Shea (DM 30) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 25 text:

, w A I r Y L v i 1 1 P N

Page 24 text:

Now HEAR THERE MEN: A supply officer in his work comes to know the crew as well as anyone else on the ship. For my part, I feel the crew from the first days of pre-commissioning on, has been CI bunch of swell guys. I have en-joyed knowing you, working with you, supplying you-and especially drinking with yiou.-Lt, fjgj Robert I. lohnson. Doctor's Statement It has been a genuine pleasure to serve with such splen- did shipmates as the Officers and Men of the SI-IEA. My sincere thanks to you for your high degree of cooperation with the Medical Department at all times, but especially on 4 May. Many lives were saved by your intelligent and rapid assistance to the wounded. Our tributes should be saved for those men we left behind at Okinawa. May we never forget their sacrifice and promise that we will not permit another war in our lifetime.-I. W. Markson, Lt. Cjgb fMCl. My first impressions of the U.S.S. SI-IEA are very favor- able from the Captain down-everyone is congenial and cooperative, That always makes for a happy and efficient ship. There is a saying in the Navy that the two best ships in the Fleet are the one you just left and the one you are going to, In my instance, that has proven to be correct.- Robert N. Greenfield-, Lt. When once more a free man-a civilian-and asked what I did during the war, I shall feel proud to say I served on board the U.S.S. SHEA, To me it will bring memories of a fighting ship and a crew with a true fighting spirit, and real guts under the most trying circumstances,-George D. Godfrey, Lt. fjgj. , - My adventure on the high seas has been more or less exciting-what I mean is, that it is more exciting when one arrives at a new place in their travels and sees new lands that we once read about in books and which seemed so far away. It is less exciting when we settle down to the routine of keeping the ship going night and day to our next destination. I came aboard about three months after the SHEA was commissioned and at once I liked the SHEA as a ship andthe men of the crew, The technicians and myself, after a short while, came to have faith and trust in the radar and radio equipment. These inanimate objects gave little difficulty and helped us to ferret out the laps either in the air, on the surface of the sea, or under the sea -Qday or night, I feel the ship has the finest technicians to be found anywhere. A I , Roaming a newl place and: meeting new people will long be remembered. From Hawaii to Okinawa was filled daily with adventures too long to enumerate and filled with a multitude of details that linger long in one's memory. Again, it shows how one's life can be shaped by men and ships- so that story goes, everyone his own.-Charles B. Owens, Lt. fist. I . I reported to the SHEA after serving about 2112 years in what I thought was the dangerous Amphibious Force. My work th-ere kept me on board transports the majority of the time, so I was very green to destroyer ways. The coopera- tion of the men and petty officers of the Second Division, and the rest of the crew, made my duties on board the SHEA a lot easier and much more pleasant than I had anti- -I 20 cipated. As I said before, I thought the Amphibious work was about the most dangerous, but I changed my mind while we were on Radar 'Picket Duty. I have really enjoyed working with the men and officers of the Shootin' Shea , a name well-fitting the ship and her crew.-Iames A. Young, Lt. Gigi. Q-- We who have been on board the SI-IEA since she first got underway, have had a lifetime of experiences. We have had fun, and we have had our share of Hell. What has always pleased me most was the speed with which the ship became a fighting unit. In a matter of a few months, inex- perienced officers and men from all over the United States were ready to carry the fight to the enemy, and were pre- pared for the Navy's toughest battle, Okinawa, We got hit, but we trounced the laps good first and stayed in there fighting until the end. I will always look back on my cruise on the SHEA with the greatest pride and satisfaction. I am grateful to have been part of such an organization.-Richard L. Greiner, Lt. Now that the fighting is over and the main topics of conversation are n-o longer general quarters and suicide planes, I can truthfully say that I am glad it is over and that I have enjoyed my experiences on the SHEA. I regret that all of us are not here to live the peace that has been so gallantly won by our fighting men in all branches of the services. Insofar as the Engineering Department is con- cerned, it is my opinion that every man can be justly proud of a well accomplished task. As the records stand, the black gang has always supplied the necessary power fperhaps with a small amount of smokel and, considering the acute lack of experience during the first months after commissionin-g, has accomplished a remarkable job. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to each Engineer for his efforts and cooperation, and to say that my d-uty on the SHEA has been pleasant and interesting and there are many incidents that will long be remembered, -P. Dean Graham, Lt. fjgl. Now that it's all over, I mean it when I say I wouldn't have missed it for anything-and I wouldn't want to go through it again either. If you will send seventy-five cents to Red Carrigan., my under-cover man, I'll put you down for an UCIVUUCG COPY of my autobiography called Down by the Head, or The Memoirs of a I. O. , and there you can read all about life on the Dirty 30 , I'm sorry all the boys didn't come back with us and I want to express my appreciation to our men who helped fight the enemy in World War II, but particularly to the C Division of the SHEA, a finer group never lived. I hope everyone on the SHEA has a long life, health and happiness. I Now some advertising. Remember, I'm the only lawyer in the United States who has his own ambulance, so I can't be accused of chasing ambulances. If we could 'live it over again, I'd do things a little differ- euntly. For instance, over the door of the sick-bay I'd have Q Slgn painted reading Let Nature Take Its Course, Painless Markson, Proprietor, hours llUU to llO5, take -3 APC's and repo? back atul3,0U '. On the door to the after-officers coun- TFY, d paint Sleepy Hollow , which phrase I must qdmit I plqgimized from Ll- figl Kuyper, who is certainly a man grill'-9' lfl CI glass house and throwing stones, if I ever saw te. Now go to your stations all the s ' ' , , . pecial sea detail . I lc, Im shoving off, but I still out of habit say to my wifesmulclir- mission to leave the ship, Sir? -Orland H. Ellis, Lt. Q 195. 1-

