Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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.... V rn U . . , ,,,---,,,,.,.- -, - .,.. . -F.:-.,-Li.. ----Q-zasfsa-wa-efiisfa mf-r v v--f-1-.1 v-ff f- work of those Zeros which did venture off the island to do battle. The fourth strike, during which Lex3' planes worked with those from Langley, resulted in only near misses on Ise Qa battleship which had been converted to a carrier, and put up Hexceedingly intense anti-aircraft fire j, although the carrier Zuiho, concentrated upon by 27 planes, was finished off. The fifth strike of the day again was aimed principally at Ise, but again no hits were scored -only U34 near-misses. Strike No. 6 was the third in a row to accomplish negligible results, and prompted Japanese Admiral Ozawa's-Chief of Staff to remark later, HI saw all this bombing and thought the American pilot is not so good. However, as naval historian Samuel Eliot Mori- son points out, HHe was pretty good to have sunk four carriers and a destroyer with a total of 527 plane sorties-201 of them fighter planesf, It should also be pointed out that the majority .of the pilots flying the final two strikes were on their third of the day. This important action was a part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which was described in the afore- mentioned Potter-Nimitz volume as 'cfor com- plexity and magnitude, without parallel in naval history. The Great Sea War continues: L'Last- ing four days, it was actually a series of actions hundreds of miles apart. The most important were the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. . .and the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape En- gano, and the Battle of Samar fOctober 25j. When the long-drawn-out conflict at length sub- sided, the Imperial japanese Navy no longer existed as an effective fighting force, and the United States Navy commanded the Pacificfi About this time Admiral Mitscher, back in the United States on a thirty-day leave, commented to the press, Hjapan's homeland is pretty well open to our naval power.'9 I On October 25, 1944 thejapanese carried out the first successful operations of the newly-orga- nized Kamikaze fDivine Windj Special Attack Corp against units of the U. S. Fleet operating near the Philippines. The corp of suicide pilots took the name Kamikaze from the typhoons that saved Japan by scattering Kublai Khan 's inva- sion fleets in 1273 and 1279. 60 The Kamikaze pilot did not merely crash his plane into an enemy target, he deliberately flew to his death in a special, explosive-laden aircraft -literally a human guided missile. Within three months after the first such attack, 424 suicide planes had sortied from Philippine bases to attack the American Fleet. At least 50 of our vessels were damaged by them, including six aircraft carriers, two of which were sunk. After two more days in the Visayan area, Lexington Qnow Admiral McCain,s flagshipj, retired to Ulithi to replenish, emerging on the battle scene again November 5 to strike aircraft facilities at Clark Field on Luzon. The same day her Avengers and Helldivers blew off the bow and stern ofthe cruiser Nachz', sinking her. A severe counter-attack blossomed that after- noon, with the enemy taking advantage of the considerable cloud cover to strike with Kami- kazes. As her War Diary related: 4'All batteries opened fire on cZeke' 4,000 yards on starboard beam heading aft. Plane was hit and on fire, but came in to crash ship, directly outboard of sec- ondary conn Qcontroljf' Tarawa to Tokyo elaborated: uThe havoc that followed, though localized and soon brought under control, will never be forgotten by any man aboard. Much of the island was wrecked and numerous guns put out of commission. All of the radars went out temporarily, as well as much other similar equipment, the- largest radar antenna was reduced to scrap metal. The list of several communication leads and other electrical connections takes up six single-spaced typewrit- ten pages in reports. The gasoline explosion from the plane and the bomb blast together start- ed many heavy fires, though prompt work by fire-fighting parties had the blaze under control within twenty minutes. ' c'The human damage was more tragic and less reparable. All told, forty-seven officers and men lost their lives as a result of this blow, and 127 more were injured, many seriously. Hlncredibly, through all the shock and confu- sion, the ship continued normal operationsf' Quenching fires, repairing machinery, halting flooding-which allowed Lex to steam on, was what Commander Shaw was talking about in his

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ju introduction to Morison's Volume VII,Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, when he stated that, Damage control,. . .an orphan trade in the pre-war Navy, so matured that after 1943 only one fast carrier QPrincetonj was lost .... Intri- cate compartmentation, the fog nozzle, fire-fight- ing schools and the use of screening vessels as fire boats prevented wounded flattops from burn- ing and sinking. When relieved, and heading towards Ulithi for repairs and the debarkation of wounded, word again reached Lex that she had been sunk. More wishful thinking for Tokyo Rose! As repairs were being accomplished, Air Group 19 returned to the United States, being relieved by Air' Group 20 fresh from a tour aboard Enterprise. On December 11, CV-16 was at sea again, assigned to Task Group 38.2 and flying the flag of its commander Qwho was also Com- mander, Carrier Division Fourb, Rear Admiral G. F. Bogan. Three days of successful strikes were flown against Luzon airfields, a period in which 208 planes were destroyed on the ground, according to Admiral Halsey. Enemy air opposition was sparse, with 62 of those which did attack being reportedly shot down. No japanese aircraft penetrated the Forceis defensive air patrol. The American ships were caught in a severe typhoon on December 18, costing three vessels and more than 800 lives. Morison observed, Has the center of this tight, violently whirling cyclone approached, the weather became worse than the foulest epithet can describe. Fortunate- ly, Lexington weathered the storm with only fapanis 'Divine Wind the Kamikaze Corps, hz't the U S. Fleet hard with its suicide pilots. Lexington sujjhred a Kamikaze hit on November 52 1944. Forgz-seven ojfcers and men were hilleaf and one hundred and twengf-seven z'n- 'jared when a 'Zel-ce hz't the carrier's island.