Shannon (DM 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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KERAMA RETTO -,...' N Ta We j C A s A 9- ffifiy tQ,,4sTi5 j 'i-V71 , . 526.1 . 'LW X , ' s ' l T ' ,f1.,,.. xii: ,i'Y,j.H- ' , N Ac age--f-. 3 - if .K 2 A . , f, .- ,S .41-5 . , f K f -1 L. f,' -r ffxt? 0 T 9 '- .. T71-K 'QE ' ' . T f i-iiif 1 WI' .' A 1 Q - , , . - - . f Jam! ,. at 7 'J ,X ,t -L, ' . ' f . f - --' for . . f-f--- Q, 'sire i'f 'S1-if- f- 7 . Q! fix . gag 5. , f K . - r'i11.gf'f T , ,f f 3-2 ef 1 . --, f- - M - f L A k . '-K' ,,-5 .ff X 4 gif, . . M -:,:j f' E W f o, A L . ' A gb H cy -g f A A BRT' as----,112 if -,.r 9 ki!!-,ZR ' 4 ' t -P F ' r--fr' ' 3- 'q:,s.4,f ,,,, r' . 5- ' x , K -'Ti . xy Xi- ,,0-A lx-4 f P- I i '- g , 'gs Q-ff 4 w :fe ,M - , - w s----- ci --'17 Y ' , . Tm, ff I-f - fy 4, d,1:f-1ggg. - Q 'TL'-T xix - l' 'W '!: I 9- ' - - FW 3 The eerie gray light of early dawn seeped out of the black- ened horizon, revealing the ghostlike silhouettes of the tiny ships heading towards the enemy-held land as the insistent clatter of the general alarm brought us, fully clothed, to our stations. The crew manned the guns-silent, quietly waiting. The Shannon was battened down, ready to fight. The islands appeared foreboding in the dim light. They were immense in comparison with l'Tiny Iwo. As we drew closer and the light improved, we could see the passage we must enter. Hills looked like Gibraltars on either side. It was hard to believe that more than a mile of water separated the rocky walls of the entrance. The YMS sweeping gear was seen bobbing in the water. XVe moved closer, following cautiously in their wake. Suddenly the 1 MC crackled as the Captain announced, Were heading in! This was our over the top! The strain of the occasion was revealed in twitching muscles and taught faces. Hands automatically adjusted lifebelts and fingered the straps of helmets. Hearts pounded. Every man could feel the blood racing through his veins as he waited for the shudder and explosion of an enemy hit. Our guns burst forth with a salvo that scored a direct hit on a gasoline storage tank on Yakabi Shima. Red Hames shot into the air and black smoke spiralled high above the mountain on our port beam. A spontaneous cheer went up from the crew. Tension had been broken, and pent up emotions were unleashed in curses and work. We're heading in! the Skipper had announced. Actually we were fighting our way in. Everyone was too busy now to worry about the enemy. Keen eyes picked out targets right and left. Combat found on the chart others that were hidden from view. All were destroyed or heavily damaged. No counter fire was observed and the YMS's continued sweeping according to the prear- ranged plan. At noon dinner was piped down for one hungry section at a time. We had eaten on our stations at 0600: hard boiled eggs, a sandwich and apples, brought to us by the repair parties. Men began to relax bodies and minds a little but not vigilance. Everyone was puzzled by the lack of resistance to such a daring and hazardous exploit. It seemed improbable that our arrival, just a week before the planned invasion, could have .caught them so unprepared. No one doubted that there was still considerable danger-even a trap. The veterans, at least, had learned not to trust Iaps, even dead ones. The sweeping, completed about l300, was followed immedi- ately by the clearance of obstacles and survey of the beaches by Underwater Demolition Teams. We remained to support the UDT's, while the sweep units began working to the southwest, clearing a larger channel into the harbor. They then rendezvoused with the other units to retire for the night. The following day an advance element of the ArmY,S 7701 Division arrived from l.eyte. They landed on three of the islands and, finding surprisingly little opposition, secured them in one dav. Throughout the night enemy aircraft were in the area. Our presence was, by tlns time, well known to the Japs, and they were determined to do something about it. At 0400 and again at 0600 we were under air attack. The raids were small and only a few planes came within range. Each plane at which we tired was turned away and only one pressed a serious attack on any of the ships in the group. That plane, a Val, made a suicide run on the Robert H. Smith, but missed and crashed close aboard her, causing no damage or casualties. This was the first suicide attack any of us had witnessed. We had heard plenty about them, even at Pearl, but until now suicid- ers