Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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7 JAPANESE 148 Oldendorf aboard, she Was the flagship that spear-headed the greatest surface engagement of this war. Under cover of darkness, We weighed anchor. Silently, grimly, We steamed in I , CARRIERS- i . EQUISERS' . Q E r 3 ESEURT AUZCRAFT i KARRQER GROUPS, column down the Gulf with the Lou, in the Van. UNOW hear thisf' the calm, deliberate voice of the 'cold mann broke the stillness of the night. Through the rasping back- FASTBATTLESHIPY. V r DSTRUYERS-'-'--L-'L '-' X

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RECONQUERING the Philippines was the beginning of the in- evitable end. No one knew this bet- ter than the Nips. Goaded by the taunts of 'cldulli' Halsey, confronted with severance of supply lines to South China and the East Indies, losing face and heart with our every strike, they had to fight back. Like cornered rats, a stand had to be made, and the Philippines had to be the spot. We suspected it. We were prepared. lf any of us had any doubts concerning the determination of the faps to wrest Leyte from our hands, he began changing his mind on the 23rd of October when scuttlebutt raced like wildfire through the ship of the approach of large enemy naval forces. Those reports formed the current that set mighty machines in action. Com- municators worked all night decoding dis- patches. By early morning the dope was out. The enemy, in an all-out gamble to smash our hold in the Philippines, was deploying his entire fleet. Three powerful task forces, like giant pincers, were closing in for the kill: one from the north moving south from the Empire, one from the west steaming towards San Bernadino Straits, and the other approaching Leyte Gulf from the Mindanao Sea. Decisions, the kind that win wars or lose them, had to be made. Admiral Halsey, in one of history's boldest, most courageous gambles, ordered his entire l Suri ao attle Third Fleet to intercept and sink the ,lap forces to the north. That order meant that Admiral Kincaid's Seventh Fleet, of which we were part, had to meet the other two forces. On our success hinged the fate of thousands of men ashore and in troop transports in the Gulf. Officers and men worked shoulder to shoulder loading ammunition in a blazing, unmerciful sun that turned the tar of decks into blistered rivulets. Admirals, barges and captains' gigs, skimmed from ship to ship, as hasty conferences were held and hurried, terse briefings made. The laps were no idlers. Their plan of at- tack was a skillfully co-ordinated operation designed to crush with inexorable force our offensive. Mass air attacks greeted us that morning. Relentlessly they pressed their attacks, only to be intercepted and deci- mated with each attempt by our Lightning and Corsair fighter planes based on the airfields at Dulag and Tacloban. As the dogfights raged to the north over Luzon, our plans were formulated. Admiral Kincaid was informed that the ,lap force approaching San Bernadino Straits had re- versed course and was retiring. We were later to discover this report to be in error. Based on this misinformation, Task Group 77.2 under Rear Admiral Oldendorf, consisting of six battleships, four heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and twenty- four destroyers, was ordered to guard the southern entrance of Leyte Gulf, to attack and destroy any enemy forces attempting to enter. The Louisville had reached the pinnacle of her career. With Admiral 147

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1-1- ground of the loudspeakers, our skipper told us the moment was at hand to de- cisively defeat the enemy. Clammy sweat moistened the palms of our hands as nervous tension heightened. Many a man standing at his battle station said a silent prayer as the Captain told of the certainty of battle. He concluded by expressing his conhdence in his officers and crew. His confidence in us was exceeded only by our confidence in him. Plucky PT boats, stationed as advance pickets at the mouth of the entrance, re- ported radar contacts closing in column from the southeast between Camiguin and Bohol Islands at 0100 on the morning of 0ctober 25. 0ur forces were disposed in classic naval form. A battle-line of battleships with right and left flank forces of cruisers to each side and forward some three or four thousand yards. The Louisville took her station in the left Hank. Alert and apprehensive, we steamed back and forth across Surigao Straits waiting our prey. In two columns, one four miles ahead of the other, the enemy cautiously felt his way forward. As he entered the Straits, the command to attack was given to the PT boats. Valiantly, the mosquito fleet struck. Star shells shattered the black of night. Greenish yellow flares slowly de- scended, their illumination probing every shadow, exposing the mighty midgets as they attempted to press home their tor- pedo attack. Tracers laced the dark as the laps laid a solid curtain of fire before them, and it proved impenetrable. Our boys were beaten back. Twenty miles away we continued our wait. Tension electrified the air. What man aboard did not shudder when the re- port, fcNo hits claimedf, came back from the commander of the PT,s? No sooner - ig. --.f ---,, , Q Q ? A L did the word reach us via inter-ship com- munication than it was relayed to every battle station over our sound-powered tele- phone circuits. We had ring-side seats at the greatest show on earth. Soon we were to be in the ring-no longer the spectator. The stakes were high, too high to think about very much. 4 Over two hours had passed since the first enemy contact. Having fought their way safely through the picket line of our PT boats, the Jap columns closed steadily at eighteen knots. Twenty-four of our destroyers were lurking in the radar shadows of Dinagat Island. When the leading Nip heavyweight crossed the ten- mile range band, the order was relayed to the tin cans to close the enemy and launch their torpedoes. The destroyers, Zig-zagging crazily in the night to foil enemy gunners, suddenly knifed into a graceful curve and fired their underwater missiles. 0ne hundred and twenty-seven deadly fish churned away toward the Jap ships, their wakes forming a series of expanding fans. A large part of the Emperor's proud battle fleet stood in the path. Hits were scored. Retiring from a torpedo run is often a more hazardous venture than the attack itself. In this case, the assault had been a surprise to the enemy, but he retaliated with a murderous barrage directed at the destroyers as they raced back to protec- 149