Randolph (CV 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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noon, he crossed from a desfroyer in a boafswain's chair over fhe fanfail. Our phofographers look a picfure of his arrival fhaf lafer appeared in bofh Life and Time magazines. He was smiling. The only gear he had Ieff was a briefcase, which he carried. Maybe, despife our earlier feelings, fhe liffle Admiral broughf us good luck, because we didn'f gef hif-noi fhen, anyway. For fwo weeks we were flagship of Task Force 58. Then on May 29, affer fhe number of our Task Group had been changed from 58.2 io 58.3 fo 38.3, Admiral Mifscher was relieved as Task Force Commander, and we fook him and his sfaff fo Guam, leaving fha? day. We arrived af Guam, May 3l, mooring in Apra Harbor. Before he leff fha ship Admiral Mifscher gave us a Well done for our parf in fhe Okinawa campaign. Mosf of us goi ashore af Guam, af leasl for a few hours. Some of us gof a glimpse of Red Cross girls and inspecfed a Jap pill- box near fhe beach. lf was fhe firsf 'lime we had fouched, or even seen land for 55 days. ln fhaf fime we had fraveled mor.: fhan 27,000 miles. On June 2 we gof underway again, fhis fime for fhe Philippines. We dropped anchor June 4 in Leyfe Gulf, in San Pedro Bay anchorage. Excepf for a fraining cruise in lhe area easf of fhe Gulf, June 20-23, we sfayed af Leyfe fhroughouf June, replenishing supplies and making preparafions for fhe nexf campaign. The Gulf was hof and oily: fhere were many Sevenfh Fleer ships fhere, especially fhe older baffleships. We pulled liberfy af a recreafion beach on Samar, across fhe Gulf from Leyfe. Some of us boughf grass skirfs for fhe girls back home, and af leasf a half-dozen of us broughf back monkeys fo fhe ship, as companions for our mascol' dog, Randy. Bul' fhe Exec said monkeys mighf carry disease, and we had fo fake fhem back. The affernoon of June 7 fhe ship lay quiefly anchored in fhe Gulf. Some of us were on fhe flighf deck, lying in spaces befween fhe parked planes, sunbafhing. A P-38 was overhead, making playful runs on us. Abouf i540 if pulled a few fhousand feef and 'rhen headed down foward us. Nobody paid much affenfion fo if. We liffle suspecfed fhaf fhe pilof of fhaf plane was going fo misiudge his disfance and fhaf whaf sfarfed our as his Iiffle joke was abouf fo furn info a sickening fragedy. A+ IS44 fhe P-38 crashed fhe forward flighf deck and glanced off info fhe wafer where il' immediafely sank. If leff behind on fhe flighf deck a raging fire. Forfunafely, our planes, in keeping wifh fhe ship's policy, were nof fueled, buf fhey burned iusf fhe same. The sun-balhers in fhe area never had a chance. The fire was puf ouf by capable acfion on fhe parf of fhe men: our casualfies were I4 killed and Il iniured. We shuddered fo fhink what would have happened if fhe P-38 had landed in fhe craff which was alongside us af fhe lime, loaded wifh bombs! There would have been an abrupf end fo our sfory. This marked fhe second fime we had been hit while in a supposedly-safe anchorage. We began fo feel we were safer in baffle. Our Third War Cruise sfarfed on July I. We were again flagship for Task Group 38.3 in Admiral Halsey's Third Fleef. For a week we frained infensively. On fhe morning of July I0 we launched planes fo sfrike fhe air- fields in Ihe Tokyo area-fields wifh names like Yokosuka, Miyakawa, Mobaro, Narufo, and Yachimafa. From fhen on unfil Ihe war ended on Augusf I5 we ranged up and down fhe coasf of Japan, sfriking, moving quickly, and sfriking again. This cruise we had Air Group I6 aboard: if had replaced Air Group I2 while we were in fhe Philippines. For fhe firsf 'rime in fhe war, we affacked fhe Honshu- Hokkaido area, our planes sinking fwo of fhe vifal ferries operafing fhere. Affer several days of bad weafher we hii airfields on fhe Tokyo plains again, and

