Hancock (CV 19) - Naval Cruise Book

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Carriers of Task Force 38 From high over the Hannah, a Kamikaze peeled over into a dive on the handi- capped pair as sharp knives flashed to sever the connecting hoses and lines. ln a matter of seconds the batteries of the Hannah picked off the enemy plane with a direct hit at seven hundred feet immediately overhead. Again the Hannah's decks felt the impact of fragmentarybits of the plane but the heavy engine and bomb carried over the starboard side and crashed into the fantail of the Halsey Powell fifty feet away, penetrating the thin deck plat- ing and t-he heavier gun mount. The blow eliminated steering control on the destroyer which immediately sheered t-o port while the Hannah backed emergency to the din of howling blowers as the carrier's four huge screws churned up white foam giving the big ship sternway in a matter of seconds. From the island, Captain Hickey lost sight of the crippled destroyer as she careened across the bow and under the flight deck overhang. Watchers waited with braced feet for the grinding .noise of steel under the momentum of the Hannah's 33,000 tons but the Halsey cleared by inches. N Scarcely had the destroyer episode passed when the Enterprise became the subject of another attack, receiving a bomb -hit in spite of the cross-fires set up by the Hannah and other ships' of the force. The cruiser Astoria shot down

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I nto the Wind slowly toward the enemy islands, her crew battling courageously to save her. Before she managed to stave off the doom which at times seemed inevitable, she had a casualty list of over l,OOO men. Reinforcernents were received at lO25 when the big Enterprise and her escort, the cruiser Flint, joined the fray. CAP kept a vigil through the night, knock- ing out stalkers as they sought to drop flares in the blackened ranks of Task Force 58. Destroyers scurrying here and there as messenger boys used up fuel at a prodigious rate and were forced to refuel from their big sisters many times between regular fueling trips to the big tankers which followed all operations. This practice cost the destroyer Halsey Powell dearly during a topping off operation on the afternoon of the 2Oth. Proceeding at normal speed the Halsey Powell came along the starboard side of the l-lannah to take a drink , in the parlance of the TBS ltalk between shipsl. Soon fuel lines were pulsing to the rhythm of high speed pumps pouring the thick black life- giving fluid to thirsty tanks as the destroyer nuzzled like a puppy to a grey- hound brach. An hour, and several thousand barrels later, the General Alarm sent men hurrying to torpedo defense and battle stations under the renewed threat of air attack.

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kg! Y, i .N ' 1 P Gs Katori Class Cruiser Hit By Ha1mah's Planes in East China Sea Um ,JW r , ,, V. T , x D' I v. 3 . Down by the Stern- Janaary 12, 1944