Lowry (DD 770) - Naval Cruise Book

Text from Pages 1 - 92 of the 1945 volume:

.. Q N. Z -4x 5 4 . f , .-.L....... - n-44 Jn-.g,.,g.,...p 4. ...r W hi I 1 x ' 'Q I I nr ff X v P if J'Jg,ji -1 y fa Ai . V 9 ' . FCDREWQRD This is the story of the Lucky LOWRY from commissioning in July 1944, through one year of war, to her return to Uncle Sugar in October 1945. So that memories of that year could be shared by all her crew, this scrapbook was prepared by Lieutenant KELLY. I am proud to be counted a member of the crefw of such a gallant ship. No Captain could have serfved with abler fighting men nor had a hner command. E. S. MILLER N592 L -M Lay :knit gun ,: 3 ,... WL.. tl W U ' ,stfixi .Q l?5i.f1..F Nlwxl D'QP.ff.i2'I'Y2:'il2ix2T LiBE?!'sR2 1 3 E 1 A L 4 i Q I ' j ' 1. 4 54 1 5 QE! : 4 u ' I Q , i 4 Q . 1 1 L E 5 5 1 Laverne Lee Ferguson William Rice Johnson Roberi' Aren+ George Laylon Menlce, Richard William Fosier Leonard Lesfer Keifh Kenneih Earl Hammons J Yeoman 3c, USNR Seaman 2c, USNR Fireman lc, USNR Coxswain, USNR Seaman lc, USN Seaman lc, USNR Seaman lc, USNR jheg liao! for Qui' ,Wag of 1 4 f 1 .slljfig N f ga! mil ' f.-F. mg-5 x - n Arr ' ' 5 . . HH C 2' ei 1 , , R1 1 UNITED STATES SHIP LOWRY IDD-770I LEYTE, MINDORO, LINGAYEN, IWO JIMA, Is+ TOKYO RAID, OKINAWA OCCUPATION OF JAPAN -----nuff--1 V . , ,, W - V. .., I , ' , . F,-,L 21-:,:n.21,::, , ,,,, ,. , , , , .. ,. ,.. MM ., ,, . CDFFICERS WX Z fm A xx VN K1 1 4 rr y f A f 1 A wir . ,Sf X 931' ,1 -1ggm JKX f ff .9Qjy4'Af rw. W N J -ul 31 ' wx kfayj X 'if V? H I' ' H W N H W . H t MMI Y v H Q, 1 ,4 11 4 L i 1 S, : ,. ik f. if Z1 j ' li ' f 9. 4 - f L A 34 L. H. MARTIN Commander U.S.N. Commanding Officer July - November l944 E. S. MILLER Commander U.S.N. Commanding Officer November I944- , X.- .M H. I. LILL JR., LT. USN Execufive Officer May I5, I945-December 2I, I945 X W. K. YARNALL, LT. COMDR., USN Execufive Gflficer July 23, IQ44-may 15, 1945 HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS 2 1 1 T ,Mg 1 ' . 6 Zi.. Z bg.. K Y 4' fav . XB LT. F. M. HAGAN, USNR LT, E, CARSON, USNR LT. R. B, KELLY, USNR Communicafions Officer Engineering Omcer Gunnery Officer LT- UG E. L. NOBLE QM L. + - USNR LT. UG-I P. E. OOLETTA, usmz u, c. w. PEARSON mol, usNR s neu enanf COmmUhICdfl0hS Medici' Omen 7 4 Q LT. IJGI E. G. PABST LT. C. E. GRITSAVAGE IMC, Supply Medical Omcer DIVISION OFFICERS LT. IJGI C. A. NICHOLSON LT. IJGI R. W. LISLE LT. IJG-I F. X. HOULIHAN A in A ' X x R R 'x if 3 X R if LT, psy P, J. FORD, usNR LT. may L. R, LAUGHLIN, usm LL may R. e. Ancms, usNR W LT. IJGQ c, M. sroNe, usN LT. ,w W. UG! K. M. ROBERTS, usNR ENS. M, H. SKJERVEM. USN f 1 f 5 f Lf: I, ,Rf ,,.,' I m rm- f 2 ri Q I f , ki Mk - ,r , 3 , ,25,1f:'3 ,:,,3 5, 35,2 'f' 2 ?' fa 3'-Lx' , do , -5 . , 1, 4- awww f , ,fwHsf:M ,,.? E I .lwg EWM E if 1 fukvi 'T X-f7w:ff-Q g M5Mw5EQgjW ENS. WALKER ENS. CRUSIUS ENS. VAN CUREN .m...f1gww'f'wfww- . ff - CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS - 1' T, COM MACDOUGAL CWT FARRELL CFC SANDERS CGM DE LOOSE CEM WOLKEN cv cr-msmen CRM KINLEY CBM BURLILE CPHM TONNEMA CMM REESE CMM COLLIER CMM SNOW W i fu--Q.-4.-XM.-X--,X.... ,,..,,X,,-M M ,V : X .XQXXKXX :XXXX , X: -X X if X X 4 SX,-:XXX 1 X4 X. QXQQQQQXQ X5-M XLX,5,XX V 'TCXG QXXX SX X' Q Q-X -X5 1- I XQXXXX-QSNQKXXXX: X.-.X li-.Xi1ipX'X 5 TX 'sXQ1XXXQiXX -X1 X: X- X - X- - ,XXX X X x.-.- -,X .xXk, X X K L NQXXXX-.XXL Xxis-if X - -9 X X 1 ' ':Xs-XXX-'f'vXX'?f X .X 'filf5Xf-f'95'i!5TL LW X XXX X-.- XXX X X f1X'LXfXg.XiiQ'L X X X kfkilffri- fffffi XXXX ' 'X -:IM ' -X XX X X X ' I Q -Q Xif- f 11X 9 XC X Q5 l X X XX X NX , 1 X .1 I 6' XX? X X-XXX XXXX- -X SXQSQ z -XX-XX V ,XXX X XXX x , .ik SPFX A I S' 'X XX ' X 9 - gX4X ' XX , - I 1 X 9 X I ,X v,,, ,H . 1 s -Q Q- Ill IJ! ' . . no Arrival in San Diego-showing Homeward Bound Pennani' i, A, A As-'N ' 1 .,rar aw .,4L 'N Cap+ain Paine addressing officers and crew of Hue Lowry prior 'ro presenfing awards Navy Cross being awarded by Capiain Painr- M Cfomdp I S Miilvv U' UL 'f1 M L ,, , v 1 , m.,....g-W '-f'- - 4--Nh 'Q----Yi'-df'--wwf? -'-- 1' M-f-'H W- ff'- ' -V F- W- --- v - -- . -vw 1- .,Jgaq,. ,Y . ..,. vm, ,.,1. ,, ,,,pun,,,k thi I NS QT si I . QyQiX5YrQg5X X I g x M -X A I S wx il ffbibisxffs + X Q X FIRST DIVISION ,WW f 4 f Ziff? X ,VW My X ff XM! f VH, 'Uk Y! f ' , f, X ,, f , f ' 2741: '.d1z':r:4'2sLi J ff? -x 'fm-,'W::if?:' 1' f, ,f ff , f A H.: ,ff f, ff 4, fri' f ,, qw I5 :,x, g,- w ffyngzf 9.4 ' ' 446'-ff .gfficff X ,4 4 ' 7,45 wi Q ' '7,ffq Z ., wff5f f'f 4 5139 , fi? ,f,g34,yfa,f,i'f -' .ff 'f ff'f5fQ'i, ' 'QQ A THIRD DIVISION ORDNANCE DIVISION .fxfph fx .,,,- - .- H..,...,..-..,v-..........,...,,,, , ,., .--,..,,,,, B DIVISION C DIVISION , in- I los N DIVISION -qw-Mr '-'qv U f -ff -- su'--.M-,,..-f -M -- fu.-1-.Q--4 5 ,ww-Q-,--pg-'nw v-.-,.m....,-H -.--f Y-W.. W .--vw...-1-,.,....g.-, W7 A I ,,,-lv ,,wV S DIVISION IX i X wk X iw I IIII I I IIII I IQII IIII , II I I T I III M X IX A XI , 1 ' 5- x K k . xx . K. X1 .- - 1 x K Q , I I K j - fxgf. .K , qw . r. 19 lk., W... 1, Ag. -A 'X f I up .ll Tyss.-qi xx. Xxxxx- X- X X IXQWX. FS' ' A Q Q: f fray N Sklxwgggi Xxx Nw XXX xxx M MAIN BATTERY DIRECTOR AND PLOT 'K ix x , nay I 5 'lylvuun-swan-,,:.ff:,..,,..,.,,f,,, U H 01- ,..-.V.....,, ,,,W,W,,,,,,,,,, CIC GENERAL QUARTERS TEAM MOUNT No. I 5 fer: MOUNT No. 2 Xb X X- MOUNT No 3 . .V ns' 1, y 5 'X f .. ,H 4, if , , N Km iw-N s W X N X S3 X 5 X 1-Y X Q XX X W X X X N X X X f XX-QU. XXM K X, MOUNT No. 4l ,,,v....XX ,X.. fm-fw - ' ' X 5152251525 2-2552- X? +:-:-:- MOUNT No. 42 MOUNT No. 43 MOUNT No. 44 ZOMM MACHINE GUN CREWS TORP EDO GANG 4 .,gu1Y -in 'am-f 91 REPAIR PARTIES ' Q X X X Ygj XS, QXXS ,A.k, A SX SX ' fi Q .3 Y X . -v K A . .R M 0, . Qu, V Q1 ' 5 fig! z ix i . .-.4 X X g g wQ' x XX E xx ,ma X FIREROOM GANGS 'V' lv ENGINE ROOM GANGS , urs A-.1 , gui , 1 1 'Hr 1 JQL i, , ,A,.,..1,A,g RADIO GANG Ili---lr-W V . Y vnu.. , M x xx x Y YQ xwy K N. .N X x XXggiX '+-Q.-.......w.., X QQ Y an 4 M5 F 1-.. . xx And so if began. July 23, IQ44, flue Lowry was commissioned a sluip of flue Unifed Sfafes Navy. I+ was a luof, dusfy day and we were all in our blues . All flue new crew and officers fell in on flue fanfail, wives and admiring parenfs, friends, and besf girls were on flue doclx nearby. Tlue band played and flue ceremony began. u l Commander L. H. Marlin read luis orders fo puf flue Lowry in commission. Wluen lue finislued, 'flle colors and flue commission pennanf were luoisfed, flue band played flue Sfar Spangled Ban- ner and we were officially a man of war of flue U. S. Navy. CBM Rupnilc piped On declc flue firsf secfion, sef flue wafclu and flue roufine luad begun. Tlue families and friends wandered abouf flue sluip asking quesfions, mosf of which wenf unanswered, as we were nearly as green as fluey were. Capfain Carsfarpluen, USN, did flue luonors. He spoke briefly of flue Navy and flue sluips and men wluo serve in fluem. He fluen bid us good luunf- ing buf abouf flue only fluing we wanfed fo luunf af flue fime was a cool place and a long, fall drink. Commander L. H. Marfin, USN, accepfed flue ship for flue Navy. slarled. all direclly from a guy who knows . FNB . 