L f Y' 4, I ff f 1 . M5 ,ffff , ,P , ff ' 1TfQf 7 0 srurs suction fpil-13 f La omcz or ruauc momma , ff., , cg V 5 mm, nsmnmanrr Vx- X2 1 gf . 1 04, 1 I f v .ff 1. . If f 5' ..? .!-f. f 3 f f' fiffzeiiizjff' Sfjffif xx-T?-11TA '7f-f'f afa r! A C'-vw k j gl . ,, ,.1- ' A k J . K Q fax Xsxk W-IG? n . ' M . I , , . Q Oxrgjxlx fg WA V Au ' A rf v f K . frffwoz Q ' tiff-if X mimi ,1 k Xl 11.1 A Ciofx ALJI 1 , 'g T., 3 ' bl? Rx' Q JJCLIILITHI f Mommy fa K , I ,5fd ' h ' Q 1'f I qb v' A - r XXCLJ -ff. . ' gtg 1 ' jiji:-cvmgxb I A 5 YN x Ur WXJI' iiftkc? 2 D35 A -NNQN kx:X'g fl SWB XX-NC-Q V X jqdwf . N R. +L:-f1:-ffff1.-- 1'-2429? 'wb X1 -SSZMWWQE YE? ,Q P 1A-5y,! 'A'XfgA-if i.QQ,Q?xi,ff!':R I JJ MA1 ,Qi Q ' ff W Wk 'xfigh jf K !!::bL 'QQ S . fig 25:-wig ' 5 XS-xc C Xqlgflkz ' f-ff NH1 C' N1 ff N3,,,,,,.fN'JJvXx'N 1lxqXAA,-rrryf qzqif 'XJ ww Si? ff JH V25 , ff' Q Q x 154 X ni k lim 4 2-,'.2:,':z,f 3::,':,L.c ff Qfifwfxiifi N by uAvY nnPAaImm1M0mmoN QL' f Y EXAM ff X ' y Wkwf k 'f 3351 KK ju g 3 Y J SEATTLE y , MM, ff, X y 52N Fmuvczsco NM yoexjfifffj 19 z,:':s,zzzS 1 Rx 02251 ggi 259,251-531 Nl , C 7LgJ'N .Amt I I I , A 2 vg Q PANAMA 555 X55 X N Qs J 3 , JB 455 f' f :III '7'1'lW1-u- .f--- 'iw' V-- M - ..V..,..,,.,.....,., r I, V I 4 k .5 Y Y f ' V . . . a ' f'f 'n f.' f. n - X ' 'ff r 4 W V x Q I , r VNV. V , . Vff cl f .I KI 9 , I I V L ' . 1 ' V ' k . , I .' V II .I v . ' ' I. V V V V '4 V ' ' V f I I ....f f , V, V V x I V. V ' 3 If R , I. I .. . . V: I IE' I 'Q'-' 1' ' . ' I 1 .3,.r'.- -. , I..IIVI , :V . ' . V'-'n Ls'-P. ,, ' 7... ,I . X I . I. I ' . V V ' ' ' ' V V: -, .I 1 ' ' -' I .xI,V,N fV4II IIII l V' . . . F NM '1' -7 f 'II' If '1 '.. ' .' V. ' V I :VI ' I , , I V.- I x I , 1 V ' I 1, I . V ,VI Y,,II V V , ,I If II I. , . . , I. II., , I V I I V V V , ' V . V V V'. '1V ' ' K V .. 5 V . Ig. IV ' 1. 1., . 'V , 119' MI I I ' Vf . VV- ..:f ' ,-V 1 .- . f- fV 5. ' -IV,I I. :II V ., ...,I I,s IIT, II I , f IQIIVI jx, , .VIR :V 'V,,I5,f:I Ea. : 'V' 7 45- - , V V vm 'Jf', -'VK 1.4, ' ' . ,.5Vi'- ff'W V. ,. .-2, . . V K ' ', '5 vV'Yf V . ' - 'C -.. '1'-' ' -9 V- ', ' ,, if n ' '27 f 3 ' ' V! ' ,V . ' Sf- Ji' V, . K'--F' ' WI'- - I Vg-p V -V V. 'V 1 ' V, j ' V ,-fry.: QV, . V.. , V 5 V, ' - I VV . V IVg,. A.. V '11,-V'V,,' ' VV' . QV ,A V -,V , - V - .V V. 4, . f ., I 'V - , V xy . Vx jqf-V V -Q 3 V , V r x ,gy VV ' V11 , ' V I 'V ' I . 'V ' PQ g- V I ,W V Q,-VV. I I. . ' V . , . 53,1 V -N' V1 's.'V3'. V Nga ' ' ,V -., ,'.. -V ' : V' I I. -,I. 1 V. , VV' . - -,r ' IV,V Us q. I ,J 5 1, W-.,.V.'rI wx. ' ' - -. A 'V 'VV' , 'H '11 ,V , .' V ' -. , -. - V V - :, V V' '- . 'K ' ' V 1.g . , V .- '.' ' 1 'V V fun' ' 'QV V ' ' ff T: MH ' ' ' '-4 . Y V'- - 'VJ , ' 1 . I 'L'.f.',-j '4 ' I -MM ' '4 ., V.,4- p , - ' , V - V V V W-'A .1, V S, Vg V V --1, ' -'..V'V'.:. V VV V V! -V SL ,,V -A , I , V IV. Q. , ' .5 V ' 1. ' 4 Vw X iV V .pI VV : E ' I ,.,iJVV, 'V V V I V - ' , . ,V'., .' , '4'V :I ' Vf V - ', 2 'V x V V fl 4- il 4 Y .-yi, 1, .5 V ' -Qi,-SV., . ' -V V RUM ' K V' 1, Vv V W' V V 'r . HN- 4 is If ya, I' I II ,VV I I -,IKV..q1. v I .QI -R V VIIVI I I V .V' I, 'V ' VW' VL .1 H' V .Vw y ' ' -'V ' 'tf,'VV .f ' -I . '- 214' XV ' V1.5 'F' V . '-'w ' ' ,',-'VI- ' Z' V I V I IVIIV II,IgvVI II V I If' ' ,I,. . , ,I II .I II ,,,,II I VII VVI V - V - - -V. V 1 . ., ' V .V , V ' . ' -'. V V - ., V -' V. ' '1'a.V'LEiY' '- I .. X if . ' ' 'rw' '. ' V 4 ' V-V ,, ' ,VI X. l ' ' 4 '1n --1 'F , If 'Q QI IV' jd ' . - L I , 9 1 , ' ' II- 7 V ' ,, V ' .LII I V 4 -I . ' ., ,I 4 ,.I 5 ' V- . V VJ: K ,,- L- V, , 3 ' ,V , Lf xr, 4' , V- ' V I IVIV ,,4 V- I , -I ., V5 ,. I VV. 'I J, , V. ,N . - f . rl ' .V-I g . 1 f ' ' I 'I V - -V IV- . 4.1, V gf,f'.. -' -g-Mr Mfg, I . 4 - v I, K VV.. - - .. V. VV5 ,. I V - , . V-V .V .V 7, V ' V, VV Vx' VV . V,e 1' IVV V :L .' w . V' ,V . 1 ' V ,V IMI-'. g1,,, 'ws fx. - -V I V av- , V I .z ' I :I I oII,w I 1II,,I .,I, 3 . , Vw,I,. - I V ,V A .V - . . I rg ,,I I II,sIA, fu , I ,I I , - ,V I,-VV V- VV ff- ' ' 7 V 7v-VVVVVVI E52 ,lan fy- , .gi -,fi.qIa1. ,Vg .I , , ' . 2 ' ,. - V , - 1 I 'y.'?IVfv,, -VI1 T- VIP I- 'fy 1,91 ','2V,'f .'fvJI'V 'L 'NA 'I '1 . ' V .I V .-II, ,N A V V m , ,Al 4 MV 'l , , Z'i'-54' ' fr' ., ., I I I1 V . 3IV.!IV2.IV ,fg III, ,IVLII V ,III IIV- 1' ye, . ' ,- F' gf 1.0 , X 'Vg -V fV-'IJ' 'N ' 1 'Z 3. ' -.- 'V Q, V' Vs,-'V' '- V ff -.',e 'fc ' HV-iw 'A ' -V. - 1 . . ' .' ky, f 1,- ' 'P' X? V ,.V ' ,' 2 .I V 'QM' I,,IIII V I I .,,I.III3HIV:I,II,I,..IV.,..I.IIIII VIIII IIII, III V V ,IIII.I I V V. ' ,k-f.lV- ' ' 'A 'V 7 1, ' VV ' K fy' 1 ,MV , ' 1 ' .V -V V -4..,g,,V ,VxVV. .. 5..5-g-I.I- V. ...VV -V -, V pr- ' -45 I I -V. V V f VV54,,-.- ,.. 4,-, V, 5 V V. V A -- V J- , ' 'A 'i-..,V,'1- xt -O sf -1, :-J V Q V V . V- -.1 V , I IV N, V -I,-I, -VL. II-, V V II., - ! V, V -V V'I ' , V ,I pf. I-Q IV VI',x' IV IVI .II I-4 II ,. If I Ve-, 'VK4wg4ggVu1.:f s.V,Vw,f4.mpf- 5 , - -V VA ' -,VVf:V.,5VV- ,V aw.: ,V .e..V V -.V -,V V .V-,V V ., ., V1 , V - V' ' 'S54lf'9VV'h '.1 if 42' 541' 1'-' 29 Jr T K Vi ' , V -V .' '. 'V . ,V Ve, q25'3'YfgV Vi' ,Q 'V'-:,- 'A .VT ,V 2. .aw if,-' ' VV 1 -V, . . I .V , I IQ. wg' ,Q V, 45 II, Iy,5,jvf f-fy,V.,1,I,w-VI V I VII I I . v',V II.-qII,,II I . I , VI II III! III? II1., .I,I- In IIII I. RRI.. V III,IIvI,I .IIVIII I , II 5'if?,l4I1I,5 VI -I IIII V I A . 'V V, VIIV4 Q' ,I f, - V ,1'f,fI V4! IJ, IV V, ,,-I .AI limp LAIMI, -. 1? y V. V, .I 'V ,V-gg' ,,A'.,1-,j , 2, ,V .VV V, , Q, gm., -VV .. 5- I - VV - . .' x +2 Sf ., Vu V' H' ull, 1 r V lf -I A55. f'V' f ' - ' LV' -. V .-AV . V- f , V f ','- f' gif Q fl. .V F-Eff ':V ,.-1.5 1' -V ' '. ' ' 5' ' 'V' . ' V- V V V . , V rv . . 4 V ,V - ge, ,, V.:- 1, n . yi., V ,,f,uPVV': :.. V - X .V ., V' -- J' 5 , I'IVi .VIIV j I, , JIIIIVI' VI, V 5 , 'pq V , Y ' 1:4 --VZ' -VC VX- 1 V' x tx V '. ' X -..,',f' '1l 'f , V1 .-- . f-3, ', K V V ,L K 4' Q W' V x ,'?fV 1'V- S-V52 l',2'I3x,. 'WV 2154,-,' ' .VP g I1V ' Vg'f . 'Sf V Hb -Zfi fo I V-if Jiiwixx IIII I. ,,sII.II5.-I 656 I. .III :I , IV. .IN ,., I In ima I III-21 I ,IIIEIVVE .HI A I II I JI IYIZIVI I ,I II I:II:Y,fl IVI ,II AI V V., V I . . V, V I ,V , I ,I 'II g kyg! ,JI II I J? ?VVIIIV,fp',5IaW.IV'QIL' I'1',a,Vi, I I ' ' .A II ' ,v-- I, V . 52V:5I V ' ,is -1VVV nga, Vj,II .SI-4. ' wiv-3 VV, HYI V .Q I .1-I I V - V4-I I 3 , ' , IIIHI V I,,,.I,dIIIIV, .VI IH, .I :III IIII II 4 -I IV V ,Il I., IV I -I .IVA I III I I I.IV, II IIII I1.1:,4Iv-I',I,V'IV'5 ,I I - II L I II 5 ,I V -:IV I I I., ,+I ,t,'II ,I V -- 3: I V 'V AVI. I W, -.VV-I VJ.. -E ' . -5 'AZ JV 'Y Al e ' A ' H 'qv' ',.L ' f w '- V 4 V1 V, , V .V D -V QJZXQ1 9521 V V IIIIII, Vx IIIV.,I:,.yIII I., I, V II,III,II V II 3, III , I, II I.4,.4ff:, II .QI SHI: Q I, I, I , ' un, 1.1.5 e' XZ' 1, ' V V' Jw' ' 'c- -'X -.1 ,V , ..,,A . V V .V . V . V, , . V . ., V -- V , V, . V , VV: I' VV :-V 'ua VV ' VV --V V - I . V ' . 1' IMI- NY- II, I II,:.III-IV -:IVV If IIII V I Q I II IIII I I , II. , . I- IV JI I ,I II I - 'NIV 3 , . .31 VV ' If, . nf f,'. f ' A V .V , , 'v,,- I- . 52'-.r VV f.rV,ihV.-V F 'Rf 'f 1 V, ' 'V Af A V. V ' iw I - -'-'- V- ' M V if 5,Vi,1V V,. V. .V ,-I,V 3,1 :V V V . IVV I-1 .I V 4 VVI y ,'V,. V.' wr ' Y ',Vvb V 'X X 'H V V V' f ' ' .Lv ' -V Q13 'fl .34 '5,N'-'Vf 'fV. ' V P- V V V ff :W J AC .,-' . V fIrIsV. 1 4 VI,y.,,Vv, 1Vk,,ffI,- I V, .V ...Q Q psf ' If -xi 'VN' V ' U 'K Vf ,V 4 ff- V K s 'V fwfVf1'VV: 3,' ' I-'VV-Q' 'L V' - VVmK.- .Y 'V Q V ' V J, V e V -----.-V--, -Q -- .V -QQ .-V-' x.V',V'V . Vw V Vu .V V , V ' VM X 4' .. I I,V1, I 5.5, IV 'I 'III PV - . . . IW, . I m, V V . f' 5- V' .V .jg V ' ' V. - ' I. - IvI It V II Ir H, ISI IIIpI, V, I I, I 'IV ,II, 1 , ' , I I' I, .II ., 2+ ' 3 V' .rf .1 VV-f. ws V '1' Rf-1' 'V -VV '. 7, V','14V- .12 g ' V sd 1, ' , ,-, V N ' .-4' TQLVSI . V' Nl, F.' . 'V 5:1 ' ' ,fV. 'g Vg V' Az. ,,If . -I-1 QV 1, .x - V ' .V f ', 1 . ' f V,, ,, - Inq , V , , V I . I I .I , V, II. V .A , V , , I IV I P.. V' V II ,V--nl , V ' , , ' MI I' 'Hs , , ' .I'.','y Q. ffakl-'Eg,'kVf.Cv' , 1 'M a,I V VI. IQ I, ,I I ,I I ,' V I .1', I I ' IIIVII Vjq?,,,'V V in ' , . I.. I5 '- ' , V ' ' 1 - K V , I ,Q V VV.IVIIIl Y... aff' .V N' V I. . V , .IV , I V .VI . . I -,gV VA - V.. . , . XV - , A -VVg.g- ,V ., V I V- . V ,L , V r I II1 II I ' , '.. I 1, , , g ' I I II ,QI II I V: I I II.,V -III III. I,.:I:II v. V. ' ' , V X V ' ' ', V V ' X X wf7?'A V .4 I ' , V 1 . ' 'I 3 ,' ,. XV: . , I V I V. V I. 1 4.5, - 1 , V II - . IIV V , V A VI- .V V ,yu 4 ' I I v nII' ,I :VI II II .J I I .WI 1 . .,I,II,I ,f,ItI I I , I I .V, I Id.I.. V . IVI II.. 4 V V. ' V 7 ' .II L f. - II. V-I, I I V , V .I..V,V .. ' I V, ',- I, I -- f VV... .Igx,I:-I I .E 4: VL ,V 'IVJ4 I' V .' .' . ' ' V H.. 'Rf 7 I' 'ng V . ',f ' eff I I V ,II .I I I I YI- V I, . I I Q I I. IIV.I W. 1 I , , V VIII , V V' - V -F ' - V. ' . V ' ff? V M1 NV' VV, ' V ' , V V Vw! w ,' 'V V 1 ' . ' . V V. V I . I . 1, , ' 4 V V ' f , V 1, ' A Af , VV f . ' . '. .Ve ,1'., 'Vg' 1 S HHN 6 RHA 1 N,, M, ,Q L' X5 -,,, A . Q I nj, I P '-.1 t ' NP T x xii f ,,.p .. . .2 A 3 Rx . ' wf ' W XX? My 2 f Q 5. Q!.,,,,.Q .. .:.2a Q., M ug...-1 4.-Q. 3-55 ...Q- in -ull' ,l ,4-f- ,-,xi xx Kmuxg A . 5 , -iam ' ' e-- -- -,,....- 'Ev S- ,Z Yg- Z 4 ,N ! ,'lh N f 1, rx -f X Wwbdi XX -1 3. x- QNX .Mx -x.. .mf . L- SHA GRI-LA T0 BIKINI By E. G. HINES Rolling gently in a mounting cross-sea, a darkened American task force proceeded westward at high speed as greying skies beyond the ships' frothy wakes promised another day of protective rain cover and low visibility. Even as morn- ing twilight reluctantly forced the curtain of darkness from the eastern horizon, the insistent beat of General Alarms called crews to their battle stations. From vantage points high atop gun directors perched on the carriers' tripod masts, trained eyes scanned the horizon to all sides while overhead, the revolving bed-spring antennae of an early radar set sent invisible, inaudible waves in search of enemy forces, afloat or air-borne. An inner screen of cruisers on either bow of the two sheltered carriers dipped deep into each wave, while the outer destroyer screen plunged through whitecaps, occasionally lost to sight as cascad- ing green water engulfed the speeding tin cans. Alert, and primed for revenge against a treacherous enemy, the Task Force continued to swallow up the waters of the North Pacilic, beating toward' the Japanese home islands less than nine hundred miles westward. According to prearranged plan, the Task Group was to proceed to a point approximately four hundred miles from Tokyo before launching a deckload of sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers. Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle's flyers were to take off at dusk from the 809-foot flight deck of the carrier Hornet for a night attack on Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama, landing on China airfields the following morning. Shorn of her own air group, her flight deck crowded by Army bombers, the Hornet was covered by a fighter CAP CCombat Air Patrolj from the Enterprise. At sea, with his flag aboard the Big was Admiral W. F. Halsey, Task Group Commander, fresh from earlier successful American carrier raids on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, as well as Jap-held Marcus Island and Wake Island. The run from Pearl Harbor had been accomplished without incident-heavy weather encountered on April l7th seemed to afford opportunity to slip through enemy patrols to the launching point by the evening of the 18th. On the morn- ing of the 18th an enemy patrol boat ran afoul of the speeding American task group, to be sunk immediately by guns of the Salt Lake City, aided by hastily launched dive bombers from the Enterprise. A hasty conference aboard the flag- ship resulted in the decision to launch all bombers at once. At 0920 Jimmy Doolittle waved a farewell to Captain Marc A. Mitscher and took the controls of the lead plane, to thunder down the flight deck, his right wing passing within arm's length of the island. Within seconds his heavily burdened plane was air-borne, lurching sickeningly toward the threatening wave- tops before the powerful engines pulled the Mitchell from the salt spray to a comfortable altitude. Sixteen times the landing signal officer gave the go signal and hugged the .leck while a wing and a whirling prop flashed overhead to meet the upward surge of the bow in the rising seas-sixteen perfect launches toward a target S 1 1 1 1 f 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 740 miles away. The raid, though only a token of things to come, served to bolster American morale as the United States and her Allies commenced the long journey to victory over a road made treacherous by twenty-three years of neglect and appeasement-a road where the bridges of isolationism, hasty dis- armament, politics, and labor disputes threatened permanent repair. Returning to Pearl