Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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, . f f bg I , ii :sf X Ja- 4' L X ---4 ,42?::'4'i -. '1:J.- .,. .. . ga - 553:39 - .1-f,.f,-3-,,:.ffq 5 :'f : M . 'T i' iiS.ilIil.'QfvI'Q.l' ..- - ,. Til-,-31:-2 71-j3'. '1' A ' '..,'f,,. . , 74 , '...:'-: , . wr Q3 Q 4'hTf,,583f.,rL1A J' ' A - -1 X J' ' Reaching Pearl Harbor February 6, we received an ovation that We will never for- get. Bluejackets lined the rails of every ship present giving three cheers as each unit of the force passed to its anchorage. 'CTWO-blocked to the foremast of Admiral Halsey's flagship Was the traditional cgbroomv of the Mclean sweepf, Salamaua-Lae The importance of our forthcoming operation was not to be measured in terms of spectacular front-line fighting but rather in terms of cold, hard logic. Our task was to capitalize upon the heroic sacrifice which other men were making on Bataan, Corregidor, Malaya, Singapore, and Java. These men were fighting a losing battle. They fought to the bitter end, knowing that their hopes of a sea full of ships and a sky full of planes coming from the east was only wishful thinking. There were to be no reinforce- ments and yet they fought, fought in order that We might have an extra day or Week or month to rally our forces and stem the triumphant march of the ,lapa- nese before the life line to Australia was severed. The focal point of attention was cen- tered on our forces afloat in this area. The allied navy was the only resistance available to check the rising tide of the Japanese offensive. On February 14, 19442, Admiral Hart Was ordered back to Wash- ington and was relieved by Vice Admiral Helfrich, Royal Netherlands Navy, as Allied Naval Commander. The situation in this area was critical. The Japanese, with strong forces, had leap-frogged down STRAFED BY TWO F4F,S, AN EMILY SEAPLANE PLUNGES INTO THE SEA

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weather or fatigue. And to the north, the other groups were making similar aggres- sive blows at the heart of this mid-Pacific Japanese stronghold. There, the cruisers and destroyers closed for bombardment missions, while to the south we had to content ourselves with the less spectacular duties of carrier support. Our own Louis- ville planes were sent out in the morning to maintain anti-submarine search ahead. In spite of decreasing visibility one of our planes, piloted by our senior aviator, was launched that afternoon into a rising wind. Soon it became apparent that our plane was lost, for it failed to check in at the prescribed intervals, and was not to be seen in the occasional clear areas. Our every attempt to contact the two in the plane failed. Our hopes faded as the early darkness settled in. But as we retired we refused to abandon all hope that a last- minute rescue had been effected by another ship or a submarine. Although no word was later received, we never gave up hope that they had fallen into enemy hands and would be repatriated at the end of the war. Late in the afternoon, as we were retir- ing, an unidentified. aircraft contact was made to the south. All eyes and guns were glued to the bearing, watching, wait- ing. Our circling fighter cover overhead was vectored out to intercept. Then out of the patchy clouded areas there appeared a large four-engined Jap plane. Apparently he was completely surprised, for it took him a short period to get his bearings and make av visible change of course. Our tracks were begun, eager gunners were pleading for the opportunity to fire, despite the fact that the plane was still outside effective range. This was our first glimpse of the enemy and we were understandably eager to get into action. Sharp on our port bow, he was still Closing us,-ten miles, now nine, then he began turning away. Into our field of vision now streaked two beautiful Wild- cats, the clouds frequently hiding friend and foe in their deadly race. Watching more closely we could see the flash of one Wildcat climbing straight up under the huge Kawanishi seaplane, while the sec- ond Wildcat was diving in on him from above. Then came a burst of flame, and billows of black smoke. Soon the loud report of the initial explosion reached our ears, just after the radio loudly broad- casted the successful pilot7s sentiments, I got him, I shot the tail out of himf' Our own cheers were resounding throughout the ship by now, and the tenseness of the shipns company could be seen to relax. The exploding mass of the enemy plane plummeted to the sea in a gorgeous fiery spectacle, and there it con- tinued to burn and explode sporadically for some time. The brilliant young fighter pilot credited with this early and thrilling victory was later gallantly to lose his life in the Battle'of Midway. All through that night we sped swiftly to the south and east while the tallies of the day's work were compiled. It had been a great day on two scores. The immediate destruction to the Japanese power in the central Pacific was consid- erable: 73,000 tons of shipping were sunk, enemy bases were neutralized, air- Helds wrecked and 35 enemy planes de- stroyed. But perhaps even more important was the lift to the Navyis pride afloat and ashore, and at home. Where was the Navy? Right here, here on the Louisville, and on the other ships of the task force, and in the hearts of its many courageous fliers. The first great offensive blow against the lap had been struck, struck hard and intelligently.

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JAP SHORE INSTALLATIONS IN! THE MARSHALLS RECEIVE A PREVIEW OF WHAT WAS YET TO COME the Malay Peninsula, surrounded Singapore Cwhich fell on February ISD and landed on Sumatra, the island adjoining Java. To the north the enemy was strongly entrenched on Borneo and the Celebes, and to the northwest they held Ambon and the Moluccas. Thus Java was threat- ened on three sides, the west, the north, and the east. Within a short time the Japanese would capitalize upon this stra- tegic advantage to capture Java and force us to retreat to Australia. To stop this operation, Admiral Hel- frich had at his command a small Ameri- can task force composed of the cruiser Houston, with her after turret out of com- mission, and thefdestroyers Stewart, Alden, Parrott, John D. Edwards, Paul fones, Pillsbury, Pope and Ford. He also had a Dutch force, and towards the end he was joined by the British with two cruisers and three destroyers. These ships endeav- ored to convoy reinforcements to .lava from Australia and attack enemy shipping. In the night battle of Badoeng Strait on February 19, 1942, this task force in- flicted heavy damage upon enemy trans- ports and cruisers. Again in the Battle of Java Sea hits were scored on the enemy. This, however, was the end, for out of this battle only the destroyers Edwards, Alden, Ford and Paul jones survived to fight again. The others were sunk or destroyed. The enemy soon overran Java but the men on these ships had delayed them. The same story can be told of our heroic garrison which fought so gallantly on Bataan and Corregidor. Thousands of Japanese army troops and tons of enemy shipping were engaged in winning this sector. If these troops and shipping had been free then, perhaps the Japanese