had not seemed very real. Even now they looked rather harm- less--hadn't this one missed and exploded harmlessly in the water? The rest of the day was uneventful as the units swept south and west of Kerama Retto. VVe were starting a period of what grew into months of either waiting for or repelling air attacks. We soon found that the waiting was worseg that only in action were tense nerves relaxed. Sleep didn't do it, for one seldom undressed and always awakened drenched with perspiration. The heat was oppressive, especially for March. We again retired to the southwest that night. From time to time, enemy planes came within range and were taken under hre. After one raid, all was quiet for an hour. Suddenly, a Jap Betty appeared without warning, headed for the bridge in a glide-bombing attack. He had come in just over the water, to prevent detection, and then climbed enough just before reaching us to gain altitude for his dive. The huge mass of plane loomed gigantic on the starboard side of the bridge. Before anything could be done he had skimmed over the pilot house and dropped his bomb. It landed only twenty yards off the port side, but, through some trick of fate, was a dud and did not explode. VVe had been at GQ. all night. By dawn everything was quiet again. Condition One-Easy had been set, with half the crew trying to catch a little much needed ' sleep on station. The general alarm brought all hands to their feet. Guns blazed again as two Vals began their dives on nearby ships. Both planes were intent on suiciding. Un the tail of the second appeared a lead-spitting Ameri- can Hellcat. Only a few hits were scored before the CAP fighter was forced by flak to break off the chase. 43

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Although scuttlebutt was voluminous, our destination and all information on the operation had been, for security reasons, a well kept secret. Vile were far out to sea when the Captain announced over the 1 MC: We are proceeding to Okinawa Island in the Ryulflm Group, We will arrive on the morning of the 25th. Our job is to enter the harbor formed by the islands of Ixerama Retto, off the Okinawa coast, and cover the sweeD5- We are to destroy any shore batteries or gun 6mDl3CQ' ments that the laps may have. We may encounter oDD05l' tion even before reaching the objective. It behooves every man to be alert, to maintain a sharp lookout, even when not on watch. The ,laps are expected to throw everything they haveat us. We must be ready for air attacks, submarines, suicide boats, and suicide swimmers. just do your jobs as well HS you have done before, perhaps a little better, I know I can count on every one of you to come through with YOUT best' The tremendous size and importance of the operation upon which we were embarked, its scope, character, and objective became apparent to us as time progressed and added bits of information could be pieced together. With the Marianas and the Philippines under our control, and with the newly-captured Iwo lima, just 640 miles from Tokyo, becoming operational, the next step was directed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff-to secure a position in the Nansei Shoto chain, which extends in a shallow loop from Kyushu, the southernmost of the main japanese islands, down to jap- anese held Formosa. Okinawa, the largest and most populous island in this chain, offered numerous sites for airlields from which almost any type of plane could reach industrial Kyushu, only 350 miles distant, and attack the enemy's communications to Korea, to the Chinese mainland, and to the Indo-China and Singapore areas. Since Okinawa also contained several excellent naval anchorages, it was chosen as the objective. From many standpoints the Okinawa operation proved to be the most difficult ever undertaken by our forces in the Pacific. It was defended by 120,000 men Cinclud-ing native.. Okinawans serving with the .combat forcesl with tanks and artillery.. As.