Harbor, the Hornet crew heard the late President Roose- velt in one of his Ufireside chats relate the story of the raid on Japan from the mythical Shangri-La air base. Por the Hornet, there was more work. A strong Japanese fleet was reported at sea, steaming north and east, for an apparent attack on Midway and the Hawaiian Islands. Sighted June 3rd by a Navy PBY Catalina flying patrol 700 miles from Midway, the enemy force was attacked throughout the day by high-level Flying Fortresses. At nightfall Navy Catalinas commenced successful mast-high tor- pedo runs on the attacking fleet. Enemy search planes spotted American carriers the following morning and quicklycommunicated the news to Admiral Yamamoto aboard the huge, treaty- breaker battleship Yamato. The enemy commander ordered hiscarrier planes rearmed with torpedoes, canceling scheduled Midway bombing raids and turned to give battle to the outnumbered American forces. Caught with their torpedoes and planes down, the Japanese were hit almost immediately, suffering such losses that they were unable to gain the initiative. ' The Homet's Torpedo Squadron Eight led the carrier :flyers inlan unsup- ported attack on the enemy' flat-tops and their battleship-cruiser escort. As the sole survivor of the fifteen torpedo plane crews, Ensign Gay witnessed the balance of the battle from a liferaft in the waters of the Paciflc. Planes from the Yorktown and Entez'pz'is.e joined forces with Navy and Marine flyers from Midway's airstrips to continue strikes through the balance of the day. Deleted from the Jap Navy on June 4, 1942, the carrier Akagi C26,900- ton ex-battle cruiserj, the Kaga Cbattleship converted into carrier in 1928j, and the 10,050-ton carrier Soryu, hit by Enterprise planes and finished off by the submarine Nautilus. Also hit was the Sorytfs sister, the Hiryu, which sank the following morning. The cruiser Mikuma, 14,000-ton heavyweight from the Mitsubishi Yards at Nagasaki, succumbed from damages on June 6th, while sister Mogamz' escaped with heavy damage to go down under air attack off Mindanao, October 26, 1944. Their ranks thinned by the loss of the Yorktown and destroyer Hamman, the American task force returned to Pearl Harbor--the Hornet to fight one more great battle before the warheads of her consort's torpedoes ended her death agonies after Santa Cruz COctober 26, 19425. The Ho-met had scarcely been stricken from the Navy Register before a new namesake Cex-Kearsage, keel laid August 3, 1942j began to take shape on the ways at Newport News. On January 15, 1943, the keel was laid for the Shangri-La, named for the Ho-rne't's alter ego. So it is today that two carriers share the same proud heritage, - The Shangri-La was ordered August 7, 1942, in the midst of a nationwide bond-selling drive to make the Shan-gri-La myth a reality. The Bureau of Per- sonnel received a record number of requests for duty aboard even before her keel -fe-1-i F ly lfig 2.i 'EEZ up lf .,4, 'it iz. if S Q is 1? ls , 1 1 1 I 4 I 1 1 1 4 G J .4 7. re 5 U.S.S. Shangri-La Launched February 24, 1944. Sponsor, Mrs. J. H. Doolittle. Honor guest, James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon was laid in the Norfolk Navy Yard - the twelfth of twenty-four Essex-class carriers. For thirteen months skilled workmen labored around the clock, shaping and forming the huge steel hull sections to be secured to the garboard and sheer strakesg fitting heavy steel traverse bulkheads to divide the long hull into compartments for machinery, storerooms, water tanks, fuel tanks, ammunition magazines, liv- ing compartments, and voids. Deck after deck, and month after month, the Shangri-La took shape. Into those machinery spaces went eight boilers developing 150,000 horsepower, capa- ble of driving her 33,000 tons through the water at 32 knots. Miles of electrical 5 Captam James D Barnet chats wzth Mrs James H Doolittle wiring and intricate machinery were installed and her hull reached the height of a four story building as she was readied for her call to duty. Amid a cheering crowd of nearly 100 OOO the Shangri-La slid gracefully down the builder s ways on February 24 1944 Speaking over a worldwide to the new craft as the carrier tasted salt water for the first time. Prom February to September the precommissiomng detail of the Shangri-La arrived to familiarize themselves with the intricacies of this immense steel city. For in effect she was a Clty of more than two thousand population with her own power light and heating plant a cobbler tailor and barbor shop. Her radio network, Mrs. J. H. Doolittle, wife of General Doolittle, bid Godspeed ship's store carried 'a 360,000 stock of candies, cigars, toothbrushes, stationery, shoe polish, jewelry, inks, plus hundreds of other items including a complete soda fountain, dispensing ice cream frozen aboarfgl ship, Her stainless steel gal- leys were capable of more than 10,000 meals per day and the laundry was more than sufficient for twice the crew. Complete machine and woodworking shops provided equipment to repair any normal battle damage. A printing plant provided a daily newspaper from press releases received on regular Navy radio schedules. Thus the crew of the Shangrz'-Lal assembled on the flight deck the morning of September 15, 1944, to hear Rear Admiral Felix Gygax formally commis- sion the U.S,S. Shangri-La and turn her over to her first commanding officer, Captain James D. Barner. Q Commissioning Ceremonies - September 15, 1944. Fzttmg out Norfolk Navy Yard Her trial run commenced in the early morning of October 15 1944 as she proceeded under her own power down the Elizabeth River to Chesapeake Bay. One by one the fires were lighted under her eight boilers as the White bow Wave crept higher and higher with each increased revolution from her four racing propellers aboard at 1132 responding to the directions of Lt Comdr L A Whitney, acting as landing signal officer From the time his TBM first hove into View all idle hands Were topside to Watch the pilot bring his ship gracefully into the groove Flaps and arresting hook down the Avenger seemed to hover as she Commander W. Sherrill, Commander Air Group 85, landed the first plane Maiden voyage. lost flying speed and dropped gently to the broad flight deck, hooked securely to the Hrst arresting cable. Two minutes later the big plane raced the length of the flight deck and was air-borne-the first takeoff was history. After four more practice landings Commander Sherrill returned to the Naval Air Station at Norfolk. The Shangrz'-La had won her Wings, and so turning downwind, retraced her course to the Norfolk Navy Yard for a final checkup before shakedown. The arduous tasks of provisioning, loading ammunition and deperming were accomplished in record time, making the Shangrz'-La available for duty three days ahead of schedule. Air Group 85 reported aboard for duty November - ----f- 'Wit - -f - Cake cutting celebration-First Landing. I 10 'F .G 1 5, 4 x 1 4 l 4 K 4 ?J First P-51 ever to land aboard carrier is lowered to hangar deck. Starting Mustang for take-of. First P-51 take-of from carrier. H ,ag V grail? - , .. ,,,,,,.,,mff P iw- WY v '0 w-A., V I , 79 ':'7'M-'Q42fww4. f' ':- ' fWM,f.'i24f?',2f.f:,.,:,, ,L V ,- A QW 4 45-'ffj'17-y,-'wfaJ,J.f-'9e':,p ,pf-':v',g.,.'ff: 'f: '-A 'Q-' -,fxf Q2 f, - ,- f . ., - A.,-f, 0 'V - . ' ,, , 1.3 i-2?-Y 4-, f,.wm,A12,,,.,L,f,,, , tw fwff-,,f'f ,g v' 'f , ' wwf 5 1 I E 5 1 2 ' 12:22-11-Z My 21' J if I, ,. W1 ' 'LZ ZW9 if 'QW ff yay., Viv. . 1 .4 f f'-M., .W f , I, Landing Signal oHicer and spotter First Tigercat to land aboard carrier -Nov. 15, '1944. 4th, on the eve of the ship's departure on shakedown. Under way in the Chesapeake Bay area, the Shangrz'-La steamed northward beyond the mouth of the Potomac River to visit the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Structural firing tests and gunnery drills were conducted daily until November 9th. The first group landings were conducted off Cape Charles City on Novem- ber 9th and the crew began to get the feel of planes on a rolling, teakwood deck. Corsairs, Avengers, and Hellcats orbited above the speeding carrier before circling slowly into the wind to swing in over the stern, landing and taxiing forward to be spotted Fighter, bomber, and torpedo plane groups exercised for the speed which meant success or failure in the western reaches of the Far Pacific. Leaving the sheltered waters of Chesapeake Bay, under antisubmarine escort, the carrier put to sea on November l5th for experimental landings with planes First B-2 5 to be catapulted and landed aboard a carrier-November I5 1944 - f ,mwfwfmwff.wwamzmffwzzz4M'zz:.:zm,4,22Mf.wma1z2,m2ff .ffzvaf'-' :2raZmzmwzfvzm-..Qz-21-:mp-,Q. Q. ....-- M -- -' -' '- v - ' -- -H f ---'-- ,., which had never before been landed aboard a carrier. At 1220 Lt. R. M. Elder QNavyj successfully landed a P-51 fighter aboard, repeating the performance three times without incident. The new P7P Tigercat, twin-engined Navy fighter, made its first landing aboard ship at 1626 with Lt. C. S. Lane at the controls. Prom off the port quarter a big North American B-25 fNavy PBJD circled slowly into the wind, wavered breath-takingly over the stern ramp, and settled down on the Shangri-La's flight deck for the third first in a single day. The pilot, Lt. Comdr, H. S, Bottomly, taxied forward to be catapulted into the air once more. So the plane that first took off from the old Hornet made its first carrier landing aboard the Shangrz'-La. Her schedule completed, the carrier returned to Norfolk to fuel and pro- vision for her shakedown to Trinidad, British West Indies. Escorted by the destroyers Rhind and Trippe, the Shangrz'-La got under way on November 2lst, landing its full complement of 91 planes as it proceeded Captain's Inspection - November 7, 1944. ......,,,,, W, - through York Spit Channel. A rough sea outside the buoyed channel initiated many to the throes of mal-de-mer but the journey south cleared the storm area, allowing daily flight operations. Crossing the Tropic of Cancer, the Shangrz'-La entered the tropics on the 24th. The first casualty was suffered a few hours later when a bomber crashed after taking a wave-off. The pilot was rescued by destroyers acting as plane guard but W. D. Reed, ARM 3,!c, went down with the plane. Memorial serv- ices for the missing airman were held on the flight deck at 1000, November 25, 1944. Transiting Mona Passage between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico after sunset on the 25th, she steamed on a southerly course across the Caribbean Sea toward the Gulf of Paria. Making a landfall at sunrise on the 26th, she steamed through Dragon's Mouth Channel into the broad Gulf of Paria, between Trinidad and the Venezuela mainland of South America. Captain Barnet buys 530,000 War Bond from Chaplain Mitchell. H 1 2 fl fi ,l , 3 I ,I V6 5 Q x- ,L a. ,Z ' ' ,,,,.1 f , ' 4 1 Q ,Q cw 254 awww ,,,,,:.vM.'- U .1 ' S ' ' ,I L .. 5 w,3Qvx5h5w0M fa ww. 7' 1' ' fu i ' ' f fffif- f wi Mm, wupg my , . ff ,WWI-A M04 1 p wwf' 01 Q fy, Y 1 ff A S'9fEQfff ' 1 M in 54-4 W 'wr ,,kv...A-. ,,...f, ,M -.af Mia- in .W .hh f gbgamwl , Aw. au-A Jn' ,W X . 