Salt Lake City (CA 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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charging in. At l000, they were straddling the Salt Lake City with their shells. At 1002, the Salt Lake City's own gun blasts carried away her rudder stops. Steering control was lost until it was shifted to steering aft. Even then, the rudder was limited to ten degrees each way for fear of jamming. Another hit was suffered, a lap shell hit at frame seven, which went completely through the ship without exploding. The Salt Lake City, the Bailey and the Coghlan made smoke to hide the stricken heavy. There ensued a grim game of hide and seek, the lap heavies firing whenever they could see through the smoke shroud, a lap light edging around it for a clear view. The Salt Lake City was on a new course, where only her after battery could bear against the enemy, five eight inch guns to their twenty. But the radical maneuvering of the battle had accomplished one result. The laps no longer were between the Americans and their base. The way to escape was open. The respite was short-lived. At 1059 a lap eight inch shell hit the Salt Lake City's starboard catapult. Four minutes later another hit the weakened spot near frame 102. lets of water spurted into the ship. The anti-aircraft switchboard was aban- doned. The switchboard room, the after five inch handling room, the after five inch ammunition room and shaft alleys three and four were flooded. Water poured into the after en- gine room. The writergof the Saturday Evening Post article described the scene: From the scores of leaks where pipes and steam lines passed through the wrenched bulkhead, the mixture of water and fuel oil from the flooded compartments gushed in. lt gathered and rose, water whose temperature was the deadly thirty-two degrees of the Bering Sea in winter, oil which coagulated to hang like black glue. Pumps labored to suck away the flood. Damage control parties attacked the leaking bulkhead. The men stood thigh deep in the freezing water while they pounded calking into the leaks. Any kind of calking, rags, wiping waste, their shirts, their jackets. Still, the level inched higher, to their waists, tO their chests, to their shoulders. 16

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..-..... ,..... ....-f..,.... ,-'- fm- .-my two lap light cruisers and six Iap destroyers, a task group twice as powerful as the Americans' ownl The initial rush of the Americans-sthe Salt Lake City, the light cruiser Richmond, and the destroyers Bailey, Coghlan, Dale and Monaghan-had placed the laps between them and their base. At 0840, the laps opened fire on the Richmond and obtained a straddle on the second salvo. But they switched almost immediately to the Salt Lake City as she came steaming up from her original station twenty-four miles away to join the affray. The exchange of shots set the pattern for the entire battle, the heavies thundering away at each other, two against one, the lights engaging in minor, sporadic duels of their own or edging in for a nervous shot at the big fellows. The American destroyers engaged intermittently but spectacularly. The lap destroyers, possibly because they were carrying troops or sup- plies, were pretty well content to stay out. The Salt Lake City opened fire at 0842 and on her fourth salvo obtained first blood, at least two eight inch hits on the leading lap heavy. Fire broke out near her bridge, but was quickly brought under control. A few minutes later, straddles caused smoke to issue near her forward stack. At 0907, Salt Lake City shells struck amidships, and a cloud of black smoke arose. Three minutes later, the Swayback sustained her first hit, an eight inch shell that struck below the waterline on the port side at frame 102. Oil tanks and bulkheads were ruptured. Shaft alleys three and four started flooding. Oil from punctured fuel tanks sprayed into the after engine room. A near miss at 0921 aggravated the damage. Snipes thrust wads of clothing into the breaks. The battle went on. At 0931, the Salt Lake City, the Bailey and the Coghlan shot down a brash lap observation plane which had ventured too near. At 0941, the laps checked fire, out of range. Their wounded heavy was dropping back, still smoking. The Ameri- cans changed course to get a lap light which had strayed off station. She was hurt by near misses. But the lap heavy had repaired her damage, and both the big enemy ships came 15

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