Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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Demolition teams blast reefs with underwater charges to pave way for entry of landing craft. LCIS CRUISF IN CIRCLES WHILE AWAITING HHOUR 139

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138 Then came the news of Admiral Hal- sey's discovery and the plans of an early advance. The ship buzzed with excitement. October 12, 1944, the veteran Lady Lou gathered her fighting crew around her for the initial onslaught against the Philip- pines. lt was becoming af personal war. We were going to avenge the deaths of those who had fought and died on Cor- regidor and Bataan. This was our land and the ,lap could not stop us. As we neared Leyte Gulf a typhoon struck with such violence that carriers were unable to launch aircraft. It was feared that pre-landing bombardments might be postponed until skies cleared and the sea calmed. It was a moment of great decision. Then the storm exhausted its fury, and the treacherous Philippine Sea settled. Out of the calm came the sight of land-our land. To gain entrance to Leyte Gulf and the Eastern beaches on the island itself, we had to pass between two ,lap-held island bastions, Suluan and Homohon. That ob- stacle was quickly overcome, however, when the army's First Cavalry Division stormed ashore to take both positions. We sailed safely into forbidding Leyte Gulf with our spotting planes ranging ahead of the ship to watch for floating mines. Aerial reconnaissance had been thorough and perfect. Our bombardment charts had been rushed to us by special plane-pic tures that had been taken only hours be- fore we opened fire on the beach defenses. We cruised back and forth before the town of Dulag, searching for targets well camouflaged. 0ur observation planes roved far inland searching for troop concentra- tions without success. However, one of our pilots did spot a column of ,lap cavalry moving down a mountain road, and made a bombing run on them. He radioed back, '6Nip cavalry now dismountedf, Our next job was to stand by as pro- tection for the Underwater Demolition Teams who swam near the beach to remove anti-boat defenses. This dangerous work is done by highly-trained swimmers. They were all steel-nerved volunteers, the elite of the amphibious forces. Under the very muzzles of beach pillboxes, the demolition men attached dynamite to anti-boat mines, concrete pillars, barbed wire entanglements, steel pilings, and coral reefs. During our second day of bombardment, one of the small boats operating with the teams was shot up by a well-hidden Jap gun. Almost before the Louisville could silence the enemy offender, two of the demolition crew were brought aboard for treatment in sick bay., One of them died and was buried in the waters of Leyte Gulf--the same water in which he had so heroically performed his last duty. Though we found few targets on the beach, we were constantly on the alert for J ap planes, most of which held just out of firing range. However, all were not so dis- creet, for early in the operation a ,lap 'cVal,' suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a dive on our formation. The ,lapis presence was not detected until his plane unaccountably disintegrated in midair, about 1,000 yards forward of the Louis- ville. The plane's engine struck the water a few yards from a nearby destroyer, while the enemyas bomb plunged into the sea 600 yards off our port bow. It was on AU Day morning, as we were resuming our systematic destruction of shore installations, that a dive bomber slipped in over the formation. Louisville lookouts were the first to spot him, and

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140 l 4