1 5 'Q-1 X s V' gs N. at Q Remember lhe ferry +ha+ plied belween Pedro and 'rhe Long Beach side? Whal a mad dash il' was +o cal'ch l'he one lhal would gel' you back 'lo 'rhe ship before liberly expired. Of course a morning never passed bul whal some unlucky soul missed The boar and ended up having a hear'r ro hear'l ' lalk wilh l'he man al Caplain's masl. The Torecaslle was usually prelly crowded lor 1 Afler commissioning, we spenl' a lil l'le fime around San Pedro, compensaring +he compass, making speed runs, slruclural liring and ofher lesls. I+ was usually a bleary-ey-ed gang l'ha'l gol' underway in lhe mornings, bul by I600 The spiril was willing again. This is 'lhe San Pedro side of fhe channel, lhe scene ol many a gay old lime. rhose lillle gel-logelhers. However, we had begun 'lo gel The feel of 'l'he ship by now. Al' leasl we' could all lind our way around wilhoul loo much Trouble. We had all been logelher 'for some lime. so knowing each olher was no problem. ll' waS ge+'ring used +o 'rhe walches, elrling back on lime. and iusl gelring used ro shiptlaoard life in general 'rhal caused lhe mosl lrouble. And, as on all ships. lhe scuHle-bull slarred. When we were going on shakedown, where we were going, and so on. ll never fails. Ser a bunch of Navy men 'logelllel' and 'rhe mosl lanraslic slories imaginable will gel all began 'ro brag aboul being lin can sall0fS and 'lo curse +he shore s'la'rion bo , or everybfle else in 'lhe Navy who wasn l on a deslroyer. And way back in lhe minds of The new guys were suspicions lhal lhis ship had been buill 'lo 'll9hl and soon loo. The oldlimers began lo gel 'lhe feeling This is where l came in . There was nolll- ing unusual aboul lhis, il was always This way When a lin can goes in commission. ll' shows The mffl have spiril and a keen inleresl' in 'lheir new SNP' Friendships slarled lo spring up, many of which will lasl a lilelime. We were off for San Diego and shakedown. This isa glimpse we had of San Pedro. If shows Befhle- hem Sfeel Yard, where we were builf. The shake- down seemed like a sorf of vacafion and a chance 'fo save up a liH'le money for our refurn. This shoi' of Chapman and fhe bridge boys slrug- gling in+o lheir gear was snapped a+ a pracrice firing. H seemed iusf a li++le hard +o really gel inlo lhe swing of +hings af firsf. lr seemed impos- sible 'ro keep frack of your life iacke+, gas mask and helme+ and have fhem ready when fhe bell rang. Bur +ime and pracfice brough+ abouf many changes. Here's 'fhe crew of 43 'rossing fhem out Our shooiing was preHy poor and we were mosfly willing and liHle else on +he firsf runs. ln fad we all had one heck of a lime when Mouni' No. 3 lrained around and lei go. A nice quie'r spo+ in fhe magazine looked like fhe besl' deal. Above 'io 'rhe lefl is a sho+ of +he direcfor wifh L+. Kelly and Smyers looking out There musl have been a blonde around somewhere because usually +he conlrol officer was reading a magazine and +he lookouls looked oul' wi+h +heir eyes shui. Above 'lo 'l'he righl' is Mounl' No. 2 swung our wifh +he direclor. Lower lefl' is Brown waiching in+en+ly while +he Tor- pedomen sei' up some mysrerious problem on lhe compurer, The lorpedo gang was hor as a lire- cracker and sei one of fhe besl records ever fired by any deslroyer on Shakedown. Lower righ+ is 'rhe Mark Sl Direcior for Mounl' No. 4I. Thar is probably Hughes a+ +he wheel , Looks like everyone is looking for lhe largef sleeve. Tha'r's +he way i+ usually was and i+ always seemed fo end up wilh rhe plane coming in fasf from +l1e wrong side laccording io our calculaiionsl. Hep-e's an acfion picfure of Crum and Emery. This is as close as eifher of fhem came fo moving during fhe cruise. However, if any experf advice as fo how fhe ship or Navy should be run was ever needed, you could always wake fhem up and fhey would be glad fo inform you. ln 'I'he cenfer picfure we have Chrisfner, fhe Chief Yeoman and dean of fhe office force. Nofice fhe Gay Nine+ies. musfache he's sporfing. We had a confesf on board for musfache growing and fhis was one of fhe winners. Shakedown was abouf over by now and for fhe shorf fime we'd been operafing fhe Lowry began fo look and acf like a real man- of-war. Shoofing became darn good, our seamanship improved, and fhe engineers were doing a real job. Admiral Denebrink, fhe Commander of fhe Operafion Training Command af San Diego, inspecfed us before we leff fhe San Diego Area and rafed us above fhe average. Th-en we were on our way back fo San Pedro for our lasf few liberfies before shoving off for fhe forward areas.. Those were fhe hecfic days wifh everyone frying fo clear up 'rhe lasf minufe defails on fhe ship and eifher geffing married or frying lo gef fheir wives and families hom-e before we leff. Then came a.liffle gear 'rrouble and we were held up for anofher monfh. Finally like all ofher fhings fhaf are good, fhis vacafion came fo an end and we moved on fo Pearl Harbor. Everyone figured fhey had Seen fhe lasf of fhe Sfafes for quife a while alfhough some of fhe en- Qlneers puf ouf fhe sfraighf dope fhaf fhe gears couldn r possibly ldsf over a monfh. They did fhough, and quife a few more +oO. Qn fhe way fo Pearl we did a liffle fesf and surprise firing. On fhe '9l1l' is Bowe, fhe Chief Gunners Mafe giving some fafherly advice +0 Mounf No. 42. A+ Pearl Harbor Caplarn Marlin was relieved commanding officer by Commander E S Miller who had accompanied us from lhe Srales We all haled +o lose Caprarn Marian Hed been a good skipper and ihe experience he had piled up while serving on deslroyers for I5 years had cerfarnly slood us rn good sfead and helped lo make us lhe line ship we were Top lell rs fhe whole crew on fhe forecaslle awamng for ihe order Fall rn ai quarrers and fhen The rnspedron would begin A+ 'rhe rrghl' IS L+ Kelly s O Division gefhng fherr usual well done af rnspechon Below lefl Thafs Ensrgn ngels wrlh hrs l0O mission Below righl. Capfain Marhn and Caplarn Muller are crash cap a+ lhe 'Far end Theres no 'rrouble a+ all inspechng rhe Isl Drvisron You can see Edwards spolhng Moran Pe ron Mrlnes Morley Hampson Sfell Shaw Ryan Roy Sybel and NelSOI1 Hauan Hoi Todd Tay or and Mrrra L pracfice. Below lefi' is a bunch of 'rhe boys peering our on fhe wafer. Could be for any number of reasons bu+ probably someone spo++ed a beer boHle floafing by and now +hey're making befs as +o where ii migh+ have originaied. a Below righl' is an evening shof of Mounl No. 44 fhrowing some lead. Aboul' +his fime +he Lowry 'ik IQ' Here's Brown again. Whaf a man he furned our fo be-or did Lee wani fo immorfalize fhe only lime he ever benf on a signal? On lhe righf is Lf. Roberfs of Sky For- ward. He says if was a liHle rough geffing under fhe Flag bag wi+h fhe big helmef on during condi- fion I-Easy buf he usually made if all righf. Of course noi righl ai lirsl' buf only affer considerable 4 was beginning 'ro hang up her record for being one of The besf shois 'ro ever go 'rhrough San Diego. We really began fo raise parficular hell wifh The sleeves and drones 'rhey sen+ us +o pracrice on. Yes, looking back fo shakedown is when we really earned a repufaiion for gunnery, and from fhen on we never fool: a back seam' +o anyone, where i+ was concerned. F i t E i 3 2 y , E 1 5 1 I I l l x . 