Shangri La (CV 38) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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