Pennsylvania (BB 38) - Naval Cruise Book

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OKINAWA - Continued VANIA later wrote home, We didn't get the Jap plane, but we sure busted hell out of his torpedo! The torpedo hit well aft on the PENNSYL- VANlA'S starboard side and did extensive damage. Many compartments were flooded and the ship settled heavily by the stern. But, by the Herculean efforts of the ship's repair parties and the prompt assistance of two sal- vage tugs and an LCS, the flooding was brought under control. ' Nineteen men in a living compartment iust inboard of the scene of the explosion and one other man were killed by the force of the blast. Ten others were iniured. The following day the PENNSYLVANIA was towed into shallower water where salvage operations were continued. On the night of the I3th of August, I945, the PENNSYLVANIA saw her last action of the war. An enemy suicide plane made a run on the ships in the harbor and crashed in flames on the deck of a cargo ship about 1,000 yards off the starboard beam of the PENNSYLVANIA. The secondary battery of the PENNSYLVANIA tracked the plane by radar and fired thirteen rounds. The 40 mm.'s fired thirty. On the morning of the I5th Capt. Moses spoke to the ship's crew over the loudspeaker system and informed them that the President had iust announced Japan's acceptance of the Allied surrender terms. There was no wild cheering as there had been a few nights be- fore, when Japan's first offer to surrender had been reported. Instead there was a minute of utter silence as the men paid homage to their shipmates who had lost their lives so very near the end. The PENNSYLVANIA remained in Buckner Bay a little over two weeks, while salvage operations proceeded. All compartments not open to the sea were pumped dry and the ship was made as seaworthy as possible. On August the I8th the ship departed from Oki- nawa, towed by two tugs in tandem, another tug standing by to assist if needed. The group proceededitortuously toward Guam, making as little as two knots when the seas were heavy and never more than seven. On 6 September the PENNSYLVANIA ar- rived in Apra Harbor, Guam. The next day she entered ABSD 3. In drydock a large sheet steel patch was welded over the torpedo hole and repairs sufficient to permit her return to the United States under her own power were completed. The ship left drydock on Cctober the second, moored in the harbor to take on I000 Navy and Marine passengers for transportation to the States, and shoved off on the morning of October the fourth. Commander Kaufman relieves Captain Moses as C. 0., Bremerton, 5 November, 1945.

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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

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I LEFT: The first division inspected by the Skipper. RIGHT: Lt. fig-'I Larry Lyn6H 61116665 smoker on the way home from Guam. The ship proceeded toward Puget Sound in company with the cruiser, ATLANTA, and a destroyer, the WALKE. On the l5th the ship stopped while divers went over the side to inspect the patch. Marine sentries armed with rifles stood by on deck to ward off sharks. They scored one probable, Two days later number three shaft suddenly carried 'away inside the stern tube and the shaft slipped aft. It was necessary to send divers down to cut through the shaft, letting the shaft and propeller drop to the bottom. On this occasion the sentries made one sure kill. Shipping water and with only one screw turning, the PENNSYLVANIA arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on the 24th ofOcto- ber, l945. Since her first action at Pearl Harbor she had steamed almost l50,000 miles. Her self discipline had been excellent at all times: no man was ever lost overboard except by enemy action, she had never hit any friendly troops, installations, ships or planes and had never had to report not ready for any operation. Nearly T50 officers and almost IOOO petty officers were trained and transferred from the PENNSYLVANIA during this period. She probably fired more ammunition than any other ship in history. In recognition of her record the PENNSYL- VANIA was the only battleship honored with a Navy Unit Commendation, which was pre- sented by Rear Admiral Ralph W. Christie, Commandant of the Navy Yard, Puget Sound, on the quarterdeck of the ship as she lay in drydock at Bremerton on November third. Two days later Commander William M. Kaufman, the Executive Officer, relieved Cap- tain William M. Moses as commanding officer. Though hit at Pearl Harbor and again at the very end of the war, her career between the two disasters was distinguished enough to make any man proud to number himself as a member of her crew. The War History of the USS PENNSYL- VANIA was ended, but one more great ad- venture lay before her, the consequences of which might affect the fate of navies for years to come. On I6 January I9-46 the PENNSYLVANIA was designated a target ship in the Task Force which was to be submitted to Atomic Bomb tests in Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the summer of I946. On 23 January Captain Carl H. Bushnell, U. S. Navy, relieved Commander Kaufman as Commanding Officer and extensive prep- arations for the experiment were begun. As this story closes, the old battlewagon in full commission with all flags flying is standing proudly out through the Strait of Juan de Fuca on herlast iourney facing fire and blast for her flag as was her want always.