4 .4 1 l i 'z 1 l l 1 1,1 f This is ihe crew of No. 42 wi+h ihe 'rhree lime winner of l'he Purple Hearl' lrhe whaleboall looking on in 'Phe background. No. 42 was- 'rhe pride and ioy of Holbrook who swears he would have married 'I'he gun if she could have cooked. Here s Ll. Lall and Lf. Kelly ssfhng on lhe dlreefqr, They are undoubfedly lying 'lo each ofher aboui rhe old days in rhe Solomons or arguing like hell' as lo who had fhe nexl wafch. Clabough is siH'ing on fhe sidelines in his usual exuberani manner, The direcror, more fhan any orher perl of 'lhe ship, was the scene of many a bull session on assorfed subiecis wifh never a conclusion reached. Here's 'lhe slack ZOMM group. a none foo pleasan+ place for a general quarfers sralion. Seemed .85 rhough 'rhe engineers look some sor-I of 'riendlsh delighi in wai+ing un+il everyone was on slalibn and +hen emi++ing large gusrs of oily smoke, sool. and olher obnoxious maHer. In shorl order eve Y' one in fhe viciniry looked like fhe end man in 3 minsrrel show. In addi+ion, i+ seems as +hough H19 Wfnfl is always windier, and fha rain is diff? ramuer when you're siHing our here in The mldds of nowhere, Looks like Clphin Marlin is passing oul a lillle advice in lhis shol. Anyway il's advice of ignhzrilind. Tl1ere's Bozeman, Zarallian, Sabella ing Novak as well as Lf. Roberfs and Docior Pear- The forecasfle seemed a very appropria+e slate for Capfain Marlin fo say goodbye because 518+ was lhe place he had mel' mos? of us at one 1-img or anolher, however lhe meefing usually look lace over fhe small sland and consisfed of an Zxplanafion fhal the alarm didn'+ go off fhis morning. Here's Capiain Miller reading his orders giving him command of fhe ship. He had come lo us from lhe USS CABOT, where he had been navi- galor. This was his liirsl' command and lhe firSl ship for mosl of us so we all s+ar+ed our new, and even. We soon saw he knew his business and lhe rouline wenl' on as before We had a shor+ period ol combal' lraining al Pearl and lh9r1 heeded Olli- This is Capiaun Miller Caplam Marlin and L+ Houllhan faking a look al lhe boys in C Division Looks like all lhe girls had fheir usual long hair do They all look prel ly hallhy in l'hls picfure 'rhe elilecl of silhng in +he green cave hadnl' over laken fhem as yel' These are +he guys who operale 'rhe radars sound gear radios and so on . ,,XrA I X ,ll ',,n ,. '- . ll was a long frip from Pearl lo Ulifhi A'l'oll in 'Hue Caroline Islands. lf was hard 'lo believe 'Thai' 'lhere was so much wafer and so liffle land. Affer a li'l-He overhaul in Ulilhi we headed for Leyle in +I-ie Philippines. Things were plenfy hof in fhis area, We figured we would be 'umped on The way up bul no aflaclc malerializecl. On arrival al' Leyle we found fhe res? of our squadron gone so we iusi :a+ around a few da s. The boredom was relieved by frrequenf air affaczs bolh day and nigh? and we spen+ a good deal of time a+ general quar'rers. Then 'lhe word came lhaf we were fo 'rake The LST Resupply convoy fo Mindoro. ll sounded lilie a hor job and il was. Bur like everylhing else il' had i'rs humor. The second day oul we sighled a sail on fhe horizon, figured if fo be a Jap and slarled ailer il. Imagine our embarrassmenl when we arrived af 30 lcnofs, all guns lrained ouf, +o find a small Filipino sailboaf wi+h a group of Filipinos waving American flags The humor soon ended and +he frouble began. Firsf fwo fighier bombers jumped us, dropped 'lheir bombs and golf away. Then a formalion of Vals and one Be'H'y dropped on +he formaiion. The Vals commenced suicide diving fhe LST's w-e had wifh us. Many scored hils and LST and cargo ships were burning fiercely. Then a 'rwin-engined Berry came 'learing fhrough lhe iorma+ion and dropped iis bombs. All 'lhe ships and deslroyers were firing. The big plane weni fhrough il all +hen made a 'rurn and headed for us. Guns 42, 44, and all porl ZOMM were firing like mad. Suddenly he bursl' info flame ahil hi'r lhe wa+er. Oi course we all cheered. W9 fe' ceived official credil for fhe plane. The cenfer plc- 'lure is a shol of The fishing boaf and 'l'he olher piciures are of fhe convoy under aflacll. You can see +he AA fire, +he ships blazing and in +he Upper picfure a Jap hiH'ing fhe wafer. We fired all nighf ai' snooper planes and feel we downed al' leas+ one if nof fwo planes +ha+ closed us. We had been ai' general quarrers nearly 24 hours by ihen. The nex+ af+ernoon a plane sneaked over The forma+ion and began a dive on +he Lowry For some reason he changed his mind and swerved for fhe des+royer asiern, missing her by aboui IO feel. The frip home was unevenfful. Our nexi ven- 'rure was wirh fhe Cruiser Sfriking force in an eFFor+ +o infercepf a Jap ba++leship force fhaf had shelled Mindoro. No aHack maferialized. We fhen moved in wi'rh rhe main bombardmenl' force in +he lnvasion of Luzon. These were days none of us will ever forgef. For fwo sfraiqhf days we were under consranl sui- cide affack. Ships on all sides were being hir. Upper leff shows one of our uniis being hi'r by a suicide plane. Upon righf is a shoi' of one frying fo sneak around aslern of us. One plane go+ wi+hin a couple of hundred yards before we shof his wing OFF and he +wis+ed over +he ship, missing us by a narrow margin. As we enfered Lingayen Gulf we saw one of our des'rroyers lhaf had been sunk resfing on fhe bo++om llower lefil. The lower righ'I' is a piclure of HMS AUSTRALIA. She held +he record of being hir by 5 suicide planes. The nex+ one +o hi+ her afier 'rhis piclure was 'raken knocked off number 3 slack. Close examinaiion will show 'l'he hole al her wa+erIine where one Jap crashed. In addirion +o air a'r+acks we were consfanily 'Fired a+ by shore ba+'feries. - ss X any 4 NX X X X5 9 S . ,WMI 7' ' R ' si rijuaef rf if: ' During lhe air aHacks Roberl Arem' Flc was hi+ and killed ins+an'rly. He was buried a+ lhe moulh of Lingayen Gulf wi+h full milifary honors. All of +he crew no l' on wa'rch lurned ou? To pay 'rheir las? respecfs. The war was brough+ home preHy close 'l'hen. H s one lhing 'fo see ano'I'her ship hif bu'l' seeing one of your shipmales killed is different Upper righi is +he Machine C-Bun Con+rol leam. There's Burgess. Byrne, Reisinger, Farbman and Boehm. Immedi- a1'ely afler This piclure was Taken a Jap plane suddenly dived on us and broke up 'I'his happy B ,ff f ww-,W ,,,ff,vW , f., f' fr ,My ,, fm ,Hy v...-........ scene. All smiles vanished and Byrne swallowed his cigarefie. The day before +he invasion one of our minesweepers was hi+ wifh Jap shore fire. We moved in and 'look of? fheir wounded 'rhen moved on up and pounded fhe beach where +he fire had come from. Lower leff is 'l'he minesweep and l0wer righ'r is Doc+or Pearson +aking one of lhe boys 'ro sick bay. All 'rhe 'lime we were under consldnl' fhrear of enemy air a++acks. I+ is impossible 'fo remember ihe number of fimes we fired on enemy aircrafl diving on us or some ofher ship. L...-nl l The nexf day we moved in fo shell the beach again. The picfure in fhe upper leff shows a Jap ammuni- fion dump going up. We wenf fo fhe far end of fhe gulf where we supporfed fhe underwafer demolition feamg as fhey cleared away all fhe obsfacles and underwafer mines planfed by fhe Japs fo prevenf our boys from reaching shore. We shelled fhe beach wifh 5 inch and 40MM fo prevenf Jap arfillery or snipers from working on them. Thaf nighf the resf of fhe formafion leff fhe gulf and fhe Lowry sfayed in and sysfemafically shelled Jap posifions wifh 5 inch for fhe balance of fhe nighf. Every once in a while a briqhf red fire and explosion would occur and we would linow we had hif our marlm. The boys in CIC did a fine iob fhaf nighf, lreeping us off f fool: place fhrree days before fhe landings. On Janu- ary 9, I945, fhe firsf American froops wenf ashore. ln fhe firsf half hour we fired 600 rounds of 5 inch proiecfiles af fhe Nips. The picfures on fhe upper righf and lower leff show fhe firsf wave of American froops on fheir way fo fhe beach. Affer fhe firsf wave landed we moved in and provided close supporf. During fhe air affaclrs of fwo days before we had been hif by a 40MM from anofher ship. The hole in fhe bulkhead is shown below af fhe righf. This was fhe only damage done fo fhe Lowry in fhis' series of acfions. We were one of fhe few ships fo gef ouf so luclcy. he reefs and designafing fargefs as well All fhis On January 25, we lefi' Lingayen and headed for Uliihi 'ro ioin 'rhe fasi' carrier force. While wiih 'rhem we par+icipa+ed in 'rhe firsi' carrier raids on Tokyo and supporied +he landings ai lwo Jima. Alihough some desiroyers go? in+o shoo+ing marches wiih Jap picker ships, l'he only 'I'hing we foughi was 'rhe wea+her. We did blaze away al' a couple of Jap planes one evening wiih no resul+s. The wealher was +errible. I+ buckled The mounl's and ship every- where. Everyone had 'lo exercise care 'ro keep from being washed over 'rhe side. During our +rip we I fueled ai sea several +imes. This page shows some of +he picfures of a 'ranker and fhe various crews geiling +he fuel lines over and secured. l'r was usually fun fueling al sea if i+ wasn l' 'I'oo rough. We could holler over and insuli' +he +anker crew and ihen 'rhere was always ihe ques+ion as 'ro who would be covered wi'rh oil 'ihis lime. H seems as 'rhough -everyone concerned wilh fueling, from fhe Exec on down, was covered wi+h oil a+ one 'lime or anoiher. i i E-Mqg en 'C.4'5'-a'! '- Also on This Trip we began To pick up aviafors on a big scale. IT seems as Though The poor old Zoomies have enough Troubles keeping from being shoT up by The Japs buT Thal doesn'T seem To be enough. They are forever lighTing in The waTer. Several Times a day we geT The signal PiloT down and The nearesT can is oTT To geT The pilof and crew. Generally we are successful and The rescue proceeds as shown in These picTures. FirsT of all we have To locale The piloT. He has usually Tired a Tlare or broken a green dye marker so we can see him. However one or Two men make a mighTy Tiny spoT in The ocean so iT's no easy job To spoT Them. Once we have Them in sighT, The ship has To be maneuvered so They won'T be hurT by The screws or .oTher parTs of The ship. A ladder 22 .'fi,'ieoifi.l .e Fda and he Pi'0+ climbs up if he . e :sn T, we send a couple of men down The ladder To give a hand. lT's hard To describe how glad They are +0 See us. espeasn if Th i. b Ve , Y ey ave F n in The waTer Tor some Time. l suppose fhe closesT way To figure iT is ThaT They are abouT as qfdc:hTo see 'us as we are To see Them when some o e Kamikaze boys are in The viciniTy. EV? didn'.T do a h-eck of a loT ourselves on This Trip u we did learn To Think a greaT deal of The boys in The Naval Air Force. They Tlew in all kinds of weaTher, hiT Their TargeTs and goT back home. They are a greaT bunch and have done a real iob in This war. ln making These sTrikes aT The Japanese homeland we operaTed under The pr0T3cTi0n of bad weaTher and siorms. The piTch and roll and The mighTy carriers was no handicap To The Tly boys who Tulfilled Their missions wiTh all necessary roqulariTy. Being a lighT uniT we suffered qulle 6 going over from The heavy seas, buT all ended well and happily. ,XQXNK 11 ' r L B ' Q NWA- L- NB- QNX - X i vmrolz HALL AND TONNEMA KINLEY RESCUED A I 4 , I L 1 I LCWRY BIBLE CLASS LOWRY BULL SESSION e F LOVE THEFRONTPORCH 5, wx ' Y. J' 1 5 wx -u x ' an -6 r 4 ,- .f .n Q a V, 4 , 4 ,, f' ' ff .r i O J 1 HAUUNG UNE NOVAK KRAAK W 3 1 L. ,-......,.....,.LA ...-. ,,...... ! A L 's E 1 TRANSFER FUEUNG vw-vmildovw A- MW HOUSTON GANG MAIL CALL MIDSHIPS SKINNED HEADS A M' ff In SEA BAGS ARRIVING soauue CHGW THE BUTCHER .Ki as '? P z L wi V ? f h, 4 I P i E f Q E E 9 E 3 Y N I u I k r I l r 3 i n i ! 1 r H n 1 i 1 I I l I 5 ? V F , 2 z N -iifwgsn, QSX,ff'ijx:3.f3f-.xwg J RESCUED ZOOMIE GOING HOME PH. M. WITH DAY'S DUTY EVERY MORNING ANQTHER ONE CHIEFS ONE - EASY N420 ENS. INGELS CHOW LINE MORE MAIL POSED PICTURE I 3 e 3 l . z i f 2 E a 1 1 1 1 YBEL McGUIRE HUIETT 5 Q . 5 4 3 1 9 f I 3. 3RD D1vnsnoN EXPLOSION 25 , 27 I , i c 3 . 6 1, n't out too long this time and soon came X: vilgreproceed to Ulithi, for a short overhaul oriiod, Though there hadn't been much fighting on mrs hip we were all sick ot the rough weather and Plein read to head back to the base and try out a mile gf the beer we tound there. The overhaul period went without incident though Nmars started to come in as to our next operation. the rumors didn't help our peace ot mind any as nokinawf' was mentioned freely in all ot them. None ot us knew much about Okinawa but we did know for sure that it was plenty close to Japan and we were certain the Japs would tight like the dickens forthe island. They did. March 20th we were on our way tor Okinawa with the Escort Carriers, providing air cover tor the close bombardment group. Everyone expected trouble and we had the usual number ot talse alarms on fhe way. However tor some unknown reason no real attacks materialized and we reached our as- signed position ott the southeastern tip ot Okinawa without incident. The bombardment group then lett and proceeded on to the beach. The next tour or tive weeks the LOWRY lived up to her nickname Lucky. lt seemed as though we were always in the right place at the right time, and time and again we succeeded in leaving an area just prior to a heavy attack. During this period we were engaged in screening the carriers as they sent planes in to protect our ships and men on the beach head. No real aerial attacks materialized although one night we tired at an unknown plane and another a