Shea (DM 30) - Naval Cruise Book

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fContinued from page 111 friendships thus formed will live far beyond our naval career. We loaded up with supplies, filling our magazines to the 'brim with powder and projectiles, made a final check-up of all equipment, sent frantic messengers for those almost forgotten items at NSD, gorged our fuel tanks to capacity, and were ready to set sail late in February for those distant waters where the unknown strength of the enemy lay await- ing our offensive action. We felt we had burned our bridges behind, We were all keyed up and ready for anything that might come our way. All our preparations and all our training had been for the forthcoming events. We were anxious to get the job done. Already it seemed to most of us that years had passed since we had last seen our homes and families. Putting an end to the scuttlebutt which had us going to every port from Delhi to Kiska Cone mess cook was giving odds we were going to Chile and Domke, the ship's cook was offering even money we were going direct to Tokyo Bay and drop anchorl the Skipper announced that our destination was Eniwetok, in the Marshall Islands. At the time we were in company with the U.S.S. SPRINGFIELD, one of the newest light cruisers afloat. Again our job was to protect her from any unexpected attack from submarine or enemy aircraft. Few know and appreciate the protection an security which the destroyer's presence in its complement lends to the larger ship. The SHEA is proud of its many messages received from the larger ships telling us how grateful they were for our protection and our atti- tude h-as always been-OK, fellows, we may be small but we're mighty. In company with the SPRINGFIELD we zig- zagged, and I do mean zig-zagged into Eniwetok. It was our first sight of one of the atolls of the Pacific. One glimpse through our binoculars at the men stationed there made us say a silent prayer of thankfulness that we had joined the Navy instead of the Army. What a dreary, God-forsaken, sand-bar in the mid-dle of nowhere and incidentally a very important place to Uncle Sam's Navy, For here emergency repairs could be performed and here was one of the most important of Uncle Sam's company owned fuel stations in the Central Pacific. Eniwetok was a welcome oasis for here ships of the fleet dropped in for a much needed drink . Garrisons stationed here should, in our opinion, receive a medal for each and every month they endured protecting this outpost. From Eniwetok we went to Ulithi, in the Western Caro- lines, where we joined one of the greatest armadas ever assembled. Here again we met many of the ships of our mine division. Ulithi is actually just another atoll in the Pacific which, contrary to the many romantic tales of his- torians, offers few, if any, attractions. We caught sight of the natives occasionally through the binoculars but we were barred from any contact with them. We had heard of and seen pictures in LIFE magazine of the beach parties on these far flung beaches, but here at Ulithi we celebrated our first holiday for thirsts , We went to Mog-Mog with cold beer, we arrived at Mog-Mog with warm beer and we celebrated our arrival with hot beer. Really, it wasn't much of a party but it seemed good to have our feet on solid ground again. It was relaxing to search for cat's eyes among the shells on the beach and many of the more robust tried, in vain, to ascend the numerous cocoanut trees as Darwin claims their predecessors did. It was here that we had our first taste of lapanese at- tack methods. While witnessing a movie on the foc's'le two -I 13 Iap suicide planes broke through our vanguard and made a successful suicide on the U.S.S, RANDOLPH. The flash of the explosion seared into our minds the seriousness of being prepared and on the lookout every minute of every hour. Shortly afterwards the scuttlebutt had it that something big was in the offing. The Iwo lima campaign had just been successfully terminated, and the other islands in the Vol- canos and also the Bonins were getting a real pounding from the bombers. The Ryukyus were likewise being brought under pressure from the long range bombers, so the big question' now was here, for the ship was reconciled to the fact that it was to be in the next operation. Some thought the operation might be in the-Volcanos, more felt that the Bonins would be next invasion objective. Few predicted the first operation would be in the Ryukyus, and when the Skipper let the boys in on the secret that the SHEA was headed for Okinawa, it was something of a surprise because few if any of the fellows had ever heard ofthe island. Having viewed at first hand the tremendous floating might of the U. S. Navy there at Ulithi, where not only Task Force 58 was anchored, but the entire Fifth Fleet, with ships dotting the horizon as far as the eye could carry, it was with a feeling of great security that any operation was con- templated, for could any opposition