San Jacinto (CVL 30) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 36 text:

CHAPTER XII Q EPILOGUE OR the sake of coherence and continuity a factual running summary such as this history must of necessity omit many if not almost all the little human details of daily life which in the ultimate actually constitute the sum total of a ships accomplishments Yet the story is not complete without them for a ship IS a community of men as well as a fighting unit and the quality of those viho man her measures her worth and ability ' No battle summary will tell of ordnancemen and mechanics laboring through the night between day-long actions to ready the planes for the next day s strikes' of engineers locked below the water-line to face horrible death in action superimposing battle hours on an already crowded schedule of watches ofer the super-heat of giant boilers' of repairmen working feverishly on maintenance and upkeep yet charged with the salvage and safety of the ship in battle' of quartermasters logging their records and manning the helm through the dreary hours of the long night' of bakers passing ammunition all day and pre- paring tomorrow s bread at night' of radiomen and signalmen handling back-breaking loads of traffic' of yeomen manning battle phones by day and typing out reports at- night' of pharmacists and barbers and cooks and storekeepers of aerographers and radarmen and tailors and cobblers of print- ers and photographers and mess attendants and stewards- and all their weary hours. They will tell of gunners and boatswains and Marines repelling flaming death at their battle stations but you won t hear of how those same men suddenly become deckhands and swab jockeys on the off days when the ship was replenishing and rearming and refueling. Yet the ship's record is nothing more nor nothing less than the sum of all these prodigious individual efforts as directed and inspired by the Commanding Officer and his Corps of Officer assistants. The following statistical box score is eloquent testimonial to how well these men did their jobs: Major operations participated in: SEVEN. Q15 MARIANAS, 10 June-27 August 1944. Q25 VVESTERN CAROLINES, 31 August-14 October 1944. Q35 LEYTE, 10 October-16 December 1944. . Q45 LUZON, 12 December 1944-22 January 1945. Q55 IWO JIMA, 15 February-16 March-1945. . Q65 OKINAWA, is March-27 April 1945. Q75 Sustained strikes against Northern HONSHU and HOK- g KA1Do, JAPANESE EMPIRE-10 July-15 August 1945. QB5 Air Groups employed aboard: FOUR. Q15 GvL Air Group FIFTY-oNE. Q25 GVL Air Group FORTY-FIVE. Q35 GVL Air Group FORTY-NINE. Q45 CVL Air Group FORTY-SEVEN. QC5 Notable' records: , Qa5 Aircraft sorties-ll,l20. Qb5 Aircraft offensive missions-309. Qc5 Enemy planes shot down by ship's guns-12. Qd5 Enemy planes shot down' by Air Groups-148. Qe5 Enemy planes destroyed on ground-256. Qf5 Enemy planes damaged-296. Enemy shipping sunk: A 1 Light carrier 4 Destroyers 2 Destroyers or destroyer escorts l0 Auxiliaries-tankers transports cargo ships A 22 Small craft-luggcrs sampans etc. . Qh5 Enemy shipping damaged: 2 Battleships-NAGATO and ISE 4 Large carriers ' 1 Escort carrier ' I 2 Heavy cruisers A 1 Light cruiser . 1 l Light or heavy cruiser 1 l Destroyer ,W 3 Destroyer escorts 42 Auxiliaries -, 145 Small' craft ' ' .Qi5 Shore installations destroyed: Q 4 Coastal defense guns, 18 Hangars , 9 Heavy AA positions 27 Barracks ' V l Pillbox 4 Shops Q A 1 6 Ammunition dumps 1 Aircraft assembly plant f l Fuel dump Q32 000 sq. ft.5 ' fi . ' 1 Radio station 6 Warehouses - A f l Radio tower 1 Paper mill l Bridge 73 Miscellaneous buildings 5 2 Piers 7 I ocomotivest - ' ll Trucks . Shore installations damaged: ' 2 Bridges ' l VVarehouse 3 - 6 Hangars 9 Miscellaneous buildings . 4 Factories 3 Locomotives- ' . 1 Aircraft factory A , Qk5 Days in the forward area without rehabilitation-47 Days at sea-357. ' A Qm5 Days in port-114. Qn5 Miles steamed-l52,883. Qo5 Number of times fueled at sea-86. Qp5 Destroyers received alongside for mail, passengers and freight-218. . , Qq5 Number of times replenished ammunition from AE's-l9. Qr5 Ammunition delivered against the enemy: - Q15 Bombs-980 tons ' Q25 Rockets-5,436 Q35 Torpedoes-42 Q45 40mm.-14,740 rounds Q55 20mm.-19,160 rounds Q65 .50 Cal.-1,478,750 rounds ' Q75 .30 Cal.-22,530 rounds 1 The SAN jACINTO'S long combat career has come to all end but only because that combat. has ended. She is 'battle- scarred and weary, but triumphant and undaunted. Whatever she does in the futuregit will be anew phase in her career and others will author it. The first glorious portion of the history is closed. WELL DONE to All Hands. -J ' x rf - ,

