Randolph (CVS 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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quickly recognized that major repairs were in order. ln addition to the damaged flight deck. the hangar deck was buckled, several workshops and living spaces had been demolished. and there were shrapnel holes and flooding on both the second turd third decks. Repair ship frzsorz, aided materially by personnel of the damaged carrier. managed to accomplish repairs sufficient to ready her for additional combat by Mareh28. Thus spared the necessity of the long return to Pearl Harbor for repairs, as might have been expected. Randolph underwent several days of refresher training and then sailed again, on April 5. for her second war cruise. Designated as flagship of Task Group 58.2, under Rear Admiral Bogan, she moved to the Okinawa campaign area on April 8. For the next fifty-one days - until May 29 -the ship remained off that islandls coast. Such a long siege was possible only because of a new con- cept just developing at that time -underway ammunition transfers and large-scale replenish- ments at sea. Underway refueling had preceded this development. but was still little-known, and in fact was referred to later by Admiral Halsey as his 'secret weaponl' during the Pacific War. In addition to lending direct support to our ground forces on Okinawa, CV-15 and her Air Group sent aloft patrols and combat strikes against the islands of Kikai, Tokuna,Ie,Amami, Yokoate and Kakeroma, as well as against Minami Daito Shima and airfields on Kyushu. Opposition was considerably stiffer than when the ship had been launching her earlier Tokyo raids: enemy planes were constantly Hnosing around looking for trouble. Violent evasive action fand some accurate shooting by her gunners who downed two of two torpedo bombersj in the early evening of April 14, saved Rmzrlolplz from torpedo attack after one of the enemy planes had silhouetted her with a string of flares. Three days later a .lapa- nese plane screamed in off the starboard quarter, tryiii to crash the shipg missing, it flew down the port side, close aboard, about fifty feet above the water, finally crashing 100 feet off the port 'J' 1, ' 4.-:IC At left, lzeaziy flak thrown up against ottaflring japanese kamz'lm.5es by escort zfessels and the carrieris' own batteries brings one dozen. Suz'ez'depla1ze strikes began in October of1944 and scored numerous lzzts on U. S. Fleet unz'ts,' their farzwzory targets were always our flat- tops. Above. A suz'e1'a'e plane which eraslzed into CV-15 on Jllarch 11, 1945 resulteo' in 134 casualties. 19

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i'?i '-il-.Q.5T.i ' On February 21 an enemy aircraft finally did attempt to close the carrier, only to be driven off by gunfire before an attack could be launched. No more threats occurred in the ensuing period, however, as Randofblz received fuel herself, re- fueled her destroyer escorts in turn, and then returned to a position from which Air Group 12 could launch strikes on Hachijo Jima and air- fields in the Tokyo area on the 25th. TG 58.4 was then detached from the Task Force, and on March 1 entered Ulithi once again for ten days of rest and replenishment. March 11, the fortunes of war suddenly changed for her. 'GAt seven minutes past eight, according to the ship's own account, ua twin- engine japanese bomber, of atype called Frances, which had slipped past the radar net and inter- ceptor patrols, roared out ofthe night and crash- ed, loaded with bombs, at the edge ofthe flight deck, starboard side, aft. At this moment one showing of the movie QA Song to Remember- being screened arnidships on the hangar deckj was just over and the other was about to begin. Men were getting up from their seats and others were moving in. The explosion was terrific. A T . F great hole was torn in the flight deck, A column of flame shot into the night air. Smoke billowed. Hot ammunition began to detonate. Planes burned like torches. Wounded, bleeding men lay on the hangar deck. We had never faced an emergency like this before, but somehow we proved equal to it. The fires were put out, the wounded men carried to sick bay. Our casualties that night were 26 killed, 3 missing and 105 wounded. Kamikaze, or suicide plane attacks, had been occurring against allied naval forces since Octo- ber, 1944, with single engine aircraft generally being employed. The Kamikaze CHDivine Windwj Special Attack Corps - who took their name from typhoons that, in 1273 and 1279, saved Japan by scattering Kubli Khangs inva- sion fleets - had proved a dangerous weapon against our ships. In the initial three months of their use, 424 suicide planes had sortied from their Philippine bases to attack the Seventh Fleetg at least fifty U. S. vessels were damaged by them in that period, including two aircraft carriers which were sunk. When the smoke cleared aboard CV-15, it was

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iw x ' -f H I, Q, h ti V 4 -'Q 1, vt. 71,1 k Y . h J.-' 4' - n V.. 40' 7 av , . -6,1 s' f if ' s ' 2. , , 0- .,. f l - ' QT... .f p..,. - s, 45' 'L-JFUQI. .4 'fd . if V . ,QA if - ' 1 --- ' v wr-N 'sa ' --...wa 4.17 . :iv-1 ' ' v ..- 'f '1:bs.3 - f ' X' W -4 1-1, . . av . -'ff ,..f Q 1' I' V ,. A I ,, . - X: ,fy fy M -4. fa ' 5 K H-J p 0 bf- w I ,Gm ..,,- . .ff -T ff V ' ........4,.- fi--'i'! M--if 'e 'Q' 'J' ' . T. 'T ',..s'l- . ' ' N14 ' ff Liv 'A '41 f - f '? ':5 f 'A,- ,. 4--.... 0 'sr 5 FT'-f . --4, ,T ff... fs :ef 151- -fi-he , 5' bow as the shipas guns blazed away. Later the same morning another pair of hostile aircraft ap- peared, diving from about 6,000 feet. The first was hit by a five-inch shell just as it emerged from a cloud, while the second had a wing blown off by the shipfs alert gun crews, and spun into the water. The pilot of the first aircraft managed to bail out. drifting down under his parachute in full view of those on the flight deck. During the same attack Rcuzcfoljpfzfs gunners splashed a third 'Lbanditf' who had attempted a dive on light cruiser Pasaclczza. On May 11 another carrier only 2,000 yards away in the formation. Bzmlcer Hiff. was hit by a pair of Kamikazes. She fell out of formation. burning fiercely. and Rmzclolpfz fs' crew could sec 20 many of her men in the water. Life jackets and empty fuel Qbellyj tanks were thrown overboard to aid the survivors, and flares float lights were dropped into the water to aid rescue destroyers. Carriers, needless to say. do not stop for rescue work or any other purpose in the battle zone. Three days later. off Kyushu. in the waters lovingly known as i'Kamikaze junction. an- other U. S. carrier in the Task Force was hit by a diving enemy plane. E111'r'1y21'm' took the Kami- kaze on the forward end of her flight deck. suffer- ing an explosion, fire. heavy smoke and a num- ber of casualties. Later that morning. a concentrated attack by enemy aircraft was under- gone by the formation. whose gunners shot four out of the air. Below-decks personnel aboard