anywhere be found which could cope with the gargantuan display of naval might just witnessed? But the boys were a bit d-isillusioned, be- cause on the morning of March 19, when shoving off time came and the force began to form up, there was the SHEA in the midst of all the smaller ships, Being a part of the Pacific Mine Fleet, this advance armada, or Peanut Task Force , as it came to be regarded, was to go into the Okinawa waters and clear the way of enemy mines for the tremendous landing force which was to follow, the greatest landing yet attempted in the Pacific. If the crew lost some heart with the realization that the ship was not to operate with the big fellows, as everyone had hoped, the foreboding weather did nothing to hearten any waning spirits. Even the elements seemed to portend that no good was in store for these little fellows. The day dawned accompanied by a minor tropical storm and the fellows who only the preceding day sweltered in the equatorial heat of Ulithi were chilled as the wind increased in intensity and beat the rain which was now falling in torrents into a thick salty spray drench- ing and blinding any whose stations were topside. It seemed that even the heavens were in tears in anticipation of the venture and the wind in sympathy was whipping the sea into a wall of invisibility. The little ships were tossed about as rafts as they sought to emerge from the anchorage onto the swelling sea and looking back on the ships as they filed singly through the entrance that morning for what fate none knew, it seemed that listening closely could be heard the doleful dirge sung by the wind as it whipped the spray from ship to ship. But the exit was accomplished without mishap and forming up began. So limited was the visibility that most of the forming had to be done by Radar. Trying to find the guide that morning was almost impossible with the sea a continuous mass of ships and too, the gang with very little experience in this sort of CIC work had great difficulty. The Skipper was calling for a range and bearing to the guide every 30 seconds it seemed, and the boys could not tell the guide from any of the hundreds of ships or one of the atolls. But one lesson was learned-when the Skipper called for an R and B to the G, he meant to have it, or Woe unto him who failed. Finally the group the SHEA was to be part of got underway-a formidable group of ships, the TERROR as guide, two oilers, six DM's, twelve DMS's and about a dozen each of AM's and PC's. ' 1-

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31 l l 1 1 1 l ll ll it ll 1 1 1 1 l l l 11 1:- Q1 .1 1 l i P 1'1 1 l1 51 3. Milf f il Ll fl 1 l 1 ,l il .1 i 11 7 l 1 .l .1 r 1 1 '1 Y l The five day trip to Okinawa was uneventful except for a couple of floating mines which were destroyed and one snooper attack by a lap Reconnaissance plane which skipped out in a hurry 'before coming within range. The weather had cleared by the third day, when the mass refueling at sea occurred, and then to Okinawa. lt was a very interesting exhibition this refueling. The Sl-lEA had been refueled at sea' from the RANDOLPH one time before, but to see all the small ships line up alongside the tankers for their drink much as if it were a regular filling station routine was quite novel, - The sight of the shoreline of Okinawa and the smaller islands around it on the morning of March 23 was one to be long remembered. For the first time since leaving Pearl some natural beauty was looked upon. The islands were verdant with foliage and the -areas under cultivation all blended in with the colorful foliage to make a beautiful landscape. Especially were the Kerama islands beautiful in their peculiar rock formations. Precipitous and rustic, there was very little to be seen of cultivated crops-it had more of the park aspect and you wondered if you might be in the midst 'of some national park. Having been among the desolate, colorless -atolls for a few weeks, this sight of greenery and life was welcome and the thought of war and its desolation was afar. A chronology here of the action around Okinawa in which the Sl-IEA participated would be superfluous. But life in CIC was very much alive and attuned to every exigency. The boys soon became so accustomed to contacting and tracking real bogeys that it soon became almost common- place. On the various watches it became something of a sport as to who would pick up the first bogey reported by DELEC-ATE or one of the other pickets, or to develop and report a bogey of their own. TANTALUS soon became very well known over the voice circuits as a can who always seemed tolbe where things were the hottest but always came out intact. And indeed it did seem that the Sl-IEA was get- ting more than its share of luck, as day after day the re- ports continually came in of this or that ship was knocked off, some damaged, many sunk, ships that had worked with us often, or who had relieved us from the very duty in which they had been hit or being sent to relieve