Henry A Wiley (DM 29) - Naval Cruise Book

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formance with a fair degree of regular- 1 downed American pilot as well as sur- seen a Japanese pilot adopt the salt fy, vivors from an American destroyer. Had And, through the days and the nights at Iwo, guys wondered when the next mail call would be and argued the re- spective merits of various guns and ships and planes and pinup girls and dreamed of a postwar life devoted primarily and fundamentally to sleep . . . sleep . . . sleep. For the folks back home, the invasion of Okinawa started April 1, 1945, when the troops moved in for what eventually proved to be the last lap of the road to occupy Tokyo. The Wiley was at Okinawa eight days before that. Okinawa wasn't secured until late June. Between March and June the Okinawa campaign, for the Navy, proved in per- sonnel and ship losses the most rugged acicion of the war since Pearl Harbor it- se f. The Wiley was in all of it. V She began the campaign as a suppo-rt vessel for mine sweeps assigned to clear the Okinawa Gunto area of mines and other menaces to invasion navigation. Before it was over she had splashed ten Japanese planes and two Baka bombs, had assists on two other downed planes and was credited with still another prob- able . . . She had bombarded beaches . . . Dropped depth charges on subma- rine contacts . . . Searched for Jap sui- cide ammunition barges . . . Pickedup a water method of Hara-K1r1 by discard- ing his life jacket as the Wiley approach- ed with the intention of rescuing him . . . Had felt the jar of an exploding Jap torpedo, which missed . . . And had put in a full share of duty as radar picket, one of the most vital and at the same time most hazardous of all the Okinawa Fleet operations. It is a long time from the twenty-first day of March until the twenty-third day of June in any year. But, comparative- ly, the period 28-29 March, 1945, seems in the memories of many Wiley men to make up the greater share of the total campaign time. Starting at 6:15 a. m. the 28th they were at battle stations continuously un- til the following night. They began by dunking their first Japanese plane, a Nate attempting a suicide dive. Before the hour was out, they downed another. In the same morning they were alerted for suicide boats, and also delivered har- assing fire to the beach. Before mid- night a vicious air attack was beaten off, but the ship was jarred by a torpedo which exploded at the end of its run- a near miss. The next day was no better. A Jake aimed a bomb which fell into the Wiley's wake, 70 yards astern. Two Nates, with suicide intentions, were knocked down-the second splashing just 75 yards off the starboard bow af- ter the ZOMM guns had sliced off a wing. Page twenty four

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Wiley, in the face of rugged duty, crip- pling or fatal to scores of ships, suffer- ed only a few scratches, no cuts. The Wiley made her war debut at Iwo Jima. The official battle action report for February 16 to March 9, 1945, says she was engaged in Bombardment, il- lumination and routine screening . That's short, and true, but these five words include a series of one-act plays like this one: The Place: lVIt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima. The Time: Night of February 20-21, 1945. As the action unfolds the stage is cov- ered by the curtain of night. Land, sea and sky blend into a uniform blackness. The first sound is a radio request, di- rected to the Wiley from the beach, ask- ing that the ship come in near the moun- tain to lend all possible fire support. The J aps, it was explained, were massing for a suicide counter-attack. A black ghost in a black night, the Wiley starts in at a good clip. As the ship cuts its way through the water and nears it goal, speed is reduced. But she doesn't stop. CThe action report will eventually say she pulled up within 500 yards of the shore line, but men who claimed to hear the bow scrape bottom will say even half that figure represents a masterpiece of understatementj. But finally the Wiley stops. The night has an ominous quiet, broken only at intervals by the crack and flash of Japanese sniping. Then the word is passed: Now hear this-the searchlight crew man your stations . A sailor mumbles the thought that immediately hits all minds, We'll be a perfect target . The curtain goes up as the darkness is slashed by the light's glare. The beam searches out the low plateau and breaks against the sheer, cave-pocked face of Suribachi. The silence that a mo- ment ago blanketed everything is simul- taneously shattered. All hell breaks loose as the guns open fire-rapid fire. There is the stutter of the 50's . . . The bop- bop-bop-bop of the 20's . . . The hard, sharp crack of the 40's . . . The thunder of the six 5-inchers. It is like all the Public Park American Fourth-of-July Fireworks displays rolled into one. A few shells from unknown sources burst near the ship and sometimes there is the spa-n-n-n-g of a rifle bullet against steel. That's it. The lights go out, the fir- ing stops, the black curtain falls back into place, the Wiley eases out to sea. POSTSCRIPT: There were no drama critics from the newspapers there. The actors themselves made up the audience. The principal players ashore, for whom the Wiley men constituted a .supporting cast were the Fifth Marines. They liked the play. They transmitted a review which went something like Well Done and We owe you a cigar on that one . And that's all there was to it-except that with a few changes in time and scenery the Wiley duplicated the per- Page twenty-three