-possiblLI.d nts,, there were 'some-I 60,000 ' troops in various other positions in the NanseitShoto chain, plus much larger forces in nearby Formosa, Kyushu, and the Shanghai area. Also of great importance was the large native population, which afforded the enemy an unlimited supply of labor, and which might easily become a serious problem to us by clogging roads and imposing a burden of relief. The most serious threat to us, however, lay in the very factor for which we had initiated the operation, namely the short distance from Okinawa to the japanese homeland, where lay the main reserves of air and naval power. just as we would be able to strike Japan to better effect after securing Okinawa, the Japanese could strike us while we were attack- ing that island. Iapan's naval strength had been so reduced that it could not hope for success against our own in a decisive actiong but hit-and-run raids, or perhaps forlorn-hope, honor-saving attempts, were a possibility. Air attack, partic- ularly of the suicide variety, was the greatest menace, since the japanese airfields within easy range of Okinawa were too numerous to permit more than their partial and temporarv interdiction by our own air strikes against them. Severe damage and losses, therefore, had to be expected and accepted as the price of our success. Our initial part in the operation would entail seven davs maneuvering with three destroyer-minelayers, the heaviest ships present, a few supporting LCI's and PGM's and sewn- teen yard minesweepers, only 325 miles from the Japanese homeland and right in the center of a hornet's nest of Jap- anese-held islands. Seven days and nights in and around an area of which little was known about enemy defenges 'ind preparations. Seven days and nights subject to air attack fgom F01'm053f, China Hrldjapan as well as from the local islands Seven days, and nights of God knows what! if H The Executive'fOfficer remarked to a group gf Officers and chiefs, If we are alive at noon on Love-minus-seven Day our chances of survival are good. The talk around theship was of the Shannon'5 dune Q Comments ran ,in general: I ei' The laps will probably take us for cru' l ' 'spit-kits' and beat our brains in. ISHS 3 Ongslde them 'f'I'hey'll let us get inside that harbor and then cut loose from both sides. 'dvyvonder what they do with prisoners? . . . Don't answer that. avrzell, if we come through this one we'll live through any- thing! liy far the most optimistic remark was the fatalist'5, jf yoifre going to get it, you're going to get it, so what the hell! TWO ,dayg Went by. Men topside kept gazing at the sky for any sign of planes. Radar operators were more vigilant than ever before, searching their 'lscopes for the slightest Dip-1, On the Zlst the Officer of the Deck passed the word, Spring is here officially, which drew a great deal of laughter and helped relieve the tension. Men joked, and the buzz of con- versation could be heard throughout the ship. A plying was picked up in the afternoon which, after a few anxious minutes, proved to be a friendly THF Avenger. The conversation immediately turned to Admiral Mitscher and his fast carrier force with hopes that it was in the vicinity, The following night a San Francisco news commentator elaborated on the Jap Fleet being in hiding. He called them f'yellow and said that if they didn't come out and fight we'd go in and get them. Most of the retorts that this drew from the crew are unprintable. One of the milder comments was, I don't mind this lash-up, but I don't want some guy sitting back in 'Frisco daring the laps to come out and fight. H At sundown on the 23rd, a number of battle ships and cruisers, a part of Task Force 58, were seen on the horizon. This news spread rapidly through the ship and most of the crew rushed out on deck to get a glimpse of the ships that were causing the japs so much grief. Sighs of relief and words of praise for this famed outfit could be heard everywhere. Boy, they sure look good, expressed the feelings of most. But they didn't stay with us-they had other work, closer to japan. Time was growing short. One more day of steaming and we would be on the jap's front porch. Throughout the day all hands kept a vigilant lookout for lap planes. Men shaved and showered, and donned clean clothes to lessen the chance of infection 'inthe event of any wound. We checked life -jackets, sharpened knives, and checked to make sure everything was ready to abandon ship if necessary. In the mess hall that night some wag cracked, The con- demned rnan ate a hearty meal, for the Chief Commissary Steward served an appetizing supper to ease the possible hardship of having to live on short rations for some length of time. The day before, while fueling from a tanker, the mailman had transferred overflowing bags of hastily written, last mm- ute letters. There were no wise cracks now. Laughter and even conversation faded with daylight. Ominous silence seemed to shroud the ship. That night, just before those off watch turned in, Tokio-Rose announced that an invasion of the Ryukyus was imminent. Vile