some ship on station where it had been hit, And the SHEA was all the while amassing her score of lap kills. Nerves were always tense in Comibat when the laps would start their attempted suicide run and more than once the boys felt that this must surely be their time as they watched the target steadily approach on the R-scope and then disappear with the mini- mum range, only to hear that welcome signal from the Skipper at the last moment, Splash another . The experiences on the various Radar Picket stations were many. None will soon forget the small sweep unit with which the SHEA worked in all pre-invasion duties. Wild- flower Four was a terrific unit of fire power, four AM's, the Sl-IEA, and prudent 8, the PC. There was all the maneu- vering, forming, changing positions and turns as if it were another TF 58, with corpens, rogers and wilcos filling the air, sometimes so thick that a private circuit had too' be used so the ether would not be too cluttered for use by all the other ships in the area. But PRUDENT was the blacksheep, Bring- ing up the rear in cruising formation, PRUDENT eight didn't understand all the corpens and commands from the SHEA, which was OTC, or was trying some private maneuvers of her own, because she was always out of formation or get- ting into a tight spot through some attempt of taking a short- -I 14 out to get into position. ln keeping the summary that was the headache, Where was PRUDENTT' The Skipper got quite a kick out of the PC and many was the laugh in CIC at the answers from PRUDENT to questions put by the Skipper as to why she was in her present position and how she got there. The Sl-IEA did not draw in all the picket stations, duty on each was about a week in duration or until necessary to come in for a drink . But those the ship was in all proved at one time or another to all be hot spots for trouble, and the only time duty on any could be classed easy was when the weather was bad, for the laps did not come down when visibility W-gs poor, Every return to Kerama for refueling and ammo was anticipated as a time when some relief could 'be enjoyed from the constant vigilance necessary out there. But always it was found that the anchorage there was a favorite target for the laps at night and almost nightly some ship was hit there, on two occasions the laps coming 'almost directly over the SHEA to hit the PINCKNEY on one night and two nights later getting the TERROR. The inevi- table was coming nearer and nearer even though it began to seem the SHEA had a charmed life and that luck would continue to bring us in safely from every station. 1 Butit came. That morning of May 4 on Rp l4 will be for- ever remembered by those who survived -the tragedy. Hav- ing been at GO most of the preceding night, the boys were just finishing breakfast and settling down for an hour's sleep when the call: to battle stations came again, The morning was bright, the sun was up and was delightfully warm, the sea was as a lake in its glassy smoothness, but the slight haze which had not yet been cleared by the morning sun brought visibility to dangerous minimum, And that was the SHEA's undoing. The boys in Combat had been right in the forefront of every 'action up to this time, and it seemed only natural they should be likewise here. All contacts had been developed by CIC and the director coached on to all tar- gets, the sub contacts had been plotted and the ship conned to the point of contact all on information which had been received and correlated by ClCg much of the radio work over the voice circuits was handled from Combat, and the Skipper had spent so much of the time there studying the targets and plots, and so much of the ship's goings on had been discussed and planned there, that it seemed in the natural course of events for it to be knocked out first. Shortly after Snapper had made visual contact with the lap Betty which was lurkin-g close by and had intercepted with the CAP and had made the splash, it happened. All felt that with disposition of the Betty the immediate danger had passed. But out of the haze came the Baka which had apparently been launched from this same Betty. It crashed in its tre- mendous speed into the starboard bulkhead at the spot where the forward bulkhead of CIC separates it from the Sonar shack and Chart' House, So sudden was the approach that only the 20's could be brought to bear on him and then only for two short bursts, The target appeared on Radar and was identified enemy but so swift was the approach the ship was hit before the Director could be brought to bear on him. ' ' That fateful dC1Y1 May 4th, l94'5,'will live forever in the memOI'Y of every man aboard the SHEA. Thirty-five fine Americans went to their last reward as the result of the explosion of the Baka Bomb. It was surprising to note how Well organized the different departments of the ship were and how smoothly they functioned with no confusion what- SOeVer, Every man pitched in, offering his assistance fC0nlinued on page 161 31- .