Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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NTT duII whoomph oT huge expIosives which sTrucIc so close To The ship ThaT she shivered Trom end To end. During The TirsT aTTacIc a Iow-TIying Torpedo carry- ing pIane coming in asTern oT us was blown inTo in- TiniTesimaI pieces by a direcT hiT Trom our anTi- aircraTT baTTeries. IT happened, Ii+eraIIy speaking, in a TIash: one momenT There was an aT'TacIcing plane: The nexT momenT iT was a puTT oT smoke. When This cIeared There was noThing To be seen save dusT seTTIing on The waTer. The Marines were sTaTioned on The 5-inch broad- side guns numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, and IO. They had noThing acTive To do aT The beginning oT The acTion-any Tiring by The broadside baTTeries was absoIuTeIy ouT oT The guesTion as The porT guns Trained on The adiacenT WEST VIRGINIA, while The sTarboard guns aimed aT Ford Island. They had simply To sTand-by under a heavy aerial assauIT unable To repIy, or To puT iT in The vernacular oT The Marines in casemaTe No. IO, iVVe TeIT like basTards aT a Tamily reunion. CapTain Chevey S. WITiTe INorTon, Kan.I, in com- mand oT The Marines, seeing ThaT iT was no use Iceep- ing The Marines on The broadside baTTeries senT a vcIunTcer crew To man The 3finch gun on The sTar- beard side oT The guarTer-deck, and The surpIus were givin a chance To TighT iT ouT wiTh ancienT Lewis inaciwiiwcf guns pIacod in advanTageous posiTions abouT TIW- Thin There was an inTervaI oT comparaTive calm, which ,L'4fVITl',fI a good opporTuniTy To ascerTain The casuaITies uTTi iced by The Marines and maI4e a reporT To CapTain Wnifr, AccordingIy I began a Tour oT The assumed riaTTIc f.TaTion's checking The men by The rosier which I had broughT wiTh me. I counTed 75, There had been 9 I My nexT job Then was To Take a IooIc around The 'hip Tor The men missing. NaTuraIIy, my TirsT ThoughT was To fee iT They were among The wounded. I wenT f1'3IC2'iJ To second deck, where sick bay was IocaTed. The C-aii-age-way OuTside The ward was covered wiTh men Iving on maTTresses or on coTs. STepping care- 'eIT,f beTs-'Teen The rows oT maimed. burned, and bleed- ing I gropeo my way To The surgeons oTTice. A hos- c7TaI cerpsman 2nTormed me ThaT no Marines appeared on The casuaITy IisT. T XI ii? we Ti T X X XTX 3

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Took a heavy lisT To The porT. She had been badly hiT by several Torpedoes in The opening aTTaclc. Incendiary of horizonTal bombers aT an alTiTude oT abouT l0,000 TeeT. Some sixTy enemy planes were diving aT our ships. Then a very greaT many Things happened in a very shorT Time. The Japanese planes sTruclc Time and bombs sTarTed Tires which Tilled her declcs and super- sTrucTure wiTh Tlame and smolce. ln The midsT oT all This Turmoil, The NEVADA, The nexT ship asTern oT The blazing ARlZQNA goT under way and headed Tor The channel. As she moved dawn sTream The vessel was a TargeT oT many enemy planes unTiI badly crippled by a Torpedo, and aTTer ThaT she ran aground To prevenT sinlcing. The nexT picTure was a desTroyer, name unlcnown, leaving The harbor under a wiThering Tire Trom Japanese planes. BuT To reTurn To The TENNESSEE, The real sTory oT This ship lies in The splendid manner in which The ohficers and men on board arose To The emergency. When General QuarTers was sounded all hands dashed To Their baTTle sTaTions. There was no panic. The shoclc Tound each and every man ready Tor his iob. AnTi-aircraTT and machine guns were guiclcly manned, The TirsT gun geTTing inTo acTion in less Than Three minuTes aTTer The alarm. For The nexT TorTy minuTes The TENNESSEE was The cenTer oT a whirlwind oT bombs and bulleTs. The Japanese planes bombed our ship and Then bombed again. They opened up wiTh machine guns in low Tlying aTTaclcs. The ship's gun crews ToughT wiTh uTmosT gallanTry, and in a mosT Tenacious and deTermined manner. They had no ThoughT Than To lceep The guns going and Thereby annihilaTing Those slanT-eyed sons- OT-biTches Trom The land oT The Rising Sun. l-losTile planes swooping down on whaT They ThoughT an easy prey. were greeTed wiTh volleys Trom our anTi-aircraTT and machine guns. ATTer such a warm recepTion The Japanese airmen gave The TENNESSEE a wide berTh. So TerriTic Was The noise oT The explosions and our own anTi-aircraTT guns ThaT one could noT hear himselT speak and had TO shouT in anybody's ear. The air seemed To be Tull oT TragmenTs and Tlying pieces. ln The general din There was The whoosh, Tollowed by a 1 X X .K R ' -1 :J QJ 9, -J' Q! inf -- 'rgfhr , y 'iwiin . X Q -. ii' ' :t N133 in X - 'L N X 'i i E--.12 E'.:' ' X n

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l fluen crossed over fo Marine office on flue porf side, and found flue lock luad been knocked off flue door by a working parfy defailed fo secure all baffle porfs. l fluougluf if would be iusf as well fo gafluer up our service-record books in case if was necessary fo quickly abandon sluip, so l puf flue records in my pillow case and carried fluem up fo casemafe No. IO. Someone fold me fluere were a few Marines man- ning flue main fop, some 70 or SO feef above flue deck, access fo wluiclu could be gained by ascending a series of iron ladders running up flue inferior of flue masf. Deciding fo luave a look fluere for flue missing men, I clambered up flue ladders, pasf flue firsf landing, flurouglu a belf of luof acid funnel smoke, and was lualf- way fo flue fop wluen enemy planes suddenly reap- peared and soon we were in flue fluick of a bombing and a sfrafing affack. lf is difliculf fo wrife clearly of flue defails of fluis affack for flue wluole fluing oufdid flue mosf imaginafive picfure of a baffle. llue Japs dive-bombed our sluips again and again, wluile low-flying planes, no more fluan IOO feef above flue wafer sfrafed flue gun crews. Tluey flew fo flue end of flue bay, made a furn and came back. For abouf fwenfy minufes flue sfrafing affack kepf up, flue planes going confinuously up and down, spraying flue long row of bafflesluips wiflu ma- cluine-gun bullefs. ln flue general din l could luear flue sfaccafo bark of flue pom-poms on flue MARYLAND iusf aluead of us. Tluere was somefluing fremendously luearfening abouf flue sound of fluem, and flue very noise was inspiring. Affer wluaf seemed ages fo me some of flue raiders leff and flue sky was clearer. A ferrible scene of desfrucfion was revealed fo me as l fook a general look around. Tlue WEST VIRGINIA iusf abeam of us was blazing furiously. Cnly flue boffonu of flue OKLAHOMA was visible. 'llue ARL ZONA was an inferno now, emiffing dense volumes of smoke wluiclu luung over flue luarbor like a funeral pall. Our nexf aluead, MARYLAND was luif by a large bomb on flue forecasfle wluiclu penefrafed flue deck and made an ugly luole in fuer porf bow. An armor-piercing bomb luad exploded in one of flue casemafes on flue PENN- SYLVANlA. Looking fowards flue CALll:QRNlA l noe ficed fluaf slue luad a lueavy lisf fo flue porf side, and Nm cu QX7- i 3 f N l