Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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ut of the fr ing an T li v iby.l'w , is ,, ,X l A X TW j yi ,f 1. ,pf , V, lr ' . f X SX hm Vlll V ff Arif. X 'X S. f I r-Q f'N Li N U X xx ff, f X 5 , ff V f X' l T THE Coral Sea battle, May 6, found us in Mare Island undergoing a routine over- haul, replacing outmoded anti-aircraft guns and installing radar. Already the Navy had lost too many precious ships because of inadequate anti-aircraft defense. We desperately needed modern AA batteries to remain afloat. The modernizing of the Lady Lou was a tremendous task to accomplish in a few weeks, but it had to be done. The Jap Navy was a serious and constant threat to our inadequately de- fended island outposts. Midway, Hawaii and the Aleutians were all vulnerable to attack. Aleutians Our subs had stealthily slipped into Jap-held waters to reconnoiter. Their re- ports shot us out of Mare Island in aban- doned haste on the tide of wild rumors. Our overhaul incomplete, our destination an uncertainty, we struggled to iput the THE ALEUTIANS AS SEEN ON THOSE RARE DAYS OF FAIR WEATHER

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ship together to meet anticipated battle as we knifed our way northward. Out of the welter of scuttlebutt sifted the truth-the Nips in strength were heading east. Was it Midway, Hawaii, of the Aleutians? Mustering every available ship, the Navy sought to defend both areas, using its only remaining carriers to protect the Central The Nashville, St. Louis and Louisville ' on patrol duty in the North Pacific. Pacific forward of Midway. The Aleutians were our flank. The main ,lap force was repulsed at Midway, the turning point of the war. The diversionary enemy force stabbed at Dutch Harbor on June 3 with a bombing attack, and followed ai week later with un- opposed landings on Attu and Kiska. With 'our tenuous forces spread thin, we were powerless to repel these first thrusts of ,lap infantrymen into our hemisphere. Our air force, a courageous group of PBY's and Army P-38's, was thrown into action. Unrelenting foul weather, with accompanying poor visibility presented a superhuman task to the weary pilots who made constant reconnaissance patrols and bombing sorties over the invaded islands. Occasionally, our active submarines drew blood from roving enemy craft, but for the most part our surface forces cooled their heels, awaiting breaks in the damnable weather which cursed the desolate island chain. The ennui of our constant patrolling was broken only by routine early morning G. Q.'s, daily drills, and fueling destroy- ers. lt was this last task, this fueling at sea, that has been acclaimed as one of the logistic secrets of the war. A manifestation of superior seamanship, it enabled our massive task forces to foray into the heart of the Empire waters for months on end without returning for fuel. The Louisville became known to her men as 'CCAO 28, so frequently was she called upon for this assignment. Actually we were all proud of the fine job we did fueling at sea so often, and always in record time. There are few more stirring feats of ship handling than the approach of a ves- sel as she slithers alongside at a distance of twenty or thirty yards. The two ships become almost as one, steaming on exactly paralleled courses and at the same speed. A frothy, agitated sea piles up between them, careens from the sides of the ships, and builds wave against wave, rebounding with sharp slaps along the hulls. Line and hose handlers are often soaked by pyra- miding seas that crash over the sides. Steaming steadily, carefully, the two ships match lunge for lunge, each pacing ex- actly the movements of the other. The fuel hose is passed from ship to ship on saddles, which act as slings, and which are suspended from extending booms. The maneuver of fueling begins as pumps deep in the bowels of the ship start the heavy, black fluid flowing through the bridging hose.