Harris (APA 2) - Naval Cruise Book

Text from Pages 1 - 108 of the 1945 volume:

y ro kOTAMU rOKOMAMA OKiMAWA f lAMMtC LUZON •SAIfAN «UAM « jM«LAO «HAMUS MOILANOIA TTv....«, •• miiu •rNIWCTOK • KWAJALOM •TAK«WA i UAOAIXAKAt. .w«U.lt SANMC SAN OICOC! : Jy n I wigw - ' r- NC«V ZEALAND i .$] , mill This is the story of the U S. S, HARRIS (APA ' 2) in World War II A story of a Proud Ship and of the men who manned her through the greatest war in our nation ' s history. X ( ) Q H Z ud X H INVASION RECORD WALLIS SAFl ATTU KISKA TARAWA KWAJALEIN SAIPAN ANGAUR ULITHI LEYTE LINGAYEN 5-31-42 11-8-42 5-11-43 8-15-43 11-20-43 2-1-44 6-16-44 9-15-44 9-23-44 10-20-44 1-9-45 ZAMBALES 1-29-45 OKINAWA 4-1-45 -?0 VOBAY9-5. [Jl Et: J For Perforttiifig Outstanding Services.,. ATTU Lt. Comdr. Edwin Marquac Lieut. Carl S. Sigmon Lieut. Frank Grimes, Jr. Lt. Comdr. C. S. Britt (MC) Lt. Comdr. Frank H. Conlcy Lieut. Frederick B. Foulger Lieut. Noel V. Bird KWAJALEIN Lieut, (jg) R. C. Griffith, Jr. Cyril E. Caron, Cox. Marvin E. Dearing, Sic John E. Martin, Jr., MoMMic Robert T. Becka. PhMjc Thomas C. Coe, Cox. Frank A. Gresshoflf, Jr., Cox. Raoul (n) Martinez, RM3C SAIPAN Lieut. Frederick C. Tyler LEYTE Polo S. Nitkiewicz, CBM Keith M. Clendenin, BMic John J. Nooner, BMzc Rufus L. Fitzgerald, BMic Frank S. Lutz, BMac Excellent service in ATTU. KISKA, TARAU ' A, K X ' AJALi;iN, SAIPAN, ANGAUR, ULITHI, LI YTF, LINGAYLN, SOUTH ZAMBALIIS (LUZON), and OKINAWA JIMA. Lieut. John A. Chastain Lieut, (jg) Eugene J. Kuelthau Lieut, (jg) Myron Kaminar Flarvey S. Black, BMic Frank E. Witman, Jr., Yac Clarence C;. Webb. Cox. -iL. fe by merik SFofWstiriM Lieutenant (jg) CRolaiid - . Winterfield . :--.- V Lieute ' l -) William |BPnfes Lieutenant (j Nilri HSt - Buehler Frank J. Russo, KR ic ■A Joseph E. Ruiz, S MM ' Emeric J. Borci ' kpi, ' j ?c. Rayburn D. || yes, R J- s m:o | The Lady Has a Past . . . Ljunchcd as the PINE TREE STATE in 1920. the HARRIS had her name changed to the SS PRESIDENT GRANT in i n. She was a speedy gal in her youth and gained fame by out churning the EMPRESS OF RUSSIA in a Paci- fic race. The sturdiness of the ship was proved in 19)7 when she weathered the greatest typhoon ever recorded. Vi ' ith the wind at 167 miles per hour, the barometer dropped to 28.00 which was so unusual that it now rests in a museum. Her peace time career came to an end on 19 August 1940, when the ship was commissioned the U.S.S. HARRIS gaining her name from John Harris, colonel commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps during the early days of the Civil Vi ' ar. And She Has Been Around. . . Thirteen major amphibious operations plus numerous other errands of war took the Harris 250,000 miles to the Arctic, to the Tropics, to Africa, to Asia, and to the islands of the Pacific. The ports of call of the Hari Maru require no in- troduction, no description. They are famous names, known to every Ameri- can. We Wi I Never Forget Pearl Harbor At the time of the sneak attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1 94 1, while people all over the civilized world were glued to their radios, shocked and stunned by the news of the treach- ery, the Harris was operating off of San Diego running her final tests. At 1420 that fateful day, a message was received to the effect that a sub was op- erating off Point Loma, and the ship was ordered back to port immediately, jll engines Full Ahead . Immediately after, the Big H steamed for Pearl Harbor, making three trips between there and the Mainland during December and January. She holds the distinction of being one of the first ships into Hawaiian waters after the disaster. Pearl Harbor, the Pearl of the Pacific, how many millions of Pacific fighting men remember as their first foreign port of call, the first stop-over on the long trip out to the fighting fronts and the last stop-over on the long trip home- ward back, the huge base of Pacific naval war, an arsen.il for the rearming and repairing of wounded ships, a hos- pital area for wounded warriors, an early training ground for jungle