plane or bomb ot some type landed about IOO yards astern. We also engaged in anti-submarine warfare and dropped charges on what seemed like a good contact one night. No known results were obtained. During this period we also made periodic trips to Kerama Retto tor re l 'h Q . penis ment purposes. On one rgplenishment trip we loaded up with several 1-ans OH rockets and explosives. The material was stacked Zbjgiupgloghe deck and we telt like sitting ducks. ' word came to stand by to repel an enemy air attack in torce. l suppose all ot us thought our time had not only come, but was past due, Luckily the weather closed in the attack tailed t materialize and the LOWRY slipped out ot port iii the nick ot time. The next day bright and early the Nips hit the place with everything they had and succeeded in hitting and sinking the ammunition ship we had been alongside the previous day. Each time we made the replenishment trip an enemy air attack was expected and tor some miraculous reason never seemed to materialize. Ships ot our grou who pro- ceeded or tollowed us were also iumpecli Luck was with us. However luck hadn't been with all ot our ships. Destroyers were taking a terrible pounding while operating as radar picket and tire support ships. Each night when Lt. Hagan would read the daily communique word would reach us ot another one ot our squadron or another ship we knew ot with our friends aboard had been badly hit or sunk. From our squadron the Latfey made her heroic stand and came back hit by six planes and tour bombs. The O'Brien was badly hit. This coupled with the loss ot the Meredith in the Normandy invasion, the Cooper in Ormoc Bay, and the damaging ot the Sumner and Walke at Luzon Iett our squadron in rather a pre- carious position. The Moale had suttered severe material damage in the Tokyo raids and had been returned to Pearl Harbor. This lett only the LOWRY, Barton, and the lngraham in an operating condition. We knew it was only a matter ot time until we moved into a little more active job. Word reached us we were lo proc-eed lo Kerama Rello on lhe lirsl ol May and be oullilled lor radar pickel, and lighler direclor duly. This was really il. lnlo Kerama we wenl, picked up a lighler direclor leam and some gear, received lhe condolences ol all our friends and headed lor radar pickel slalion number 2, lhe hollesl slalion ol lhem all. We were localed aboul 60 miles norlh ol Okinawa, righl in lhe middle ol lh-e mosl direcl roule lrom Japan lo Okinawa. Wilh us was anolher deslroyer, some LCl gunboals and our assigned Marine lighler planes from Okinawa. Wealher was soupy lhe lirsl couple ol days and allhough we picked up several conlacls none pressed home an allack on us. This was loo good lo be lrue and sure enough lhings changed soon. Early morning on May 4, I945, we slarled picking up enemy conlacls. Bogies. were all over lhe place. We look several und-er fire and blazed away wilh no resulls. Soon our nighl lighlers arrived on lhe scene and a couple ol Nips bursl inlo llame and lil in lhe drink. There is no beller sighl lhan lo be peering inlo lhe darkness and suddenly see a large llame slowly lurn and plunge lrom a high allilude inlo lhe waler when you know lor sure il is lhe enemy. All lhe aclivily gave us our cue. We were cerlain lhere would be plenly ol aclivily lhe nexl day. We were righl. :S ' as J Earlyilhe nexlw morningflvord began lo come in from all slalions ol inlense air aclivily lrom all sides. All lhe ships were liring, lhe Marines were learing inlo lhe Jap suicide planes and conlusion was ram- panl. Our slalion was slill quiel lor some reason. As always, bad news began lo com-e in. Of lhe lhree slalions norlh ol Okinawa all lhe ships lrom lhe slalions on eilher side ol us were eilher sunk or badly hil including our sisler ship lhe lngraham. The ship wilh her had gone down and lhe lngraham was badly hil aller pulling up a lerrilic ballle, The slalion on lhe olher side ol us was. also wiped oul. Thal lell us. Soon we picked up a group moving in on us. Radar showed lhem as 'Friendly bul lheir aclions seemed quile suspicious so we walched lhem carelully. Bolh planes began lo climb lhen separaled. The upper plane began wobbling his wings and we opened lire. He headed lor us in a slraighl dive. Aboul I500 yards' away he bursl inlo llames, swerved and crashed inlo lhe waler belween lhe LOWRY and lhe olher pickel ship. Suddenly a plane was sighled only a lew hundred yards aslern aboul 25 feel above lhe waler. We had been played lor a sucker by lhe lirsl plane and lhis second sui- cider had gollen in on us belore we saw him. We gol off a lew 40s and 20s al him bul our luck had run oul. ll looked lor sure as- lhough lhere would be quile a lew winners ol lhe Purple Hearl in shorl order. There were. However, his luck was none loo good eilher, Jusf as he was lurning lo crash us he misiudged his dis- lance. He wenl righl belween lhe barrels on Mounl No. 3. His wing slruck lhe lace plale ol lhe mounl, caving in lhe shield. However lhe main body ol lhe plane and lhe bomb ricocheled off lhe lop ol lhe Mounl, semi-scalped Joe Bass, lhe mounl caplain, bounced over lhe lorpedo lubes, Mounl 44 and lhe whale boal and landed in lhe waler aboul I5 leel lrom lhe ship, exploding wilh a lerrilic concussion. The ship was sprayed lrom slem lo slern wilh bomb lragmenls, parls ol engine, wing and luselage. Men on all sides were hil, some so badly lhey lell lo lhe deck, olhers nol wounded so severely remained al lh-eir guns. The repair parlies wenl inlo aclion. Several small fires were pul oul. They began lo pick up lhe wounded and move lhem lo lhe wardroom. The engineers wenl lo work and repaired lhe dam- age done lo lhe engineering spaces. All hands did a splendid iob. Many ol lhe wounded refused lo leave lheir slalions. ln lhe middle ol all lhe conlusion anolher suicider slarled lor us. Bolh ships were liring wilh everylhing lhey had and down he wenl in flames. The scrap was over. We had been hil hard bul nol as hard as we lhoughl we would be when lhe Nip was lirsl sighled. We had shown we could lake il as well as pul il oul. Things were plenly lough and everyone cam-e lhrough wilh flying colors. We were all mighly proud ol our ship and ils crew. Our losses, 2 killed, 23 wounded in aclion. Any elalion we mighl have lell disappeared al lhe knowledge some ol our shipmales wouldn'l be going home wilh us.. During lhis lracas lhe Marine pilols had been in il wilh Japs all over lhe place and -every so ollen anolher smoke lrail and lire on lhe waler signified anolher slanl eye had died 'For lhe emperor. Thal nighl we lranslerred lhe wounded lo a PCE lor lurlher lransler lo a hos-pilal ship. ll was ralher lricky business lrying lo gel lhe wounded o'FF lhe ship wilh enemy planes in lhe vicinily al all limes. They were finally away and headed lor Hagushi Beach wilh all our besl wishes lor a speedy recovery. The nighl lighlersi gol anolher plane lhal nighl. A couple ol days laler we were relieved and headed