Miami (CL 89) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 13 text:

1 ,Y 1' ff QW f ffm ia 3.1 ,gh F X -J 9 X 6 2 R .mx 2 , ,wwf . iw N , SS ' X X 'Y ,-,w' 4-,, -' ' I fm, , , 4 ,. 7 Ja .A 4A.f755?,2,7 'f 3 L' ' fy- A ,FU-iy fg fv .1 JZ lf! ,ff W W f Q ff ,ayff ff y ,wffjwv ., , ,V ,-,, ,lg V... 1 1.3657 9 5, 7 . ,' ' W, ,f f f My 144 f WMM W fffff wwf f W W WZ jf!! ,J ff fffjff, ff ,fiyjwffifjff f 1 , Zwf ZZ2ff0jWQf X MW' ff 'W MMM' Wfyf' , MVA 1.-:Y X f ff? f7!0 M XM' ' fff ffff 121532 f 1 fffl M fm VW !ff !flfMfff,ff,2 f' 'Q 1 elif f 131, ' ,, f , 0 wif, ,7ff,1:',', f f ' ' ' , , W .-3: ff JU- f f' ' f ff v ,L f ', , ,. f, f' f ,w,5.,1u:, Z , f Ziff pf 5,vIf4W' ' , My f ', ,,!,f' 4f' ff , ' W f?f!1f,f,w'ff',7ffM r , 4' I ggi ,Vf,V 4 ,fi ,l,I1 V, , f If jffffy ff V ZW , yfffffff f , M A X f ff, L ,, ,, ,QM ff y X f f fM,f ,Wf f

Page 12 text:

X.. -... ,. . , - , -' '., V '-. .,.. . ,. f f f- V. , ' r .- ' . V b , , ,ff .' . - f- . ' ff-,,, - . - . . -. ,,-, - ' . , , . , f- - , w k V ,. . , - - 1- - , V., W..,,,,,. , 4 f,,, f -W-f,-2-.,z-no-: -

Page 14 text:

-:wigs Miami, December 8, 1942. fighting unit of our Navy. phia, Pennsylvania. ? f ,Y Zi' we , x 354 ' ' 'KWe can feel that the American light cruis-er has final touches added by the Navy Yard workmen, and proved herself in battle and that this ship here today the trial runs in the protective reaches of the lower is built to match the achievements of her older sisters. Delaware River run. February and March saw the -I-Ion. RalphiA. Bard at the launching of th-e U. S. S. ship's magazines filled with ammunition, and we set Y out to master the ship and train the crew as man-o-war's On August 2, 1941, the keel of the U. S. S. Miami men. For five weeks in Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf was laid at Cramp. Shipbuilding Company, Philadel- of Paria fTrinidad, BWIJ, the crew drilled day and phia, and she was launched December 8, 1942. Thus night-gunnery drills, radar practices, fueling at sea, during the trying years of 1941 and 1942, through the full power runs-every effort bent on perfection. In battles of java Sea, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, the middle of March came the semi-final examination Komandorskis, and Kula Gulf, the U. S. S. Miami in the form of a Military Inspection and Damage Con- f was just a mass of steel, over-run by electrical leads trol Practice, which the ship passed succ-essfully. Upon and swarmed over by men who were bending every completion of the inspection we returned to the Navy effort to put her out on th-e fighting lines. In May and Yard, Philadelphia, for minor repairs and adjustments June of 1943, the first officers and men were ordered to and topped off in fuel, stores, and provisions, where- 1 th-e nucleus crew, to start the gigantic task of trans- upon we reported ready for sea and action. The r forming that mass of steel into a trim and efiicient U. S. S. Miami was ready to prove herself in battle. E On April 2, 1944, the Miami sailed from Navy Those men Who' viewed the Miami tot the htst time Yard, Philadelphia, for Boston, Massachusetts, where and saw her as yet unfinished-her sides unpainted, the Shir, Was to jom the U, S, S, Houston fCI-,815 and ' lines, air hoses, welding leads tangled on her decks, her U, S, S. Vinrenner fCL64J, me 0,ther Ships of the , t9mPattmentS uninished, her masts tm5htPPed: with Division to which w-e were assigned, and the Division ll workmen swarming over her-knew that she was dead Commander, Rear Admiral W, D, Baker, U, S, N, then, hut that Undef then' watchful eYe5 She would The Houston and Vincennes, like the Miami, were new draw breath, thtobv and live' ' and untried in battle. Admiral Baker believed that FFOITI June t0 Dewnibef 1943, the Pf0gf0SS Off C0n1- there was no substitute for drilling to perfect trained 13165011 Seemed' S10-W, and n10Sf of the CF'3W,S time WHS crews, so the ships individually and collectively drilled spent in supervising tests, attending training sch00lS, continuously enroute to our next destination, Pearl Standing Setnnty' WatCnCS, and aSSC1nl?ling ine equip- Harbor. On April 22, 1944, we transited the Panama ment and suppli-es necessary to operate the ship. Finally Canal, and upon reaching the Paciic Side, Cruiser the day of commissioning was set, and the night before, Division Fourteen reported for duty to the Commander the plank owner crew moved aboard with sea bags and in Chief, Paciic Fleet, hammoeks' The mass of Steel Was new our heme? She CinCPac ordered the Division to Pearl I-Iarbor via r Wes alive and We would make her live. San Diego, where each ship embarked about 500 pas- The U- S- S- Miami WHS C0n1n1iSSi0nCCl 011 DCCCIHBBI' sengers. Upon arriving in Pearl Harbor the passengers t 28, 1943, under the command of Captain John G. Craw- were disembarked, and the Division was ordered out for r ford, U, S, Navy, at the U, S, Navy Yard, Philaclel- more training and the final examination for duty in 1 the forward area, all under the watchful ey-e of CinC- f The tempo or the righting in the Pacirlc was quick- Pacts observers. The Miami passed with Hymg colors, ming, and the demand for Ships was great, AS a and again, Ere hwere on our ,way westward, this time to , , r Join up w1t t e Hghting ships of the now famous Task result, the time devoted to Outettmg and testing the Force 58 at Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Ship, ttammg the eteW: and m5Peetm8 t-he 5htP Was date of our departure from Pearl Harbor was May 24, K cut to the minimum. The days flew by and January 1944, saw the outfitting of the ship completed, the 1944, the date of our arrival at Majuro Ato-ll, May 30, 1944. 3 ,l