and amphib- ious warfare, a rear area rest camp, a place of crowded hectic recreation for weary men, and of shopping for Hawai- ian souvenirs for the folks back home, the place of Poi and the Hula . • V -1 First Trip to the South Pacific . . . Took the Harris to Uea in the WaUis Islands to play a pioneer ' s role in the new science of am- phibious warfare. Through the Canal and to Africa . . . A collision with the U.S.S. Algorab at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay caused severe damage to the Harris. Repairs were rushed to completion and the ship was ready for sea two weeks later. Harris boats went in with the first wave of the Allies ' initial offensive in the European-African theatre. Kv MON BfACH AT SAtI Frtnch All ies ' -- i ( Friends in Panama Pacijic Offensive iti the Aleutians . , . To drive the enemy from American soil, forces moved north, to Attu and to Kiska. THfc Tickr and Bui I on XHt bi ach • Salvage effected • Earth MOVERS bi A M l ' Kii, North Paciik style. United States Territory Reclaimed From The Enemy Back to Stay After steaming through frigid Arctic waters, the invading forces found stiff opposition under the mists that overhung Attu. Flanked in the north and menaced by growing AlHed power in the south, the Jap retreated from Kiska leaving nothing but the barren slopes to meet the Ameri- can attack there. i i -%hv:. ■ A - M . V , -JT ' ZML iiy ' j . i ' The Big H Goes to Latitude South . . . PONL ' TU Gl VSI R Looking dou n on iHt coast or Ni « Zim and And to the Fiji Islandi In October 1943, the Harris was designated to conduct tests and training for landings on coral beaches in preparation for the offensive in the Gilbert Islands. These were carried out at Fiji. • , 5 AND 10, Fiji Style Local Gendarme Pier 91, F.I. CoRAi Formations. On I oi nu. obstacli.s o oviRcoMi; ,«««:i- .,v. There was A LOT TO LEARN What an enemy beach doesn ' t look like Nice quilt war Lying off Tarawa . . . m- ' - ' • ' -  ' i; - i Under fire the Second Marines were landed for one of the bloodiest b.itiles in The Corps ' history. Invasion of the Marshalls • Kwajalein has been called Ta- rawa without the mistakes . An intense pre-assault bombard- ment made the price less costly. ' ' :4jk Yaiih Land on Saipan Cane fields slowed the attack A bomber base within range of the Jap homeland was needed for the new B-29 ' s rolhng off the assembly lines back in the States. Beginning 1; June 1944, action to secure this base was begun. Harris boats began hitting the fiercely contested beaches on the night of 16 June. The Harris shoved her new paint job. Sc HOOI  AS intirrupti d To Redeem a Promise . , , At Ulithi it was quiet. Stepping stones were needed for Gen- eral MacArthur ' s return to the Phil- ippines. W ith troops loaded at Pear! Harbor and trained at Guadalcanal, the Harris proceeded first to Anguar and later to Ulithi. . Until the atoll became a fleet anchorage PaLAU was STOUTLY DEFENDED Return to the Phillipines . . . Two minutes before H-Hour on 20 October 1944, Harris boats hit the beach south of Tacloban on Lcytc at the start of the battle that was to end with the Jap fleet riddled and the air corps reduced CO a suicide battahon. Following a second trip to Leyte in November the ship transferred the 37th Division from Bougainville through repeated air attacks to Luzon for the cam- paign which began 9 January 1945. To seal off Bataan peninsula from the drive on Manila, the 38th Division was landed at Zambales on 29 January. • e: ' ' - I ' % rh. nt ' Easter Moniifio at Ohitiawa Landing troops and equipment all day and standing by the guns all night made i April 194; a poor holiday, but it marked ihc bcginning of the end for the Nip. ■ ' ' : p. .A ' -f- ' ' .VV ' .■■.•■:. -if, f ' .f ' : ' -. The Divine Wind of Nippon, the Kamikaze | ' Blew out o tl e N cth, put 6 ' f t|ie dr gonfs ' ihouth, •■ ' ■ ■ III ■ I I 1 A fanaticaf foe bent oAdestructioiy ' i ■ i | Through ' self-destructioii, . ' ' ! : Whose burhing bre t was first felc in Leyte ulf . Increasing, in ' ' fury;, at Liiigayen . ., j; ' Reachin a crescendo Vt Okinawa. jlma. j ' agship of Tra sRon 1 }, iht arris entered Tokyo Bay on 8 -« ' ' ' September [94S. With the O plan for an amtphibious landinK , n the bcachc of Sagami W jjfncatly stored •- . jf in iJk circular nle-rxhc ship went .1 ■■.