Page 26 text:

9 if I I, 'I r I 4 .V I t S I it .4 J. if 'S Qr 4 tt ,. 9. 32 5 gp il . g. i fl if 'l 'l li I it it tl l r 4 Y I I l ,if WAR DIARY OF THE U.S.S. SHEA fDM3Ol See Pictorial Chart on Pages 24 and 25 SMJB 19 March 1945-Underway from Ulithi Atoll, Western Caroline Islands, in company with a Task Group of approxi- mately 45 ships. 23 March-At approximately l500, destroyed floating enemy KD mine off port beam by exploding it with gunfire. Went to General Quarters twice that evening when enemy aircraft approached the formation, and opened fire during the second call to General Quarters. 24 March-Arrived at our destination, Area Victor-One, C21 where we patrolled while the AM's of the Sweep Unit swept that area with negative results. 25 March--Again in company with Sweep Unit 8, we swept 13D Area Able-Nine with negative results with the excep- tion of one floating mine which was destroyed by a PC of the Unit, At the end of the day's sweeping, we planted four buoys marking the extent of our s-weeping operations. 26 March-Assigned to Rfadar Picket Duty, we proceeded to C41 RP Station '25 miles east of OK. for daylight patrol and CSD then to a Night Patrol Station off Taka Banare, Oki- nawa Gunto, for night patrol. 27 March-At approximately 0100 we went to General Quar- ters anld durin.g the course of the next 2112 hours we were under attack by 6 to 8 enemy aircraft in four separate attacks. The second attack made by a single CSD plane dropped a torpedo off our stbd. bow which we eluded by using full right rudder and maneuvering at approximately 27 knots. The fish passed close astern and was later seen to explode in our wake. One-of the planes in the third attack passed close aboard UD on our starboard bow with a red glow eminating from , its stern and a few seconds later a large puff of smoke andflame was seen about 4,000 yards off our port quarter. This is believed to be the first blood drawn V from the enemy. We proceeded to a Patrol Stationioff 181 Yoron' Shima,.Okinfawa Gunto, for an uneventful day- light patrol and that evening were orderedfback to the Station of our previous night's engagement with the enemy. Upon arrival to' relieve the U.S.S. MORRISON 191' s CDD 5591, we foun-d her making a depth charge attack on a sound contact. We relieved the MORRISON- and after making three excellent runs, lost contact. 29' March 1945-W ent to General Quarters four different ' times during the day and night- upon approach. of enemy aircraft but none of them closed the formation and n-o firing took place. The day was spent operating UID with Sweep Unit 8 in a mine area some 65 miles southwest of Okinawa lima. Withdrew on night retire- ment. 30 March 1945-Again operating with Sweep Unit'8, we spent Klll an uneventful day of minesweeping. ' '31 March 1945-At about 0330 we fired one 9-charge Depth Charge pattern on a good sound contact which later was determined as non-submarine. Proceeded inde- KIZJ pendently northward to determine our location and direct the Sweep Units in the day's minesweeping 031 operations. Night retirement, on southerly course. 