Hancock (CV 19) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 55 text:

Vice Admiral John S. M cCain on Hancock Admiral and Captain Confer Flag Bridge Commander Task Force 38

Page 54 text:

Small Boy Races for Downed Aviator -a final battle with the remainder of the Japanese Fleet. Turning into the wind on the lZth, the carriers launched attacks against Quinholm on the northeastern bulge of French Indo-China, hitting airfields and shipping to the bewilderment of surprised Japanese garrisons. Roaming southward un- checked, the carriers turned just short of the Gulf of Siam lThailandl to hit Saigon. Camranh Bay also felt the force of naval planes when an entire convoy in the bay was sunk with its escorts. Outguessing the off-balanced Japanese, the Hannah's sisters swung north again to hit l-lainan Island in the Gulf of Tonkin, then north and east again to hit the Pescadores Islands in Tawain Strait. Striking swiftly at enemy airfields and Rising Sun shipping, the fast carriers held a northward course to the very mouth of Taiwan Strait before turning back to hit the coast of China again. On the l5th, raiding planes hit Jap-held l-long Kong and Kowloon, encountering the most anti- aircraft fire experienced in the entire operation. The Hannah lost six pilots and five aircrewmen in combat. ln spite of severe enemy resistance attacks were pressed home with much damage to enemy installations again on the l6th. Targets on the l6th were the Sanchu, Chian airfield and shipping in the harbor at l-long Kong lVictorial and nearby Kowloon. 4

Page 56 text:

Jap Shipping Dots Manila Harbor-November 19, 1944 The anticipated action with the Japanese Navy failed to materialize after a thorough search of the South China Sea for enemy warships proved fruitless. Turning east once again the fast carrier force cut through Balingtan Channel, a narrow pass separating Babuyan Islands north of Luzon and the Bataan Islands lmost southern group of Philippine lslandsl to enter the Pacific on January 2Oth. At dawn on the Zl st, the carriers were again in position to hit Form.osa's airfields at Takao, Toko, Toshein and Koshun. Strikes were con- tinued throughout the morning as carrier planes returned to refuel and rearm as bombs were expended. H At i328 a torpedo plane returning from a sortie over Formosa made a normal landing on the Hannah and taxied forward in the approved manner to a point abreast of the island. Suddenly a deafening, blinding explosion jarred the Hannah from keel to masthead--a gaping 'hole appeared in the flight deck where a moment before a plane carried three tired airmen toward its accus- tomed spot by the forward elevator. Within seconds the flight deck was covered in a mass of tangled wreckage, inert forms and burning pools of gasoline. The gallery deck, a maze of staterooms, offices, control rooms and passages located between the hangar deck and flight deck, caught its full share of fire-torn hell as wreckage cascaded through holes in the flight deck to the spaces below. Ruptured fuel lines and burning wreckage combined to make the hangar deck another blazing holocaust as fire parties recovered from the initial shock and commenced to make inroads on the spreading tongues of flame.