Shannon (DM 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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l Official 0.5. Navy Plzafogrcifilz First Splash this plane was picked up on the surface radar, circling the ship at low altitude. We tracked him for six minutes before he began his run. As he came in he was sighted by several men on the secondary battery. The 40's and 20's opened up. They had tired for only a few seconds when an explosion rent the darkness. The Captain, after seeing the plane hit the water, wasted no time in announcing, Splash another Jap. That was damn -good work men. That ended the excitement for the night, although more enemy planes in the area kept us at GQ. for another two and a half hours. Later in the morning, we entered Kerama Retto for logistics and remained anchored there for the next 48 iours. At 0400, May 1, just after we had gone to GQ. in response to a red alert, a Jap plane sneaked in through the smoke, Fly- ing low, and without warning crashed into the Terror QCM 59, which was anchored only 1500 yards off our starboard quarter. Except'for a short alert in the evening, the rest of the day was quiet. Upon completion of logistics the morning of the Znd, we moved to Hagushi for the rest of the day and night. May 3rd we operated as Fuel Div 7, after which we returned to Hagushi. AARON WARD RESCUED FROM UNDER JAP WINGS The familiar Flash Red, Control Yellow came over the circuits at 1838, sending us to General Quarters. just hve minutes later we were ordered to proceed at best possible speed to Radar Picket Station 10, southwest of Kume Shima, about 75 miles from Hagushi, and render all possible assist- ance to the Aaron Ward CDM 343 and the Little CDD 8035, which had been badly damaged in a suicide attack. We sped to the rescue. Not knowing the extent of the damage, we made all preparations for fire-Hghting, transfer of casualties, rescue of survivors, towing, and anything, else that we might be called upon to do. -To our dismay, we learned.that'the damaged ships were still under attack and were still being hit. They fought gal- lantly trying to drive off the remainder of the 26-plane raid and to control the damage that had already been inflicted, but the odds were overwhelming. lly the time we arrived, at 2050, the NVard's guns had accounted for five of the attackers, but six others had gotten through and crashed to her decks and superstructure. The l.ittle's score will never be known, she sank after taking at least three suiciders. The VVard herself was in danger of foundering. Several compartments had been Hooded and she was very low in the water. Her crew worked furiously to keep her afloat, although at times it looked hopeless, and they were ready to abandon ship should that be necessary. As we approached cautiously through the oil-thickened, debris-cluttered water, Comi11Div 7, as Senior Officer Present, assumed command of the rescue operations and directed the smaller craft in their search for survivors. Through flooding and fires, the Ward had lost all main propulsion and auxiliary power. She was dead in the water. The sea sloshed back and forth through two gaping holes in her side. The superstructure abaft number one stack was a mass of twisted steel. Number two stack was gone, and jagged stumps were all that remained of her after forty and twenty mounts. In the darkness, the ship ironically resembled a pile of scrap metal collected by some Stateside patriotic group. The racing of 'Ahandy-billy motors rose above the sounds of rasping metal and muffled orders. The last of the fires had just been put out as we moved slowly abeam of the stricken ship, but the odor of burned flesh and blistered paint stung our nostrils. The only light then visible on the black hull was the beam of a battle lantern, Hickering on and off, revealing men, in silhouette, working laboriously amidst the smoking debris. Occasionally, a searchlight from one of the -LCI's or PCECRJ's engaged in rescue work would flash across the water and sweep close to the Ward. High-pitched voiced, close to hysteria, would scream, Put out that light. Muttered curses would follow, for the slightest light X might guide the Iaps back for another attack. Once a voice pierced the quiet, shouting, There's a man off the port bow, then pleadingly, Please pick him up. Another survivor was