Pennsylvania (BB 38) - Naval Cruise Book

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V ' A - ...,. ..-,,.,.. ,. '-,,, , ,K ff - ' -. f .: , ,: - -f.- - . f sd'm -2 1.?'1 i-Wt? L?-.5 : 21. -'i1?'?f: f1't'AL 'j Sj,f5.5f:ifi':j: '11 ag! 5 5.','ag:fzg' ,- :J 11:7'-gf-Lxyy-41:3-e..u'g-3,-y.4.?.primal gpg..-,.,:.-:H vi, Jw, k 71 .dv I , V , ,, , ,r THE MARIANAS CAMPAIGN Continued A twelve machlne guns two ant:-boat guns numerous mortars, and much tleld artlllery The shlp discovered and destroyed a very large ammunition storage near Adelup Polnt detected two mortars of the enemy flrmg on our landmg craft and permanently sllenced them On the morning of August the thlrd the PENNSYLVANIA fired her last fire support mlsslon and then shoved off for Enlwetok She lay at anchor there for two weeks and then proceeded southward to Esplrltu Santo, In the New Hebrides, then northward again to take perance Guadalcanal and flnally Into Port Purvls She stood out from Port Purvls on the slxth of September with the Palau Bombard ment and Fare Support Group 5 l 0 , 0. . I 0 O 0 . Affh 1' tthl d' A tB h h' .A t . ' e lmeo e on mg on ga eg? 'S e part In another practlce assault on Cape Es- 0 0 I I . .

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Q the demolition parties. At the same time she continued deliberate destructive fire on pre- determined targets. This type of fire was con- tinued on 18th, 19th, and 20th of July. Early on the morning of the 21 st the PENN- SYLVANIA assumed a position between Agat Beach, where one of the two landings on Guam was to be made,-and Orote Peninsula. At 0530 she commenced bombarding the beach areas in immediate preparation for the assault. This firing was continued throughout the period that troops and equipment were being loaded into landing craft and landing waves were being formed. The ship lay gen- erally between 2000 and 3000 yards and at times only 1500 yards from Orote Peninsula. At 0830, when the assault waves headed in for the beach, the main and secondary bat- teries went to rapid fire. A tremendous bar- rage was laid down on the beach areas to provide protection for the landing waves. When the first wave reached a line 1000 yards from the beach and any further fire on the beach itself would have endangered our own troops, the PENNYLVANIA lifted her fire back into the hills. Not until twenty min- utes after the first troops had landed did she cease firing. Upon the establishment of the beachhead, the PENNSYLVANIA stood by to execute whatever fire support missions might be called for by shore fire control parties. From July 21st through July 30th she delivered support- ing and harrassing fire and starshell illumi- nation. On the last day of July and 1 August the same types of missions were executed from positions off the northwest coast of the island and on the night ofthe 2nd from posi- tions off the northeast coast. At many times the ship fired at enemy troops while our own troops were close to the enemy positions, but in no case did a projectile from the ship fall dangerously close to our own troops. In the Guam Operations alone the PENN- SYLVANIA expended, not counting the false start on 16 June, almost 1800 rounds of 14 , 10,000 rounds of 5 , 14,000 rounds of 40mm., and 1600 rounds of 20mm. This is probably a greater amount of ammunition than any other ship has ever fired during a single operation. And it was done without any personnel or material casualties. Air spotters reported that the PENNSYL- VANIA put out of action fifteen planes, six large guns, eight medium guns, three 5 guns, twelve 3 guns, nineteen dual purpose guns, two coast defense guns, eight large A.A. guns, four twin mounts, nine heavy A.A. guns, Ps. -W1 1 site ZWR 1 l 1 1 l S 1 xxls Q31 'Ti' i :lx l f X 1 .1 , ' - iw I I , ,N gfh h ff , , Til Xxxxxxx Q Q X hk xllf ffi3C1,Li:'57'T . X X X -,. 1 K 1555:-jf l ' ,fi -5iiXwml4-fffXf?E?f2fff6? ge t it ,, ,X NX gg ., 1 7 Q : E ,-- ff Xa Q71 fa '1 E ?3g 5 Taft' in ' T 5.gnii?5T 22555 Q M ' Lg , . f Q f' , X . R N wf .fx iS.hi Sweep Down . Words by Lt. Cjgj Robert G. Haldeman 1. The enemy was all about, in waters clear and blue. The Captain asked the next in line just what We ought to do. 3 The next in line just thought a while and then he made reply: H My Captain, this is what I think we really ought to try: . CHORUS l Sweep down, sweep down, sweep down 1 all the day. Q The decks are clean as they can be, but sweep down anyway. p I 2. The enemy was closing fast, our guns 1 were all alert. 1 1 The Captain chanced to glance about, 1 and spied a speck of dirt. P, Secure your guns and man your brooms, ' the Captain then did shout. The Navigator grabbed the wheel, and turned the ship about. 1 l CHORUS 1 1 3. 3 i When once again the sweeping crew had made the decks aglow, We turned about and started in It 1 to massacre the foe. 13 We sank the foe in record time, we didn't f r Waste a shell. We never heard a word of praise, but just the BOs'n yell: 2 CHORUS 5 l 1 23

