Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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nal, the downward whip of the catapult oflicer's arms, the pilot grasping the stick, his body rigidly braced, the sharp report of the explosive charge, and the plane was hurled into the air. Peleliu Seen by Louisville Airdale Up in the plane, designated 'cAce Free- lancef' I noticed dawn breaking rapidly over the horizon. Our anticipated expec- tations of the island were soon revealed. Peleliu looked as familiar as an old boy- hood haunt. There was the airfield, mod- ern with solid buildings, and planes in the revetments, on the aprons and along the runways. Approximately one hundred of them-all knocked out by recent car- X rier raids. . ff Q N L?- fix ' In Q 126 My brieing served me well. I quickly lined up the grid co-ordinates of the first target. Within twenty minutes after leav- ing the catapult, I noted the ship had maneuvered into position ready to fire. Flipping the contact on my radio I called the ship's Gunnery Control Officer, identifying myself for communication. Freelance,,' I said, uThis is Ace. On station. Let ,er goln Preparing me for the hit, the Control Officer answered, c'Ace--this is Freelance. Salvo . . . Splashlg' The 'gsplashi' came a second before the projectile crashed on the objective, enabling me to alert for the hit. r f 'f 4 fr -,L ff X f 1 The salvo missed the mark. I spotted, Freelance-this is Ace. Up 200, right 100. Over. Ace, he answered, c'This is Freelance. Up 200, right 100. Roger. Out. He then followed up with, Ace-this is Free- lance. Salvo . . . splash. Freelance, this is Ace. Bullseye! No change, no change, rapid firef, Upon that signal all hell tore loose. What seemed like minutes later, I said, c'Hello, Free- lance, this is Ace. Target destroyed, sug- gest we shift fire. Over. 'cAce, this is Freelance. Good. Next target will be-. On we went, sometimes demolishing, always giving the target a good blasting. Methodically, we moved from pillbox to blockhouse, to cave, using both the main and secondary batteries. One of our planes spotted the ship's fire, while the other searched for new targets. 4

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SALVO . . . SPLASH . . . UP 500, LEFT 60 125

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1 ,A PELELIU AIRFIELD LAID WASTE BY OUR BARRAGE I hadnnt seen a Jap all morning. There was no return fire. We Werenit fooled, however. We had learned his game through bitter experience. He was only waiting for us to take him for granted. I knew all this, but in spite of it I was feeling pretty brave as I flew back and forth at 1,000 feet looking for targets. The ship wanted more active targets. More active targets-hell! That wasn't the way these birds fought. They didn't move 'til you got a flame-thrower on their tails. I was beginning to wish they would open up just for a change! Then out of nowhere, tracers swished past me. Where were they coming from? Damn-they were all around. At last I identified the firing. They were fighters from our own carriers plunging down atop our spotting planes, strafing all the Way. It was a narrow squeak but I got out whole and barked a message to the ship: 'Treelancelv I bellowed. This is Ace. Dammit, give me the Word on these car- rier strikes. That last one nearly got mef' The carrier planes finally retired, and we Louisville pilots' pulled in on a new target. It was a good-sized blockhouse-- easy money for Lady Loufs boys. Then, suddenly, I realized someone else had taken the target under fire. A fat old bat- tle-wagon, that looked like the deacon of our church back home, was the culprit when-swish-boom-. 'cHello, Freelance, this is Ace. Our next target has been destroyed. A sixteen-inch did the job. Twenty minutes gas left. Request orders. Over. 127