talking to his rescuers from the water. His legs were badly mangled, but the sailor showed no signs of pain. A body Hoated by, face down, angidst a variety of articles, including an unoccupied life ra t. It was decided that we would take the Aaron VVard in tow, so the Captain maneuvered the Shannon a little closer. The towing operation had to be carried out in total dark- ness, which imposed no little difficulty. Operations were further hampered by the Ward's lack of communication facil- ities, for with no power, she had only one small, undepend- able battery radio that could be used. But the operation was effected with the methodical meticulousness that comes from good training and drill. As we took station ahead of the yVard a request was shouted over from her bridge. Back down closer, please. We got a line over to their forecastle and paid out our messenger, which was attached to the wire towing hawser. At first, the Ward had no power on her capstan and had to tend the lines by hand. In order to prevent fouling our screws, it was necessary to work slowly, shouting orders back and forth. - Have you our twenty-one thread messenger? Affirmative Wie have it. xi Let us know when you get the four inch. Roger. The line snaked out of the chock as rapidly as the sailors on the VVard's forecastle could haul in ab,oard. On the Shannon. Wie have power on our capstan! Every- one felt relief. This would speed up operations and reduce the tension on everyone's nerves. We have your four inch messenger now. Roger, VVe're paying out the wire now. Heave around slowly, please. uixyey Aye.rv A few minutes later they shouted, VVe have your wire. YVe stopped paying out the wire and waited quietly, but somewhat impatiently, listening to the sledge hammer blows, while the connecting shackle of the Wai-d's anchor chain was broken at the tive fathom shot. It wasn't a very comfortable feeling lying dead in the water, an easy prey to any Jap planes that should happen along and spot us. Minutes seemed like hours. V 49

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That night we returned to our favorite station-ln: Able. the anti-boat screen. During the night the S1111-11102115 f21111'11 for illumination to intercept several suicide boats 111111 W1'1'1' trving to filter into the Hagushi anchorage for a crack at ftllllk' of the transports and heavy ships. These boats were 1111101111 disposed of. The usual enemy air raids arrived on schedule, but 119110 111 the planes approached our area. They came lll a few miles to the north making high altitude passes over the ll'2ll.lhl9l1l1 anchorage and the American held airftelds, but we e011S11l01'U11 our area to be only the space that could be reached by our guns. LINE UP FOR AMMO The drain on ammunition in the Okinawa area was heavbk with thousands of rounds being expended daily 111 1116-5111211011 and anti-aircraft fire. What supply was on hand waS 1tl11Ck15' expended and each new ammunition ship arriving in the area with a full load was soon cleaned out. As there were 1101 enough ammo ships to fill the demand, many warships had to wait hours, sometimes even a day or two, for their turn- to replenish magazines for hungry guns. Yes, as for everything else in the Navyj one had to stand in line even for the am- munition with which to fight the enemy! We waited a full day for our supply, and then took station northwest of Okinawa for radar picket tgulplj and anti-sub- marine patrol duty. To our surprise and relief-for Roger Peter stations were poison to tin cans-the night proved to be one of little activity.i We went to GQ. only twice that night and both times the alerts were caused by friendly planes showing bogey. ' At times we were sure that PBM patrol bombers caused more alarms than real bogeys. They gave indications of unfriendly planes so often that they were regularly reported as Peter Bogey Mikes by disappointed fighter pilots sent to intercept them, and by disgusted lookouts sent to general quarters stations, only to find a friendly boxcar flying by. Unfortunately many of these unidentified friendly planes were fired upon by allied ships, and a few shot down. Occasionally it might have been due to faulty equipment, but mostly it seemed that the pilots just couldn't understand that at night ships could not risk holding fire until a plane could be identified