Shannon (DM 25) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 63 text:

Three hours afterrwe had left, Flash Red was ordered .by gill Okinawa bases. Ihe Pennsylvzuna had been seriously hit by a torpedo from a Jap plane wlnch had sneaked into liuck- ner Bay- A large group of' enemy planes was subsequently peported to be closing the island, but gall planes were turned back before reaching their objectives. lilash White was broad- cast about an hour later. Early the next morning we arrived and located the south- eastern corner of Skagway. Wfhen the. position had been es- tablished, we commenced laying a line ot reflector buoys along the eastern boundary. Wfhen the lme was completed, we returned to the original position, checking the buoys on the way, The first half of the night was spent patrolling in that vicinity, and then, at 0200. we left to rendezvous with the FWUCIJ units, Task Units 95.4.4 and 95.45, and lead them into position. lhe brst pass was an exploratory sweep, made along the eastern boundary. No mines were swept during the day, and, by 1900, the. two task units had recovered gear and formed tor night retirement to the southeast. Numerous bogies closed the formation during the night keeping us at GQ. most of the tune, but none were close enough to fire on. The next morning, the sweeps made their first pass on a northwesterly course, normal to the mine line, while the Shannon laid buoys astern of the last sweep. By noon, the area had been crossed, and the sweeps reversed course to make their return pass. The day's operations were completed by 1830, 52 mines having been cut and destroyed. V-I Early in the afternoon, the most exhilerating news anyone on the ship had ever heard was announced over the IMC. Captain Ingram said, Attention all hands! Communique number 467 released from NVashington at 0200 zebra, 15 August 1946, reads as follows: 'Orders have been issued to the United States Pacific Fleet and to other forces under the command of CinCPac-CinCPoa to CEASE OFFENSIVE OPERA- TIONS AGAINST THE JAPANESEV' There was a second or two of meditative, unbelieving silence, and then . , . the loudest, happiest conglomeration of shrieks, liollars, yells, noises of all kinds issued from all over the ship-from the lowest bilge to top of the foremast. The ship's whistle, siren, and bell added to the confusion of joy. It was a great and historic day. Every man was proud of his contribution in the struggle that led to this moment of victoryg and every man issued a silent prayer-HThank God that I am here to see this day. The war was officially over, but we still had at least this job to finish, and probably several others like it before we could train in and secure. And even though cease bring orders had been given, we were still keeping a wary watch for enemy activity. Some of the Iaps might not have gotten the wordg even if they had, we, like so many others, had learned not to trust their honor. So the Skagway sweep continued, During the day, we either laid buoys, or assisted one of the other ships by pointing the previously laid buoy, as they laid each successive one. Our night retirement station was in the van picket station until early morning, when we would steam ahead to locate and point the initial buoy, coaching the sweepg into pogition, 'The efficiency of this operation exceeded that of the pre- vious ones, for a tanker was assigned as part of the Task Group, enabling all ships to fuel without returning to Okinawa, thereby saving a considerable amount of fuel and time. The sweeping continued smoothly and without incident, with the sweeps making two passes a day. On the 16th, 59 mines were swept and destroyed: 55 the 17th, 42 the 18th, 15 the 19th, -ll the 20thg and only 6 the 21st, The last pass normal to the mine line was made on the 21st, On the following day we began to check sweep along the mine line, which had been established by plotting the positions of the mines as they were cut. ' No mines were cut on the 22nd, but on the second check sweep, August 23, 36 were cut, indicating that we had prob- ably left a holiday during the initial passes. This necessitated another check- to insure that the field was clear. Operations the 2-ith accounted for 14 mines which presumably cleared the holiday and completed the operation. At the end of the day we set our course for Okinawa, where we anchored in Buckner Bay at noon, August 25. Area Skagway was half finished. The unit of which the Shannon was a part had cut 320 mines and the Northern Sweep Unit, an equally large number, totaling about 650 mines from half of the Skagway area, This had proved to be the most concentrated and dangerous minefield in the East China Sea. YELLOW SEA OPERATIONS The original plan for future sweeping operations had to be changed. Preparations must now be made for occupation of the Home Islands, Korea, and China, rather than for landings on the beaches. This meant that the harbors and their approaches would require primary attention, rather than the beaches. 