlegrounds in the Pacific, less than three hun- dred and fifty miles from Japan. Ahead of us lay Kerama Rhetto, seventeen miles west of Okinawa, and this was our destination. The rising sun had cleared the skies long before we reached the submarine net which protected the inner cove. With the net swung back, the prow of the HAMLIN nosed