4' Gulf of Paria. During the Gulf of Paria operation period the new carrier passed the l000th landing mark-daily operations continued to develop the teamwork so neces- sary to modern carrier war, Play, too, made up a part of the shakedown schedule and recreation parties found the warm tropical waters a relief from the winter weather of the previous weeks. Swimming in Scotland Bay and field trips through the tropical jungles provided a vacation atmosphere sandwiched between long days of drills and exercises. December l6th found her under way again, en route to Hampton Roads via the Leeward Islands. Passing to eastward of the Virgin Islands on December l8th, the Air Group simulated attacks on Culebra Island, located between the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Cruising through the Lesser Antilles, discovered by Columbus on his second voyage in l493, the carrier waged a full scale mock air war on the Virgin Islands, purchased from Denmark in 1917 for 525,000,000 -.. ,,.:V , ,, , ,M,,, gv,mfA, . V VVVV V WW. While on her shakedown the Shangri-La participated in the Sixth War Loan drive, reaching a total subscription of 367,650 in cash sales aboard ship. Mooring at the Norfolk Navy Yard on.December 23rd, the ship sent off three eight-day leave parties over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Yard workmen swarmed aboard once more to make final repairs and adjustments before declaring the Shangri-La ready to do battle with the new Kamikaze menace in the Paciiic. Finally on January 17, 1945, a bell-clanging yard crane lifted the familiar brow from the carrier's side as the pilot's whistle signaled the waiting tugs. Moving slowly seaward, the Shangri-La cast off her tugs' lines and proceeded to her rendezvous with the destroyer Forrest. Arriving at the mouth of Chesa- peake Bay, she received word from the new battle-cruiser Guam of heavy weather to the north, delaying her arrival at the appointed rendezvous of Task Group 2l.l2 until January 19th. Flight operations in the Caribbean Sea. ,f-ff' , , f f Lzeut Gen Brett, U.S.A., aboard at War correspondents at the Shangri La s wheel Panama. Circling off Virginia Beach and False Cape, the delay was utilized for the Hrst flight operations. Tragedy struck swiftly through the air on the 18th, when two Avengers locked wings in a mid-air collision that left one vacant seat at the airmen's wardroom table. Racing to the fallen planes, the plane guard destroyer managed to save one pilot before his crippled mount slipped from view in the green Atlantic surf. The crash resulted in the third fatality in 2000 flights from the carrier's deck. Shortly after dawn on the 19th, search planes spotted the long, sleek Alaska- class battle-cruiser steaming at high speed to join the Shangri-La. The 808-foot, 27,500-ton Guam, commissioned only two days after the Shangri-La, was to accompany the new carrier to the Panama Canal and thence to the Western Pacific. One day out of Panama, the Shangri-La was the target for Army planes simulating attack on an enemy force. Lieutenant General Brett, U.S.A.,-came aboard in a Navy plane to observe the attack and the carrier's strike against Canal defenses. A P The mountains of Panama loomed close on the morningof the 23rd as the carrier entered the Channel to dock at Cristobal. A liberty provided one section' with a chance to pick up a few souvenirs in the Canal Zone, interesting melting pot of humanity and cargo. s Early the following morning the big ship commenced transit of the Panama Canal. Through Ciatun and Nliraflores Locks she inched and scraped her way. as all hands not on watch hovered topside to watch the passage through narrow Culebra Cut and the thousand-odd sights that make up a trip through the engi- neering wonder of the 20th Century. Mooring at Balboa, on the Pacific side, another section managed a liberty to Balboa and the nearby city of Panama. Under SBZC crashes barrier after fast lan-ding. 24 f Culebra Cut - Panama Canal. Way again on the 25th for San Diego, California, the Shangrz'-La continued her training program in rehearsal for the ever-nearing Paciic War. Arriving in San Diego on February 2, 1945, the Shangrz'-La fueled and pre- pared for military inspection by Admiral Ralph Jennings, Com Car Div 12, commencing the following day. February 3rd and 4th were spent in dress rehearsal attacks on San Clemente Island, to the north of San Diego, with Air Group 85 simulating air strikes against enemy-held positions. Returning to San Diego for fuel, provisions and a full deckload of ferry planes, the Shcmgrz'-La bade the States goodbye on February 7th and pointed her bow Westward for Pearl Harbor. Q. v4:'gqQ1,: 1' 'W' ,W f ,sg ff' :X 75 2 ,, , ,.,4,:.,,,-.W 1-. .,,,, -14,1-2 A 4 .. ,fea:', ' ' H xv ,7 eg rm.. 4- aa,-53, -1, ' ' 115:15 5? 5251 ...Z , QYEQYJW 3. F ,521 ., W, . , W- 4, QM.,-9 -' Na -Y a Dawn of February l3, 1945, found the Shangrz'-La steaming Within sight of Molakai's mountain peaks. Shore-based planes met the Task Group shortly after 0800 for a morning of antiaircraft target practice as she cruised through Kaiwi Channel before rounding famed Diamond Head, southern tip of Oahu. Past Waikiki Beach and beautiful Honolulu, the carrier's topside resembled Ebbet's Field bleachers with an overflow Sunday crowd. Through the submarine nets to landlocked Pearl Harbor, the big carrier thrust a cautious nose in strange sur- roundings as she eased beyond Hospital Point to berth at Ford Island. Under Way again on the 15th, the Shcmgri-La conducted training exercises in the area until the 20th, returning for a final checkup in the Navy Yard before heading for the Realm of the Golden Dragon. Exercises through the month of March raised the total plane landings above the 4,000 mark. Ford Island Ferry. Combat Information Center. As the 'Shangri-La prepared to leave Pearl Harbor, her battered sister, the Franklin, limped into the Navy Yard, her ranks thinned by more than l,000 casualties, her sides scarred and twisted by tremendous ftres and explosions. Hit by Kamikazes March 19th, while operating close to the Japanese home islands, she drifted helplessly as her crew fought courageously to save her. Escorting warships scooped many of her crew from the water, some ships even going along- side to pick off trapped men from exposed gun platforms. Cruisers and destroyers played streams of water across her hangar and flight decks until the tire was under control and a towline had been secured. The sun passed through the zenith andgwell down the western slopes of nearby Fujiyama as her crew labored, knee- Mb.-mixx AB.: , .. ,gy . M ? 5 3 5 4 ' , mmf, 1 'QW f , , MW. -, f 1, fw w,,,,.,.,,wwwf ' , , 5 ' Q ,A I.. 1 1 Y -Q 1 Shangri-La beading for the forward area. deep in water and debris, until she made good her escape from death and retreated under her own power. Pearl Harbor provided a refuge and temporary repairs for the gallant ship before she commenced the long voyage to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The ShlIl?g!'l,-1,61 proceeded westward from Pearl on April lOth, setting course for Ulithi Lagoon, in the Western Carolines. Drills and damage control prob lems took on new interest for the crew with the memory of the Big Ben fresh in mind. The sun soared higher and higher each noon as she steamed within fighter range of the equator toward the low coral atolls comprising the Western Marshalls. At l605, April 13th, she crossed the International Date Line. The destroyer escort, Stcmfeld, joined up oif Eniwetok on the 17th to escort the soli- tary carrier to Ulithi, providing plane guard for routine flight operations the remainder of the trip. r Approaching Ulithi Lagoon on April 20th, the bridge watch made out a sea of masts which appeared like a fire-darkened forest on an otherwise barren island. Closer inspection revealed one of the greatest armadas of ships ever assem- bled under one flag. a Rounding the beetle-browed net tender stationed at the buoyed entrance, the carrier steamed down columns of anchored ships to its assigned berth. There in the blue-green waters of a tropical salt-water lagoon lay the ammunition ships, refrigerator ships, tenders, tankers, supply ships and floating drydocks compris- ing the Service Squadron base for the Navy's many-fingered, invasion-bound Task Groups. A There fat merchant tankers brought their loads of thick, black fluids from the oil fields of far-off Caracas to fuel sister Navy oilers as they returned from a fueling rendezvous with thirsty carriers, battleships, and cruisers. There the submarine nets opened to deep-laden ships heading for combat areas to the north and west, and to high-riding merchants, steaming eastward, emptyholds lifting screws from the spreading white wake with each gentle ocean swell. L L i I ! 2 ! ll u i I 5 . Q is als - M urderefs Row -- Ulitbi Q i l i E OPERATION ONE. The Shangri-La sortied Ulithi April Zlst, in company with the new battle- ship Iowa and destroyers Stembel and Haggard, en route to fueling rendezvous off Okinawa. Joining up on the morning of the 24th, she fueled from a fleet tanker, as Task Group 58.4 steamed off Okinawa on the 24th day of siege. In company with the new Yorktown, the light carriers Bataan, Langley, and Inde- pendence, she prepared for her iirst strike against the enemy. Antiaircraft protection was afforded by the Iotua's sisters, the Missouri and W'isconsin, ably assisted by the Alaska and Guam, high-stepping halfbacks of the new carrier task group. Riding herd over three destroyer squadrons were two sleek antiaircraft cruisers, the Flint and the battle-wise San Diego. Flight deck as seen from island. Radio Room No' Z' Commanding Task Force 58 Was Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. Discarding the hit-and-run tactics of his Homer days, the commander had a force strong enough to stand up and slug it out with any enemy force that dared to venture forth, The carriers of Task Group 58.4 alone could launch over 300 planes in a matter of minutes, While the hattleships' guns were match for anything afloat. Fueled, provisioned, and armed at sea, the Fifth Fleet Was independent of nearby land bases, Commander Sherrill led his air group off the flight deck at l455 on April 25th, for a strike against tiny Okino Daito Jima, Weather and radar station south- east of Okinawa. Heavy damage was inflicted in thirty-six sorties from which ,ii .v..., Maw..--.,......, i 4 l 34 5. 4 ,,- f I Plane-s Crush Invasion Fleet. all pilots returned. In addition to target strikes, the carrier also furnished a CAP CCombat Air Patrol jfor Task Group 58.4. A plane from the night CAP made the 7,000th landing shortly after dark on the Shangrz'-La's iirst strike day. For three days her planes hit enemy installations on southern Okinawa, sup- porting troops of the XXIV Army Corps, entrenched on the northern banks of the Asa River. After securing the northern sector around Motobu Peninsula, the First Marine Division moved southward to the XXIV Army Corps' Western flank, as carrier planes continued to attack enemy caves and gun emplacements with heavy bombs and rockets. Shcmgri-Lal planes divided their attention between Tokuno airy ,v7f:f,g: .gh E2IE'EI5Y:5?Z f-I E'I '?fE Q: ,.., W If , A x N as .-5 RV A V 9 4 . 4 I 4 M, , N . 4 iff , , s . ff 11.1 f. Q Q' I, , . ,. , ,xc-C' g 5 8 1 4 A J 5 M V , J X nz. si' 60' gf vi., of ,I 4. f 4, fa ?f I 7 4 M2 We E E X. 31 1 -Aw-, . , 3:4as,,:,:: , 3? 4 51,121.3 Qs-wa, ,. Q? fm: yn X: W s 4:KEj'f , ..,s,,. -:mi I 331 . x.,,,,. Y, 42:25:- W ,J :gg 2 o,.,'5.s73.-5 mi :Vv T222 Q my 4 X 4.1 Invasion of Okinawa - April I, 1945. v 1 1 field and southern Okinawa until Kamikaze attacks on the hospital ship Comfort, and her escorts, on the 29th, necessitated diversion. Flying night CAP over the task force, Ensign John S. Patton was vectored out to intercept a bogey picked up on shipboard radar fifty miles from the formation. Silhouetted in the morning twilight, the Jap Betty fell to the Hghter , pilot's flaming guns at 0233, April 29th, 1945-the Shangri-La's first flag on the island scoreboard. Enemy planes heckled the task force throughout the day as carrier planes raided Kikai Shima to the north of Okinawa. Intense antiaircraft fire accounted for three Sharzgri-Lal planes in seventy sorties flown over Wan Airield, Kikai Invasion fleet south of Yontan Field. Avenger over Okinawa. Shima. One Helldiver spun in over the field with no chance of escape for pilot or crew, while a sister hit the sea five miles north of the tiny, phosphate island. The pilot and crew were rescued and Hnally transferred back aboard by destroyers. A TBM Avenger was set afire by antiaircraft fire, forcing pilot and aircrew- man to bail out a sea. Covered by fighter planes, a Dumbo amphibian rescue plane picked up the wounded aircrewman but the pilot was lost before a life raft could be dropped. Thus the carrier suffered her first war casualties even as she chalked up her first splashed Bogey. The Hazelwood and the Haggard, destroyers on duty as radar pickets, were hit by Kamikazes on the same day as the enemy commenced an all-out war r I Q I I I x v as 'F v 1 l l I l i l I l At sea off Okinawa. against the invading fleet. COn'ly a month before, the Haggard had suffered damage in ramming a submarinej Task Force guns and the CAP shot down seventeen enemy planes during raids which continued through the 30th, gvvith the Shangrz'-La CAP chalking up a Jill stalker. Enemy troops boreiithe' brunt of air strikes through May 3rd as they attempted a counter-attack against Tenth Army troops. Midst all the fury of War and the devastation wrought ash-ore by daily bombings and straiing, the Navy spared no effort to rescue downed aviators or personnel in distress. Through April and May, almost daily rain squalls ham- pered flight operations ashore and at sea. During one such rainy day, the ship's ,W , 4 2. R w , Qi N4 1 5 1 3' , o 35 'TSB G, , - -Y ,hz Xl 5 QS i ' 3? . I 5 23.0 Ml Q , S. ,:L':.:3, 5-A .. uw ,dx X Q -f, ., g, ,S radar picked up three lost Marine fighter planes from Yontan Airfield and vec- tored them in to the task group. Although they had never made carrier landings before, they were directed to safety to the Yorktown, where, without enough gas to take a wave-off, they bounced to a stop on Rear Admiral Radford's flagship. The Okinawa Target CAP had a field day May 4th, when the CAP leader took his twelve Corsairs to grips with a larger