1-,-, , So instead of returning to 'finish Skagway, our sweep units were ordered to Area T Arcadia in the Yellow Sea, off the southeast coast of Korea. The Arcadia operation was to be undertaken by TU 95.48, the Service Unit, - consisting of the Shannon, Smith, Avoyel CATF 1505, and three smaller ships: N- and TU 95.49, the Sweep Group, made up of Sweep Units 1, 2, and 3-21 AM's and 13 supporting small craft. Cantain Farrow was CTU 95.4.8 and Captain T. W. l Davison USN, QCominDiv 155 was CTU 95.4.9, both in the Shannon. ...ii , These task units departed from Buckner Bay on the morning of August 30. 2 and, after two uneventful da.ys of steaming, arrived off Southwestern Korea. By 1130, September I, the sweep units had formed, streamed gear, and commenced A clearance sweep of Area Arcadia. As in previous operations, the Shannon laid, or assisted in laying buoys during ' the day, and at night took retirement station as van radar picket. important for it was to open the Yellow S This operation was much smaller than any of the previous ones, but was very ea to Seventh Fleet units carrying the ii- ' -s ,JI i '7 Korea Occupation Forces. It also proved to be considerably easier and more accurate than others, for throughout the entire operation we were able to obtain visual and radar fixes on the island of Kokuzan To, and occasionally on Ko To lll the Daikokuzan Gunto. J X s ? s F' X ' 2 6 'Q -1- , f 57

Page 62 text:

1 IUNEAU Juneau was the largest single mine-sweeping operation ever undertaken. The area, roughly 150 miles long .by 60 miles wide, lay 110 miles west-northwest of Okinawa. The uncomfort- able proximity to Jap-held territory made enemy arr attacks a constant threat. Logistics having been completed, the Shannon clellflflcfl Kerama Retto early on the morning of July 4th. The 21dV2mCC buoy unit, TU 39.11.8, of which we were a part, included the W'iley and Fraser, CCTU 39.118 was Captain H. J. Armstrong, USN, CominDiv 8, in the Vtlileyl. Upon arrival we commenced laying a line of buoys marking the northeastern bounda.ry.Of the area preparatory to the start of operations the following day. Wlhen the line had been laid and checked, we 1'Ct111'l'lCd to the eastward and joined the sweep group, which had left Kerama Retto during the evening. NVhen sweeping operations began, the morning of the Sth, the Shannon took station astern of the last sweep and lard buoys to mark the inboard limit of the cleared area. ln addition, we served, along with the other DM's and DD's, as support ship, to protect the smaller units against air or surface attack. During the first two days' operations, only one mrne was cut, and five floaters destroyed. On night retirements, the Shannon was generally stationed ten miles ahead or astern of the formation of AM's, as a radar picket ship. The third day, business became good. Twenty mines were cut, four floaters destroyed. At the end of the fourth day, the Shannon rendezvoused with the Wiley, Breese CODM 185, and Hambleton CDMS 205 to return to Kerama Retto for fuel. When logistics had been completed, the same ships, plus the Gwin CDM 33J, returned to the area, arriving in time for the beginning of operations, on the morning of the 10th. The operations continued to be uneventful for the next four days, with the exception of cutting from twenty to thirty mines a day. At the completion of sweeping, on July 14th, with half of the entire area covered, over two hundred mines, most of which had been cut, had been destroyed. With the entire task group in need of logistics and a rest all ships headed for Buckner Bay, arriving on the following morning. TYPHOON Buoys, fuel, water, and provisions had been taken aboard by the 17th, and the Shannon, along with the rest of the ships, was ready to resume operations, All operations, howe , l , ver, were postponed by warnings of an approaching typhoon. Ar 1530, with the typhoon close- at hand, we were ordered to sortie with the rest of the ships from Buckner Bay to execute the prearranged typhoon retirement plan. Retirement began none too soon. liy steaming as fast aslweather and the slower ships in company would pernrrt until beyond Okino Daito Shima, wc just nranaged to skirt the storm, missing the worst part, but encountered plenty of rough weather on the edges, After three days, the center had passed enough to allow Your return to port. VVe arrived on the morning of Jrrly 21st. Necessary fueling having been completed, we left Buckner Bay later the same day with the Wiley and Rooks CDD 