visually. We shot the wing tip off a Corsair one night. After howling over the radio that he was friendly, he finally identified himself properly. We talked to him again after he set his ship down on a nearby airfield without further damage. We were anxious to learn how he made out. He was so relieved that he actually apologized for alerting us. We couldnit take chances. Auda- cious Nip pilots even resorted to turning on their wing and tail running lights in efforts to appear friendly and sneak in without being fired upon. A whole night and the entire next day OH, with only our regular eight hours of watches and dawn and desk alerts was almost as good as a vacation. During the day we were again Fuel Div 7. The night of April 25-26, we patrolled one of the most vulnerable screening stations, just west of Kerama Retto, At 0201 we were routed from ourrsacks for GQ. by a plane that made two runs on us before he was turned awav. He gave ns a rough few minutes, but caused no damage.'Other planes kept us up the balance of the night, but none came close enough to draw our fire. Morale was getting pretty low at this point. Day after night after day of patrolling and screening, under almost con- stant air attack, with little sleep and no ,diversion began to grate on nerves. It would have sunk lower had we known thnt months more of it lay ahead! It wouldn't have been so bad if we had something to show for it, but the side of our bridge was as nude of Jap flags as the day the Shannon Wire launched-we hadn't officially knocked down a single plane. Apparently we just weren't getting the breaks. Many who griped realize now how lucky we really were! The Shnnnfm seemed to have the knack of being in the wrong place for right place, depending on how one looks at ith at the right time. ' The next day we moved back to one of the stations north- west of Okinawa for another day and night of alerts, Then we Went back to old Shannon Alley, 155 Able. As had happened tust a week before severtl s111c1de 110115 tried to get through to the transport area All but one of this bunch were destroyed by 1 CI gunboats For the list one we searched without results until well after daylight it which time we were ordered back to our place in the screen nound the transport anchorage The next day was again spent super West of Hagushl SLEEP JUST A DAY DREAM tlnr station .Xpril 20-30 was again i11 support of the anti- boat screen. 'lihree times before midnight, we were called to GQ, by l l:1sh lied condition. After 2357, when we secured for the third time, everyone oft' watch tried to catch some sh-ep, hoping against hope that we would have the rest of the night i11. Wie tumbled into our sacks and most of us had fallen into a restless sleep when, at 0053, the dreaded and indescribable clanging of the general alarm brought us to our feet, into our shoes, and racing for our battle stations. f Those short minutes between the sounding of the alarm and the time when eaeh station is manned and readv are endless-filled with uncertainty, for only those on watchiknow what causes the alert and. if it is an air raid, how far and in what direction the planes are. That's enough to make evervone lose as little time as possible in reaching his station. ' A hre was observed to the north of us, probably from the 1-lagushi transport area, and several raids of planes were tracked Oll o11r radar, but none came within range. At 0115 all was quiet again and we secured from GQ.--to be called back fifty minutes laterl Many enemy raids were reported approaching from the north. Several miles north of le Shima the raids split and headed in various directions-some for the lonely picket stations, some for Kerama Retto, some for le and the Hagushi transport area, and others for Army and Marine installations on Okinawa. One raid that headed for Kc-rama Retro veered off just north of Tokashiki and began to orbit between ten and fifteen miles northwest of us. liinally he seemed to make up his mind for he commenced a direct approach, coming in low. At 0245, whe11 we commenced firing. the plane showed a weak identification but his direct, hostile approach was considered sufficient to warrant tiring. Vve couldn't take any chances at that point. PLANE GETS ANTENNA-WE GET PLANE Eyes strained into the darkness trying to find this aggressor, but nothing could be seen until