Pennsylvania (BB 38) - Naval Cruise Book

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An airplane from the light carrier CABOT photographs the PENNSYLVANIA steaming toward historic Wake Island, July, 7945. Y LATE SUMMER OF T945 the defeat of Nazi Germany was history and the pitch of the battle with Japan had risen to white fury. Iwo Jima had fallen, our monster air attacks were relentless, Russia had entered the con- flict and on the sixth of August President Truman announced to an amazed world that Hiroshima had been virtually wiped out with a new weapon more devastating than anything ever before devised-the Atomic Bomb. Meanwhile the PENNSYLVANIA put in at Saipan where she remained for several days while the Powers at CINCPAC on Guam pon- dered whether or not to use her as flagship for the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Ocean Areas should he be required to put to sea for a surrender which seemed imminent. Once the decision was made to fly Fleet Ad- miral Nimitz's flag in the SOUTH DAKOTA and to conduct ceremonies should they be necessary upon Admiral Halsey's flagship, the MISSOURI, the PENNSYLVANIA was ordered on to Okinawa after replenishing the am- munition she had expended at Wake. On the morning of August the twelfth she entered Buckner Bay and went alongside the TENNESSEE, which was at anchor, to receive Vice Admiral Oldendorf and his staff. When the shift had been made, the PENNSYLVANIA cast off and proceeded to her own berth. At 2045 that evening, as the PENNSYL- VANIA lay quietly at anchor, a Jap torpedo plane somehow slipped in over Buckner Bay without any warning and launched its tor- pedo at the indistinct silhouette of a large warship. One of the crew of the PENNSYL-

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THE PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN-Continued next operation. The base made an inspec- tion and reported that the PENNSYLVANIA needed extensive repairs to the main, sec- ondary, and close range batteries, the fire control system for the main battery, radars, and radio equipment, that the port condenser needed to be retubed, that considerable hull work needed to be done to the starboard blister, that number four strut bearing needed extensive repairs, and that satisfactory tem- porary repairs to get the ship ready in time for. the next operation were beyond the ca- pacity of the local facilities. CinCPac then directed the Commander Naval Base Manus to send the PENNSYL- VANIA to Pearl Harbor for further routing to San Francisco. But before the PENNYLSVANIA could shove off from Manus, the strut bearing needed temporary repairs. The ship's divers went to work. After forty-three dives, day and night, with a total of sixty diving hours, they completed the necessary work. THROUGH THE GOLDEN GATE The PENNSYLVANIA departed from Manus on February the 22nd, stopped briefly at Maiuro, stopped again at Pearl Harbor, and passed under the Golden Gate Bridge on the morning of the I3th of March. I At this time the PENNSYLVANIA had set a record of which she could' well be proud. She was the only battleship to take part in every combat amphibious operation in the Pacific Ocean Areas and the two largest operations in the Southwest Pacific Area from the fourth of May, I943, to the tenth of February, I945, from Attu through Lingayen. At Hunter's Point the PENNSYLVANIA was given a thorough overhaul. The main battery turrets and secondary battery mounts were regunned. Additional close range weapons and new and improved radar and fire con- trol equipment were installed. During the yard period twenty-seven days leave was granted to all hands. The first leave party, half the ship's company, left the ship by ferry even before she proceeded into Hunter's Point. On June the fifth Capt. Martin was re- lieved by Capt. W. M. Moses. The ship made three trial runs out of San Francisco and then spent I0 days in the San Clemente-San Diego area, executing every conceivable type of practice. She returned to San Francisco, made one more trial run, and on July the twelfth departed for Pearl Harbor. She arrived on the I8th and shoved off on the 20th for an addi- tional four day training period. This was cut short, and the PENNSYLVANIA returned on the 23rd and headed westward the next day. En route to Saipan, the PENNSYLVANIA made a slight detour by way of Wake Island, which had heretofore been by-passed in our advance across the Pacific, to drop her call- ing cards. With due regard for the formalities, the Japanese returned theirs. Shell fragments hit the ship, but there were no personnel casualties. The shore battery was silenced. The bombardment lasted from 0900 to I500 and was accompanied by air strikes from the CVL CABOT. LEFT: Powder cans for the big guns are brought aboard from an ammunition ship. RIGHT: After the battle. Empty I4 inch and 5 inch powder cans are transferred to an LST at Leyte Gulf, October 27, 1944. I

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UPPER LEFT Chief Shlpfltter R F Smith, USNR, receiv mg commendation from Captain William M Moses for diving operations following torpedomg UPPER RIGHT Enlisted men awaiting awards fleft to right-1 Chief Shlpfltter R F Smith, USNR W A Cun nmgham, SF2fc, USNR, fletter of commendatlonj O R McLeod, Slfc, USN D O Judy Flfc USNR E L Olson, Cpl USMC R E McFarlane, Cpl USMCR J H Kephart, MM2fc USNR Chief Machinist Mate A A Kane, USN CENTER LEFT Captain Wm M Moses awardmg Purple Hearts to flett to rlghtj, Lt A W Wilson, USN Lt flgj R W Schroeder Ens J F Malek R E McFar lane, Cpl., USMCR, E. L. Olson, Cpl., USMC, D. O. Judy, Flfc, USNR, O. R. McLeod, Slfc USN. CENTER RIGHT: The Captain congratulates Machinist Mate A. A. Kane, USN, and J. H. Kephart, MM2fc. LOWER RIGHT: Capt. Wm. M. Moses commending Lt. L. D. Williams and Ch. Elec. Scharn for electrical damage control work accomplished following the torpedoing. 36