force of enemy planes. Shangri-La planes accounted for five Zekes, five twin-float biplanes, and three Petes in a furious dogfight witnessed by cheering ground troops. Two Shangri-La planes were shot down over the water but rescued by Dumbo and a patrol vessel. Half- way 'round the world, Germany gave up in Holland and northwestern Germany. Stepping up ground support attacks, the carrier air groups blasted away at the enemy's Siegfried Line on the south banks of the Asa River, while the Sixth Marine Division moved in on the opposite bank. During the early morn- ing hours of May 10th, the Tenth Army bridged the Asa River and forced their way to the outskirts of Naha, capital of Okinawa. Clinging tenaciously to each foot of ground, the Japanese defenders fell back to secondary entrenchments. Sugar Loaf Hill withstood eleven costly marine attacks before collapsing. The renewed activity ashore brought enemy planes to the front again-the CAP between Tokuno and Tori Shima knocked down nine Zekes in a single patrol. Two Kamikazes slipped through the CAP over Task Group 58.3 to crash into the Bunk-er Hill, flagship of Admiral Mitscher and staff. Striking in the midst of planes loaded for a sweep against Okinawa ground troops, the enemy planes .detonated many high-explosive bombs and fuel tanks. Flames and smoke mushroomed skyward in full view of the Shangri-La in a neighboring task group, miles away. Many of the Admiral's staff were killed in the ensuing explosions or trapped in flag quarters on the gallery deck as gasoline-fed flames gained headway against the valiant efforts of the Bunker Hill crew. Pulling out of the formation to fight for her life, she managed to transfer Admiral Mitscher and the surviving members of his staff to an accompanying destroyer for further transfer to the Randolph. ' The morning sun found the Shangri-La, with twenty-five flags on her island scoreboard, headed south and east for Ulithi to receive Admiral John S. McCain aboard as Commander Second Carrier Force Pacific. Between operations many Isaac Waltons found time to wet a line in the clear waters of the lagoon. Others headed toward Mog Mog atoll for beer parties and steak fries on the coral beaches. Par from a travel-folder tropical paradise, the atoll provided a welcome release from drills, watches, and steel decks. Swimming parties and baseball games were organized for the few, fleet- ing hours of play in the midst of war. Returning to the ship in the crowded landing craft of the Atoll Command, they spread to remote- corners with paper in hand for a quick letter home on the next eastbound plane. p 2 E i Fighter burns after crash landing. OPERATION T wo. ' Admiral McCain's force sortied Ulithi on May 24th, under the old Task Group 58.4 designation, and laid a course for the operating area off Okinawa. Joining up with the fueling units off Okinawa, the force combined with Task Group 58.3, Admiral Mitscher's First Carrier Task Force. While other units fueled and provisioned from supply ships, Admiral Mitscher transferred from the Randolph to a destroyer and thence to the Shangri-La by means of a boatswain's chair suspended between the two ships as they steamed in formation. Retiring to Admiral lVlcCain's sea cabin, the two famous, winged warriors exchanged plans and information before the formal change of com- mand and fleet designation. Task Force 58 was officially changed to Task Force 38 at midnight, May 27th. During the mid-watch the strong, friendly forces began to- appear in the southeastern sector of the Shangri-La radar grid. By sunrise the screen was filled with orderly pips as lookouts made out the big Missouri, flagship of Admiral W. F. Halsey, surrounded by the remaining units of the Third Fleet. fupper leftj Navy air strikes at Okinawa. fcenter leftl Iwo Beach after assault. flower left? Battleship Wisconsin at sea. 7. 4,1 5 14 .1g32g?45f.-fi ,. fi 1 Agfa. ,, Q 'gg .... . - -....1.'. , , iz ,Wi 35. ,Yay .., Y MQ .,, 4 , f z., 'f, fq -Vw ' 7 9' 1 A Q? 337,21 ' - we ,P ,Y ,s . . ,JW 'Lk' A. ' few- X V, ,, . Q 0 - I 1 'vw ,4 , wr y. My V M , Ship and plane bombardment - Okinawa. ising more misery for the Japanese ere many strikes left his late command's decks. Swinging north after strikes on Okinawa, in support of hard-pressed ground troops, Task Force 38 steamed through fog off Okinawa to a fueling rendezvous in preparation for strikes against Kyushu, southernmost of the home islands. The Shangrz'-La's Hrst strike against Kyushu airfnelds met with fierce and experi- enced enemy patrols. Hitting airflelds at Kagoshima, Chiran, and Izumi, the returning planes spotted two downed Yorktown planes off lbusuki. Orbiting above the fallen flyers, they were jumped by twenty or thirty Jap planes manned by top enemy pilots. Native tombs after bombing - Okinawa. During the dogfight seven Corsair pilots were downed or suffered such severe damage that they Were unable to return to the ship. One pilot Was rescued by searching destroyers while another F4U made it back to the ship in a plane so riddled it had to be stripped and jettisoned. Air Group 85 knocked down one Jack, one Tojo, and one Oscar for a very uneven score on the first strike day, June Z, l945. Returning with a vengeance at sunrise the following morning, twenty-four planes from Air Group 85 found about thirty Jap fighters Waiting over the target, Chiran Airfield. The Japs dove through a cloud layer at 22,000 feet to open the melee which was fought over enemy airields with enemy ack-ack Japanese monument on Okinawa, I 5 potting at every American plane that chanced within range. These enemy pilots were not the poorly trained Kamikaze Corps, but crack pilots using every trick in the bag and teaching a few new ones to a startled air group. When the ight finally ended four enemy planes were downed, three more were probables and several damaged. Hard hit 85 was short three pilots and planes, two .to enemy action, one operationally. Other patrols were flown between the home islands and Okinawa to prevent new Kamikazes from bolstering Okinawa defenses. Returning to the support of Okinawa, Task Group 38 encountered a severe typhoon in which surface winds reaching a -velocity of 120 knots were recorded Marme fighter squadron scoreboard at Okinawa. Each dot represents a Jap plane. fy! X ' X Q gf A , , M. X 3 xg X 'r ,f .,,,,g3 wg' ' fi ,M 1' 2 wm.vmu-v.L..-n- '- .:1::::::z::xmm- Armada over M issouri. WF r I z 5 0 'fr :hi J L. Sullivan, Assistant Secretary of Navy for Air, is sworn in aboard Sbangrz La in Task Group 38.3. Heavy seas pounded the units unmercifully, with even the big carriers taking seas over the flight deck. Thirty feet of the new Hornet's flight deck was collapsed by green water breaking Hfty-live feet above the water- line. The heavy cruiser Pittsburgh lost fifty feet of her bow and destroyers rolled threateningly on mountainous waves. The Shangrz'-Lal missed the center of the storm so was able to continue operations on the 5th. Attacks against enemy ground troops on Okinawa continued through the 7th, when the Shangrz'-La turned north to Kyushu again to attack Kanoya airfield where a strong concentration of planes was reported. Only five enemy planes showed up to give battle and after a quick pass, these turned tail and fled before Air I lf 4 1 r 4 vi UCP left j Topping 017. ftop rzgbtj Photo planes. Kcenter leftj Captain addresses pilots. K left Q Yontan Airfield. K right Q Tanker fuels big boys. ' 6: , , f ff' 2' Lx. 3534 I 1 W 2 f 1 mfg 'Z I 1 jf , W , Q 122 .gf 1 A H :Zigi 5? 2 I ,ir :,, I E A i n 1 :,f,,., ,f.f:f 12 , . ws:nf.:-2.4f4::'zs2 i12,z, We, 51 I ., A'::Z.i4 Lsz,f iiiesx' . ',f.:':tg.?5fs1, f:2+3'1s'Q1e':::v 'e-.7 I 5:9 ,111 1 ,-wfzf:-ff: M.. MQ: mv.:-V.: .. My , W5 ,.pg:v:ii'EW5W. v,- 'Q-amy, 4.. M. 62i11?',, f., x::.Qz2.1ff fijlljl' zz: 4. qw-.,64.,:p,v.:f,:1 wg 14, ff-f . M., . , v4z.,...,,,. M, -1 ,-:ggi ,A.,, ,qym .... M. V. W .M QM f.-- . ,MQ gym fu fa:Zg,z,.,,.,g '-SW:-.,:Q:vv:'-s ,.'-z,::j:gv.:Qfm fe ,,..,.,,,,,,4df-,Z --M.f,.,0, .,, ,,A. Y ,, ,.-' . M cw.,-W, -. fu-sr Q: ,W vff,:'f12Eki:- .A.,. .,.,, fiy?L2E2. 'K ,Q ,, ' , , Q.:1meM,-Q-,.m,WQM, ,. , Q ,,,., ,.,,, :2tQ.g,g,,1e11 1:-,...v.,.-N,-W ,,,,,,'., 1 .I fy- ,:??: 'Y' , .y,,,,. , 'MM - f-wan 9. O British DD delivers mail. SB2C's on the wing Group 85's onslaught. Kanoya Airfield was hit by over two hundred fighter planes and with nearly as many revetments on the field there was almost a target for each plane. Striking swiftly before an alerted field with bristling antiaircraft defense, the planes damaged many planes on the ground, departing after setting numerous fires and cratering the airstripes. Downed aviators were greeted by four types of rescue workers that-day- one plane was picked up by friendly submarine, another by destroyer, a third by OSZU Ccarrier or battleship observation planesj and the fourth by a plucky Dumbo pilot who flew into Kagashima Wan, within sight of enemy air fields and gun batteries, to pick up his charge. With the remnants of a 120,000-troop enemy garrison penned up on the southern tip of Okinawa, the Shcmgri-La headed south for Leyte, P. l. The bloody campaign for the tiny phosphate deposit on the road to Tokyo was almost at an end-the ocean depths off Okinawa had received an untold num- ber of shipmates from the vessels of the Fifth and Third Fleet. The island score- board registered an additional sixteen enemy planes but Air Group 85 was short ten pilots and nineteen planes. 1 I r I I r 1 1 v X I , .. ---- -- ..-. .-,.. ....,,.,.,..- -,.....--.-, ,......, . V ..... .,..-n--, ,..-.1.' - -.. --.-.,+.....-.,....-,. .X ,-..1..,.,-,,.- ,Hg , , W., , U A--V WHMJ, , ,J , M ,UNALA h,.k,,m,,k,,,-,,,Y,A,,LA,,,W,,,.,,.,,.,-,9..:,.,, -- ' Ryukyu raid. H yuga sunk at Kure, l 1 r ' ' ' ' f- -Wff- uv 'f f f ' 'fffvfvl ' 1 :gr , I Air strikes launched from Task Force 38 fleftl , 5 Column movement, Task Force 3 8. Captain Whitehe'ad takes a bearing. Airmen confer with Admiral McCain. fLeft to rightj Comdr. Sherrill, Adm. McCain, Air Vice Marshall Isitt, New Zealand, Rear Adm. W. D. Baker. 61 x n 1 1 Y 1 1 - ' -' f- f -' f-'- ' f ''vff11.-:f:f11:1-r .I f'I1191f-if-'I-'.-C.,-'Lf'-:: w:2ziS:- ,sit.23:2:':tj:-:BSS- li,-'.1:'::ISQS'??SKT'f1?'iSS55i,MW1NxY2'5iAl l s 1 1 Q I Z E 5 1 4 l 51 I , 'x J gb ll l tl l 5 if -I .43 Vi , Battleship Haruna beacbed - Kate, July 28, 1945. OPERATioN THREE. Task Group 38.4 sortied San Pedro Bay, Leyte, P. I., en route to the com- bat area off Honshu, Shangrz'-La flew the three-star Hag of Admiral McCain, Commander Second Carrier Task Force and Task Force 38, while the Yorktown carrier Rear Admiral Radford, Commander Task Group 38.4, At llOO, July 2, l945, the crew of the Shangrz'-La mustered on the flight deck while Vice Admiral Aubrey Pitch, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air, administered the oath of Office as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air to the Honorable John L. Sullivan. His personal flag was broken from the truck as Shcmgri-La and Yorktown guns barked out seventeen-gun salutes to the new Secretary to complete the first such ceremony aboard a man-of-war under combat conditions. Riding as a passenger in a TBM Avenger, Secretary Sullivan made the l0,000th landing aboard the Shangri-Lal on July 4th. s-rw. Fal k 'ima ,meer saw- 51553513 ..,. , .M,,g. seam 2325 Barrier crash. After a fueling rendezvous with the logistics group, Shangrz'-La launched her first strike against the Tokyo area on July lOth. Hitting airfields in the Tokyo area, Air Group 85 found most of her quarry had flown the coop, leaving the raiders the minor contentment of blasting hangars, gun emplace- ments and straiing the few enemy planes found Without adequate concealment. A Task Force 3 8 prepares to launch air strike. Vzce Admiral Towers transferred at sea Target Hafuna In the absence of enemy a1r res1stance Task Force 38 planes ra1ded enemy sh1pp1ng on the Inland Sea and all major harbors along the Pac1f1c and Sea of Japan coasts In preparatlon for the xmpendmg 1nvas1on attacks Were concen trated on all forms of transportauon Rallroad trams ferr1es trucks luggers Hakadote Harbor Hokkazdo before Thzrd Fleet attack .z,.innmwnuacM.wm Y , , X wmv X ... ........... ..,., ,A,4 , ,,,,, Y. Pm-1 ,VVV vVYVY,VVVV m If X X +v 'x Q 3 ,. F39 W .5 SK -E' n o s 4 ., ss' J wi? I Q gs, f X Lexzngton commissioned the Saratoga, and was responsible for the Great Lakes training carriers Wolverine and Sable. Strikes on July 18th were directed against the battleship Nagato, anchored off Yokosuka Naval Base In the face of extremely heavy antiaircraft Ere, Air Group 85 pressed home several highly successful attacks which left the pagoda- masted Nagato a blackened impotent hulk, resting deep in the dirty Waters of Routine attacks Were carried out through the remainder