he had closed to about 2000 yards. lt was definite then that he was a Kamikazeg a fanatic pilot deliberately going to his death in an attempt to take as many as possible of tl1e Shannon's crew with him. The Captain, acting instantly on information from Combat, maneuvered to keep the plane on the beam. This brought the greatest number of guns to bear and at the same time gave the suicider the smallest possible target in range. It was no easy job keeping' up with the movements of a 1113116 going ten times faster tha11 we. He was trying to come in from astern. lt was like ducking a mosquito in the dark. Our 40 millimeters commenced firing, warning of 1116 near- ness of the enemy, Then the twenties opened up in accom- pantment to the heart-stopping screech of the diving P18119- Although still unseen, we knew where he was and knew 116 112111 bicked us. There was no other target for him w1tl1111 four miles. The sky was ablaze with bursting' shells and the red strealiS of tracers, piercing' the shroud of smoke from our guns. Suddenly-huge, black. and roaring almost straight down, 1110 Dlflue loomed ottt of the darkness. At almost tlte same instant, with an abruptness that heeled us over, We Swllng 10 11011 51111111151 10 21 split second the range and bearing 011116 blanc on information from Combat, the Skipper had ordered the hard turn that saved many of our lives! 1118101111 of C1'i1511111tI just abaft the britltlei 1116 1913115 935591: between our- stacks, so low that he ripped away 2111 39113 before crashing twenty-five yards off the starboard beam. I 1111 CXl110sion rocked the ship, Men were soaked in gasolms 110111 1110 l112111C's tanks and nearly drowned where tl1CY S100 113' 1110 avalanclte of water that 'shouted into the air. VV?-ter 1'911 C11 H. 1001 110011 Over the main deck. The deck house Was 17111011 with dents made by flying debris. Parts of 1116 Plane len QV9 3'W110103 l1111'1s of a wing, a section of fuselage Com' Dlfftft with meat ball , a chunk ol' wing flap, part of the bullet' ' tg t . . , - - ' , v 11 ffflmfl 11141 kill, some ot the mstrutncut hoatd, and even 3 atleron control rod, 11' H 111 l thttl td the ship for casualtter m Lf it p ttttd tntcunt Mtraculoug 1 1 tt ttcl ull Xl my were N03-ke 1 fl iptn their spirits now that WC c 1 td up our first p 4 N 111111 1111ts tfttt out hrst splish another 611 tcttt l 11 11s tutttx tttkx were almost anX101f1 t 1 lx1n11k'11e KN H 1' t , V ,V r Q . . I lla a 1 cot 'o tm,-tips . N. - 5 ' , 3113 , i . C 4 y . 1 .V , :ig 1.1 :txt-tv but found only Il Y, 2 . , I X 2. . V ybflt J - X .4 -. g I - 5 on - was hu 't---not even s 1 'z '1- . .'z ' 5 ' ., - r l 1,7 1 t 1 t-V11 that Cmuld not dan i N. by . . V . lla , - , . , , 2 hz lk' . pm, ' V K , ,'i , J iz if lllfl Init if . ,. . , , Q . vtslng and screening fueling operations in tl1e waters north- tlllint was itpotltegl in our area. lfVe had had our appgs L '. 1 1 't no 111111, e-elif . .. . .,,. .. 3 1 f take 21 cpzlck at m,,,H,,.,. of VNC tt - .K ,I 4,. lynn At . ' . 48 if '

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t t , 1 c . . . K x ' i 5 . 4 e ' 1 .- ' ' if ' K H i T .bn , Then, like the answer to a prayer, a triumphant shout came from the other ship: VVe're connected up! A low murmer of excitement ran throughout the ship as we started ahead slowly, paying out the remainder of the wire. Then from the Warcl came the word, You'll have to pull our chain out. Roger, Let it pay out to forty-five fathoms, please. zcOkay.:9 A Now that we were connected up and moving ahead, un- certainty and impatience crept into the voices of the VVard's crew. They were anxious to get going, and although we sym- pathized and agreed with them, it would have been foolhardy to start too fast. As painstaking and nerve-racking as it was opening the distance between the two ships so slowly, it was safest. If we had parted the wire or fouled the screws, then it would have been necessary to start all over again, pro- vided we weren't disabled too, leaving both ships at the mercy of Jap planes. Again and again we heard shouts from the Ward, Please go faster. To relieve the tension and for something to say, we liollered back, Let us know when you have way on. , Roger. Then, after a long few minutes, a barely audible but thankful voice cried, VVe have way onf' This word was passed from our fantail to the