Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 186 text:

Upper: With their clothes taken away to be burned, ,lap prisoners of war await new garments in slate of abjection. Lower: Prisoners are led below blindfolded. valuable bits of information were later corroborated by CincPac. We returned to Leyte with our POW's, traveling the same path We were to use a few days later when we limped back from the painful Lingayen Gulf ordeal. Lingayen Gulf Finally, on January 2, near midnight, the Louisville got underway for Luzon. We were part of the fire support group commanded by Vice Admiral Oldendorf, consisting of six battleships, nine cruisers and thirty destroyers. This force was to prepare the beaches of Lingayen Gulf for invasion by our troops. Starting several days before DM Day, We were to neu- tralize and destroy enemy shore installa- tions such as pillboxes, stores, coast artil- lery and personnel concentrations. This 159

Page 185 text:

of the bugle. On the double fire stations were manned. The cover on number one stack had caught fire, causing a battle problem for the repair crews. The onlY damage was to the cover, however, tl'16 emergency taught us something about fire in the superstructure, a lesson which was to serve us well later on. Tying up alongside the California at Manus, Rear Admirals Oldendorf and Chandler exchanged commands. It was at this time the former received his advance- l4- V 158 ment to Vice Admiral. During the impres- sive exchange ceremony, the shipgs com- pany stood at attention. Admiral Olden- dorf's flag was lowered, and Admiral Chandler's hoisted at the main. The part- ing with Vice Admiral Oldendorf was a sorrowful one. He had gone with us into many hazardous tasks and skillfully brought us home. With our new Hag aboard, we got underway immediately for Leyte Gulf, the primary staging area for the Luzon Campaign. After our arrival, enemy planes attacked spasmodically. During one alert, the eve- ning of December 20, we shot down a Japanese Nell off the starboard quarter. Instead of waiting for Santa to come down our chimney on Christmas Eve, we were continuously alerted to keep Jap planes out of our stack. The enemy worked dili- gently to spoil Christmas Day, but failed to keep Louisville men from a Saint Nick party on the beach. There was an air alert awaiting them when they returned aboard that evening. Then on December 26 we had a rush call from our newly landed forces on Mindoro. A Japanese surface force was bombarding them, causing light damage to our facilities. Under full steam- We dashed south through Surigao Straits, then north up through the Sulu Sea, slicing through the slot between Palawan and Panay, only to find the enemy gone. They had fled to the safety of the Empire waters. I The run to Mindoro by four cruisers, the only heavy combatant ships in the vicinity, to challenge what radio reports claimed to be a powerful Japanese sur- face force, was frightening. Many of us experienced acute fear at the thought of engaging such a numerically superior enemy force. It was a sleepless night as we stayed awake shooting the breeze, searching for comfort and security in each other's words. The trip was not altogether fruitless, for even though the Japs had fled they did not do so without suffering loss. A destroyer of theirs was sunk by OUT planes, and a few survivors of the 'ccani' were picked up by PT boats and trans- ferred to the Louisville. Our crew crowded -the life lines to stare with eager curiosity at the bedraggled prisoners as they were taken aboard and hastily herded down to the ship's brig. Intense questioning by an interpreter revealed some startling information C011- cerning the recent Japanese losses. Th0S6

Page 187 text:

160 A Kamikaze coming ing he's hit hut doesn't stop. Coming straight through that withering barrage. Ploughing into Turret 2, and erupting into flame.