lor Kerama Rello aller slopping by on lhe way lo pick up a Marine pilol in lhe waler oll a Jap island. We all ilched lo lhrow a lew 5 inch inlo lhem bul no largels were visible. We resl-ed and replenished lor a couple ol dayS and lhen headed oul lor Radar Pickel slalion N0- I6 lo lhe wesl ol Okinawa. We all ligured lhis would be ralher a quiel slalion. Things weren'l loo bad, however we were visiled quile delinilely on on-e occasion. One nighl loward sunsel a Jap plane caughl us llal looled. He was wilhin 500 yards low on lhe waler before we saw him. H dropped a lorpedo and lurned away. One ol lhe MarlneS caughl him and shol him down, The lorpedo passed ei'-her directly under the ship or very closely astern, and exploded at the end of its run. Lucli was with ug again. We Continued the rest of the month with the Same lxind of duty. General quarters most of the time' under attaclghfregugntly and a gegerally tired we were. e as o e mont we a ain iliilcierrifhnorth, this time with the Drexler. Againqwe had a tough time. Early one morning we were at- tacked by a large formation of enemy fighters and bombers. Our tighters engaged their fighters but their bombers succeeded in getting through to us. The tirst missed us by a few feet and crashed into fhe Drexler. The second and third planes went down in flames close aboard. Number four finished the game however. He started for us then changed his mind and headed for the Drexler, now dead in the water. A marine fighter was right on his tail pouring everything he had into the bomber to no avail, His run was good and he crashed into the Drexler, hit- ting a boiler and magazine and completely demolish- ing the shift There 1whas a terriyfic explosion reaching hi h into t e air. e next t ing we saw was the bogw of the ship protruding from the water and then even that had gone. She had lasted only about 45 seconds after the second hit. lt was a terrible sight. Planes were still all around. Our combat air patrol was engaging them on all sides. We were all alone now. lt was a lonesome feeling. The LCls moved in and began piclring up the survivors. They loolred bad. Losses had been heavy. Finally the attaclc was over. Additional destroyers had come out from Hagushi Beach to help us and the rescue was completed. We were all dead tired. Things were fairly quiet from then on until we were relieved by another ship. We headed for Hagushi for a much needed rest. The rest consisted of worlzing during the day and staying at geneyralcguarters most of the night with enemy planes over ea . Our next piclzet station was number 5. Things were rather lively here too. We had to dodge a typhoon. On our return we piclzed up a large formation of enemy planes and successfully directed our fighters to intercept and shoot them down The next evening Ye went to general quarters on the Captain's hunch. although no planes were lmnown to be in the area. We had no sooner set Condition I than the first plane appeared over the horizon, low on the Vfdter, coming in fast. Our companion ships wefeni di general quarters so wr- opened up on the Plane riqht away. Hr- closed to 2000 yards and then WEN down in flames. We piclmd up 0l10t'her trying to qet in astern of him and qot him ef Ydl'dS. We were aqdin relieved and while en the way baclr to the beach pifglmd up seven .laps flflhi Canoe attempting to escape from Okinawa. ey Put up no struggle though they were a bit uP '1 relucfanf fo come aboard. We fook fh-em fo Okinawa and furned fhem over fo fhe Marines for quesfioning. ln a few days we wenl' fo pickef sfafion No. I IA, where we had fhe usual acfivify and infercepfions of enemy planes affempfing fo gef fo Okinawa. We supporfed fhe operafions' of Marines landing on nearby islands. Planes affacked nearby ships buf didn'f bofher us. Our nexf and lasf pickef sfafion was number l5, always known fo be a lively spof. lf lived up fo ifs expecfafions. We were involved in a six hour nighf engagemenf wifh whaf seemed like a 'Thousand planes alfhough if is rafher cerfain fhere were con- siderably less fhan 'rha'I'. Ther-e was a full moon ouf fha'l' nighf and visibilify was very good. Jusf abouf 'rhe 'rim-e if seemed as 'rhough we were really cooked, a complefe eclipse of fhe moon 'rook place fo save fhe day, or rafher 'l'he nighf. Things quiefed down again, fhe eclipse was over, fhe affacks picked up and +his' 'rime smoke from fhe smoke screen af Oki- nawa drif'l'ed up and covered us. During fhis affair we succeeded in shoofing down one Jap plane. We used up all of our ammunifion fhaf nighf and had 'ro go info fhe beach 'ro replenish, fhus ending our four of picke'I' du'l'y. A pleasanl' day i'I' was foo. ll' was all over. H had been a rough fime and we were all complefely worn ouf, buf no one could be prouder of fhe ship fhan we all were of fhe LOWRY. She had come fhrough operafions fhaf had caused fhe sinking or heavy damaging of over 60 desfroy-ers and had come 'Through on fop. She wasn'l' a good ship any more, she was a greaf ship. Our nexf operafion was in connecfion wifh fhe mine sweeping force operafing befween Okinawa and 'l'he China coasf. Our acfivify 'rhere consisfed of dodging mines, which were very plenfiful, and sfanding by fo profecf 'lhe sweeps from planes or Jap surface ships. lf was rafher a quief fime in general alfhough a large horned mine passing close aboard is enough excifemenf for fhe average person. All we wanfed fo do now was go somewhere and res'l'. We had gone over four monfhs wi'l'hou'I' secur- ing 'l'he main engines or fhe wafches and everyone was nearly af fhe end of his endurance. Finally a+ fhe end of July we were ordered fo Leyfe for a resf, recreafion and overhaul. H' was fhe happiesf momenf we had known in many monfhs. Jus'r fo know we were leaving 'l'he area for even a liffle while was fhe besf news possible, We were finally on our way. Everyone was relaxed and happy af 'rhe prospecf of a shorf snorf and fhe ending of wafches of all kinds. On fhe way down w-e were picked up by a Jap reconnaissance plane and all hands expecfed our vacafion fo end before if began. Lafer fhaf affernoon we sighfed a large column of smoke from fhe far horizon. We sfarfed for if af all spe-ed. We didn'f arrive on fhe scene unfil lafe 'rhaf nighf when we picked up a large amounl' of wreckage. Upon invesfigafion we found evidence fo show if was all fhaf was leff of fhe USS UNDERHILL, a DE fhaf had been sunk fhaf affer- noon by Japanese submarines. We scoured 'rhe area for any survivors and 'l'hen commenced searching for fhe sub. ' I+ was abouf fhis fime fhe ship suffered by far fhe greafesf fragedy of her career. A working parfy was removing some decon'l'amina'l'ion gear from one of 'rhe voids. According fo fhe label if was impos- sible for 'rhis maferial fo explode. However such did no+ prove fo be fhe case. The righf condifions- were presenf and a 'Terrific explosion fook place. Nearly 25 men were iniured by fhe blasf and fhe gas fhaf escaped. Quick work by fhe repair parfies gof fhe