Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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176 New Y ork for the scene of the night's operation. Arriving on station at dusk, we commenced Hring according to instructions of Charlie Oboe, the radio voice of the Naval Gunfire Liaison Oflicer on the beach. Two air attacks were announced during the night by 'cDelegate, voice call for the Commander of the task force. By color code, he warned' all ships of approaching planes, A 6'Bogies,'7 giving position and course. This was followed up with, 6'Raid ten, two planes, 50 miles, bearing zero two' zero from cBolo9, Bolo being a geo- graphical reference point for the operation. Each separate raid was thus catalogued, numbered and followed in. The Combat Air Patrol, made up of Army, Marine and Carrier fighters, was our protector and 'cdear friend. During raids, the planes were directed by destroy- ers, destroyer escorts, and even smaller craft assigned to the picket line, stationed 20 to 50 miles in a broken perimeter sur- rounding the island. This protective ring of ships was the first to contact approach- ing bogies, and consequently exposed them- selves to extreme danger. Every night and every day since early April, these little ships had been inter- cepting the suiciders, knowing the odds were that one in every three of them would be hit. Orders to picket duty were com- monly received by destroyer sailors with, 'cHere comes the death notice again. So our first night of operations passed, punctuated by intermittent explosions of five-inch guns and the tireless voice of '6Delegate,', announcing each raid, follow- ing it in, and signing with, uThis is Dele- gate-outf' Charlie-Oboe came through the next day with excited talk of targets. He was soon joined on the circuit by our own aviator and a flyer from the New York, both flying low over Jap emplacements. Troops were massing at a certain point, Landing craft unload supplies at Hagushi, near Yontan, Okinawa.

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turned. There were so many ships of all kinds and types that we might have been looking at East River, New York, rather than at an assault task force in the battle areas. Many old friends of former en- gagements, battleships and cruisers, were present. In the fading daylight we had a brief chance to observe our general surround- ings. The Ryukyus spread in an arc be- tween Kyushu, the southernmost of the lap home islands, and Formosa to the southwest. At the midpoint of the chain was Okinawa, bearing Naha, the capitol city of the Nansei Shoto Prefecture. The island is long and narrow-approx imately sixty miles in length and not over twenty-seven miles in width. Overlooking Naha was the ancient feudal castle of Shuri, where Commodore Perry was re- ceived by the King of the Okinawans in 1850. The Royal Line had long main- tained the vestiges of independence by playing the Chinese against the Japanese. However, after about 1879, there was no longer any question of power, for the laps then came into absolute control. Thus, for the past several generations Okinawans had been an integral part of the Japanese Empire. The native Okinawans made up the majority of the population, but became the lower branch of society. The top men of the island government were Japanese. Economy was controlled by the mother nation, as well as all positions of standing. When our forces landed upon the islands we found the cities inhabited largely by women, children and the old. The younger men were in labor battalions and the army, many of them then oper- ating in other theaters. At the time of our arrival, on May 23, the land struggle was well advanced. The conquest of the northern half had been At anchor in Hagushi, Okinawa, relatively easy, but the southern half, where the strategic Jap withdrew to his best prepared fortifications, proved another matter. The air attacks on the fleet were continuous, yet we were getting regular shipments of supplies into the island. Damaged ships were being repaired or re- placed as fast or faster than the ,laps could knock them out. But bitter fighting lay ahead. The ,lap had no idea of surrender. On the morning after our arrival, we were assigned to a fire support group as aid to the advancing Marines. lt was the unpleasant custom of the laps to start infiltration tactics under cover of dark- ness. We were to move in and lob star shells over the now famed Shuri-Naha line to discourage their purpose. At about 1630 that afternoon we got underway with the Wichita, St. Louis and I75

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On the fire support line automatic weapons are often kept busy blazing at suspicious surface objects while the larger caliber guns continue bombardment of the island mobile enemy units were joining for the attack. The Louisiiille, along with other major ships, trained her heavy batteries on the troop concentration. Then, as directions came from Charlie-Oboe, we opened up with all turrets. Reeling from the concus- sion of each explosion, we repeated, and repeated again the thundering salvos. During the bombardment, planes rushed in to bomb and strafe the enemy troops. When the laps had planned their attack from a point outside artillery range, they had not adequately calculated upon the heavy batteries floating off shore, and their deadly, disastrous accuracy. ln less than fifteen minutes uCharlie-Oboeu gave the order to cease fire. The enemy was either destroyed or dispersed. During the morning, we were pleased to see the Missouri, with Admiral Halsey and his staff aboard, standing into the anchorage. The Admiral had come to dis- cuss the general situation with Admiral Spruance, Commander of the Fifth Fleet, aboard the battle-damaged New MexiC0. When the conversations were completed, Admiral Halsey relieved Admiral Spruance, who returned to Guam in the New Mexico, and we automatically became a member of the Third Fleet. In parting, Admiral Spruance sent us the simple, stirring fare- well printed on these pages. lt was quiet from the air that first day. Then came the second night at Okinawa. Enemy observation planes appeared, and then were gone again, the usual sign for a coming attack. However, throughout the early-evening, c'Delegate maintained an ominous silence-a silence which worried rather than reassured. A We were still lobbing star shells over the beach at 2200 when 'cDelegate,' broke silence to announce several bogies coming in from the northwest, fifty miles from Bolo. The raid was soon 'ctalleyhoedfg and 'csplashedw by the C. A. P. However, immediately following that raid, HDelegate announced another from a northeasterly sector. This was followed by a third and fourth raid. ln a half hour, more than twenty raids were reported. '6Delegate', was having difficulty keeping up with them-some moving in closer and closer I77