Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 106 text:

Davy Jones and his Equatorial Welcoming Committee came aboard to greet pollywogs and old friend shellbacks. The ofiicial visit of King Neptunus Rex and his Royal Party was held the following day with traditional mock pomp and boisterous ceremony. C A few days later the Commanding Of- ficer called the crew to the weil deck for an important announcement. The North- ampton had been sunk, he said, making necessary a change in the Louisvillens orders from Australia' to the Guadalcanal area. A week passed before we steamed into Noumea, New Caledonia, where Rear Ad- miral W. L. Ainsworth and his staff came aboard. lt was then we learned our assign- ment. We were to serve with Task Force 67. Our duty-to stop the famous Tokyo express from reinforcing Guadalcanal. We knew the job was a tough one, but one of our crew learned just how tough when he chanced to meet a friend on the island who was attached to a destroyer. HWhat outfit you with?g' asked the tin- can sailor. When he was told we had just joined Task Force 67, he whistled in exclamation. Boyll l've seen four Task Force 67s add to the plating of lron Bot- tom Bayf' With this parting thought, we left Nou- mea for Espiritu Santo December ll, to rendezvous with our units. On the 17th, with the Lady Lou as Admiral Ainsworthjs flagship, Task Force 67 set out on its initial patrol. When we returned to port, the Admiral and his staff transferred to the Ln. S. S. Nashville. The H. M. N. Z. Achilles joined 'c67 as we steamed out of Espiritu, for another prowl of Hirohit0's haunts. Our force was acting upon sheer fighting guts rather than strength to stop the mighty Jap fleet. Apparently the greatest contribution to our success was our ability to keep them inthe dark as to how few ships were blocking their way. But, brother, I knewli' says one man. ul moved my bunk topside and wore my life jacket even while in the csackjfi lt was early morning January 5, as we steamed in formation toward Guadalcanal, when the laps gave us our first real trouble. A group of planes approaching the ships at a high altitude were reported as friendly. Then, suddenly, the aircraft shrieked down out of the sun in a dive bombing attack. The Honolulu -was strad- dled by a pair of bombs in the first sweep. The cruiser Achilles took a hit on the after turret, which wrecked the mechanism and killed nine of the crew. Several of the planes were shot down, one of which was credited to the Louis- ville. The next day we witnessed our first multiple burial at sea as we stood by for services aboard the Achilles. We returned to Espiritu Santo, at which time Foster Hailey of the New York Times reported aboard as war correspondent. While anchored in Pekoa Channel Janu- ary l5, we celebrated the Lady Lou's twelfth birthday. A smoker was held on the well deck in honor of the occasion. In this New Hebrides port our ship became famous with Marines of the island for her goodwill. They had no facilities in which to purchase stationery and ice cream. The Lou welcomed them and we shared as best we could. . X S Fi 73 ' 3 -giiil L W-1 ' is QQ-pfff'-' U 9

Page 105 text:

last, get to Kiska as we were approaching and radioed that the sun was shining. Suddenly up ahead we heard a burst of firing from a sister ship. Then as if by magic we broke through the fog into clear sunlight. Before us lay the bleak, wind- driven shores of the island. On either side of us the other cruiser divisions were exe- cuting maneuvers which allowed them to open upf, Soon our turn came. We swung into position and at long last our guns spoke, spoke with all our pent-up emotions. Every shot fired served to cleanse us of the bitterness and savagery that had been bottled up for so long. Much to our relief and satisfaction we had apparently surprised the enemy, for his return firing was sporadic and inac- curate. lVfost of his shells hit several thou- sand yards ahead of us. Overhead, a Jap Zero stunted and maneuvered, trying to divert our attention, but he did not stay in the open long enough to offer a target for our AA batteries. Towards the end of the half-hour engagement, a Jap bomber appeared off our port quarter. Our bat- teries opened on him at long range as he scooted for the clouds, dropping his bombs harmlessly off our starboard quarter. We steamed back and forth, wrecking harbor shipping and facilities, shore instal- lations and gun emplacements. Then as we retired into the protective fog bank the .lap radio broke into hysterics, telling the homeland of our raid. This was only one piece of bad news that Tojo had to carry to the Emperor that day. For as we retired that evening, the 7th of August, 1942, we learned that our Marines far to the south had landed on Guadalcanal. Our hearts were much lighter that night as we steamed back to Kodiak. Once again we had scored on the enemy without suffering any appreciable damage ourselves. Soon winter came. The nights grew longer and the days shorter, the seas more ferocious, and the fog remained our curse, enveloping the wind-swept, snow-driven island chain, enforcing peace even against manis wishes. No' longer able to wage effective war, the Lou, was directed south. We were glad to say good-bye to the ice and snow and the williwaws of the Aleutians. Little did we think that soon we would be cursing the sun and heat and eternal sweat of the tropics. All we could think of as we steamed south was sun- bathing, tans and swimming, for it was always summer in the 'gland down underf' A Guadalcanal lt was while we were refueling and provisioning in the States that the news of the North African landings reached us. Thus heartened by our successes in Europe we headed for Pearl Harbor, arriving there on November 17. Following a few days' liberty in Hawaii, we stood out for Australia. ' The cruise was uneventful until 1655, November 30. At that precise moment

Page 107 text:

i Y BaH'Ie of Rennell Island TMJ Then on January 16, we got underway for Havannah Harbor, Efate lsland, under orders of the commander of the South Pacific Fleet. Arriving the following day we became a member of Task Force 16. 'Other ships of our fighting forces were the Wichita, serving as flag ship, Cleveland, Mont- pelier, Columbia, Sangarnon, Suwanee, Conway, Waller, Meade, and Frazier. Rumors of action to come sifted among the crew as unusual happenings occurred. Admiral Halsey made an official visit aboard ship January 22, remaining until morning. A few days later, the Chicago steamed in fresh fom the States to join the task force. She had just come out of the yard where she had undergone a com- plete overhaul and been equipped with the latest radar and gunnery facilities. At 1658, January 27, the task force moved out for the Solomons. We took formation with the Wichita, Chicago and Louisville in the right column, the light cruisers Montpelier, Columbia and Cleve- land in the left. We were steaming chal- lenge to any and all Jap forces. January 29 was a day filled with warn- ings of enemy planes. At dawn, the Chicago reported unidentified aircraft. Radar picked up an air contact 40 miles away at 1043 and another within 17 miles at 1102. Then all was quiet from the air for several hours. Late in the afternoon radar detected two unidentified planes 12 miles off, and four minutes later they had closed to nine miles. But a raid did not develop. The eight-plane air coverage for the task force was dispersed at 1852 because of darkness. As twilight settled over the fighting ships, ubogiesj' were reported closing from the south. Three minutes later the Chicago Top: Passing thro gl b t th New Hebrides. Mlddl N HI d Bottom: The L