Saufley (DD 465) - Naval Cruise Book

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down at least six planes. On June 19th, o-ne Zero took off from Tinian and proceeded to make a surprise at- tack on this ship. Machine gun fire soon dissuaded him, and shortly afterwards a Hellcat accounted for him. On June 26th, the main battery, using full radar con- trol, set fire to a Betty. Whether the plane was downed was not definitely ascertained. The SAUFLEY departed from Saipan on August 12, 1944, for Pearl Harbor and ultimately San Francisco. She arrived at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding and Dry- dock Company, San Francisco, California, on August 31st, after having been underway, except for rearming, refueling and provisioning, for 92 days. This ship had Navy Yard availability for the next six weeks. The .SAUFLEY left San Francisco on 19 October 1944. After participating in training exercises both at San Diego and Pearl Harbor, the SAUFLEY reported to Commander Seventh Fleet whose forces she joined at Leyte Gulf on 20 November. For the next eleven days, the SAUFLEY operated both with the main body of the covering fo-rce and on patrol stations. Many red alerts combined with a neg- ligible fighter cover of several P-38's a few hours a day gave ships an excellent opportunity to destroy enemy planes. On the 22nd and 24th enemy planes were taken under fire without results. Shortly before noon on the 27th the main covering force was attacked by about 15 planes. While the main battery shot down a dive-bomber on the port bow at which several ships were firing, the machine guns shot down a dive-bomber on the starboard bow, a sure kill. Shortly thereafter, the main battery tracked a torpedo plane coming in with target angle zero and opened fire 14

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yards long by 1600 yards wide. Arriving at Saipan on June 16th, the SAUFLEY covered the landing of rein- forcements. During the period from June 17th to August 8th, this ship engaged in 23 shore bombardments and 10 starshell missions on Saipan and Tinian. The total am- munition expenditure was 4,000 rounds of five inch 38 caliber shell, 400 starshells, and many rounds of 40 millimeter and 20 millimeter as well. The number of assignments alone shows how effective the firing was. Neutralization of enemy troop concentrations, destruc- tion of a co-rvette and several small craft in Tinian Town, one plane, the runway and several buildings of an air- field, an ammunition dump, gun emplacements, caves, blockhouses, and other installations, harrassment of Tinian Town and several groups of enemy troops, and starshell missions to prevent iniiltrations of our lines were all effectively accomplished. As an example of the extreme strain and hardship imposed by this campaign, Lieutenant James W. Beebe, USNR, of 1060 Roanoke Road, San Marino, California, the plotting room oflicer, lost twenty pounds during this period. His well trained and efficiently o-rganized crew showed the results of his careful, intelligent, untiring supervision. ' The SAUFLEY also engaged enemy aircraft sev- eral times during this operation. On the afternoon of the 17th, the machine guns opened fire on two Tonys retiring over this ship from a strafing attack on the beachhead. No hits were observed and no damage was sustained. The next evening, the main battery and ma- chine guns took 3 Tonys of a group of more than 12 under fire, chasing them into several Hellcats, who shot 13

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at maximum effective range The plane began to smoke at 6 000 yaids and crashed into the water at 4 000 yards Many hits were observed On the ni ht of the 21th accompanied by Destroy Ormoc Bay and participated in the fu st destroyer sweep of Ormoc Bay for the puipose of destroying enemy shipping which might be attempting to land reinforce ments on the West Coast of Leyte Our predetermined speed was 30 knots. Visibility was extremely poor. Slowing speed to 20 knots SAUFLEY fired 120 rounds of 5 f38 AA Common on predetermined target with un- observed results. Upon completion of bombardment, the division made a sweep westward into the Camotes Sea. At 2313 a PBY on patrol reported an enemy sub- marine approaching Ormo-c Bay. Soon thereafter the RENSHAW picked up a surface target which was im- mediately confirmed by the SAUFLEYQ range was 6 miles. The RENSHAW opened fire followed by the SAUFLEY at a range of 3 miles. Submarine was taken by surprise and commenced radical maneuvers. Star- shell illumination afforded optical gun control. Soon after all ships commenced firing LLOMM, the submarine returned fire with machine guns. Fire was ceased as it became apparent the VVALLER was going to ram the submarine. The WALLER circled the submarine and the Division Commander reported that the sub- marine sank stern first. All ships were given credit for definitely sinking the submarine. .g ,. 9 . J - l er Division FORTY THREE, this ship proceeded to Un 29 November the SAUFLEY was patrolling be- tween Homonho-n and Dinagat Islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf. The U.S.S. AULICK was in the same sta- tion about 4 miles away. The condition was uflash white and the ceiling was less than 1,000 feet. At 15