of July, with the major part of Japanese mobile power being immobilized by the low-level attacks of fighter and bomber groups from Task Force 38. On July 24th, Kure Naval Base on the Inland Sea was attacked with the biggest plums in Shangri-La's basket Damage was inflicted on the Ise, Haruna, Fuji, Tone, Hosho and Oyoda, plus nine smaller craft Repeated attacks in the week capsized theicruiser Oyoda, and caused the Haruna to be beached in a sinking condition. Though few planes were sighted over the target areas, the Task Force was heckled constantly by snooper planes. On August 6th, the first atomic bomb snuffed the life from Hiroshima on the Inland Sea West of Kure. The second Wounded airmen return. Tokyo Bay until her subsequent removal for the Bikini tests. T-,, ,,, G N 1 Burzal servzces for azrcrewman killed over Tokyo Admiral McCain at supper with chief petty officers. mushroom blast over Nagasaki ended the Japanese Will to resist the inevitable and the beaten Japanese offered to surrender on the following day. Strikes were continued, pending oilicial recognition from Washington, until August 15th, when all attacks were canceled and only a strong CAP maintained . One Judy and one Frank were splashed in a friendly sort of Way when they ventured in over the Task Group. Admiral Halsey addressed the Third Fleet over the public address system, announcing the official end to hostilities at 1302, August 15, 1945. l Immediately conferences were called to organize aid for prisoner of War camps and to send planes with food and needed medical supplies. Landing parties Pl w 4 1 1 - 1 lv if 1 ll 1 ,i rx .1 I. ga if 1 1 4 li i, 3 -5 l 70 f n Battlesbzp Ise knocked out Kure July Z8 1945 - og? ff? w Q f V ,f , I Q wb A Pg- f 7 2 ' A Wm an vw' 11, 1 vgmgw-gi vm R X xi N QQ. Gun barrels cleaned after air attack. Officers' navigation C1033 Boatswain's seamanship lecture. Bake Shop' I Volleyball on hangar deck. Hangaf deck nsflcuffsf fopposite pagej fupperj Pass the ammunition. flowerj Sbip's band entertains. c Captain congratulates victorious hgbter pilot. r were organized from Marine Detachments aboard ship to aid in locating POW camps and to act as police force in the initial stages of occupation. Heart-rending stories are told by pilots of Air Group 85 Who flew low over POW camps to drop messages and relief supplies to eager prisoners. Several bomber planes even made unorthodox landings to return Air Group 85 person- nel shot down over enemy territory. Rank and rate were forgotten in the celebrations aboard ship that day. Defenses were not relaxed but Watches and duties were eased to a more casual routine. ? ! Shangri-La Marines transferred to attack trans- British destroyer alongside for transfer of personnel port Ozark for landings on Japan Marines don battle gear Island scoreboard. Thus ended the territorial ambitions of a once-great sea power, dependent upon Water-borne commerce to feed and clothe its teeming millions, hut sub- servient to a militant secret army society which prevented the full tactical use of a numerically superior fleet. Utilizing her initial naval advantage With nine American hattleships immobilized at Pearl Harbor, overwhelming Japanese forces had moved dovvn on Admiral Hart's token fleet in the long-Wanted Philippines, Wresting those strategic islands from an ill-equipped, hastily trained army of Philippine irregulars and National Guard outfits, sprinkled With regular Army troops. Plush With victory, Japan had continued her drive south through the vital oil Helds of Borneo in the East lndies. As a buffer against Australia she extended ltop rigbtj Landing craft approach Yokosuka Naval Base. llowerl Occupation plans Q 3 Y r . . -.- ,..- . .. -... .,., . ..,-..,.1., .. M . ...,,,. .---- ,...... . .,. ..,., . ,g-a..,.....,..,-.- . ,f -X ... ,. -. ... .- . .. ...,.-,,,.1..,.. . ,,., ..., .-o.. x,........VY..,-,... ...:...,..-4...-..,...f-..wf- -K Air Group 85 transferred to CVE Atta. .J Missouri steams into Tokyo Bay i Surrender ship. Destroyer Hatsuzakura covered by U.S.S. Nicholas. her defense perimeter southeastward to New Britain and New Guinea - west- ward to Singapore and the lush Malay States. Her abortive attempt at Midway failing to extend her outer defenses to the Mid-Pacific, she withdrew to wage a war of attrition against the United States Navy. Her over-extended supply lines became prey to submarines while Amer- ican task forces pounded outlying bases into submission. Hindered by the loss of trained airmen in earlier campaigns, the Imperial Navy finally ventured forth in the battle for Leyte, losing three battleships, four w 9 v 4 I I 1 I v 1 I I l 1 I Japanese delegates aboard Missouri. r ' OPPOSITE PAGE , fTopj Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S.N., signs surrender document. DISTINGUISHED SIGNATORIES f'GenterJ General Douglas MacArthur U S A fCenter leftj Jap Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigamitsu I 7 K Center right Q General Kuzma N ikolaevtich Dereuyenko, U,S.S.R. I KLower centerj Admiral Sir Bruce H Faser, United Kingdom 3 KLower rightj Col. L. Moore Cos- grave, Canada I I KLower rightj General Sir Thomas ' Blamey, Australia i sz 5 r w 1 1 Nw Nnmid X if .sw ,ww President Truman receives surrender documents. carriers, ten cruisers, and nine destroyers in the greatest defeat in naval history. ln the bitterly contested Okinawa campaign she was barely able to pool enough oil to fill the bunkers of the battleship Yamato, the light cruiser Yahagi, and eight destroyers for a fatal sortie which ended under carrier plane attack off Kyushu the following morning. Shorn of sea power, the enemy resorted to air attacks by fledgling suicide flyers, sinking fifteen destroyers and two minesweepers, damaging nine battleships, nine carriers, two cruisers, ninety-nine destroyers, and twenty miscellaneous ships in eleven weeks off Okinawa. Fleet strikes against the enemy homelands in June and July were made under the ever-increasing shadows of B-29's from the Marianas and Okinawa. Japan's industries melted into rubble even as her vast merchant and warring fleets had submerged under persistent American attack. The Japanese Supreme War Guid- ance Council had accepted defeat in early June, but fearing army and navy rebellion, failed to act until Emperor Hirohito requested surrender terms through ' Admiral Mitscher KT.F. 58j invites Admiral Halsey fTbird Fleetj for the fabled ' ride .. his ambassador in Moscow. Unwilling to act as mediator, Russia conveyed the report unoflicially to the Potsdam Conference of the Big Three where an ulti- matum was drawn up on Japan's capitulation. J apan's War Council deliberated almost to the eve of invasion, before the destruction at Hiroshima and Naga- saki, plus Russia's declaration of war gave them the opportunity to save face. Emperor Hirohito, in his first broadcast, stated, . . . The war has lasted nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone . . . the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interests . . . Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which is incal- culable. This is the reason we have ordered acceptance of the provisions of the declaration. Units of the Third Fleet steamed into the broad jaws of Sagami Bay on August 27, l945, delayed by a two-day bout with a typhoon which swept up from the Philippines, wrecking shipping and newly finished installations on Oki- nawa. Stalty stacks and top hamper, plus an occasional twisted davit or missing life raft, gave silent evidence of its expended fury. Cruisers and destroyers led attack transports manned by crack invasion teams to the enemy beaches for recon- naissance and rescue work. Into the Inland Sea area special Navy details rushed trained personnel to secure strategic naval bases and to view at first hand the wreckage of Nagasaki under the second, and more powerful fplutoniumj bomb. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz hoisted his five star flag at the South Dakota s main on August 29th as Admiral Halsey s flagship M zssourz anchored off Yoko suka Naval Base Boarding parties removed vital gun parts from the burned N agato lying at anchor off the Yokosuka breakwater Gflicers and enlisted men manned the rails of United States men o war as they steamed in single iile through mine swept Uraga Strait into Tokyo Bay to anchor smartly under Emperor Hrrohrto s officzal authorrzatzon for surrender -by .?.-F5192 ii 5 . 1 3 ', W , 5. ,E f . 5 -v l' .......l. XX XX UTI 4 4 t l 1 5 it flifsfwt 7 7' il JG r is- li la ei .HS iw fr A 4321196 A 1 x. IJ- lpfgu ss ref? 1 uw s Eli' fl -if-2 33 3 ,L I JCE gif bf P Eg la 5 .,.,,.,,. ,.,.,,., , i, it - 4 idawpgig ,aa gppp,,, l pi5.V if Vypppplp. Vppi xpipp, Vipi E - .... . . . ..,. . . A . -i i .. t. 4 ., -i, if . t l .Finn , l e f .- ' . ' .fi i . Q i - . . if l Q ' C . ,. e . W, i ' A , i - w ' l . 3, ' - , ,, 'ff P' .. ' ' ,. ., N e Q ' Q , ., - , ,, .. .TiLjisrf..,fi-,.,....ei t T ' S1 . .. C. 55 'E' Q . ,,F'tl - - ,. , , . , , , fill T' l M i , sl' .WW N 'EW le tt - .itli Homeward bound. 86 x I 9 l 5 f? 4 lk Q 1 I k I v 3 7 lo Creufs day room. Electrician's shack. Quarter-Deck. Personnel office. Post office, Chiefs quarters. Laundry, Print shop. Officers' day room Hangar Deck. Recreation. Machine shop. 6 I if IP 4? I H 'N 4 4 E .9 .1 5 A I l 5 4 4. l l r i l 1 l1 Of Q .5 ll Q , the shelter of Missouri guns. Even the water of Tokyo Wan reeked of the decay and ruin that met the eye on either beach. Broken, scattered blocks of once-proud fortifications and rusting hulks of bombed-out ships lined the shallows and break- waters near the bay's mouth, south of the B-29 -blitzed Yokohama and Tokyo. About 0900 on September 2, 1945, the formally attired delegates of the Imperial Japanese Government bowed aboard the Missouri for the signing of a formal surrender. They were met by khaki-clad, tieless American Naval and Army oflicers with representatives from each Allied Power, present to sign the surrender document at a table set up on the battleship's spotless, broad teakwood Navy Blimp Welcomels Carrier to Fog-Shrouded San Pedro Bay. quarterdeck. Navy planes roared overhead in a maximum launch from carriers plying the waters off Japanese home islands. Paratroopers held strategic air- Helds and defense positions ashore in a bloodless occupation, while Navy personnel took over local signal control points as the job of cleaning up began. Landing forces from ships anchored in Tokyo Bay were unanimous in requests for dis- infectant, quickly absorbing available supplies in their eagerness to rid quarters ashore of unwelcome occupants. Two destroyers and a carrier en route to the occupation from Ulithi were diverted to Saipan for emergency supplies of DDT. The Shlangrz'-Lal steamed into Tokyo Bay on September 16. 1945, a year l , , V , Shangri-La at North Island, San Diego, Calif. and a day after commissioning in Boston, 9,882 water-miles away. A few days' liberty in Yokohama and Tokyo gave her crew a chance to stretch their legs on land after seventy-eight days at sea. Prom the naval base at Yokosuka to Tokyo they saw evidence of the Shungti-La s air strikes and found that the meek, short- statured inhabitants little resembled the conquerors in the infamous March of Death, Wake, or home prisons. The bewildered people of Japan bowed and scraped to Allied servicemen, walked in the street to keep from crowding side- walks, and cleared shops as the Americans followed their national pastime of souvenir hunting. The ,Shangri-La' stood out from Tokyo Bay October l, 1945, en route to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, for passengers on the Magic Carpet run to the States. On a flying trip she crossed the North Pacific in fourteen days, arriving in San Pedro, California, on October 22, 1945. After a rousing welcome in San Pedro on Navy Day, the carrier received her third skipper, Captain E. A. Cruise. Captain Cruise relieved Captain Whitehead on November 26, 1945, as the carrier lay moored to the long dock at North Island, San Dieo. Captain Cruise came to the Shangrz'-La after a tour of duty as Chief of Staff to Rear Admiral Ragsdale at Alameda, California. A graduate of Annapolis, he won his wings at Pensacola in 1925. During twenty years of naval aviation he has served aboard all of the original IEIVG carriers in the United States Navy, Langley, Wrz'ghlt, Lexington, Ranger and Saratoga, commencing World War Il as Executive Officer of the latter. The Shangrz'-La proceeded to the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington, for drydocking and availability during Christmas of 1945. Many of her personnel enjoyed week-end trips to the nearby Cascade Mountains for skiing trips, while others scoured the beaches of Puget Sound for clams and oysters. The Shangrz'-La spent New Year's Eve steaming south along the Oregon coastline en route to Panama and carrier-pilot qualilication trials off Norfolk. Once again new Tigercats landed aboard her broad decks but trials were cut short by orders to proceed to the West Coast for a new duty, the atomic bomb tests at Bikini. Returning to San Diego via Panama Canal, she spent April and May of l946 practicing with radio-controlled drones, launched from the Shangrz'-La flight deck and maneuvered by mother planes in rehearsals for Operations Cross- roads. On May Zlst, she departed from San Diego with a deckload of drones, en route to Roi Island, Kwajalein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, main base for the Bikini tests. Dick Haymes Broadcast - Navy Day, 1945. 