Ludlow (DD 438) - Naval Cruise Book

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Two weeks later the first leave part w b k I ed ff th h f h y as ac and the second half of the personnel bound- oi L e s ipi lor ome. Everyone was loaded with souvenirs--everything went-from Ger- man a ugefsi C ITICYS and gas masks to all kinds of foreign currency, French perfume, silk stockings etc. and a working knowledge of the language The ne k' ' w s ipper. Commander S. M. BARNES, N , l' d C d W. R. BARNES, U.S. Navy, in Boston on Z8 February 1945. :Wy rc mvc omman er if CASCO BAY AND TRAINING March twenty-eighth, 1945 saw the LUD LOW refitted and repaired at the end of her yard time-All hands back aboard and the usual transfers and new men squared away The LUDLONV left Boston for inspections and training in Casco Ba This eriod as . I y. p w nex- pectedly interrupted on Easter Sunday when the LUDLOW together with the NIBLACK and BENSON stood out of Casco for Plymouth, England, we arrived on 11 April for a stay of five days. Our officers and men looked over the ruins of Plymouth and got ac- uainted with ound h'll' q p s, s 1 ings and fish and chips. Then on 16 April our destroyers sortied with a convoy of battle weary LST's and setsail for New York. We took a 4,000 mile southerly route to give our slow charges the safest route from German subs that were still taking a steady toll of Atlantic shipping. On the third day out of Plymouth five runs were made on a sub contact without results. Depth charges were running low so we had to aban- don the search and regain our protective station on the starboard side of the convoy, never knowing for certain how close we came to destroying the enemy. A few days later the BENSON left the convoy for the States on special orders. On 4 May, the LST's were left safely at Norfolk With the NIBLACK and on 6 May, V-E Day, the LUDLOW put into New York Navy Yard for thirty days overhaul and preparation for war in the Pacific. PACIFIC - HAVING been thoroughly refitted for Kamikaze fighting in the Pacific the LUDLOW steamed past the statue of Liberty again-this time headed for the Pacific., Enroute she stopped at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for 10 days of intensive training with the new AA batteries she had in place of torpedoes and the new fire control system. During this practice, thousands of rounds were fired. . . Then the trip through the Panama Canal, with its scenic beauty and engineering won- ders-overnight in Balboa and a look at Panama City. On July Sth the LUD put into San Diego for five days, fueled and provisioned ship. I-Iere all said goodbye to the States for what they thought would be a long and dangerous tour of duty. Pearl Harbor was entered on 17 July and there followed a full month of refresher training with cruisers carriers, battleships and other destroyers. No complaints. Everyone.wanted to be ready and effective against Jap suicide planes. In the midst of this strenuous training period Came the good news of the Atomic Bomb, Russian entry against Japan, and the end of the war. Peace had come at last for the LUDLOW. when she was at her height of fighting vim and confidence. t . Even SO, there was Work to be done and the LUDLOVV was assigned to convoymg troops and supplies to the Japanese homeland. Saipan was the first stop. There, awaiting a. Supply Convoy to load, all had a chance to look over the hard won island, Jap caves and. prisoners, the wealth of efficient and deadly U.S. equipment. The crew was sobered by the: memory that here many of our men were slain as they forced the surrender of the laps- From Saipan, the LUDLOW, along with other DD's escorted a large convoy of troops d lies to Wakayama-these were the first ships to enter the Wakayama area. The an ' Supp needed to guard against treachery of the laps and to guard the ships in dan- Iggrgoiisliyeliiained waters. Manylsuch convoys met at NVakayama so that on the appointed ' bin harbor. 27 S t ber, some 300 ships filled the g . . day' Afterelli fliaiiys the LUDLOW escorted thq7empty ships of TransRon 19 to Samar in the ,.