Kenton (APA 122) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 45 text:

xx lx !! B ! A One nf the rngnor lnghlights ix: the history nl the Kenton was the p11'tit'ip.1tif:n in the invasion of lllQlll11XK'.l. Our llrst four months xl IQ xx ure spent in training for that lnsturical event :mtl while the part pl1r-.tml ln the hllgllfx li xx as not SPCL'I1lClllLlI' she carried tm-mglxl1cr.lsslQnzncxnxxirlxxxnt.1slip.11nltllxlintollzlsltlcmzllltlmr t s l'LTllllll'Ctl. lhc l!lX.lNlHZl tnnlt plxet on lfxstcr Snndnx. and nt dawn that morning the Xllghtx' li ltr-,lac loose from the transport convoy with ich she had slcilllcxl np from the Philippines and swung over to rg11n.1lilxcrtxttxxclnx nnles tum lil-l,lilll1lXN'll. lqcnsctl for x. nolcnt Llxjlllill. l'.lNlL'I' Sundax' xx ns an :mtl-clixnax. lr s Ll llbllllllvlll tl tix .xnxl .ls pt-.let-t'xxl1xont-as could have possibly been HJClllxllll1llllC. 1 .QQ 1 ,WJ 'A Ll .. I , I'-f:,.,.' Q., f, ..-7. 3 ,Y A 'lin , W A -.rl U I But the body of a dead jap floating and the yawnmg hole 1n the slde of a sh1p gave strong evldence tt was a false and that It could be shattered with suddenness. : That shattermg came shortly after down, when all hands raced to their stations to Hnd a sky red with tracer It was a Nip attempt to get through anchorage, but the lighting ships 1 the entrance turned back the assalaltgl al f, ,Q c-any-31:31 tlmes that nlght Flash Red was but we escaped unscathed. I W

Page 47 text:

The afternoon of September 24, 194 5, will l0I1g bfi 1' Cl'HCmbCI'Cd bv the crew of the Kenton, for it was at that time the Mighty K steamed into Yokohama, japan, and gave us a Hrst glimpse of the country we had been battling for so many long months. One of the P boat crews celebrated the auspicious occasion by cruising over to a lighthouse in the harbor and painting the name of the Kenton across its side for all future visitors of that land to see. Five days were spent in the Yokohama-Tokyo area,and during that time all hands had the opportunity of seeing the tremendous damage wrought by the Air Force and Navy of Uncle Sam. Much time, too, was spent in bargaining with the natives-swap- ping cigarettes and candy for fans, kimonos and other souvenirs. lt wasa notable trip, and during the course of it the Kenton estab- lished two firsts. lt brought the first European troops into Japan for occupational purposes, and returned home the first unit of Pacific hghters relieved from duty.