'i x S 2 K fx E F -4 4, Mount Rainier -- Recreation Trip - December, 1945. OPERATION CROSSROADS After a War in which sea and air power Were the controlling factors in the success of any operation, it Was inevitable that the question of fleet vulnerability to the atomic bomb should be settled before disarmament was completed. The Joint Chiefs of Staf directed Admiral W. H. P. Blandy to form Joint Task Force One, composed of Army, Navy, and civilian scientists, for the pur- pose of testing the atomic bomb against naval vessels and military ground equip- ment. Admiral Blandy is the Navy's foremost expert on ordnance, having served as Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, which provides the Navy with guns and mounts, armor, projectiles, bombs, fire control and optical equipment, torpedoes, mines, depth charges, etc. Admiral Blandy named the project Operation Crossroads, because it was apparent that Warfare, perhaps civilization itself, had been brought to a turning point by this revolutionary Weapon. The theory of atomic energy dates back to Antoine Henri Bequerel's dis- covery of radioactive properties in uranium in l896. Working with tons of pitchblende from mines in Joachimsthal, Czechoslovakia, Pierre and Madame Curie followed up Bequerel's experiments with the discovery and subsequent isolation of radium in the early part of the Twentieth Century. Experiments by these early physicists proved uranium to be the parent of several unstable elements which transformed over varying periods of time into a final stable iso- tope of lead. In l905 Professor Albert Einstein stated his theory of relativity, or the principle of the equivalence of mass and energy CE:mc2j. Simply stated., the amount of energy obtainable when mass disappears is the mass X the velocity of light squared Cczj , or, the amount of energy in one pound of iissionable uranium QU-2355 is equivalent to 8,000 tons of trinitrotoluene CTNTD. However, his theory was not truly verified in scientific circles until l932 when a series of experi- ments by the French physicists Joliet and Mme. Irene Curie-'Joliet Produced artificial radioactivity. The energy of the particles involved in these nuclear reac- tions conformed strictly to the law-energy released in this transmutation was exactly equivalent to loss of mass. The new science of nuclear physics attracted many of the world's finest phy- sicists and in 1939 experiments by Drs. Hahn and Metner, interpreted by Bohr, proved that the fission of uranium released a tremendous amount of energy. Obviously this was of tremendous military significance if the process could be . , ., . . .vgyiocsq Xe-5 X 5 El gf li l , Il 52 El is ll 22 I if x il ll Q 'I Winter F tolics. ir ,....J l . ll v K Y l l V N l .L-- l.. Ski Party. made to occur on a large scale. The basic knowledge existed, but the know-how did not. Prior to the outbreak of war physicists exchanged papers on nuclear physics in a spirit of scientific collaboration. Germany's march into the Lowland countries served to put the lid of security on all American, French and United Kingdom nuclear advancements and the all-important race for the atomic bomb commenced. The Navy Department became interested in the project in the spring of 1940 after a conference with Einstein, Wigner, Pegram and several other nuclear sci- entists. The late President Roosevelt appointed a committee which resulted in the organization known as the Uranium Committee, under the National Defense Research Committee, and arranged for transfer of funds for experimentation. Experiments to date pointed to the probability of four Hssionable elements capable of the self-sustaining chain reaction necessary for an efficient bomb: Uranium QU-2359, obtained from the fission of 140 times more Uranium-238 in the natural state, protoactinium, discarded because of its rarity in nature: thorium, obtainable from monazite sands, was by-passed because of the require- ment of very high-energy neutrons for fission. The story of the creation of plutonium, an element which does not appear in nature but is a true trans- uranic element obtained from the Hssion of uranium, is one of the most romantic stories connected with the atomic bomb development. Plutonium was chosen 41 f mp, ,M X f ,pf aww If ff f H f W4 ' fygfaf ,l f ,v X W f f W ff of f U 1 0 iff ffl ff 1 1 If 4 K W' f 'll 1642 M M22 ff, W fb W, 1:ffz'?.'ZZle1?1?Ti1'?i .mwah-W-vf 4-f,,.f,-, ,ZZ ' '1 ,,,M- 1, 5 , , ff 7 , ., W x X N D r 1 w I wx 1 N tx W if Km X vw N S NTLWSYSX Q . as the practical source of iissionable material for the atomic bomb as it is formed from raw uranium and can be separated chemically. Early research by theoretical physicists established the necessity of obtaining uranium, or uranium oxide, refined to a state of over ninety-nine per cent purity. This heavy element had been used to some extent in the ceramics industry but impuritis in the normal commercial oxide were too great Qtwo- to- five per centj to produce U235 and Pu239. The problem of reiinement was solved by the use of an ether extraction, uranyl nitrate, providing better than ninety-nine per cent purity. By the summer of 1942 commercial chemists were producing usable uranium at the rate of a ton per day, solving the quantity production problem of this strategic and important metal. The immediate purpose of the pure uranium was the construction of piles, a lattice of uranium imbedded in graphite moderator blocks forming an oblate spheroid, like a tennis ball at the moment of impact. The use of the light element of carbon Cgraphitej was determined by its characteristic of retarding the speed of neutrons by elastic collision, allowing the operation of the pile at slow speed and temperature. Several other light elements operate even more efficiently, espe- cially deuterium oxide, or heavy water. However, a decision had to be made early for the material for this pile, so graphite was chosen as it was available whereas heavy water was not. Deuterium, which is an isotope of hydrogen, occurs in water, one part in 5,000. At the start of the war only a few litres were available, those being smug- gled out of Norway where the only commercial processing plants in existence were then in operation. The first chain-reacting pile was constructed on a squash court under the west stands of the University of Chicago stadium by Dr. E. Fermi and his col- laborators, under the overall direction of Dr. A. H. Compton. The pile consisted of 12,400 pounds of metal using graphite as a moderator, employing cadmium strips as control bars. Cadmium strips were placed at various intervals through the lattices, accelerating or decelerating by withdrawing or inserting these Sailors entertain orphans for Christmas. Freak crash on fantail - pilot walked away. strips or boron steel bars. With the cadmiu are absorbed into the cadmium to such an extent that chain-reaction is inter- rupted. On Decembe Z 1942 at West Stands? m control strips inserted, neutrons r , , the first known pile was operated successfully Meanwhile, experiment with the cyclotrons Cinvented by Dr. E O Law- rencej at the University of California at Berkeley, and Washington University at St. Louis, had provided about 500 micrograms Qless than a pinhead in sizej of plutonium by bombarding uranyl nitrate. From this microscopic amount, fFor a full report read ATOMIC ENERGY, by H. D. Smyth, Princeton Press. , Q7 physicists and chemists were able to determine its chemical and physical prop- erties, proving the theoretical physicists to be correct on its atom bomb potential, a tremendously important achievement when it is realized the element did not exist on this planet eighteen months before. Three plutonium plants were under construction soon after the first pile was in operation. The West Stands, or Argonne, plant was primarily a research and investigative operation, producing laboratory quantities at low energy levels. The Metallurgical Laboratory, as the secret project was known, provided the theory and experience for the larger Clinton and Hanford projects before break- ing down the uranium-graphite pile in 1944 to build a new heavy water-uranium pile which exceeded Permi's fondest anticipation, proving the heavy water mod- erator's eflicacy for greater energy output. The Hrst large-scale plant was started at Oak Ridge, Tenn., in January, 1943. Clinton provided a pilot plant for the difficult chemical separation processes while producing an appreciable supply of plutonium and U235 from the more abundant U238. Primarily it served as a biological research laboratory on radio- active gasses and diseases resulting from alpha, beta, and gamma ray radiation. Intelligence reports through the Norwegian underground indicated German con- centration on nuclear fission and hinted a possible recourse to gaseous by-products of her experiments. Trained Norwegian engineers managed to destroy over 1,000 pounds of deuterium oxide and later Allied heavy bombers destroyed the Norsk Hydro heavy water laboratory at Vemark, Norway, killing her leading nuclear physicists in the raid. Clinton's first pile was operated November 4, 1943. The site for the third and largest atomic energy plant was selected in late 1942 by General Groves and representatives of the DuPont Company fwho had reluctantly accepted the tremendous assignment in spite of overwhelming war emergency demands on their other facilities, insisting on a cost-plus-one- dollar contractl. Located on the high, lava plateau regions of thinly populated eastern Washington, the Hanford plant utilizes the unlimited cooling powers of the Columbia River as it tumbles seaward towards the Snake River junction, Spike Jones Party aboard ship. I SPI -WHMQ GQU Captain Cruise. forty miles below. Over 60,000 workmen crowded the west banks of the mighty river during the early construction stages, which commenced April 6, 1943. The first of its three piles started a chain-reaction cycle in September of 1944, pro- ducing plutonium from a uranium-graphite lattice. Security does not permit publication of the power level or energy output in these piles but an idea of the staggering project may be gained from the knowledge that the Clinton pile attained an energy release of about 1,800 kw., which is approximately the emis- sion necessary to produce one gram of plutonium per day. On another plateau far to the south a winding mountain road was witness to strange motor caravans carrying huge cargoes to a row of buildings which once housed a boarding school. Many of America's most famous physicists made the trek to the isolated laboratory at Los Alamos, where the Atomic Bomb was born. In the guarded depths of those buildings within thirty miles of 25 0-year- old Santa Fe, New Mexico, Dr. J, R. Oppenheimer and a host of scientists worked out the intricate mathematics, physics, and chemistry for the mechanism of an unbelievably powerful bomb. Prom March of 1943 to a final tense morning in July of 1945, these men checked and rechecked theories and estimates born of experiments with microscopic amounts of plutonium. They found no way to test-fire small amounts of plutonium or U235-it must apparently reach the critical size to undergo fission. The most likely means of an efficient explosion would be to propel as a projectile a part of the bomb against the other, achieving critical size quickly enough to enable the entire mass to undergo ission. The effectiveness is increased by the use of a tamper or a dense envelope which reflects stray neutrons back into the mass, reducing the possibility of a dud. In early July of 1945, the scientists were ready for the supreme test. Gathering in a remote section of the Alamogordo Air Base between the Sacramento Moun- tains and the San Andres Range in southern New Mexico, they prepared for the most important event in over nineteen hundred and forty-five years. Civiliza- tion stood at the threshold of a new world. Man's ingenuity had finally solved the secret of the atom and stood ready to unleash its pent-up force. The test was conducted under the direction of Dr. Oppenheimer, with Gen- eral Groves as oflicial representative for the United States Government. The Cake cutting - I4,000th landing bomb was mounted on a forty-foot steel tower-the explosion planned for 0400, July 16, 1945. Years of work and over EB2,000,000,000 in plants, equip- ment and manpower were represented in the single bomb, As the scientists turned in for a few hours' rest on the eve of the big event, the thoughts of all were on the days and nights of toil now in the past--of the future use that might be made of this formidable force. Throughout the experiments there were many prominent men who secretly hoped for some inherent physical property in mat- ter which would prevent a spontaneous release of energy. A jealous nature conspired to torment them by putting on a rain and lightning performance threatening postponement, but the thick, black layer of clouds parted in time to show a few morning stars and by four o'clock the decision was made to fire at 0530. Prone on the ground 10,000 to 17,000 yards from, the steel tower, the scientists watched as Dr. S. K. Allison called out periodic time signals. At the appointed second the clouds and mountain ranges were lighted in bold relief as a sun was born on earth. Like a gigantic hand the pressure wave moved indis- criminately and uninterruptedly across the face of the New Mexican desert, while overhead the roar of expanding gases blended with the multi-colored cloud of Atlantic bound - Panama Canal, 1946. N.