Hamlin (AV 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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CQEW Ea CQEW A CREW 6 CQEW D CREW I CREW E CQEW F Page 37 CREW H

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The fine arT of Pacific warfare againsT The Japs was very new To The officers and men of PaTrol Bombing Squadron 208 QVPB-2087. None of us had acTually en- gaged The enemy in baTTIe or for ThaT maTTer, had ever seen him. We were iusT a squadron assigned To a Task, The defails of which we weren'T Too sure. Were being gafhered Togefher in The briefing room of The U. S. S. HAMLIN To geT The IaTesT word on whaT The assignmenf was. As we saT and IisTened To The giganTic plan of acTion ThaT was unfolded before us in The air conference room ThaT day, we agreed ThaT iT had surpassed our wildesf imaginafion. Never before in The hisTory of The P. BoaTs, as The big, lumbering, IvlarTin MARINER, paTroI bombers are called, had such a sTunT been Tried. However Tenders for seaplane bases weren'T new, They had been used before aT Saipan, Iwo Jima, and in The Phillipines. Our plan called for our Tender and Two oThers wiTh squadrons aboard To anchor in one of The proTecTed coves of Kerama RheTTo, a group of small islands abouT fifTeen miles wesT of The souThern end of Okinawa, and To operafe from There. Our primary funcTion along wiTh PaTroI Bomb- ing Squadrons I8, 2l, 27, I3 and Dumbo Squadron VH-3, was To fly anTi-submarine barrier paTroIs around Okinawa and iTs smaller, adiacenT islands, and To provide searches for The Third Fleef, To keep an eye ouT for any possible aTTack on our uniTs by The Japanese FIeeT. The piloTs were soon To learn The merifs of The MARINER. Beside The rouTine paTroIs flown day and nighT, There were many, long searches off The China and Korean CoasT, harassing Jap shipping. LaTer, The searches were around Japan ifself. IT seemed incredible aT The Time To be lllll IIIIIIP FOR THIS WAS A WAR OF SEA AND AIR, AND NEITHER COULD HAVE SURVIVED ALONE. knocking aT Japan's fronT door in a slow seaplane when The B-29's were having such a Tough Time of iT. There were occasions when The PBM proved more Than a maTch for Jap fighTers, Torpedo bombers and heavy bombers. IT was a regular occurrence for The pafrols To aTTack swarms of Kamikaze aTTack planes on Their way To Okinawa and aT Times To shooT some of Them down. Before The monTh of June was over, There were quiTe a few PBM's wiTh a meaT ball or Two painTed on Their fuselage. There were some who were less forTunaTe. ThaT is where The mainfenance crews did Their sTuff. A call would be received from a crippled plane, refurning from a search or Torpedo aTTack of China, Korea, or Japan, and The crews on board The HAMLIN would sTand by in readiness. DespiTe The Tremendous size of The seaplane, The piloT would land close by and before his plane could Taxi To a sTop, small boaTs would be alongside, ready To Tow The plane under The ship's crane To be hoisfed aboard. On one occasion, The procedure was effecTed in less Than six minuTes from The Time The plane landed on The wafer. IT was The producT of Teamwork broughT To perfecTion. Many Times, piIoTs and crews, weary wiTh fatigue from an all-nighT paTroI, had To combaT our oIdesT enemy, The .weaTher. All of us agree ThaT we would raTher face Jap, planes Than The weaTher. IT was, wiThouT a doubT, The worId's worsT. One crew failing To find Their way back To The -base because of weafher ran up a record of sevenTeen and a half hours of fIighT Time on Their firsT mission. Besides The hazards of enemy and weaTher, a 24-hour buoy waTch was sTood by The piloTs and crews when noT flying. This proved To be more gruelling Than flighT. IT was necessary To be on The aIerT for Jap swimmers Page 36 who mighT Take a fancy To Throwing a grenade inTo an open haTch on a dark nighT, There was also The danger of being sTruck by shrapnel from our own ship's guns as The enemy flew overhead. On one occasion, a piece of shrapnel seT a plane afire aT a buoy during an air raid. The fire was quickly exTinguished buT The nexT day, Tokyo Rose reporfed a greaT vicfory aT Kerama RheTTo when a large seaplane was seT afire and sunk. And so iT wenT for almosT five long monThs. Dark nighTs and rainy days, paTroIs and searches and Kamikaze aTTacks. In' July, afTer The HAMLIN had moved To Oki- nawa, our work became a IiTTIe easier. The operaTing area was much larger buT sTiII rough. IT was The afTer- noon of July 28Th ThaT The Squadron IosT iTs firsT crew. LieuT. Charles Turner, aTTempTing To Take off amid high swells, crashed his plane nose firsT inTo The waTer. .The weaTher had Take iTs Toll where The Japs had failed. Nine of The crew died ThaT day. SepTember 2, I945, found The complefe squadron wing- ing in formafion over Tokyo in grim saIuTe To The enemy. Everyone was aT ease for The firsT Time in monThs because we all knew one Thing for sure, our mission was fulfilled. PaTroI Bombing Squadron 208 is noT The only air group which has been aTTached To This ship, buT iT is The squadron which has operaTed wiTh us for The IongesT Time during The mosT dangerous of our missions. ParT of The group ioined The HAMLIN aT Guam while The remainder flpw The planes direcTIy To Kerama RheTTo. IT was from These islands of The Ryukus chain ThaT VPB 208 flew hundreds of hours of search, reconnaisance, sfrikes and Dumbo hops for almost four monThs, under condiTions which would have sTopped men of lesser endurance and courage.

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xii 'llllllll Radio-radar stations pictured above and at left, were an added menace to the secrecy which must surround the loca- tion and movements of allied shipping. By radar, these stations could pick up our planes or ships many miles out, giving themselves precious minutes in which to man their fighters or dispatch a superior force ot ships. Many of our radio transmissions were intercepted at these advanced posi- tions endangering our security of communications. Such stations were decommissioned by the versatile Martin Mariner using machine-gun tire' or bombs, paving the way for our fleet. Page 38 'H rx si af if qw. .37 wlzfv I f9f iI'E A 1