• akSngside the dfArk thus ending all uncertainty The war was os y A month , ifer Nippon made the, surrender otlicial, the 77 ' ' y ' , ' Division was pii « norc at Otaru to occuj rfne northern island of . ,- ' ... ■ iC. Yokohama . . . WAS A WAR TORN TOWN. StILL STANDING WERE PUBLIC BUILDINGS, HOMES AND HOTELS. A Nip pilot BROUGHT THE HaRRIS IN. The People . . . X ' tRK CONTINUING THEIR DAILY ROUTINE LIVES Svi 1 ATINC OUT A RATION OR . . , A STREETCAR LINE AS IK NOTHING VtRE CHANGED, ALOOF AND SILENTLY DEFIANT OF L ' S, m-HO TRI SPASS THI IR DOMAIN. Blt mostly i st waiting To SEE WHAT OTHER PENALTIES . . . Besides these of destruction AND RUIN Will follow their ag- gression, their sneak attacks, their atroci- ties I  i ' r Allied headquarters could supply the answer. M r a - - mmmmm- Thk 77TH Division band crmeted us as we arrived in tovn for a six hour liberty. Sapporo was a different story ll « AS NOT A BIG TOWN. It KI AI SOMI I AIR SIZED BUILDINGS But mosti V ir iookid i iki this The people seemed poorer but happier here than in Yokohama. Children were a little afraid . But also plen iy curious aboui us. Things were badly in need of repair . . . good souvenirs were scarce. Visiting our Allies in Asia . . . Late in 1945, essential equipment and personnel were moved into troubled North China. In Tientsin and Peking Harris men met the people who had known Japanese domination since 1937. Horn Muc H, Jor ? To TMI Victoria -FOR StIlAK! Tientsin . . . was the best liberty town west of Frisco. Tills  AY TO Thf Jai Alai Club! ' RiKI HAS ' Main Bridge Leading to Palace View from the Lake The Palace in Peking The Emperor ' s Walk PEKING... former capital of China and home of the Manchu Dynasty. Magic Carpet . . . Vi ' ith high point men lu.idcil at Tsingtao, the Harris sailed toward home late in December of 194J. Ahead lay just one more trip — through the canal and to Boston for decom- missioning. ■ : r Captain Van Eaton Cap In ins of O. M. Fori mi r, Captain, USN • A. M. AN Iaion, Commander, USN • M. E. Murphy, Captain, USN • G. L. Burns, Captain, USNR Captain Burns the Harris have been able leaders, respected and admired by their crews Captain Murphy • L r -; Executive Of cers . . . o B oj the H arris have been skilled administrators a fid experieneed l.l • ' seamen. A. M. Van Eaton, Lt. Comdr.. USN F. H. Con ley: Lieut.. USN R. C. Wilson. Lt. Comdr.. USNR O. C. Erickson, Lt. Comdr.. USNR G. R. Cassels-Smith, Lt. Comdr., USNR B. . BicK, Lt. Comdr.. USNR Lt. Comdr. Erk rson Ship ' s Officers were mostly alumni of 121 and 123, 5 ? [9 t % l l The 1st DIVISION was up forward where the spray broke over the how. The 2tid DIVISION rati the ' ' hotel 1  X ,- r-J .4 Uv • i F6 w could find the 3rd DIVISION hack on the fantail - +p Where there was trouble, there was the an  DIVISION 77? men who kept the Lady going were in the DIVISION l -lUJiiL ' J t aPWT I H I M.l-H u U  U . I I I Ji « . . .IM U liee f ' I ' hti Hoi t Fifies It was always hot, very hot, where the B ((nv DIVISION worked Steam winches were just one of the headaches of the DIVISION 7 6 the movie projector koiiked out, the i(T)) ' E DIVISION held muster The. O DIVISION Said) You gotta have something more than hows and arrows in this man ' s war ' ' The UT T DIVISION could give you atiythiug J rot 11 cm aspinti to ail attiputatioti. If you con Idn ) get the scoop in the barber shop, you could try the DIVISION If you wanted to eat, get paid, needed a haircut, or — r ' ' ' « wanted the sleeves back that you sent to the laundry on your shirt, you saw the an)) DIVISION Wherever there was staff work, there was the (cn)) DIVISION ' f .Jt A I ' r ' -- M Out Where the War Was Goitio Of I . . , o . . Dungarees were the Uniform of the Day Sailors Get Around. . . Much of what Harris men did is strictly off the record . That part of their story which can be told may seem to be a confusion of Hberty parties, bull sessions, chow lines, and just plain hard work. If it does, then the story has been well told, for that is what the sailor ' s life is. ' Pp ' ' ' i • MONTHS OUT Wc Didti Gd to Town ery Open . . . • But When We mm • . . . was sometimes free- dom among the dim lights of lower Market Street. More often it was just two beers under a palm tree. • J chee7 i20 KNOTS ' ' ' y ; i ' : r . y y -rfy 77777V rry, %lkJk Occasionally the boys went out for a steak . . . K i - ' E3 A J ir j ( f • I 4rf '  Cl iSlft -4 ' ' S W A . . . but usually they were more interested in a ' ' Tomato ' ' ' ' Liberty Houtid ' ' Chips was more than j nuscot. He was part of the crew. Being a democratic pup he went on recreation parties with all four sections. Mr. CHIPS I ' m sorry How lonesome you must be X ' ithout a little soul mate To keep you company. It ' s tough I can imagine While we ' re under way, Not having friends around To pass the time away. Now I ' m a nature lover And with you I will agree That nothing is so comforting As seeing a good old tree. And when you got a broken leg Which is an added load That you alone must carry As you go along life ' s road. I saw you then at sick bay, So broken and so weak. That when the crew came visiting You couldn ' t eat or speak; But CHIPS, Just keep your chin up Until this war is o ' er Then at last I know you ' ll get The things you ' re longing for. If It were I who had my way I ' ll tell you what I ' d do: I ' d find a mate, a nice big tree. And a juicy bone for you! POPS LINDMO Honolulu . . . . . . Looked like a good liberty town . . . IF you had been out long enough QtOOf) In Stranoe Places Came Stratwe o o Experiences But . . . Land Ho! X Hosi Da 1 1 ? Rahis in thi VC ' oods The Toughest Campaigns Were Fought In The States Battle of fris Troop Cofiipartfticfits , . . Weren ' t exactly first class accommoda- tiuns, but everybody had J place to sleep and the fresh air vents Worked once in a while. High and Dry The Harris is a challenger for the title of Least overhauled ship in the Fleet. Twenty months with only one short visit stateside was the last record. Even so four years of service made drydock- ing necessary at San Diego, San Pedro, Baltimore, Pearl Harbor, Seattle, San Francisco and Samar. • • Flag Ship During the war, the Harris served six ditTcrcnt flag officers. They were Rear Admiral Drai mil. Commodore Carlson, Captain Braisti d, Captain Briitan, Captain McGovkrn, and Captain Phillips fV • CoMMo. Carlson with Maj. Gen. Bruce • ComTransRon 13 AND Staff Errands of Mercy . . . One inevitable result of battle is casualties. The Harris was often used as a front line retreat; evacuated approximately one thousand injured men. After invasion, lights burned all night in sick bay as skilled Navy doc- tors and pharmacists mates worked over fallen fighters. And This Was The Enemy . . . Not the ludicrous, buck-toothed, bespectacled half-pint of the cartoonists, but a desperate foe who seriously believed in his mythological mission, that Japan must rule the world, who care- fully and ruthlessly intrigued, organized, planned and prepared for more than twenty years the carrying out of this fantastic scheme for world domination, inculcating every Japanese school- boy in the stern codes of Samuraii and Bushido, of w.ir .ind death. And when all was ready . . . Out of his little islands in t he East he poured, like a swarm of ants, into Manchuria, China, then Indonesia and the polyglot lands to the South, and then the Philippines and the islands of the Pacific. Oh, those of you who have seen the great numbers of old Ameri- can autos, the Fords and Chevies and Buicks, made in Detroit, on the streets of Yokohama and Otaru, the Nip Army trucks shod with Yokohama Goodyear Rubber Company tires, and have asked: With what did these people intend to defeat America. — with stolen brains and g(H)ds? And those of you who have seen the poverty and ignorance of the Jap peasant and fisherman, the feudal caste