Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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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.

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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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FUELING IN THE ALEUTIAN WATERS WAS A JOB TO BE DONE ALTHOUGH MEN FREQUENTLY FOUND IT A DANGEROUS TASK Topside, clad in foul-weather gear, treading decks that rolled and pitched in heavy seas, men hazarded grave dangers. In this business, one slip, one false step was one too many. In the seas we encountered, a man overboard was a man lost. Another cruiser operating with us learned this at the cost of two men. The entire operation was a delicate one, and we came through in smart, seamanlike fashion, fueling destroyer after destroyer during our Aleutians cruise. After a week or ten days of this ex- hausting life We would put in to Kodiak, the advance naval base, for a rest and a bit of liberty. Recreation consisted of a few cans of beer per man, a chance to play a few innings of softball or take a walk. Everyone's nerves were on edge, with the result that razzing between men, which ordinarily would have been accepted in good humor, became the occasion for many fights. It was a life no man could relish. Eventually, however, it did pay divi- dends. In August it appeared as if the weather would break and we would get a chance to bombard Jap-held Kiska. The Lady Lou., in company with the remainder of Task Force 8, got underway from Kodiak. No sooner had we stood out than our nemesis, fog, again enveloped us. It was so thick at times that we couldngt see the bow of the ship from the bridge. Our air support was consequently grounded. However, the fog played both ways, and our approach was well concealed from the enemy. A few scouting planes did, at