Santa Fe (CL 60) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 92 text:

uv J ', I - 1 ,i I- , 5 . I f t,..-.- 1 W J 4 6,4 -f H, V-gi . 3 - , -' I H if Elm, 15 if J . 3' . Z S' X , if yrvvx 1. - 11 pi EC. .-. fs. .i J- ' SANTA FE PASSES 200,000 ENGINE- MILE MARK IN SCUTH CHINA SEA if 'I N 30 DECEMBER 1944 the SANTA FE proceeded ,il northwest from Ulithi as part of Task Force 38, whose orders were to neutralize Jap air power in the Lingayen Area. In spite of continually bad weather, air strikes were launched at Formosa the 3rd and 4th of January 1945, and Luzon was hit the 6th and 7th. Mac- Arthur's Luzon Dog-Day, 9 January, found Task Force 38's planes hammering Fogmosa's airfields, preventing interference with the landinfggjeaonly 180 miles south. That same night Halsey ordered Heet through Bashi Chan- nel into the South China iSela. The choicest targets, Camranh Bay and Saigdn, EnddTChina, were hit 12 Jan., netting of 151fgji1apa,neseSthii.pping. On the SANTA FE passed imifle mark-the last hundred thousand 1944. And though scuttlebutt about staitesidei saidjfir lwon't be long now, every seaman was eo?-vincedtsheiicouldpteam as long as the Engineer's Chewii5,gfgtm6nd bai-lingkwsire lasted. Before leavintgme monsoon-swep'tfTOIhina Sea on the evening of 20 January, Takao on Formosa, Amoy and Swatow on the China Coast, plus Hong Kong and Hainan Islands were blasted. Once Tokyo Rose boasted that an American fleet could never enter the China Sea. Later this statement was modified to say that a fleet, once in, could never get out. Task Force 38 had done both. i , 1 With smoke streaming from stacks, signal flags flying, siren and whistle sounding, SANTA FE's 200,000 mile mark is eelehrated. To round out the month's operations, heavy air strikes were thrown again at Formosa and Okinawa, 21 and 22 January, respectively. Proud of its penetration into the middle of the Jap's Co-prosperity Sphere, the Third Fleet set course towards Ulithi. 40MM director crew searches for more attacking 7ap aircraft, hat short ran e 'Q' t' g or ies eannot help distant, stricken TICONDEROGA. 88

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,mf eupd be -nw wumber ev ....?LanCe. anu- ...L ' NIT YH .- 'T .N shorten HUL- F :rans- primary , guntire. ubmarine J If Q gfa I, 4 . ,!' QTop leftj Scout plane lands close to ship, then taxies into position so radioman flop rightl can hook plane onto crane. Operation is tieklish, for Gooney Bird swings violently flower leftj as crane trains round. QLower rightj Plane is next lowered I0 tatapult Brand new single-seater SC-I Seahawk lands in slielzformed by ship's turn. The Seahawk's hig engine and clean design givejighter performanee, yet it has facilities to earry two men insidefuselage astern of pilot so that rescue missions may still he undertaken fe a n v

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'I L, I ..f H I , Yi , f X Q ,mt fe by Fueling destroyers in tlze perpetualbf rouglz and stormy South Clzina Sea is taken as a matter of eourse by SANTA FE erewmen who haven't seen a wlzzte woman for past tlzzrteen weary rnontlzs Boat deck ZOMM battery is manned by sailors W' L Division who also are responsible for important topszde look out stations W 1 W ,. 1 3 P N s N i Forward ZOMM erew fires at practice sleeves being towed by planes W' Task Group. Marine soldiers man most gf t'wenties . l l Starboard 'forties' send up a practice lzail offre. Rapid, regular, staccato sounds of exploding rartridges jill the air. 89