804J, as 'gm advance unit to locate the marker buoys. The next day was spent checking the lines of buoys, preparatory to the ar- rival of the sweeps on the morning of the 23rd. The operation continued to be uneventful, except for the mines which were cut in about the same numbers as before. At the completion of the day's sweeping July 26th, we steamed in to Buckner Bay with the Smith, to accomplish logistics, and returned to the area on the morning of the 28th. That day the normal passes were completed. During the night retire- ment on the 28th and 29th, we passed very close to the Jap islands of Kobi Sho, Sento Shosho, and Uotsuri Shima, and within about 75 miles of Formosa. The 29th and 30th were spent checksweeping along the mine barrier, which had been established by our plot, to ensure that the entire area had been covered and cleared. At the end of the operation, the 9000 square miles which had .been swept was declared free of mines. Eighteen days of sweeping had yielded 343 mines, swept and destroyed, and 61 Hoaters destroyed. We steamed into Buckner Bay at noon July 31, tired from the operation, but satisfied that we had done a good Job, and happy that we had encountered no particular dffrcultres. VVe had just anchored when another typhoon warning was received and we were ordered to shift to a more protected berth to ride it out, Typhoon season had begun in earnest. Fortunately, the center of the storm passed more than a hundred miles away, but the fringes were rough enough to give us a few trying hours, in spite of our shelter. The danger was short-lived, however, permitting us to commence a nine-day availability and logistics period at anchor in the vicinity of the Hamul CAD ZOJ. During those days, air alerts were frequent, causing considerable interruption, but few enemy planes actually came within range and fewer made attacks, SKAGWAY Another formidable sweeping operation was assigned to us when the plans had been completed-this time right in back yard of the enemy homeland. f'Skagway was an area slightly smaller than Juneau-120 by 45 miles--but promised a considerably larger number of mines and greater probability of 'rir attack The areas north ern boundary was only 120 miles from Kyushu anel the southern lrmrt 100 miles from Amamr O Shrma with numerous Jap held islands rn between It was an important and necessary operation because rt contained several mrne lines which pre sented an effective barrier against Allied submarine and sur face operations rn the East China Sea especially those of future invasion fleets which would be directing their efforts against Kyushu The days of preparation were fraught with anxiety and r patience for the Empire was wrtlrerrng under the Allied attacks Everyone hoped fervently that Japan would say Uncle Sam, and prevent the hell th rt wts imminent rf we should be forced to land on the shores of the Home Islands Scuttlebrrtt flenl 1 very brt of gh news sounded better than the Q Q as Lf During the evening of Xuf ust 10 the most exciting news of all was received A radio report stated that Japan had informed the Swedish and Svtrss governments that she trou fl rccept the surrender terms lard down by the Allies Wflfvyu at Potsdam, providing she could retain the Emperor assovereigll ruler. This news touched off a powder keg of celebration. AlIl105t immediately the sky was filled with gunfire. lighting the wl1OlC harbor and island Very signal shells flares and star shCllS burst everywhere tracers streaked the nroht The display VHS beautiful rernrnrscent of a peacetime Fourth of July celebra tron but extremely dtnoerous ln attempt to c0ntrol tl1IS rndrscrrmrnent frrrng lrlash Red was ordered bx all r6SP0U srble comm rnders rn the rrea After 'r few rnrnutes 111051 Of the hrrng stopped althouvlr spor rtrc reports could be heard from the beach md occrsronallx from 1 small Nlllp llhlch radnt got the nord rlhe rox fermented br the occasion was somewhat d'rmpened by reports th rt 'r number of men 11105111 soldiers on the beach lrtd betn lrlled by the spontaneouS demonstr rtron A later nexxs broadtrst reported that PICS1ClCHf Tluman c crllcd r nrectrng., of the L rbrnet rnd that r meetrntl Of al four of the letdrnt, Allred Nrtrons nrrrst be held before Pm answer eorrld l grxen o the ptrce olier recepted e xcrtement lr rung tlred dorxn temporrrrlx and 1021511 ICS t t Xs rn the prexrous SYNC Q or 1 s e the other 1111115 twlrsh and nrrrl t re nrrtlr rorned ns rt 1800 August 12 rs we steamed OU r kner may le rx rx LonrrnD 7 was rrnrlnd of x rngr rrrl rnrl liter of the southern QW rrnrt , .1 . 1' - - - fi - 5- - 1 fi Y H 'g . ': , Y . . . Y , . , 1 .l , ' 2 g A .' ' .- - ' ' - I 'B - ' C 'h C ' 8 . .B ,. . ' . -'y H1 r- ,, ,ci l , I -, - E . . . X - -. - - i I 2 .f . 