Shannon (DM 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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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 ' !

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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

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Quarters was sounded at 0750, as we stopped and mbfmt 30 miles southwest of Nagasaki, Kyushu, A Ship had been sighted and contacted, and was closing leeording to plan. At 0810, the Saishu fCMc 311, a light mine-layer, lay to several hundred yards away. small pulling .boat was put in the water and loaded, At 5345, 3 delegation of Japanese coastal defense officers, headed by Commander Tsunji Aztnna, came aboard for a conference with CTG 52.3. The conference, held in the wardrooin, was conducted by Commodore Farrow and attended by Commodore Davison, Captain Ingram, the Navigator, the Flag Lieutenant, the Interpreter, Lt. fjgl Howard, and the japanese delegation. Charts brought aboard by the japanese showed the location of all the minefields in the area. A description of the local the Smith, on the right Hank of the sweep formation, planted l9U0Ys to mark the eastern boundary, At 1600, the right flank unit left the formation to sweep an anchorage area north of Matsu Shimaj while the rest of the ships continued past O Shima, clearing the channel up to the entrance of Sasebo Har.bor. At that point we reversed course and enlarged the channel to the newly swept anchorage area, where we anchored for the night, Lt, Commander Kimura returned to his ship. Early the next morning, Lt. Commander Fujii, Japanese Imperial Navy, came aboard to assist in the days operations. The units then proceeded from the anchorage and began sweeping. Wlieri the channel and approach to Sasebo Ko had been completed, we started a clearance sweep of the area north defenses was given by the delegation, In addition, the facilities, size, and location of anchorages and harbors was discussed, as well as the number, size, and capabilities of Japanese ships which might be used to assist in minesweeping. The delegation left the ship at 1033 leaving Lt. Commander S. Kibura on board to assist in the day's sweeping OperatiOnS. AS Soon thereafter as possible, the sweeps streamed their gear, and we commenced a clearance sweep of the aDDF03Cl1 channel to Sasebo. During the operation, the Shann0n laid buoys to mark the western limit of the swept channel, While , Ulf., .sf as, of the channel. At the end of the day we returned to the Matsu Shima anchorage, which was rapidly coming to be known as Stewards Cove , During the day. the tanker Millicoma CAO 733 arrived, providing us with much needed fuel. From that time on the Shannon ceased to participate actively in the sweeping operations in the Sasebo-Nagasaki area. Our duties became those of a courier, in addition to directing the progress of the sweeps and controlling the operations of the ships in TG 52.3. September,11th, the Shannon lay at anchor. 59 1