-.-. I ' 102 1 . V Canal Capers Helicopters land aboard Shangri-La. A death-dealing, radioactive particles as it mushroomed 40,000 feet in the air to be dissipated in the strong stratosphere winds. -So the Atomic Bomb came into being. Within a month it was parachuted on two enemy cities, exploding at a predetermined altitude which spread its mechanical energy over larger areas and most of the deadly radioactivity was carried harmlessly skyward. It was this deadly invisible wave of radioactivity which presented the problem to our Navy, whose ships were built to withstand punishment by force but manned by human beings vulnerable to the alpha, beta, and gamma rays emitted in the disintegration of the atomic nuclei. Alpha and beta rays may be stopped by thin shields, the former achieving lethal damage to life only when inhaled. Gamma rays constitute the most deadly aspect of atomic fission, since they have the ability to penetrate great thicknesses of every sub- stance known to man, including heavy steel armor. Admiral Blandy'is problem was to determine the effectiveness of atomic weap- ons against a wide cross-section of military equipment, plus the physiological effects on life itself. Accordingly the Navy Department ordered the following ships to Bikini as guinea pigs in the first test of atomic energy against naval forces: C TARGET GROUP BB-3 3 Arkansas CSD CA-25 Salt Lake City CPD DD-3 71 Conyngham BB-34 New York CPD CV- 3 Saratoga CSD DD-3 78 Smith BB-36 Nevada CDD CPD CVL-22 Independent CDPD DD-386 Bagley BB-3 8 Pennsylvania CPD DD-3 6 7 Lamson CSD DD- 3 8 8 Helm CA-24 Pensacola CDD CPD DD-3 6 8 Flusser DD-3 8 9 Mugford CPD 1 1 1 l '1 it 4 New F7F crackup. TARGET GROUP fcontinuedj DD-390 Ralph Talbot CPD APA-57 Gilliam CSD APA-86 Geneva CUD LCT-705 DD-402 Mayrant CPD APA 60 Banner CPD APA-87 Niagara CUD LCT-845, DD-403 Trippe CPD APA- Barrow CPD Sakawa CSD LCT-812 CSD DD-404 Rhind CPD APA- Bladen CUD IX-300 Prinz Eugen CPD LCT-816 CPD DD-406 Stack CPD APA- Bracken CPD Nagato CSD LCT-874 DD-408 Wilson CPD APA Briscoe CPD LST- 52 CPD LCT 1078 CPD DD-410 Hughes CPD APA Brule CPD LST-133 CPD LCT 1112 DD-411 Anderson CSD APA Bueleson LST-220 CPD LCT-lll3 CPD DD-413 Mustin CPD APA- Butte CPD LST-283 LCT 1114 CDS DD-419 Wainwright CPD APA Carlisle CSD LST-388 LCT 1115 SS-196 Searaven CUD APA Carteret CPD LST-388, LCT 1116 SS-184 Skipjack CMDD APA Catron CPD LST-545 CPD LCT 1130 SS-203 Tuna CUD APA Cleburne LCI-327 CPD LCT-1132 CSD SS-335 Dentuda CUD APA Cortland CUD LCI-329 LCT-1155 SS-305 Skate CMDD APA- Crittenden CPD LCI-332 CPD LCT-1187 CSD SS-308 Apogon CSD APA- Dawson CPD LCI-549 LCT-1237 CSD SS-386 Pilotfish CSD APA Fallon CPD LC1-615 LCT-1175 CSD SS-384 Parche CUD APA Fergus LCI-620 LCT-1341 AKA-Z1 Artemis APA Fillmore CUD LCT-412 CSD YOG-83 CSD AKA-22 Athene APA Gasconade CPD LCT-414 CSD YO-160 CSD CMDD-Moderate damage, CPD-Decommissioned. CUD--Undamaged. CDD--Damaged heavily. CSD-Sunk. 105 Admiral's Cabin. Commendation for Lieut. F. J. Scanlon. Cv-38 AGC- 7 AGC- 1 AGC- 2 AGC-1-3 APA- 27 APA-228 CVE-117 DD-705 DD-706 DD-707 DD-692 DD-693 DD-694 DD-722 DD-723 DD-724 DD-725 DD- DD- AD-14 770 781 Shangri-La Mount McKinley Appalachian Blue Rridge Panamint George Clymer Rockbridge Saidor Compton Gainard Soley A. M. Sumner Moale Ingraham Barton Walke Laffey O'Brien Lowry R. K. Huntington Dixie SUPPORT GROUP APA-220 Rockingham APA-235 Bottineau APA-23 7 Bexar AKA- 9 9 Rolette APA-230 Rockwall AKA-101 Ottawa APA- 31 Saint Croix AV- 5 Alberarle APA- 3 7 Cavalier AV- 1 7 Cumberland Sound APA- 45 Henrico AP- 7 Wharton LCT C61 1359 LST-817 LCT Q6j 1361 LST-881 DESTROYER DIVISION 111 AG-76 Avery Island ARB- 8 Telamon i DD-708 Harland R. Dickson ARD- 2 9 DD-709 Hugh Purvis ATA-180 AGS- 4 Bowditch ATA-185 AH-12 Haven ATA-192 , AH-13 Benevolence LCI-977 ' AKS- 4 Pollux LCI-1067 AO-61 Severn LCT-5 81 AO-69 Enoree LCT-746 A AOG-25 Calamus LCT-1184- AR- 6 Ajax LCT- 1420 ARB- 3 Phaon PGM-23 ARB- 7 Sarpedon PGM-25 Steward's Mates Party. Captain Cruise inspects Marine Detachment. DESTROYER DIVISION 112 DD-732 Hyman ARS fDD-2 DD-734 Purdy ARS CDD -3 DD-756 Beatty AS-11 DD-857 Bristol ASR- 8 ARC1- 6 Cebu ASR- I ARL-24 Sphinx ATP- 83 ARS- 8 Preserver ATF-100 ARS- 9 Shackle ATF-105 ARS-23 Deliver ATF-107 ARS-33 Clamp ATP-148 ARS-42 Reclaimer IX-50 ARS CDD -I Gypsy LSD- 5 Mender Palmyra Fulton Coucal Widgeon Chickasaw Chowanoc Moctobi Munsee Achomawi Quartz Gunston Hall in Bikini Lagoon LSD-25 PGM-29 PGM-30 PGM-31 PGM-32 YF-385 -733 -734 YF-735 YF-752 YF-753 YF-754 YF YF San Marcox in a manner designed to The target ships were moored test the effectiveness of the explosion and did not represent a typical naval moor- ing nor tactical disposition. Modern naval actions leave a great number of per- sonnel in exposed or semi-exposed positions topside, so their stations were taken IO7 l l l l l l ,i e 5 l l Xl l l H ff : i 's li i if iw ,. ,. EN 'E fd gf 1 . 4 iig- s xi 4 l if Refrigerator ship provisions Shangri-La at Roi. up by 4,500 white rats, ZOO goats, and ZOO pigs distributed from yardarm to bilges. Publicity attending the tests brought an unusual number of crank letters cone demning the use of animals, predicting unprecedented tidal waves, or such dire things as the creation of an orifice to pour the waters of the Paciic into the earth's ebullient center. ln spite of the many newspaper articles by 'lexpertsf' there was no danger that Operations Crossroads would produce such a fissure. Had the esoteric calculations of nuclear physicists been in error at Los Alamos-had the unprecedented heat and energy released in the fission of the first plutonium bomb initiated a self-sustaining chain reaction in common elements, then earth's 196 million square miles might have disintegrated into space. Fortunately for civilization it did not happen, and we now know that most common elements release insufficient neutrons to sustain or propagate the reaction. As Able Day approached, LST's transported the l65 Bikini natives to pre- viously prepared habitations on Rongerik Atoll, l3O miles' eastward. Scientists swarmed over the target ships, setting up sensitive instruments to measure various radiation and pressure waves. Cn the nearby atoll photographers installed the most elaborate and complex system ot automatic camera recording devices ever OS W ' l, l rl: , 4 4, T U li fig -fr H5- si sa T....-.,-..........,.,...........a..-...--.......-...-.--....-.. - . used in a single operation. Mounted on huge steel towers, the cameras were fixed to automatically record the various phases of the explosion before closing cement and steel doors to seal in the film from rays which would fo-g and destroy it. Offshore, the Shangri-La and ships of the Support Group steamed in rehearsal for the epochal event. Radio-controlled F-6F's left her decks to traverse pre- established routes under the guidance of mother planes, while Army B-29's and drone B-l7's were flown from airflelds at Roi, perfecting the timing precision so vital to the mission's success, True to aerologists' predictions, the morning of July l, 1946, found the skies covered with heavy cumulus clouds. However, the tropic sun burned off the cloud layer as forecast, o-ccasioning only a half-hour delay. The big B-29, Dave's Dream, parachuted the bomb towards the battleship Nevada, standing out from her war-gray sisters in a boiledflobster paint job. The brilliant flash was visible to watchers aboard the Shangri-La, at sea forty-four miles away. Through an inferno that beggars description, the Navy and Army drones flew unwaveringly at various predetermined heights. One Shangri-La drone was feared lost until picked up by radar ninety miles beyond Bikini, continuing on the last course it had received. Picked up by a mother plane, it joined its wingmates at Roi Airfield, where all Navy drones were landed for inspection and extraction of photographs and radioactive Hssion products. Army drones were returned to Eniwetok for similar procedures. The planes were intensely radioactive but their survival of the extreme heat and electromagnetic disturbances was almost phenomenal. Although the air drop from the bombing plane failed to explode with the famed pickle barrel accuracy, the Nevada, Arkansas and Pensacola suffered heavy damage to their superstructures but the armored gun turrets and hulls seemed to withstand the intense pressures exerted in the half-mile target circle. The carrier Independence suffered from fires which gained headway aboard ship, causing internal explosions. Slightly off center in the target array, but directly beneath the blast, the two thin-clad transports, Gilliam and Carlisle, and two Radio-controlled drone takes off for Bikini. Man made sun released in Able-Day Bikini Test - photographed by drone a fraction of a second after blast destroyers, Lamson and Anderson, sank immediately while the Japanese cruiser Sakawa received mortal wounds, sinking the following day. The Skate's conning tower was wrecked, rupturing the submarine's watertight integrity so she could not be safely submerged. No ship outside the three-quarter mile perimeter suf- fered appreciable damage but the Evaluation Board, under Dr. Karl Compton, surmised lethal effects on personnel from radiation on ships within the half- mile circle. Bikini Atoll suffered no damage from the bomb blast and recreation activities were resumed ashore during the evaluation period between Able and Baker Day. While scientists swarmed aboard ships with Geiger counters checking their instru- ments before the next big blast, the Navy rearranged the target array to provide the maximum laboratory specimens in the next test, The job required a con- siderable amount of seamanship, as many ships had been forced out of position by the tremendous pressure wave of the initial explosion. While preparations were under way for Baker Day, the Shangri-La received her fourth commanding oflicer. On July 5th, 1946, Captain W. P. Cogswell relieved Captain Cruise in traditional ceremonies on the carrier's flight deck. The new commanding officer, a graduate of the Naval Academy class of 1918, I ii Mushroom of radio-activity reached skyward to 40,000 feet. came to the Shangrz'-La after a tour of duty as Director of the Electronics Divi- sion, Bureau of Aeronautics. After winning his wings in Pensacola in l926, Captain Cogswell took a postgraduate course in radio at Harvard and served in various executive capacities on experimental radio control and radar projects. This training was particularly valuable in the advanced methods of radio control initiated in Operations Crossroads. . For the second test the Atomic Bomb was suspended in a caisson lowered into a well in the bottom of LSM 60. The mechanism was set to- explode upon the receipt of a predetermined radio signal but carried an intricate timing device which prevented premature or delayed explosion. As in the previous test, land- ing craft stood by Eniwetok and Rongerik to take off personnel if a shift of wind should threaten the atolls with radioactive particles. Shortly after dawn on July 25th, the Shalrzgrz'-La wheeled into the wind launch her drones for Test Baker. The explosion was set for slackwater, before the tide commenced to Hood. By firing at low water it was hoped to save Bikini from total inundation in the wall of radioactive water thrown up by- the under- Water explosion. Animals used in Test Baker consisted of two hundred white Seconds after the Able-Day blasts, soot and smoke from target ships billows up while the under water pressure wave I black linej races toward the surrounding atoll. rats and twenty pigs, the latter appropriately placed in sick bay aboard the target ships. At 0830 on July 25, 1946, the tranquil waters of Bikini Lagoon erupted in an awe-inspiring column of smoke and steam, -blotting out the target array for several minutes as the terrific heat and power combined to force tons of radio- active water skyward. A wave of water fifty feet high rushed towards the sur- rounding beaches in a powerful but diminishing surge, causing a shallow water flood which quickly spilled back to seaward. Radio-controlled Geiger counters recorded intense radioactivity equivalent to many hundred tons of radium. PBM patrol planes appro-ached the lagoon from windward twenty minutes after the blast, sampling the air for radioactivity, while the Shangri-La drones followed to leeward in the atomic cloud, collecting samples of radioactive par- ticles for laboratory study. Piloted planes relieved the drones to follow the cloud until most of the dangerous radioactivity had been dissipated. Approximately twenty minutes elapsed before the target array was clearly visible to observation planes. When the steam and smoke had lifted, the battle- ship Arkansas was missing from the array. Pictures of the half-mile-wide co-lumn Q H , , -:1,,, ,-:,:, 1?11yr. .. ' . ,,., .,'. I v.,.,- r Q , W . . ,. I A , ,H - , V '- h - H I I M '- W W Ming-H - i MA- V MM- I v - g WV., 1 V ' Q wp' ' 4 .