Suwannee (CVE 27) - Naval Cruise Book

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-'f my-rs-as-1 -- :Q .gi-Sf-s,,NQ5.,.-.. 4 -K K The past year has seen the fall, in rapid succession, of Jap garrisons at Tarawa, Ape- mama, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Aitape, Hollandia, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, lVIorotai and Csoonb Peleliu. The SUWANNEE and her sister ships have the unique distinction of having parti- cipated in every major amphibious operation in the Pacific except the present one at Peleliu. We have proven ourselves to be invaluable support for these operations and we have success- fully completed operations of such length and intensity that they taxed the endurance of all hands. The squadrons have outflown and out- lasted all other carrier based squadrons in the fieet and in doing so have established operating records that should warm the hearts of every strong advocate of a carrier Navy. Statistics give a fair idea of the relative intensity of our operations during the past year as compared to the first year. XVhen Air Group 60 came aboard, the SUXVANNEE had something les.: than 2,000 landings. Lt. Comdr. Feilbach made the 2,000tl1 and noxv the figure stands at 6,369 X-Vhen wc arrived in San Francisco September 10, 1943, we had logged slightly more than 40,000 nautical miles. Wie now have I2I,200l Twelve ofiicers and 313 men who were aboard for the commissioning ceremony Cplank-oxvnersj M ustering . . . ,-,.,, i v are still aboard Cnow considerably saltierlj Our longest cruise, during the Gilberts operation, took II days, 21 hours and 24 minutes and covered 10,812.16 non stop miles. Cn that trip We also crossed the equator 27 times. Our equator cross- ings now total 54 with 9 crossings of the 180th Nleridian. Air-craft o p e r a t i n g from the SUWANNEE have dropped approximately 500,000 pounds of bombs and fired 350,000 rounds of 50 calibre ammunition. The signal force has handled about 18,000 messages by blinker and semaphore. About the same number of radio messages have been Written up While IO times that number have been copied. The officers and men have consumed some 4,000,000 pounds of food. Thesquadrons of Air Group 60 had Hown 16,000 hours at the end of the lllarianas Campaign and had an average of 420 carrier hours per pilot. One hundred and forty- one combat missions had been flown up to that time with an additional S30 sorties. In summary, it is now evident that the SUVVANNEE, starting as a stop-gap and an experiment, has become an unqualified success in spite of the claim our rivals make, namely that the only thing we've ever sunk Was the tug at the deperming lock in San Francisco! Change of Command i in MQ' iv - 1 f., , ,la A ss 5 X , Z V, ' . X - .X - U . 5 ,.a, , kb XX X X bf - Q ' - 14462, ,. ' f , , K ,, ' if 1 s X ss 'I - , vf, f k . f X sq ss st - 7. 12, ,, ,V 1, 4, NV f- - f ,. -ffm ' .avi .2

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operations with the South Pacific Force. On january 21, 1943, Captain F. W. McMahon took over command from Captain Clark who went back to assume command of the new YORKTOWN. On January 27th we received orders to get underway to rendezvous with and provide coverage for several transports filled with Army troops under the command of General Patch. The Army was finally moving into Guadalcanal and it was rumored that the advance elements contained two U.S.O. shows, material for an officers' club, and a Chinese hand laundry. This comparatively simple operation ended tragical- ly, for the cruiser force under Admiral Giffen was subjected to a dusk torpedo attack off Guadalcanal and the U. S. S. CHICAGO was hit. The next day the troops landed success- fully but the CHICAGO, under tow and escorted by five DD's was again attacked and sunk in spite of coverage by SUIVANNEE, Cl-IENANGO, ENTERPRISE planes. The CHENANGO and SUNVANNEE narrowly averted a dusk attack of I5 ,lap bombers, by running into a weather front where the enemy failed to make contact. At this time word was received that the ,lap fleet was at sea and would attempt to reinforce Guadalcanalg the SUWANNEE, CHEN- ANGO, SANGAIVION, four cruisers and four old battleships joined up under Vice Admiral Leary and proceeded to the vicinity of Vanikoro Island to protect the northeastern approaches to the Solomons. All indications pointed to the possibility of an engagement and all I5 TBF's were on deck in condition II loaded with torpe- does. Admiral Leary sent word about 0200 one morning I expect to contact the enemy at dawn. The enemy never did materalize how- ever. Instead, 20 Jap destroyers ran down to Guadalcanal and evacuated troops rather than reinforce their garrison. Shortly thereafter, the capture of Guadalcanal was announced as being completed. It was during this cruise off Vani- koro that CarDiv22's first commander took over. Rear Admiral llason, former skipper of the HORNET, was transferred to the flagship CSLIIVANNEEJ at sea by breeches buoy. After the retirement of the Tokoyo Express we returned to port for a short stay and then successfully covered the movement of troops in the occupation of the Russell Islands in the Solomons group. At the conclusion of this operation we returned to Efate, took aboard the new Division Commander, Admiral IN'IcI all, and sat at Buoy 14 till about IO August except for a week of covering troops for the occupation of New Georgia. During this period the squadrons, VT and VF 27, were sent to Guadalcanal for two long periods during which they amassed an impressive combat record. Early in August, we received the glorious news that we would soon depart for Uncle Sugar for yard availability. In no time at all we were learning all over again the pitfalls of life in the states and fighting the battle of hIarket Streetf' Also in no time at all we arrived in San Diego, took aboard VF and VT 60 and set out for the occupation of the Gilbert Islands which marked the first step of a whole new phase of Pacific warfare. The SIIVVANNEE and Air Group 60 have been engaged almost continuously since October, 1943, in the support of amphibious operations. Except for a short stay in San Diego, where Captain VV. D. Johnson took over command, the duty has been severe but most satisfactory. - f,-me -swf:-gear.:-A-,.'e:.f ,- -vvf fe.,srM.:ugu,q.wQ