Page 35 text:

. , ,... ,.. -- . ....,-I'T:'. r'----'--f..- .-f-. - -., AND FLAGSHIP OF THE TEXAS NAVY. OUR BEST WISHES FOLLOW HER IAS SHE PARTS COMPANY HOMEWARD BOUND. WELL DONE TO A GALLANT SHIP. f On 2 September we made our appointed rendezvous and received our second group of passengers. Toward evening our Marine Detachment came back aboard with some tall stories to tell about how they invaded JAPAN. They were glad to return and we were glad to have them because each group was afraid the other would not be on hand when the trip home started. All of the officers and men had been with us from pre-Shakedown days and it was only right that they should share in the ship's good fortune. On the 3rd we officially began the trip back and our Homeward Bound Pennant was streamed. Many of the earmarks of wartime operation had disappeared and two others were soon to follow. Morning and evening General Quafters were a thing of the past and soon gun watches and darken ship would also cease. Movies were held every night, usually preceded by the ship's orchestra. Every morning and afternoon there were ngews broadcasts over the public address system with now and then a feature such as an interview with two of the returned Marines. A Pay Day was held and all hands began to draw off part of the S750,000 which had accumulated on the Disbursing OFficer's books 'dur- ing the sixteen-month cruise. The trip back was uneventful except that it was made direct by the Great Circle Route and took us rather far north and into considerably colder air and waters, than we had experi-. enced since the first strikes on TOKYO in February. There was a little disappointment that we did not stop at PEARL HARBOR but everyone was very much in favor of our fast trip back-less than two weeks from the coast of HONSI-IU to the coast of CALIFORNIA. It was on the morning of the 14th, seventeen months to the day since we had left San Diego in April, 1944, that we looked out and there on the horizon was CALIFORNIA, Uncle Sugar, the United States! We were home. . I I Mail is the mainstay of a sailor's morale. These bags of Christmas mail will make a lot of people happy, even though they are far away from home. ' ' , ,, , , , A .W 1 ' - X--f-A' -f'- Aff- we -V--.-.- -.A ,. . .,, ,w,,, ,. ,, , i .1-nf... , .-vs.- ..-,V ....-.-vc .. .. ,,.,-., J., . , ,-,.,,,,,,,.,..-,,. .,, ,.,,.,,.F,,,,,,, A . X -W .va . . ,... ,.,..,...,.,,.,,,,,.,,,,x5 vxhx, xxq, , V U , - ' '---A-v--f--s P--0 - f-f-f-.-.-,-N- -. --s.-,.-.-.-.-f. -s. -N-1-1-.-W, N .-.nv-f - . . W- --1---f-fv.Q.'-.......--.w.,..,,.,...,,-,- - ,, M., A ,N 1 ff-A--W...-.......,..-....,....X-..,.,-.N,...1-..-.,...., ,,, ,,,,: ,L A f- ,.,.. .,g:L :r-QE .,-t1:53-sg-351-xg:-ygsvzfi.-page-A-,Q,.1,,,:m,,N 3,315 3.33, 5,1.: .,:.... - 'f' g. :rztzw-xv :zen ::'::ffraz::-x,n::: 1:.r:.-amnz.-:1-1 -- -- f- ---W - -- ' A- - - f - ' f -

Page 37 text:

, ..... .- :r ., .-.,..-.-.,.-.,....,,,.,,,,,, A . , , ,I s 4 H N X X -t ' Mx A - 4 ' ' '-' 0- - 4- . -.- J! -..,--1--..-...,..,.,,,... ., . .... -- --. w -W.-.. .-.-...-.....,-,.., Vr--......,-.-....,,.2.' .-,.... ..- SORTIE 92: San Iacinto planes started raging fires in the city of Kushiro on'the Island of HOKKAIDO during the first strike by THIRD FLEET planes on 14 and 15 july, 1945. L I M-- V I , Msg---F-N-AN--'N-.:.1,1:,::i -: - 'W f-.-.-.-,-.,.....,,. .,, I..,mgzaxxgzi-.:: --N-N V-VN., .Mm 154: g:,,,: 'NM W--.,1-,.,, v-.-..f.f.-r--.-. .. -.. ' ' '- - --w-w-.wx-W, A,-f.-ywwr , 1 fx-1 x--.Y,...,....,,.-...v.,...,-q-V,-.. .. .. , ' N---v-.---v W-.V-. .,. , . sn- - ...,,.,,,....,.,..... . W , ..i-.-...-.--......, . --..,'-u-, w.-.-.N1-4-fffw .,-........ ,.,.,, , .,.,,,, N, UM - ,A V N, . -P ,. . - ,cm ...Q.,...--....:1,.A.,:.-54:11:11:-7',--..- 1. .5: .- nrn::fwxr7J,....Q.:-. -.,-1L.:-Txlzv., x,n..:.,,,,,,,N ,',