majorify of 'rhem ouf in shorf order. All hands 'Turned fo wifh a will and -every efforf was made fo help fhe iniured. One man was killed insfanfly and 'rwo ofhers died shorfly fhereaffer. l+'s one fhinq fo have men killed in baffle and ano'I'her 'l'o see 'l'hem die in an accidenf, unavoidable fhough if may have been. We made 27 knofs all fhe way fo Levfe and 'rransferred all fhe injured fo a hospifal ship for freafmenf. Mosf of fhe boys were back on 'I'he ship in a comparafively shorf fime buf some were iniured so badly fhey were senl' fo fhe Sfafes for freafmenf. They were fhe lasf casualfies we were fo suffer and probably fhe mosl' fragic. The Jap proposal of surrender found us sfill in Leyfe Gulf near fhe end of a much needed res'l' and repair period. From 'rhere we fravelled up near fhe coasf of Japan where we operafed wifh fhe big car- riers, providing air suppor'I' for fhe occupafion forces. The end of 'rhe frail finally came, and we enfered Tokyo Bay on Sepfember I6, l945. Affer a brief sfay in Japan home wafers, we leff for Okinawa, picked up some passengers, and headed for good old Uncle Sugar. Ocfober 2I found 'I'he Lucky LOWRY fied up af fhe fool' of Broadway, San Diego, California, U.S.A. TZ 4 L w-an-nn4u-A... n V Z r v 1: 1, 4, 3 . ,z ? . 3 5 V .. I V , v , n M W- f.f, ,, , ,, Y A , , ,, his-W A,,, , V , I f'---M, ,,,, , , ,A 4 A 3 , V 5 .54 I t 5 I5 3 Q ' 1 V I 2 f P ' fl V V ff ' 2 6 ' fa f 1 2 ff' A i All :L , A M lfl7wT:i,,,Wf,,, V V V 'v 'f w vm., A i Q I 3 2 wg ,A ' 'gfwlw fwf,,.,4g IL 12 f 'I ' v g 5 il 5 I5 - Q V f' if 1,-Q. , V QU K1 5 ' 1 f , , 5, V 5 4 L, J 5 5 ' Z 'K f V gg , XS 2 5 V J ' TV ' Q 5 f Q E l ',' 7 70 V ,.,,, .,.. W .M ..,,,, f v , ,H ' H ' I ' 'L bi 'Ax l : PMN-5r?iNl', IS AQDS f ' 'Vi ' -VV A, ' ? 1 -, , L Q ' ' V , ,,,., . ,, 2 V ga L v , . ' gf mf . -V -V-MV -,w1,. ,., -., V 5 if S ' ' QI, Q V V, -1, V V V V VV V 4 H, 5 NX., ' 5- 1 1 x. -'V ' ' f I ' Q 2 ' 1 ,,,,,,Mmm V- X 'Q ' 35, l V arf! 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Q ' 1 im ' 5 ' x 1 i 3 - - . . Q - K . I - ' 2- R N' Nfn, Kb' xx P-'X 5 Y D f Q, .g,,,.Egg JAM, F' 3 I U , I Ki x vi S X, -1 frm-, Ll. ,rf 4 wif Q K .. . V Q ,,. , 7 , 'y 5 v 5 J ?. X i ' s 1 X !Lj h' RK? , , 'J X , A' E f 7? ' f . x fm i 2- A f A 1 fi' A, 5 Q fx A ' ' ' .I 'RZ X1 in ,- if - iw , fs XXX, C .!.. my D kk V W M M xx W F 3 . x ' 1 W, ,.,,.,..,.,...,, .,,.. .., JJ 3 , L' .QE f I 4 I A X X T, , . . L I3 f xx X x P Y' ,- -X 9, XX XX .rx .Ad y xx, f . PM , . 4 .--- 5 X R w, .- m- X. X r- ' Q Q Lfirlffh S fr n cff:5UW-' 1' A 5 ,sv ,, W' X i' CREUI-HGV QV mBe:R 1945 ? WHEN THE ZOOMIES COME A ZOCJIVIIN Q? ll is early in lhe morning, perhaps you're slill asleep, Bul lhe Navy's gelling ready lor a lighl upon lhe deep. The sky is kinda murky, lhis early in lh-e morn, Keep a sharp lookoul Gun Conlrol does warn, There may be Japs a-hiding behind lhal overcasl. Then low upon lhe waler, comes a plane across lhe sea, You gel your guns a-blazin' and booming merrily. He doesn'l seem lo laller and he's coming slraighl and lrue, Now he's gol you rallled, and he's coming slraighl lor you. Then al almosl lhe lasl momenl, a shell puls him inlo flame. You nolice your knees are shaking and you'll never be lhe same. Thal was loo close lor comlorl, you are worried quile a bil, You've seen some ol lhe ships lhal lhose yellow baslards hil. Look oul! here comes anolher, someone's quick lo yell: Again you imagine you're spending lime in hell. You know darn well lhis guy won'l miss lor he's really on lhe beam. You can leel your moulh come open and you lhink you're going lo scr-eam. You are really burning powder as lhe ship goes lhrough lhe spray, There isn'l any lime now lor you lo kneel and pray. Al lasl he misses by a hair and crashes inlo lhe sea. Your hair is lurning gray, and al your age lhal shouldn'l be. A cou le more come al ou and b luck you shool lhem down. P Y Y Then il's all over, calch your brealh, relax lhal heavy lrown. You don'l mind lo see lhem bomb lrom high up in lhe blue, Bul you hale like hell lo have a Jap a-suiciding you! R. C. Bowers A DISSERTATION ON 'SO-CALLED' NIP SUICIDE ATTACKS Q? lf has come fo fhe affenfion of fhis disinfer- esfed observer fhaf fhe fuss and ado abouf fhe alleged suicide affacks by Jap aircraff on U. S. Ships, parficularly desfroyers, has goffon alfogefher ouf of hand and a sfop musf be puf fo fhis de- plorable sifuafion af once. This arficle, when prop- erly roufed lfhe round file or burn boxl should recfify maffers prompfly. Affer considerable reading of various classified publicafions, dispafches and reporfs on fhis subiecf, a shor'I' four of Roger Pe+er dufy land l ain'f puf- fing in for s.econds l and innumerable conversa- fions and debafes wifh my mosf infelligenf ship- mafes including no less an aufhorify fhan fhe greaf VON SHILLAGH himself, l have reached cerfain conclusions: lf is a well known facf fhaf fhe follow- ing sifuafion exisfs in fhe Japanese Empire. There is an acufe shorfage of Jap aircraff carriers due fo fhe successful acfion of our own forces. Also, fhe gasoline supply in Japan is becoming crifical. The fhird maior poinf is common knowledge-all Japa- nese are shorf-sighfed. Now having fhese poinfs firmly in mind, one can readily see how fhese re- grefable and mis-named affacks develop. The Japa- nese pilof, on perhaps a roufine pafrol, or erhaps geffing in his flighf pay fime, finds himself miles from his base and running ouf of gas. He is desper- afe!! 'Loll a haven!!-a Japanese aircraff carrier!! lln realify he sees a U. S. desfroyer buf due fo his desperafion and myopfic vision fhe poor Jap pilof makes a very undersfandable error., The desfroyer maneuvers errafically and even goes fo fhe exfenf of puffing up a barrage of ack-ack in an efforf fo make fhe Nip pilof realize his misfake. These efforfs are usually fo no avail, as fhe Jap pilof, secure in knowledge fhaf if is a Jap aircraff carrier he is pre- paring fo land on, confinues fo make his approach. ln many cases fhings are so confused af fhis sfage of fhe game fhaf fhe Jap fails fo ieffison his bomb load before making his landing, which carelessness resulfs in very obvious calamify. From fhe above, we can see fhaf fhere is really no such fhing as suicide affacks. lf is iusf a case of misfaken id-enfify. AST any fool can plainly see lah seesl fhese cir- cumsfances are very defrimenfal fo fhe morale of desfroyer crews. Of course, on Roger Pel'er dufy, desfroyers have fhe undivided slympafhy and con- dolences of Delegafe. lTheir boss.l A fypical voice radio conversafion befwe-en DeIegafe' and fhe can runs as follows: Hello Wafer-Log, fhis is Delegafe.