Captain. As the number of turns of the engines was increased, the towing wire stretched out cleared the water once, and then settled into the desired catenary. The bow of the VVard slowly came about into our wake-she was in tow! But our task was far from completed, for there were still forty-five miles of dangerous waters between us and the haven of Kerama Retto. It was then just 2300, and the night that lay ahead would be a long, restless one, hard on already frayed nerves. To make matters worse the moon rose at 0300. As we worked up speed, the Ward crabbed badly to star- board, increasing the danger of parting the wire. Using hand steering, she had trouble maintaining a steadv course, Although, over a period of an hour, we had worked up to tugqnsffor eight and a half knots, we made good only five and a a . Before we had gone many miles, tracers and ack ack filled the s-ky over the area we had just left. The ships which had remained to search for survivors were again being attacked by Jap planes. Soon the firing ceased. We prayed that the Japs wouldn't spot us, steaming at our crippled-snail's pace. But the radar soon picked up a plane off our port quarter, closing. The guns trained out and waited, as we all literally held our breath. The Captain ordered control to hold ire. The moon had been up for some time, but at the moment hea.vy clouds shadowed us, and firing would only have given away our position. The ruse worked, for the Jap closed to four miles and then Offiria! U..5'. Navy Photograph veered off without seeing us. The VVard had repaired her steering casualty and took con- trol front the bridge, enabling her to hold a better course. Suddenly, she lunged to port. The wire straightened out with a huin. For an anxious moment, we watched the strain, standing helpless and transfixed. The Captain immediately slowed our engines and, dropping back, allowed the wire to slacken until the VVard could come about, under control. Then, with the tow saved, we laboriously worked back up the former speed. About 0440, just after receiving word of another approach- ing raid, we saw AA fire over Kerama Retto. A plane eXDl0dCd in the air about fifteen miles away. Combat tracked the rest of the raid as it passed to the south of us and headed for Formosa or Sakishima. Again, we breathed more easily. At 0740, we arrived off the southern entrance to Kerama Retto and released our tow to the Tekesta CATF-93J. TCH minutes later, another red alert was sounded. Smoke from the anchorage, augmented by our own smokehcovered all three ships. Although there were many planes in the area, none were sighted and apparently none sighted us. Only then was our mission successfully completed. Although somewhat haggared by the experience, the tension was lifted and we relaxed, feeling no little pride in our accomplishment- The Skipper of the VVard thanked us profusely fOr 3 Jig well done, and asked Captain Foster, How do .we look- He could not make a very heartening reply, but 1n.SQfte Of what the crew of the VVard later referred to as' their fllght deck, the ship was still afloat, and her casualties were not nearly so heavy as they might have been. .We returned to Hagushi and assumed our duties mlthe anti- aircraft screen. In the early evening more ,lap raids were feported closing from the north and west. Before they had Passed the radar picket stations, we were ordered to the assistance of the Gwin QDM 333 which had just been hlf On Roger Peter 10. As we got underway, already feeling fatigue at the thought of facing another ordeal similar to that of the previous Hlghii the Gwin sent word that she was not badly damaged an would remain on station. Consequently, our orders Wefe Changed, Sending us to support the anti-small boat Patrol on station 155 A. A5 USPHI, our sleep that night and the next was iltteffupfefl many times by enemy air raids, but no planes came C1053 enough to bother us. On .the afternoon of the 6th, we took charge of fueling ?PCfTtl0llS northwest -of Hagushi and then returned to 155 A Ol' llYCL unusually quiet dave, ,The Ilwmmg of Mai' 10, we entered Kerama RENO, at VYl'C.l' tlme Captain W. G. Beecher, USN, was relieved as ',m lD1V 7 ln Cfmtaitt H larrou Usn Captain Beee Suisequentlv 1-.sunitd tonnnand of lkslyon S3 ei 1 1 L0 J . , T, 4 ,i S t 4 -1 - ' ' 7 Y 1 ' ' ' , . 5 W K' 50 . L, QE,-ft 1 .25 13 ,I V