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f I' 'I ' 9 'v 'if' ug, 15- fhose on fhe flighf deck. The second plane confinued ifs run fo a poinl' closer fo fhe ship where one of our 40mm shells knocked ifs righl' wing off, causing il' fo spin in+o fhe waier. Anofher enemy aircrafl' aH'emp'red a dive on a nearby Iighi cruiser, +he Pasadena. If was faken under fire by our sfarboard bafferies and crashed, narrowly missing ihe cruiser's sfern. During fhis morn- ing's aH'ack, in which sfill ofher Japs dived on ships in 'rhe group, our gunners accounfed for fhree enemy air- craft We had learned fo play for keeps. The nighf of April 28 a bogey approached and was fired af by several ships of fhe group, including Randolph , her guns flashing while as ihe shells whisfled info fhe sky. Somehow, fhe plane escaped. Thai nighf ihe moon was like brighf gold. Any momenl' fhe plane mighl' dive on us. Then a sirange scene developed. As fhe ships zig-zagged radically, black smoke poured from iheir funnels. The frick was effecfive. The Jap plane did nof aifack. On The I Ifh of May, +he Japs gof ihrough. Abou+ ren in fhe morning, iwo planes dove from cloud-cover and smashed Bunker Hill , fhen 2000 yards on our siarboard bow. The iniured ship fell oul' of formafion, burning fiercely. Many men were observed in fhe wafer. We fhrew life iackefs and belly fanks fo fhem, and dropped floai lighis +o assisf fhe des+royers engaged in rescue work. Six Bunker Hill planes landed aboard us fha? day. Three days lafer, in ihe wafers of Kamikaze Junc- +ion , off Kyushu, The Japs goi' fhrough again 'io our formaiion. This iime an enemy plane, diving ai' a sleep angle hif fhe forward end of fhe En+erprise Fligh+ deck, causing an explosion, fires, and heavy smoke. There was a lull for aboui an hour, fhen 'rhe aH'acks resumed. Abouf eighi' o'clock fhai morning many enemy aircrafi' sfaried coming in from all direcfions. Soon +he sky was filled wifh black smoke puffs and bursiing shells and burning planes. Four of fhem were shof down by anfi-aircraff fire in which our gunners pariicipaied. If was a wild sigh? for fhose fopside. For +hose of us below decks we could only sweaf and wonder wha? was happening unfil an announcemenf was made over ihe loudspeaker sysfem. We wanfed +o hear all fhe news we could. The nex+ day, May I5, if was announced +ha+ fhe Task Force Commander, Admiral Marc A. Mifscher, would fransfer his flag fo Randolph. We wen? around 'lhe ship wifh fingers crossed. Hope he doesn l' bring fhe Kamikazes wifh him, we said. Admiral Mifscher had been on fhe Bunker HilI. Affer she go+ hii' he frans- ferred fo fhe En+erprise, sfaying +here uniil she was likewise hi+. When he came aboard our ship fha? affer- I ,

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also damaged fhe baH'leship Naga+o af heavily-de- fended Yolrosulra Naval Base. Ranging wesi' we aH'aci:ed norihern Kyushu and fhai' pari' of Honshu across ihe Shimonoselri Sfraifs. Our planes also bombed shipping in +he Inland Sea, helping sinlr +he baH'leship-carrier Hyuga. The ninfh of Augusi' found us again off +he coasf of noriheasi Honshu. There we launched afiaclcs on air- fields and enemy communica+ions as a prelude +o fhe expecied invasion of Japan. Thai invasion, for+una'l'ely, never had 'fo faire place. On fhe morning of Augusi I5 our planes roclreied and sfrafed Kisarazu airfield on easl' side of Tolryo Bay. A second sfrilxe was launched. Al' 0642 before fhese planes reached ihe coasi, all planes were recalled by fhe Task Force Commander. Lafer fhaf morning Cap+ain Jaclrson R. Tafe, USN, who on July 26 had replaced Capfain Balmer, announced fo us over fhe loudspeaker sys+em fha? Japan had accepied fhe Allied surrender ferms. We senl' up a cheer fhaf echoed all over fhe ship. The war was over-almosf, lhal is. Tha? affernoon, af I300, Admiral Halsey addressed 'ihe fleel' over fhe radio. While he was fallring, a Judy and a Zelre were shof down as fhey aH'emp+ed fo dive on ships of fhe Taslr Force. Bogeys were reporied for several days afferwards. Apparenily They hadn'+ gof fhe word. On fhe 25+h and Zbih of Augusf we were buflefed around by fyphoons. We managed fo avoid ihe cenfer of ihe slorms, however, and rhe ship escaped serious damage. On Augusf 30 our Marines, plus a Mainfenance Force of four of our naval officers and aboui' I5 sailors who had earlier leil' fhe ship, wenl' ashore a+ Yolnosulca Naval Base, pariicipaling in fhe hisforic lirsl landings in Japan. YQ in ails :fi Q' sf J xi K K i ,'f'n ,ii' o xg ,,4,' If - I n N A-fs ' 'uv rn-P' Aff' C' The Mainfenance Force did repair worlc ai' 'ihe Navy Yard 'rhere, while +he Marines occupied The Naval Air Sfafion. They hunfed Through 'I'he elaborafe caves in lhe hills on bolh sides of fhe airfield, localing Jap guns, planes and o+her milifary supplies. The Marines were +oo big 'ro sleep in Jap beds, which were only five and a half 'feef long. They repor+ed lhaf fhe day 'ihey arrived, 'rhe Japanese women ran from +hem.