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Meanwhile, there were miscellaneous ir- ritations from above and a sub contact from below. There were plenty of Wiley men who never expected to see the end of those two days, and now, when you ask how it was done, one will say: Recognition Our guys could really pick out those plane profiles and identify the Jap bo- gies fast enough to have us ready for them . Another will say: Good Gun- nery. The gunners were as scared as everyone else all right, but they knew all the time it was either us or the J aps and they stayed right in there and pitch- ed the ammunition right down the middle . Another will say: Good Sea- manship. The Captain knew how to change the pace with this baby to keep the Japs off balance. The time the tor- pedo missed he had kept her slow until the Japs were set to attack, then he shoved her up to 25 knots or so, just like that. That's why the torpedo missed- We fouled up the J aps timing . Another will say: Every guy knew he had re- sponsibility for the other guy . Another will say: Luck , Another will say: We prayed a lot, and the prayers were an- swered . The right answer is probably the total of all the answers offered. Skill, leader- ship, loyalty, faith, confidence, and ac- ceptance of responsibility. Officers and men who rate those March dates as the toughest on the Wi- ley calendar put May 4 in second place. Others give the top spot to May 4, and second to March 28-29. Anyhow, here's the dope on May: Trouble tumbled in before dawn, when three enemy planes closed in on the Wiley. One of the three was set afire and crashed into the sea after -passing over the ship. Ordinarily, after a splash- ed bogey hits the drink, it burns but a short time. But this one showered flame into the air for more than an hour and the other Japanese pilots, doubtless thinking it a burning American ship, made five bomb runs on the blaze. That kind of warfare the Wiley men liked. Shortly after morning chow, the Wiley was told to proceed to the assistance of the U.S.S. Luce, reported sinking. The planes which had set the Luce afire were still waiting in the area for the rescue ships, and when the Wiley came into view she got the works. Two J ills opened the attack, but were driven off. Minutes later a Betty came in and was splashed at 3000 yards, but before anyone could find time for a cheer a Baka bomb was sighted. CLater anal- ysis indicated the Betty had released the Baka then circled as a decoy.J The 20MM boys saw the Baka first and opened up. The bomb, with its human pilot, crashed about 75 yards off the stern. It proved to be only the Baka begin- ning. Another was soon taken under fire at two miles and was forced into the sea by the Wiley fire at 1200 yards. The warhead separated from the after body of the bomb, skittered along the water like a well-thrown flat rock and rico- cheted over the Wiley's fantail before exploding. Then the planes came back. A torpedo-carrying Jill was taken under fire as it roared in from the port side. At almost the same time a Marine Cor- sair came in for the fight from the op- posite direction. Starboard guns held their fire as the Corsair passed directly over the Wiley but the port guns-nat- urally-couldn't stop. The Marine raced through the thick AA fire to attack the Jill, and brought him down. Although the ship's guns probably would have ac- counted for the enemy plane, the Marine pilot speeded the final results consider- ably and his courageous act brought a Well Done from every man on the Wiley. Still there was no respite. An- other Jill came in from starboard and met the same splashing fate as her mates. The enemy had apparently had enough for awhile and the Wiley could turn its attention to the survivors of the sunken Luce. Eleven men were taken from the water and thirty others, picked up by an LCI, were taken aboard for medical attention. May 4 didn't end the war. The war didn't end until August, and the Wiley and her men played a prominent part right up to the finish. But it is over, now. No more Jills or Jakes, Bettys or Bakas . . . No more picketing, screening, or bombarding. Some of the Wiley's wartime crew al- ready have gone home. Others are about to go, while some will stay in the Navy. The Wiley herself is in good shape, tested by time and sea and battle. If she's needed in the peacetime Navy that America needs to guarantee the Peace, she's ready, fit, and willing. Page twenty-five