2 ac . i . c 1 sv 'A - . . ' . r ' ' Q , g .. '2 ' f , . . . . i. - . , - 2 2 , . 23' 2 if, ' 2 . I Q ' . ' lc l L' - I I J 2 i D' ' - -' . I Y ' ' ' ' ' ,' ' in - - ' r A ., 2 , 2 . -2 Q' t . fr I ,, I C r c . . . L ' ' ' ,ry - K sz N - r 1 A K ' Q. 1 ' , A' Q X hal 2 2 A 2' rr' 2 ' ,-,2 2'2 ic' 1 ' 1 7 3 , -Q - .2 ' lr A '1 ' 2 ' 5 fl , V . Y 1 . ' Je H r iz - . A' ' 1 ' ' - I ' , . . . C , . ,' v K. 5 ' I - ' l' qt. Tlr ex r 2 1' -A ' 1 1 . '2 j Q 5 CS Q' ly ' A f' 1, A , . I A having been completed, including loading buoys, WC were . 3' H 'i , .Q 'J X ,. , 'W I-CZ if for thc. UllCr'21t'ior1 to st: 1' . r .' i ' ' ' 'i .Y 'epi' + mf I, - Q V Y , -g 5 the bln if rrn t wa: to leave ahead rf ' to . . 2' J 5 2 f estzl . 2 2 it the lirnits of the area. : 'X . Q ' 'f 2 2 A ff ' ' - .f 'f '. 2 Tl S ' f ' r .' :V , , 3' 3 ', If , gf ,t ' A kj' . 1 2 . of l'rrc X' l'2j, enrorr r to Skag iz J i 'll' ' m f l, 2. 1 ' A . -A' cor' 2 this 'z T rz ' , 2 2 T r eep 56

Page 64 text:

On completion of the day's operations September 3, the Smith joined Sweep Units 1 and 3 to remain in the Arcadia area, while the Shannon and Sweep Unit 2, as TU 95.4.92, proceeded northward to Jinsen, Korea, to conduct an explora- tory sweep of the harbor and approaches in preparation for landings in that area. Early in the morning, the unit arrived off Kakureppi Retto, and, by 1000, began an exploratory sweep of the approaches to Iinsen Harbor. The Shannon's assignment was to lay buoys to mark the center of the channel and coincidently, the limit of the First pass. At the end of the first pass, the sweeps ex- plored an area which was later to be used as an anchorage. They then returned toward Kakureppi, sweeping the other half of the channel. By 1800, the day's operations, during which no mines were cut, had been completed. VVe anchored for the night in the western end of the swept channel. Shortly after we anchored Commodore Davison shifted his pennant to the Dour QAM 2235 to remain in the Jinsen area directing the operation, The Shannon was then ordered to return to Arcadia, and left at 1908, with several other ships. Early the next morning we made a rendezvous with TG 70.6 to fuel from the Chiwawa CAO 681, on the completion of which we continued to Arcadia. When we arrived, at noon, the Commodore relieved the Smith as OTC, allowing her to meet the Chiwawa and fuel. By September 7, the area had been completely swept and checked, and a line of buoys laid to mark the channel through the mine lines, As we were completing the last check, several Seventh Fleet units, mostly transports and escorts steamed safely through, enroute to Iinsen for the occupation. i At 1830, our job finished, TU 95.4.8 and TU 95.4.9 were l 1 . . . and no beer ever tasted better. Plenty to Celebrate . . . dissolved and TG 52.3 was formed of the same units, with Commodore Farrow in command. The sweeps assumed their steaming disposition and we departed Area Arcadia, enroute to Sasebo, Kyushu, Japan. ANNIVERSARY , , During the night, as we passed within 25 miles of Saishu To, the Fitch CDMS 255 joined our formation, Early the morning of September 8, the Fitch came alongside to transfer a load of very welcome mail and one passenger, Lttjgj D. D. Coffin, a Japanese language officer, who was to be our interpreter throughout the coming operations. This being the first anniversary of the Shannon's com- missioning, a celebration, as proper as the time and place would permit, was in order. All work was knocked ofi' early that afternoon, and all hands off watch moved to the fantail, where two cans of cold beer awaited each man. Never did beer taste so good! Besides being a long time since the last one, the afternoon was hot and sultry, Everyone drank in toast to the Shannon, to her accomplishments during the historical past year, to her future, and to victory and peace. Adding to the significance of the day, an order was received to burn peace-time navigational lights. At sunset running lights were turned on by all Naval vessels for the first time since December 7, 1941, and by the Shannon for the first time in her history. That night, further celebration was both occasioned and accomplished by showing movies topside. It was, indeed, an historical day for the Shannon. SASEBO - NAGASAKI SWEEP Operations in the Sasebo area were equally as important as those in the Arcadia area and the approaches to Iinsen, if not more so. The waters between Goto Retto and the west coast of Kyushu, the harbors and approaches, had to be free of mines before the occupation forces could land at Nagasaki and Sasebo to take control of Kyushu. Dllfillg U10 morning watch, September 9. the Task Group passed between Fukao Shima, the southern-most island in the Goto Retto chain, and Danjo Gunto. 58 ' !