Salt Lake City (CA 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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caught the laps so by surprise that lights were still burning on the island when the boinbardnient started. Other things than lights were burning at its conclusion. A month later, on December 8, the second attack was con- ducted, in full daylight this time with a handful of our bombers overhead carrying spotters who helped direct the fire. Then a Christmas Eve delivery of more high explosives, followed three days later by another blow designed to catch the laps completely off guard. lt did. A number of landing craft and a destroyer were found in the harbor, presumably carrying reinforcements and supplies. They were promptly dis- patched. On the first of these two raids another lap destroyer had been intercepted and sunk by the task force. Cn lanuary 5, l945, the same group of cruisers with six destroyers penetrated to within 350 miles of lapan and held reveille on the inhabitants of Chichi lima, the principal island of the Bonin group. Une of the destroyers touched off a mine and had to limp back' Steaming southward from Chichi, after torpedo boats and a midget sub were seen, the task force tossed a few shells at l-laha lima, the next island in the chain, I-Fr'-1 THE AFTER BATTERY LETS ONE GO. IWO IIMA, 8 FEBRUARY. 1945 li s 24 i 2

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participated in a bombardment of Marcus Island, 750 miles from Tokyo, the closest any American warships without air coverage had been to the lap mainland up to that time. The raid was a diversionary action, plotted to confuse and distract the laps While the American carrier force was lashing Formosa as a preliminary to the reconguest of the Philippines. Elaborate action was taken to simulate a landing force. Smoke Was made beyond the horizon from the island, flares were lighted. The ruse succeeded, for the next day Tokyo Rose announced that the Nips had driven off a threatened invasion of Marcus which was covered by a large force containing a battleship and several cruisers, two of which were sunk. Actually, no battle- ship Was present and no vessel Was even slightly damaged. But it was a near thing. Une stubborn Iapanese battery got the Salt Lake City's range and straddled her with at least seven salvos until she changed course and moved out. The group Went back to Saipan, then received a hurry call to join Task Force 38 to replace two cruisers which had been damaged in the Battle of Formosa. lt was still with the carrier force October 24 to 26 when the lap fleet, attempting to throttle MacArthur's invasion of Leyte, was driven back with huge loss in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The morning strike launched by our carriers was instrumental in inflicting crippling damages on the lap fleet already retreating to the San Bernardino Straits. During this period Saipan and Tinian in the Marianas lslands, were our most advanced air bases. Routine bombing missions to lapan were being sent from their fields and the laps retaliated, as was to be expected, by counter air attacks on those islands in an effort to reduce their value. The principal thorn was the little two-by-four fortress of lWo lima, roughly GOO miles from the lap mainland. lt became the duty of the Salt Lake City, With the Chester, Pensacola and various destroyers to help neutralize the threat of lwo lima. Six hit and run bom- bardments were made within a period of three and a half months, all Without direct air cover and usually against oppo- sition by shore batteries and lap planes. The first raid took place at midnight, November ll, and Z3

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and then bent on full power to pay an afternoon visit to Iwo. A few lap planes put in an appearance and were either shot down or driven off. That night, after the very successful bombard- ment of Iwo lima, a more determined air attack was successfully evaded. Altogether it had been an eventful day. There was a pause in mid-Ianuary when the group acted as a patrol force to cover the northern flank of the invaders going ashore at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. Cn Ianuary 24 it again bombarded Iwo lima, this time with the added support of the sixteen inch guns of the battleship Indiana. Cn this occasion the Salt Lake assisted in the shooting down of an inhospitable Iill. When finally the now famous invasion of lwo was begun on February l6, it seemed to the crew of the Swayback almost as if they were going back home to stay, so familiar had the island become. For twenty-five days the ship laid off that unlovely volcanic island shooting at the laps from all angles and at all ranges, sometimes approaching within a stone's throw of the hostile beach. Scarcely a day went by that was Q TAKING ON AMMUNITION 25