system, the bowing and scraping, the subservience of the female, the smiling and so-sorry face of the Jap in the face of Im conqueror, those of you who have laughed so humanly at the sight of the cute, red-cheeked Japan- ese children who pecked with fear and curiosity at you from behind papered windows in Yokohama or extended their hungry hands to you for chewing gum in Sapporo, oh those of you who have asked . . . How could these harmless httle people attempt to wage world war? Oh remember . . . These are the people who tore alive the helpless body of Nanking, drew and quartered Shanghai, took Singapore, bombed Pearl Harbor and snuffed out the lives of three thousand American young on a sunny Sunday morning in December, destroyed the once beautiful Christian city of Manila, overran the countless islands of The Philippines, New Guinea and the Western Pacific. These are the soldiers whom we had to push back, island by island, across the vast sweep of the Pacific, from the hot steaming jungles of the Southwest, the desolate coral and lava isles of the Central, and the bleak, cold friendless isles of the North. These are the soldiers whom we had to blast and burn from the very earth they stole. These are the sailors whom we had to fight back across the years and miles of the empty Pacific spaces, from Midway, the Coral Sea, Savo Island, the Philippine Sea. This is the enemy whom we had to push back, back, back, back into his little islands in the East. This th is was tne enemy. There Were Some Places . . . Like the Gedunk stand SiRVKts AT Ska Mr.RiTORioLs Mast That Nobody Missed Chow Line Haircut Department • Chamber of Horrors BeJiitid the Chow Line... . . .were the ship ' s cooks and bakers. Nobody lost weight on the Harris. - ' Vif DOS ' r SIRVI tOCKTAILS HF.KF.. Bub! Heave To for a Long Stay . . , • m 1ft M ' W k W SUb ' ■ifl IXJB , n W K imJ 4W r V ... A few men were aboard for the complete trip. For that there should be a medal! Recognize A nyone Here ? Major General Arnold Accepted Sword Japs Surrender on Cebu i w .u }fif 6 An ' rtf A f ' Af f-r ■ Dischev {his orilor iincipr ji ' .y tt r u t r f f r-A f tf ' ' r m. r I- pc3ENT Omif:::--, :: ::i Deep {v 0! J ' lir I ' aval DisBieasurf Ruler of IK ' Raging; Mairi Sj His 3« vor t 5 w r c ' e;v. Filipinos Live Again , . . Harris men first saw Philippine villages prostrate from the rav- ages of a brutal invader, ' ith the coming of American power, life there began anew. • Once again the people could work and plan and laugh. They could hold celebrations to com- memorate important events, like Liberation Day. J:....Mfl V t m: nQ |r n B After the War . . . Gitiitti hecanic a quiet liberty port With Invasions Over... Peace time Navy looked pretty soft. The big news was the point sys- tem and the post war Navy. 49 seemed like a lot of points. A Post Script . . . ... to the story of the Harris should concede that the attempt to tell that story has of necessity been fragmentary. The ad- ventures of three thousand men in four years of war can be only touched upon in so few pages. It is especially to be re- gretted that pictures of many of the officers and men who manned the Harris through often dangerous and always difficult days were not available for inclusion. A note is here appropriate expressing appreciation to Cap- tain G. L. Burns and Lt. Comdr. B. I. Beck for taking the initia- tive in putting this pictorial biography of the Hari Maru on record. It is further appropriate that a public thanks be said to the staff who combined efforts to tell the story. They were: M. A. Rosenberg, Lt. (jg), USNR G. R. Haslop, 2nd Lt., USMCR W. E. Ryan, Ens., USNR W. E. Winter, PhMic, USNR G. E. Manning, SM3C, USNR W. A. Perry, MM3C, USNR E. W. Kinny, QM3C, USNR R. J. Littlefield, Fic, USNR To be added is a statement of appreciation to E. M. Dickin- son and Bill Greuling of the Rand Press, Boston, for generous assistance far above and beyond the requirements of the pub- lishing contract. L. E. Wright, Lt. (jg) SC USNR, Editor t5? ;v 3K5f J -r«? ' ;5?=K ' ' «?r;- 3 ;??- |gp s-- % 1 i