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N SEPTEMBER I944 while the PENNSYL- VANIA was steaming toward the Caro- lines the enemies of the United Nations all over the world were beginning to crack. On I September the Russians entered Bucharest. On the fourth the British captured Brussels and Antwerp and the U. S. Army had driven 40 miles above Lyons in France. On the fifth the three years of war between the Finns and the Soviets ended in an armistice. I The New Guinea campaign had been suc- cessfully concluded and General MacArthur was ready to push on into the Dutch East Indies. After conferences between the two Pacific Area Commanders, it was determined that MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Forces transported by the Seventh Fleet should seize the Island of Morotai simultaneously with an attack -by Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet upon the Carolines with the First Marine Divi- sion as the Landing Force. ' For three days prior to the landing on Peleliu, the PENNSYLVANIA bombarded Jap- anese' installations on the island. The ob- iect was again the complete destruction of known targets. On the morning of I5 Sep- tember the PENNSYLVANIA delivered the same sort of intensive fire support before and during the landing that had been given at Guam. Fifteen minutes after the first wave had hit the beach, enemy mortars were ob- served firing on the beach from inland. The secondary battery took them under fire and neutralized the area. On the morning of the I2th the APD NOA collided with a destroyer west of Peleliu. The NOA was badly damaged and quickly sank. Survivors were picked up by the NOA's boats, which had been launched before she went down, and they were brought to the PENN- SYLVANIA. They remained aboard one week, through all the ensuing firing missions. Three days later in the afternoon several large caliber shells landed close to the PENN- SYLVANIA. The ship cleared the area. Again the following morning, as the ship was lying to about 5000 yards south of Peleliu, a me- dium caliber proiectile splashed and exploded 50 yards off the port bow. As the ship was maneuvered clear, two more splashes in quick succession were sighted astern. In this in- stance, it was probable that the splashes were caused by ricochets from friendly tanks on the island rather than enemy fire. At Angaur the PENNSYLVANIA delivered a bombardment so devastating that there was no return fire from the enemy emplacements on the rocks and cliffs flanking Red Beach. Peleliu andAAngaur, the two southernmost islands in the Palau group and the only ones we assaulted, afford no fleet anchorage. To replenish ammunition,-the PENNSYLVANIA was directed to Kossol Passage, at the north- ern end of the Palau Islands. Kossol Passage is nothing more than a large expanse of water, surrounded by a submerged coral reef. Babelthuap, the largest island in the,Palaus and a Jap strong point, lies a few miles to the south. I On September the 25th the PENNSYL- VANIA left Kossol Passage and proceeded southward to Seeadler Harbor in the Ad- miralty Islands. On the first of October she entered a floating drydock for emergency re- pairs to number four strut bearing, which had caused trouble since April when considerable' vibration developed in 4 shaft. At Sydney divers had reported excessive clearance in the strut bearing. Thereafter, whenever possible, divers had effected such repairs as they could and had managed to keep the shaft turning. At Manus the ship was allowed only seven days in drydock, a period inadequate to ac- complish a thorough repair iob, even if the drydock had had the facilities, which it did not. But temporary repairs were made. ' 25