recalled that she had accurately forecast the day and h011l' of the Iwo Jima invasion. We prayed . . . , At 0027 March 25 tLove-minus-scven-DayJ radar contact was made on Okinawa. The objective was in sight! The Task Group was dissolved at 0500 when Unit C0111- manders took charge. The mission of Sweep Units ll, 12914 13 was to enter Keramo Retto, a group of islands 20 m1lCS West of southern Okinawa, making exploratory and clear8I1CC SWCCDS. Transports were to enter the next day and land.troopS to secure the islands for use as a logistics base during the 0CCUDation of Okinawa Gunto. The Shannon, Fraser, and Bauer were to furnish fire suPP0'Ql for thc Sweebers. We had been assigned Unit 13 which didnt llClD the morale of the superstitious. This had not been a pleasant task to anticipate. Keram0 Remo was 0nlY the beginning, a one day operation. We were to be fit UIC Olllectivc seven days before the main f0'!'CC Wifs fo afflyc. with no heavy ships nearby and very little' 311' cover. There were a few carriers, battlewagons and cruisers bomlmrdlnlf in 0lllCf parts of Okinawa, but too far away to do Lis much tI00d if wc should really need aid. All flle wafefs 0UlSlflC Keramo Retto and around Okinawa had to be Swett' mo' before ll'3llShorts and supporting ships could m0Ve m for the landing. Phe worst Wifi was thc uncertainty-not knowing what tn Cxpect or when it would come l 2 ,xii

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Official U..S'. Na-Uy Phofogrcijah The first plane missed a DE by scant feet and crashed in the water with an explosion that sent flames and smoke towering skyward. Seconds later, the otherplane crashed, with a sickening rending of metal and explosion, into the starboard superstructure of the O'Brien CDD 7251. Instantly a sheet of fire shot down her side and enveloped the boat deck. A flaming pile of debris crashed onto her main deck and slid off into the water. I-Ier entire forward 40 milli- meter gun mount and part of the radio shack had been carried away. It seemedto take ages to cover the mile of water between us and the O'Brien, although it was actually little more than two minutes. The Captain deftly maneuvered the Shannon close aboard. Repair parties had hoses broken out and playing on the holocaust, even before the Captain shouted over to the O'Brien's skipper to inquire as to his welfare, the ship's damage, and the manner in which we might best assist. The reply as full of concern for his men. His ship was under control, except for the fire which was being rapidly extin- guished, and the casualties, although heavy, could have been much worse. Wlien the fire was out, we guided the stricken ship through swept waters into the haven of Kerama Retto where we aided in quickly transferring casualties to a waiting APA. C This was the Shannon's first close-up of horrible death and destruction. The sight of charred, mangled bodies strewn on the decks, of the decapitated body of a man .blown to a wedged position high on the yard arm was sickening to all, but the scene served to draw our crew into an even tighter, harder fighting team with a single, common objective. When weehad done all that was possible for the O'Brien, we rejoined our sweep group, which was working in an area northwest of Kerama Retto. That night we were assigned a station for the first of many nights of screening duty off Okinawa. The patrol was north- west of Kerama Retto, particularly to screen the Pitt CAPA 2231, which was anchored in Northwest Anchorage. At 1730 the following day, when the sweeps had formed for night retirement, we proceeded to the southwest, and none too soon, for the Jap air raid came right on schedule at sun- set. Our group, however, must not have been noticed for none of the enemy planes came within range. Early morning brought the Nip planes back. This time we were not so fortunate and underwent attacks for several minutes. All planes were met with withering fire and turned away. The day's sweeping was conducted in areas off the south- east coast of Okinawa near Nakagasuku Wan. At night, instead of retiring with the sweeps as usual, we were ordered by Commander Amphibious Support Force to patrol a station on the coast of Okinawa. Enroute to our station we sighted a small boat which we sank with 20 milh meter tire Throughout the night while patrolling, we conducted harass mg fire into designated areas along the coast Shades f Iwo' Buildings, artillery emplacements bivouac areas bai racks, vehicle parking areas, and supply dumps were chosen from a special