0500-U.S.S. ADAMS hit 2000 yards port beam oflShea. f-l 22 I April 1945-INVASION DAY. Upon being detached from duty with Sweep Unit 8, we proceeded independently and reported to Commander Transport Screen for duty. f14J We were assigned a patrol station some 5 miles south of Ie Shima, quite some distance from the actual center ofuthe landing operations on Okinawa Shima.. This fl5l daylight patrol was uneventful with the exception of a lapanese pilot sighted in the water close aboard on the starboard side. Before we could reach him he had sunk from sight and evidently drowned. We went to General Quarters only twice on this, the day ,of the Invasion of Okinawa, once during the early morning and again in the late evening. We opened fire both times on enemy aircraft but with negative results, the planes turning away and opening range rapidly. With- drew on night retirement, in company with ComDes- Ron. 2. 2 April 1945-Patrolled during daylight hours in a station C161 7,000 yards eastward of yesterday's patrol station. We had only one air attack which occurred in the early morning and after firing upon it, the enemy plane opened range rapidly. Night retirement in company with ComDesRon 2. 3 April 1945-Late in the afternoon rendezvoused with Task C172 Group 51.1, consisting of approximately 20 Army Trans- ports, and proceeded to a waiting area about 225 miles southeast of Okinawa Gunto. 4 to 13 April 1945-During this period we were patrolling in company with Task Group 5l.l in the Waiting Area. 15 April 1945-We then proceeded out of Kerama anchorage USD and arrived at our assigned 'Patrol Station, B-l7. 16 April 1945-While still patrolling B-17 in the early morning we sighted a small boat adrift, which turned out to be a native Iapanese type of boat very crudely con- structed. Later that morning we proceeded at flank 'speed to Radar Picket Station No. l to assist the USS LAFFEY which was under heavy air attack and re- fl9l ported hit. En route to RP l we were attacked by a group of-8 enemy planes and within the short span of ten minutes we had splashed six and with the aid of the USS HARDING shot down aseventh. One of these successfully suicided into the HARDING, causing considerable damage and injurying many men. We stood by and took aboard five injured men whom we immediately transferred to a hospital ship in C201 the Transport Area. We then proceeded to RPI, 17 April 1945-Patrolled in Night RP l and then proceeded to f21l . RP l for Daylight patrol. Combat Air Patrol controlled bY US Splashed one enemy plane during the day, 20 April 59451-We were relieved of RP l late in the afternoon C22 an proceeded to the Northern Hagushi Beaches where l we were assigned to Screening Stqtign 13-13, 22 April l945+After We proceeded to Screening Station B24 and shortl' - Y gleffafter Went to Gefleffll Quarters when enemy air- f23l Dlcdlnewerd clmtqcted' -We Opfgned fire OH Q 0105319 Cm Cf though hit and disintegrating, it maneu- PFOViSiOH-iI1Q Ship in the Transport Area 1.-