-Can you sfill hear me, Over? Af fhis pomf Delegafe plays- a few lines of a popular re- cording fhaf goes l Had 'ro Call You Up This Morning fo See If Everyfhing ls S+iII All Righf l'cause you didn'f sleep a wink lasf nighlzl Occa- sionally 'lhe desfroyer is sfill afloaf and can respond. lf so fhen begins anofher day of franquilify and boredom lLOOK OUT, SHE's IN A DIVE!!!!!l. Anybody can find faulf or analyze. Whaf fhe world needs is correcfive measures or a good five cenf cigar. Nof having fhe laffer, we shall have fo be safisfied wifh fhe former. Correcfive measures in endless numbers have emanafed from my ferfile brain. lNumber One-Gef me fhe hell oufa herell buf only a few have sfood up under close scrufiny and l will gladly pass fhese along fo you for whaf fhey are worfh. One way, which we will pass over lighfly as if'sl fhe cowards' way ouf, would be ef- fecfive only againsf nighf affackss. lf requires a large neon sign wifh arrows and bold Ieffers saying: THAT WAY TO DELEGATEH or 42 MILES TO KERAMA REGRETTOJ' The second possibilily, and fhis is sfricfly a dayfime measure, is fhe esfablish- menf of an addifional G.Q. sfafion on fhe fanfail! A volunfeer will merely have fo man fhe fanfail wifh signal flags or paddles., in fhe manner of landing officers on flaffops, and confinually wave off fhe misguided zoomies. The lasf and besf suggesfion is fo revoke fhe flying licenses of all fhe Nip fly boys on charges of reckless flying. Af 'rhe same fime one hundred recordings: of fhe popular song, Sfraighfen Up and Fly Righf lfreely franslafed info fhe Japanesel will be given wide circulafion fhrough- ouf fhe land of fhe Seffing Sun. -Ensign C. M. STONE. USN. COMMUNIQUE No. 7 U. S. S. LOWRY lDD-770I Af Sea, Augusf, I945. Dear Families, Af presenf, fhe LOWRY is af a rear area enioy- ing a very well deserved resf. For a period of almosf five monfhs fhis vessel has been sfeadily on fh-e go, eifher underway, or sfanding by wifh fhe engineering planf Iighfed off and ready fo go on a few minufes nofice. During fhis period, fhe LOWRY confinued fo discharge her varied dufies in fhe excellenf man- ner in which she became nofed. The monfhs of May and June were occupi-ed in fhe grimly hazardous buf very successful dufy of acfing as Radar Pickef and Fighfer Direcfor Ship af Okinawa. Our highly successful record againsf fhe Japanese Air Forces shows fhe following fofal for fhese monfhs:-5 planes desfroyed by gunfire of fhis vessel alone, 5 planes desfroyed by fhe ioinf gunfire of fhis and ofher pickef ships, and over 30 more planes desfroyed by LOWRY confrolled Combaf Air Pafrol. The 23rd of July, fhe LOWRY celebrafed ifs firsf birfhday, having be-en in commission land remained in commission, a fhing uncommon for de- sfroyersll exacfly one year. During fhis year, I have seen fhe crew of fhis ship, mosf of whom were green and unfried, improving consfanfly, unfil fh-ey have emerged as a seasoned and veferan crew, capable of meefing every sifuafion. Shorfly affer our arrival here af fhe rear area, fhe LOWRY was visifed by Commodore Harrison, Commander Desfroyer Squadron SIXTY. In a cere- mony on Augusf 4, Commodore Harrison presienfed me wifh fhe Silver S'I'ar Medal for fhe LOWRY's parf in fhe Lingayen Operafion. In presenfing fhis clecorafion fhe Commodore sfafed, and I agree mosf hearfily, fhaf if represenfs fhe combined efforf and abiIi'I'y of every man in fhe crew and is fo be considered as much an award fo fhem as fo myself. Commodore Harrison also awarded 'l'he Purple H-earf Medal fo fhe following men for wounds received in acfion on May 4fh, I945: Wade lnl EMERY, MoMMIc, USN. Henry G. SMITH, Slc, USNR. Calvin L, McCOURRY, Cox, USN. Glenn E. HUIETT, Slc, USN. Jimmie L. HOLBROOK, GM2c, USN. Joseph F. LUBINSKI, MM2c,, USNR. James N. PLIMMER, S2c, USN. Hardy C. COFFINDAFFER, Slc, USN. Mervine L. MIRE, S2c, USNR. William J. SYBEL, S2c, USN. Donald E. MYERS, SC3c, USNR. Joe E. BASS, GM2c, USN. Herberf L. MCOUEEN, Slc, USNR. Roberf L. FULTON, Slc, USNR. Daniel V. MCGUIRE, Y3c, USNR. Gordon E. MacDONALD, Slc, USNR. Samie J. DEL MONTE, Flc, USNR. The Commodore spoke very highly of fhe excellenf record in all respecfs fhaf fhe LOWRY has made. Unforfunafely, as is so offen fhe case, our good news is fempered wifh some bad. On our way fo fhe rear area, an explosion fook place in fhe affer parf of fhe ship, killing fhree men, and iniuring several ofhers, all of whom are nearly well wifh no permanenf ill effecfs. The nexf of kin of fhe casualfiesi have been nofified by fhe Navy Deparfmenf. While enfirely unavoidable, fhe accidenf was mad-e more fragic by fhe facf fhaf all hands had been fhrough so much af Okinawa and were heading for a resf and recreafion period. c Several very inferesfing evenfs fook place during our four of pickef dufy. On one of our 'Irips fo our base for replenishmenf, we capfured 7 Japanese soldiers who were frying fo escape from Okinawa, in an oufrigger canoe. These pris-oners were furned over 'ro Army aufhorifies. for infelligence purposes. Our Iasf bif of Anfi-Aircraff acfion fook place during a brighf moonlighf nighf while on a hof pick-ef sfa- fion. Enemy air raids heckled us for six hours. We were engaged in violenf maneuvers and AA firing fo combaf fheir affacks, when a providenfial fofal eclipse of fhe moon occurred, giving us fhe cover and profecfion of darkness fhaf we so urgenfly needed. Affer fhe eclipse was over, smoke from Okinawa, 50 miles away, cover-ed us. We had fhe disfincf pleasure of sfarfing a ball of fire in fhe engine of one invisible plane which grew unfil flames enveloped if and forced if fo crash info fhe wafer in a mighfy explosion. Through our radios we direcfed Black Widow nighf fighfers fo o'I'hers of fhe raids, and had fhe keen safisfacfion of wafching 'I'he Jap planes come down in flames in fhe brighf moonlighf. Thaf abouf brings- us up fo da'I'e wifh fhe news. We have enioyed fhe chance for a bif of recreafion and resf, while af fhe same fime we have kepf busy wifh fhe many urgenf needs of fhe ship, repairing and cleaning and geffing ready for our forfhcoming dufies. Whafever fhey may be, 'you can be sure fhaf fhe LOWRY will fackle fhem in 'rhe same able and purposeful manner 'Ihaf she has shown in fhe pasf. Alfhough fhe real acfion may be abou'l' over, fhe record every man in fhe crew has made ouf here since our arrival in fhe Wesfern Pacific Area musf make his family iusfifiably proud. I have received many fine Ieffers from your fam- ilies. They make me realize even more my responsi- bilify 'ro bring your men back siafely, and 'rhaf you are all behind us wifh our prayers and efforfs fo finish fh-e war. E. S. MILLER. Commander, U. S. Navy, COMMANDING THIS COMMUNIOUE MAY BE RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION. w , W Q5 5653 CLA' , 00-my X167 065 ff 90:1 - SX W dj tl-2. -5-Qui-7,0,2dA! J QQ' jf f A- ff B ? Ei! ipod CQVP' ., f 94 2 ?1 ' if -A ff if AJ My YA Sl-HLQKN p A '-- f' ,. ' 2 -ff'-' 7 f ' f u ff ff , .Nj ,ff f X . . f Qjfsiff 1- 1 iff V Qi' j !i7,1?ff'LY.W'5 M71 X !! fo 6-w,ff.j 'M! I 1 r ' ' A fi- -3' , ffs-g 6 f Q fe . ' A , r X I ,Q '- -' lfllf,-, V , 1 If f, 5' ljg63 ff 1, , .XX ff! A99 1 ' f Q- 1 XM if F q-xguhl .,, .W qrijg Q 1 3- ' 1 1 A -LJ JK W-22'-x P ---'1 A+ resf in San Diego, Navy Day, Odober 27, i945-H19 end of a long voyage 1 1 Q vi fx ji . 4 1 Q 2 I I 1 E J . I l 1