Shea (DM 30) - Naval Cruise Book

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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.-

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vered toward the ship and only by rapid evasive maneuvering on our part, we eluded this member of the Kamikaze Corps . The plane crashed into the sea close aboard on the port bow, so close that the entire Ship WGS splashed With large amounts of water. The ship and topside personnel were also subjected- to con- -siderable amounts of gasoline, parts of the plane and pilot as the plane passed overhead. 23 April 1945-On orders from CTG 51.5, Donald Pryor, CBS, C247 war correspondent, was taken aboard for our next duty cruise, to be aboard a Radar Picket under real combat conditions, and we shoved off on a n.ew assignment to RP No. 4, where in the late afternoon we relieved the USS BROWN. C257 25 April 1945-Possible sonar contact and one unidentified -surface contact proved to be false an.d the only action of the day was the destruction of a floating enemy C267 mine during the morning hours. The SHEA became OTC when the PUTNAM was relieved by the USS BAUER 'CDM 267. 27 April 1945-After an uneventful day we were relieved in the -late afternoon by the USS COWELL, and proceeded at flank speed for Hagushi Beach, but night fell before we had rounded the northern tip of Okinawa and, as usual, the laps were out. A heavy attack occurred during which we were at general quarters practically all down the west coast ofthe island. Off le Shima we were blanketed by enemy planes but in the dark- ness came out un-scathed, but the USS TALBOT CDD 3907 was hit by two planes very close aboard and we were ordered to stand by the TALBOT for assist- ance. Upon word from the TALBOT that she did not require any assistance we had further orders to replace C287 her in her inner screen station, A-3-6A. Shortly before midnight the area was cleared. C277 28 April 1945-In the early hours we went to GQ when an enemy aircraft approached. Evasive action was com- menced, cruisin.g at various courses and speeds, but in some manner the plane came in undetected to a very close range and dropped a single bomb which ex- ploded about 25 yards off the port quarter, causing minor damage to the fantail area and wounding one man superficially. We fired on another as he ap- proached with negative results. At dawn were re- lieved by. the USS SPROSTON, another DD, and we C307 proceeded to the Kerama area for emergen.cy repairs, after having put Mr. Pryor, the war correspondent, aboard a boat for his return to the EL DORADO. At Kerama refueled and anchored near southern entrance. At 1930 an enemy suicider came into Wiseman's Cove undetected and crashed into the USS PINKNEY CAPH27, a hospital evacuation ship anchored 1,500 yards off the port bow of the SHEA. Later we fired a few rounds at another approaching bogey. About midnight all was secured. C297 C317 30 April 1945-Some bogeys again closed the area before dawn but no attack materialized as the anchorage was completely blanketed with smoke. The rest of the day was uneventful, allowing the ship's personnel to provision ship and continue work on repairs. 1 May 1945-During the daily pre-dawn suicide attacks. one lap plane slipped through the screen into the anchor- age and crashed into the USS TERROR, aboard which was CTG 52.2, the mining command. It was anchored close aboard us to port. C327 3 May 1945-Reporting to CTG 51.5 for duty, were ordered to relieve the USS ROBERT H, SMITH CDM 237 as fighter C337 director ship on RP 14. This was the .most distant of all the picket stations from Okinawa, being approximately 7!5 miles northwest of the island. At noon sighted ships on the picket station and relieved the SMITH. In com- pany with the USS ,I-IADLEY CDD 7747, the OTC, and the usual complement of small fellows, started patrol. -I 23 C347 As usual, the laps came down in their dusk attack and we had several contacts, but none closed the station to firing range, and after a numberof general quarters all seemed quiet. Shortly before midnight orders came for the ships on the station to close the island and resume picketing in a new area 20 miles from Point Bolo on a northwesterly bearing. 4 May 1945-During the shift to the new station an almost C357 C367 continuous alert was stood as the laps were in the area in great numbers, and the radar screens were showing more enemy contacts than had been seen at any one time. Few came close enough to fire on. One came within firing range and drew the fire of the ships with questionable results. However, the SHEA sighted one visually as it flew down. the length of the column and opened fire. The plane turned rapidly and opened range and it is believed it was damaged from our bursts. At dawn reports came of a large attacking force of enemy planes from the north. We were now on the new station and visibility had been excellent at dawn but began to diminish as a smoke h-aze cov- ered the area. Reports of ships in our vicinity- being hit and sunk continued to come over the circuits and we were at general quarters again very early in the morning. The USS LUCE CDD 5227 was sunk just north of us and the SHEA took over her CAP division and they were dispatched to intercept the approaching raiders to the north. 08-29 USS MORRISON CDD 535.97 reported sinking, sent us her planes. One plane was sighted visually and the SHEA was in readiness, all guns manned and trained, and the ship maneuvering at 30 knots. At about 0900 .a Betty was seen shot down at six miles on the starboard beam, but almost immediately thereafter a lapanese piloted robot CBaka7 was also sighted at 500 yards closing on the starboard beam at a speed upwards of 4450 knots and in almost the: same instant crashed into the bridge structure, entering the sonar room, traversing the chart house, passageway and hatch, and exploding at water level. The damage was tremendous, both personnel and ma- teriel. One officer and 34 men were killed by concus- sion., shrapnel, burns and shock, and ll officers and 80 men wounded in varying degrees. Fires raged throughout the superstructure, several compartments were flooded and the forward magazines were in great danger until flooding was effected. The ship was ren- dered almost totally inoperative except for the engi- neering spaces and despite loss of all firepower, gyro, radio, radar and electrical installation, was able to proceed under her own power to Hagushi Beach where the dead and wounded were transferred, the deceased for burial on Okinawa and the injured to the hospital ships in the area for evacuation. In the late afternoon the ship, although seriously crippled and with the spirits of all survivors saddened over the fate of so many shipmates, came to the anchorage at Kerama and tied up alongside the USS TOLMAN CDM 287. 5 May 1945-Ship's company began task of clearing debris C377 -and getting the ship back in some kind of operation through repairs that could be effected aboard. During afternoon got underway to go alongside USS OCEANUS, the repair ship which was to make the necessary major repairs to render the ship seaworthy. 6 May-15 May 1945-Duringthis long wait for the completion C387 1- of repairs the daily routine was very regular. The crew did a herculean job in cleaning the ship of the results of the explosion, salvaging what was usable and surveying that beyond repair. The OCEANUS of that ship worked really turned to and the boys almost n.ight and day with their torches, welding arcs, hammers, etc., all oblivious to -alerts which were called as the almost incessant day after day the laps tried to sneak into the anchorage and nightly came to harass everyone. But after these interminable, harrowing days and nights it finally came about that the ship was discharged as ready for sea and the long trek home, and on the morning of May 15 left the area in company with the convoy, designated TU 51.299, for Ulithi, with the SHEA as Screen Commander.