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HISTIIHY ' 1 Date of 'launching Qas SS MARKAYQ: 22 May 1939- Date of commissioning Cas USS SUVVANNEED: 24 September 1942. Commanding Officers: 1. Captain Joseph J. Clark, USN, of Chelsea, Oklahoma-24 September 1942 to 2I january 1943- 2. Captain Frederick W. McMahon, USN, of Washington, D. C.-21 january 1943 to 30 December 1943. A Captain William D. johnson, USN, of Mont- gomery, Alabama-30 December 1943 to 8 December I944. 3. Captain Delbert S. Cornwell, USN, of Philippi, West Virginia-8 December 19.4.4 to 2 Septem- 4. ber 1945. Task Forces and Task Groups to which attached: T.F. 34 and T.G. 34.2-25 October to 21 No- vember 1942. T.F. 32-6 December to I2 December 1942. T.F. 18114 December to 2 February 1943. T.F. 69 and T.G. 69.5-2 February to IO February 1943- T.F, I8-I0 February to 26 August 1943. T.F. 50 and T.G. 50.1-20 October to I4 No- vember 1943. T.F. 53 and T.G. 53.6-14 November to 14 December 1943. T.U. 19.9.9-15 December to 21 December 1943. T.F. 53 and T.G. 53.7-1 January to 3 January 1944- T.F. 53113 January to 31 January 1944. T.F. 53 and T.G. 53.6-31 january to I5 February 1944. T.F. SI and T.G. 51.11-IS February to 18 Febru- ary 1944. T.F. SI and T.G. 51.18-18 February to 3 March 19.44. - A T.F. 58 anrl T.G. 58.7-15 March to 26 March I944. Y 3 3 PART I-CHRONOLOGY A T.F. 50 and T.G. 50.15-26 March to 4 April 1944. T.F. 58 and T.G. 58.7-4 April to II April 1944.. T.F. 78 and T.G. 78.1-11 April to 21 May 1944. T.F. S3 and T.G. 53.7-21 May to 21 june 1944. T.F. S2 and T.G. 52.14-21 June to 4 July 1944. T.F. 53 and T.G. 53.7-4 July to 9 August 1944. T.F. 57 and T.G. 57.19-9 August to II September 19.14. I T.F. 77 and T.G. 77.1-10 September to I2 October 1944. T.F. 77 and T.G. 77.4-12 October to 9 No- vember 1944. T.G. 16.19--9 November to I9 November 1944. T G 19.12-20 November to 26 November 1944. T.U. 06.12--9 February to 16 February 1945. T U. 12.5.08-23 February to 4 March 1945, v T.U. 5I.ll.3'-4 March to 31 March 1945. '1'.G, 52.1 and T.F. 52.1.3-1 April to 28 May 1945- I 'I' G. 32.1 and TV. 32.1.3-28 May to 16 june 1945- T F, 78 and T.G. 78.4-26 june to 6 July 1945. T .F. 95 and T.G. 95.7-3 August to IO August I945- T.F. 95 and T.G, 95.3110 August to 2 September 1945- Signifcant change.: in functions: November 1942-Air Support and General Combat Operations. january-February 1943-Escort Duties. june 1943-September 1945-Air Support and General Combat Operatiofns. Physical mo-'vement.v: T942 , I7 October-departed Norfolk, Virginia for Ber- muda. ' 19-25 October-Bermuda.