-wjf-45:1 , , 3.35, ,,,., ' ' -2:21 n ? W W Crest of mushroom cloud at 40,000 feet. beneath the deadly waters of the lagoon just seven and one-half hours after the explosion. As in the Able Day blast, there was little visible damageuto ships outside the half-mile circle except for the intense radioactivity which Would have ren- dered them uninhabitable and useless in combat. Several small craft in the danger Q5 i in 1 I lA Captain Cogswell relieves Captain Cruise Personnel inspection. Change of Command Captain's Inspec tion - Roi, July 5, 1946. ff 1 1. ., I , J fig , A if? , - , fi E J V 0 R . I L, xi w x I 4 1 f ,Q A, ,vw .1 a My ' v 4 , f f , WVU V, ff f 'Q ' . 1 I V S 2. 1 ,,,,,, T' l l l B i i l l l 3 l i I k l i l A is Submarine Skate after tests. The animals fared far Worse than the target ships, for the deadly alpha, beta, and gamma rays continued to emanate from hulls and superstructure made radio- active by contact with fission products, Ten per cent of the animals used in Test Able died of air blast effects and ten per cent more were killed by radio- activity. In Test Baker it Was impossible to check ship's interiors for four days, but at that time six pis Were dead of radiation sickness, While the balance lasted OPPOSITE PAGE F our-hundred-foot wall of radioactive water inurzdates target ships. Drone camera records Baker Day blast from overhead. Mighty Sara goes down stem-first. Skate, damaged but operable, proceeds from Bikini. N i 1 il 1 . E -I if 1 iii Scrubbing down target ship to clear radioactive particles. about two more weeks. Only twenty-four rats were still alive by the middle of August, The tests will have many far-reaching effects on naval design and tactics. Heavy superstructural damage in the Able Day blast led many observers to favor the submarine as an answer to the Atomic Bomb, for little or no hull damage was inflicted on ships designed to withstand any abnormal pressures. Since water is only very slightly compressible it is doubtful if the aerial explosion would be felt at a normal cruising depth of 45-90 feet. However, an underwater explo- sion has quite another effect-diving operations in the murky lagoon have dis- closed evid.ence of the terrific force exerted on hulls in the danger area. The Arkansas' heavy belt line is ripped from stem to stern, the submarines Apogon, Skipjack, and Pifotfish lie at the bottom of the lagoon with several compart- ments punctured and flooded. If conclusive proof of the Atomic Bomb's power were needed, Operation Crossroads has certainly provided it. It has succeeded in destroying, damaging, or immobilizing more ships in a single blast than were lost in the classic Battle of Jutland, thirty years before. As a destructive force it exceeds any explosive known to man, its heat surpasses anything this side of the mother sun, and its Drone view - Baker Day. malignant rays spread death and suffering, perhaps even to unborn generations through mutations carried in recessive genes. Like the invention of rifled gun barrels, steam engines, airplanes, bombs, and guided missiles, the Atomic Bomb has been heralded as the death knell of modern navies. Just as Army bombers' limited success in sinking the defense- less, immobile hulk of the battleship Washz'n1gton in the early 1920's launched the battleship vs. aircraft debate, so the atomic argument Will be heard from dogmatic Warriors of either school. As in most arguments, we must seek the truth on the middle ground. World War Il proved that battleships could be sunk by aerial bombs, but the United States lost not a single battleship after the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor! Designers minimized the danger in plans for the South Dalkoz'a's and Iotucfs While task force commanders risked their units only under friendly air cover. The only economic use of atomic warfare against naval units is surprise attacks on heavy forces caught in conined anchorages or berths. Atomic Bombs, if used at all, Will more likely be concentrated on strategic industrial plants in .- . Vym .,x E, 'x N - t 1 f 4 v E i . 1 .fe-fa f ,ff , Zilvr. f'f Q giligai, ,ff i 4 ' I, , ig A ' -1 Q - s 3 MMMq'W 'wwMf..,- r ' E .,A,,. ,1 :Q QR f , A I E Q f 4 K I 1 ' 1 .... Q V I .-,kvlm-W X A ij X ' . fl 535 if M! ' 'P I 5 1 4 -lm-M L w Scenes from Shangri-La Engineering Spaces 1 , 2 , s i X a 3 E E E . : Signal Bridge. Navigator Dental Offices. - Medical Laboratory Sick Call. v Patient in Sick Bay FIRST ANNIVERSARY STATISTICS 15 September 1944- 15 September 1945 Miles steamed since commissioning . . 74,737 'Fuel oil used-gallons .... 12,950,456 Days at sea .... 23 1 Days in port . A ...... 134 Longest period continuously at sea- Cdaysj ........ 78 Miles steamed during 78-day period 28,292 Days in forward area ..... 1 13 Target strikes and sweeps-sorties . 1,874 Enemy planes destroyed in air . 50 Enemy planes destroyed on ground . 134 Enemy planes damaged on ground . 190 Enemy combatant ships sunk . 7 Enemy combatant ships damaged . 22 Enemy planes damaged in air . 14 Rockets fired at enemy . I . . 2,333 Tons of bombs dropped on enemy . 731 Total combat sorties flown . . 5,241 Enemy merchant ships sunk . . 15 Enemy merchant ships damaged . 36 Own planes lost to enemy action . 38 Number of plane landing aboard Shczngrz'-La ...... 14,247 Average plane landings per day 1 . 40 Aviation gasoline expended-gallons . 6,683,190 5-inch ammunition expended-rounds 7,852 40mm. ammunition expended-rounds 5 6, 720 20mm. ammunition expended-rounds 223,5 20 Times fueled at sea . . 4. . . Number of destroyers fueled at sea . 29 94 Captain W. P. Cogswell, U.S.N. SECOND ANNIVERSARY STATISTICS 15 September 1945 - 15 September 1946 Miles steamed ....... , . 50,669,4 Fuel oil used-gallons . . 9,097,278 Days at sea . . . F'-r,l45 Days in port ...... Days at Operation Crossroads . . . 62 Longest period of days continuously at sea ........... 15 Number of destroyers fueled at sea . . 15 Number of planes landed ..... 4,446 Aviation gasoline expended-gallons 1,220,000 5-inch ammunition expended-rounds 650 40mm, ammunition expended--rounds 7,462 20mm. ammunition expended-rounds 40,407 Ship's Company: Officers .... 74 Enlisted . 1,398 Marine . . 65 126 I l i l 1 From Knowledge Sea Power As they stand in the sun of this low-latitude atoll, like tethered steeds for a host of lost fliers, the Halls of Valhala are crowded with leather-jacketed figures Who reined their flying charges across the broad decks of the Hornet, the Sara, the Lex, and many others. Under the guiding light of Polaris and the Southern Cross they Winged their way in the cause of freedom to a victory hard-Won. We would be less than faithful if we relax our guard now in the face of a Weapon which may cripple industries and cities, or even a nation, in one fell blow weapon which not only destroys with unearthly effectiveness but infuses death dealing rays in normally inert materials , f AJ w 2? ff- iff-TTY r,f 1bff:f'ff ' 3 ' ff 7 if o glgggszmlou x 'JK ff LMQX Q OF PUBLIC YNFOIQQIIG I' 3 ' f , i BML? DEPABTIEHI ' M - li 1 ' ,X , fggf ie.: 2 ,ivy-wfffffas ? gfpgy Nlislilif-1,1-,gpff A , I ZZ? . 'N 1-,.,,,,.f-f f J A ff i iw lj fl Y I Xkk S ir ' v. . QGN,.,,llX f 1 fe 5 ' f .ff-3f:5',.g, , , - V C ff 2 'n - 'HALQ 'M i' I 'XJ '1 Whit? ' ' f ? I Rin ' 4 C W' HB , k gpg! ' , Ullflll QT, xi I HUNOLU, fffff' YF:-.-f'sf' A ,,.f '- 'W ' Bxwwwxfx K! CsL:E fj'3?'f, 9-'-x I A in b Q 4 -N N X Lv I , L , sf x ' Yligkkztgz 1.TQgg4g?S3Z Lgjrmbjgx - X I 23 'iii-!g+k M5555 E , -sysf, 1 0 J Xvktxi-ff' I sm V. ,ff ' 1pG::1 ff I J 'hh , g J, .fs yfags Iffgqk a 47K.'-glzigf, A - q3?',V 15-Sp ' 1. 1 ' , ' Hfkw M5751 ,my , , J M yy NN, Q! 1 3? 9'V'f7 f' 197' 'ff-FF' 52 A ' ' n '-4 wx: A. ,1ai1e,7ff W-,gfwwgfg A I gf In I I 1 5 l I 1 w Q r'vu11 f-H'-'rf-r-gg---.-F-Y-v -- v-Q , ....,,. ' ' v'-- f- 1, 1 as I . . . 5 a 42 .V Vi V f QV f V z ,..V.., ., . 2 I AI V A ,,V,,, . 1 4 VV . ,V ,V . V, , V. . VV, V1 VVisV., ,V 'Q . V' g V.:VVV V N ' ' ' VJ- 1 - ' V ' 'V-4: an ,f , 4. - t Vf,gV,:V M ' - .-'iw ' ,,h., ,VfV-4 VV 4 A n 4' ,Q . V . Q! K VV QV. E A QV, , D . ..,.,, V 4 V 56 U Q- VM if - VV , V V V ., .QV I A I E, , V V f-'., ftvvl v',A4-v',vx , , V , V V-1 . . 1 IV .V V ,V VI V. 1 . V , C .,f- VN. V V., It y V . M I 5 2 V 3 'L 1 V, ..V-VM. M 5 3 ,. ,.,k 1 RM- , , , lily I K. . ,,.,. M lg, ,K 2 xy, V Q 1 V - ,,,5,..: - . t 5' 7' is ' 'A W, ' W4 - V' V' ' Vu., . Q ::V,,- Vi.V.'-41 L V if V V 'Vp V 41 V '7 3 V I V V V 'MA , A V ,VLV v gw, V V V V1' VVV . -V 'V V V V . . .V . V ' V ' ,fa'4ggh ' Mk V y . -V , . F . ,A ' , .V,.iVVV f V , , V o , A 'Z' 4 L. i.m ' ' V 4 V, V. I 2 , ' 4 ' V- I :Vive ,..,..V - ' ,hgh , ,A Q4 I ' V' ' V fwVff .'2 ' VLVVL-f V V ,..- , if V .J 1' V, ' - V ' ' V Vs-,.V1,V ' 3 3521 f , ' V Q V. ' Vi-V,g .111 . 0 ' .V ' , ' V ' 1 . , E ' , A Q . VV V' VV -VV as ' K VA 'V r .E Q Q Q I A 6 M V VV V . 'V VV - V, ,V ,SVVVE -,Vw ' VV -L:-Vw' V 1fgPs'VV.7, Mfhg 0 QV V: ' V-... ,'.. K VVIV2-V-11 ' VV V! fVV V V- ' gt 4 V V V ,V -SW ,EC QV VV71' ' . 'V'-.1i51f 1l'7'V tx VViQ'i K Vg: 'V if V . V .V ' V AVVV V' , V V .V V W ' VV ' VV ' ' . V- - ': V VV'V' '- V 7712,-'pf E ' , .V VV 'A V.V,v ., xp., - V' x 'fVV:'1V.V, -V VV , K V ' V V V A, V, .,,, 5, Vg .V .VV VV,,Vi:,z: 'V V V :JV V 1-13,-V ' 'QVVQV x , V - V 2s5Y:'-,fi V125ff2i.VVff-l:V ' '.iQj,,,EjQ, V ' I- V A F, f I V1-:Q:V.er. 1.W:1',V.:.j-.V Vf V' xx- :V,1 V V VV ,. V' 'VV ' i V 3 ' V V V V I ' .V ' ' ,. ' - 'I V ' V- ' ' V V V V V V- V .V .V V ,V V,.V -V V' V ' , V V .V . ' ' V - VVVV ? .XIV if . V Vi, H - , A - , -I A A H - A A VJVVH Rylms. VSV 8, .Vi -6 I 2vi,V,.., Q Q 1+ R 'V f xi' V' VV., 1. V ffm- V . .,.V'i'.,?VV'Z.,' V- VV - 'sei 'X ifI'i . , ' , . .V V: ' -V -i-VV-VVsg-- V, L' VV VV V E fi? V+ ' A - V :if-if A V Q' s V I V Q ,V 4 WV ,-V4V,,V,4,4,,,,2V4,VV VVVVV .W VW., V ,V V. f V-VV,,VfV- ., - gV,.V.R ,V Vf ,VVfV,,V. V ., V V,-V .VV . V 'X' 'VVV5VZ4W V7 ' I V - ' V, 5 , V V-V.VV.VV.4Q-VV-VVVV -V 9 VV: V.V, k: R V -'V 5 V '. V V ffl' ' ' 2, 'VV V Q V' V WVV-s-:fa-' Mxw, J , V-if' G ' f'gV'- ,ET ' V,-.VNV VV . ' A 7 ' if ' , W V 'V' ' V V: , 'S'-lE'V'X , V V-VI-VIL-A XE' V , 'f' 77- ,V VlV , - ' ' QV' '6 VIWI' Vuiiifr- V VV 'T' ' Ns-V'-M. ' 'V 'f f V1 ' V - . VVVVVV . ,. , ' V f 743- WZ 'VVgf.,fQ-V .V 'V 7 V' W'-' V' E , .F ' . V . fo Vvggym V f V --' V' 2, '. wzsgff e.V1:,Qa.s:VfV2s.V5xf2--:V-IVV V,1'.,.VV-' V -V Q -VV ., ' 71,7 V I -VVVVVV V V 1, V ' V VVJQV JK 'V ' - g ' H. -.1 V V V- , VJV V'V MV-mi? ay. V V V V ff Vg. .e:'V:V'..,:V- N :V 2. V'n'VmV '31 VV M ' - f':VS4wa Q 'V . V f ' X' gy ' '. ' X V V V , 'YV' MV VV , 1 VV V' ' ' 'V A . 2. . ' 1 'V.j - ' ,ff VV 1 ha ' ' 3 I , is ' ' , V, ' -',V , VV. Y ' .gf V , V ' V, ' 21.15-VV as ' V, V V. V5 . I , . -V ' -.1 X - Q A. . 0. AA E E 5 E 2 -qs f 'X J y QR My xx Pr X3 N, sf ,VX fv-KX 1 , f 'ff fr omcz or mme momma f sf 1 K wxff'-FAX' num DEPAITIENI X cl? gs 3 K X. - SEATTLE fsgff J - ,. oigfaafiv ff , fffflgf-Qff A zvfw Y0k1i.Jfxf ' w X SAN FRANCISCO ,L f - , A y os Alvcuss ' , W SAN msec NORFORK gk mix 5 4? h 1 'A'k1ZRI4ll o Km A Q 7 PANAMA ff f S 'R ff sk , 55 Adi XXX sums sscnou ff GH VKX Mqfcfx f Q 35 iikxg Q wk 3 5 f w 2 Q J fi V ff fi
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