grid coordinate chart and fired upon destroy no bridges Since all firing was done at night and we left before dawn, the results could not be observed ,Xt 071--l ltfarrli 30, we rt-lnclvzvotised with our gwgep I ionp ind toiiiiiitmul th ning 'arms southvtes rs - ' ' ' ' - rf Q ' ijgtwgt, wol'liiltg XYilllill it Illilt' tif lllg lpgach. Orfjyofaggl' niint-s were swept and the day's work was rather dull Ng: , did that night provt' evciitfnl, ' At 04127 the next day, as wt- entered our assigned area of t-rations, an t-xritvtl voice frmn the sound hut an- nonnred, 'lSound contact bearing 035, range one-nine- ilih,--oli. Sounds goml, probable sub! lhc anti il tl tint stirred tht: ship into activity, Dgpth thiifes were rcadied, K-guns uncovered, dye markers int. lxiolqmits scanned the surface for any Signs of .t ptriseopt-, tinnnt-rs stood ,by hoping a sub would ce and give tht-ir waiting guns a target, XX'hen the Captain had gotten the picture, analyzing the eitugttioii from what information was available, he an- nonncetl, NVQ-'rt' going in for an attackf' ' 'cc I' 2 swered her helm and the engines brouglit her up to speed, ranges began to decrease 1 tpidly and the target moved slowly to the right. Range: e tive double oh . . . Mark: one two double oh , ,, one oh double oh Xlarkz seven double oh four five oh.. . three double oh. ln reply to the Captain's, 'lliire on schedule, the Sonar Officer ordered: Stand by depth charges, and a short time later, Fire one. As the other charges were dropped in order, the ship trembled from the terrific jolt of each successive explosion. Contact was soon regained and we came about to reattack. Two more patterns were dropped, without observed results, before contact was hnally lost. During the ensuing search three planes from a hunter-killer group were sent to aid us. lust as we were ordered to rejoin our group, one of the planes reported sighting a school of whales several miles seaward. Since no other object was sighted, our contact was evaluated as probably whales! Vifhether or not it was actually a sub we attacked, we will never know. ' Wfe proceeded to rendezvous for night retirement but upon joining the sweeps our orders were changed by Commander X'Vestern Islands Attack Group. VVe were ordered to a station east of Tokashiki lima, Kerama Retto, and commenced patroll- ing with the Henry A. 1Viley CDM 295 in column 1000 yards astern. This was particularly a bad spot to patrol because the proximity of the islands made search diilicult. At 0155 the persistent and penetrating sound of the general alarm brought everyone to his battle station. The condition is now Flash Red, Control Green, barked the speaker. For thirty-hve minutes no planes approached, although Corn- bat reported several raids in the area. Suddenly, the waiting silence was violated .by two short bursts from one of our .30 calibre machine guns. A flash of movement had been caught by the alert eyes of Dye, MN Zfc. Wfithout hesitating or wait- ing for orders, for there was no time to waste, he had opened up. The tracers in these bursts were just enough to reveal the target to the VViley. She immediately commenced firing and splashed the Betty, which had come in low over the islands, hoping to escape detection. The sweepers, during these seven days of the pre-assault phase, had cleared the entire coastal perimeter of southern Okinawa of mines, in addition to doing the sweeping necessary for the capture of Kerama Retto and Ie Shima. Including the re-sweeping, over 3000 square miles were swept and declared Safe Drior to L-day. Some 177 mines were swept and ab0l1f 80 floaters destroyed. Said Fleet Admiral King of this sweeping operation: The thoroughness of this task is evidenced by the safety with which bombardment and assault ships in great numbers closed the assault beaches without significant loss from mines. I 'V ' . , ' ' I 1,1 A! ? ,rt tt , I ff .. x, . MX47 if A nf' t,' Z it it if f - , it y f f t ' jill' itil-+. ,fl . , rx' lv N img-' ll ,ji iff A 1 I. ' XX 1 N iq, 'ali f' l .-X 1 jx ix t l I 3 1 ff!! V! f x I PQ f ,f 1 A dx J :N K U ff! A 1 Mg, A 1 ' I 1 JW f 1 1 1v'AX, -Q X 'W' 1 NN' Qvtww 3 1.. N ws. -'Eh 1 -1' A . , . . W- hx i l , ,N it -A K ' ' ' - ' .. o 'ti X li- -5-. f'-V . f 1' . u A. ' ., , - 4 v.,:V-I 1, Y V, ,ihfw , Lf. 'g . ' ' f. 4 f fi Iii, 3' 1 twlnla I. l We had todae particularly careful for we had orders to . tw. I k, XX .tw , NT, X . . . 'H 'R hd- . i- -if i ' I fl r , X r i I ,I t . T- ' ' K-Lv X-49' ' 0 -gf . E455 ' ' A .li 44 0 .t,. .P y rx l 4