Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 22 text:

ff fagqw T Ffa?-2. ' fe ship's 'F . . E L,,m i,,!' e lflherdry N , y during the ,,, WCII' Compiled from unofficial records. 7 December ....... 7-I5 December .,.. I6-I9 December . .. 20-28 December . .. 29 December. '41- 25 February, '42 26 February- 2 March ........ 3-I7 March ....... I8-22 March ...... 23 March- I3 April ........ I4 April-9 May .... I0-I2 May I3-I4 May ........ I5-25 May ........ 26-28 May ,....... 29 May-4 June .... 5-I8 June ...... . .. I9-2l June ... . .. 22-23 June ........ 24 June-4 July .... 5-6 July .......... 7-3l July ......... I-I3 Augusf ....... I4-I7 Augusf . .... . I8-26 Augusf ...... 27 Augus+, 42 +o 1 Msy, '43 ..... 1941 Parficipafed in defense againsf Japanese aerial affack af Pearl Harbor, T. H. Moored fo quay, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, T. H. Berfhed af Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor, T. H. Underway enroufe Bremerfon, Washingfon. 1942 Berfhed af Navy Yard, Bremerfon, Washing- Ion. Underway enroufe San Francisco, California. A+ San Francisco, California. Al sea. A+ San Francisco, California. Af sea. Unif of Task Force ONE operafing wilh fasl group of U. S. Pacific Fleer dur- ing Baffle of Coral Sea. Af anchor af San Pedro, California. Underway enroufe San Francisco, California Af San Francisco, California. A+ sea. Al San Francisco, California. A+ sea. Unif of Task Force ONE operafing wifh fash group of U. S. Pacific Fleef dur- ing Baffle of Midway. A+ anchor a+ San Pedro, California. Underway enroufe San Francisco, California. A+ San Francisco, California. Af sea. A+ San Francisco, California. A+ sea. Uni+ of Taslr Force ONE operafing wifh faslr group of U. S. Pacihc Fleef dur- ing inifial landings on Guadalcanal, Solo- mon Islands. Berfhed a+ Pearl Harbor, T. H. Underway enroufe Bremerfon, Washingfon. 1943 .Ship undergoing remodernizafion a+ Pugef Sound Navy Yard, Bremerfon, Washingfon. During +his period +he ship's company was quarfered af Navy Barracks, U. S. Re- ceiving Sfafion, from 8 Sepfember, l942, ra I4 April, I943. 8-2l May .... 22-30 May . . . 3l May . . . lJune 2-B June ... 9 June .... I0-2l June ... 22 June-3 July ..... 4-5 July ....... 6July ..... 7-l2July .. I3-22 July .... . 23 July-2 Augusf 3-I2 Augusf ....... I3-I7Augus+ ... I 8-23 Augusf ...... 24-30 Augusf . . . 3l Augus+- 20 Sepfember 2 I-22 Sepfember 23 Sepfember- 8 Ocfober ...... 9- I 4 Ocfo ber, '43 I 5-20 Ocfober ..... 2 I Ocfober- 4 November ..... 5-I2 November .... I3-I9 November 20 November- 3 December ,.... 4-I0 December .... I I-I4 December I5-20 December 2 I-28 December 29 December . .... . 30 December, '43- I 2 January, '44 I 3-20 January 2 I January ..... 22-30 January 3l January- I February 2-5 February ...... 6 February .. . 7-9 February ..... I0 February .,.. I I-I4 February I5-I6 February I7-22 February ,,., Trial runs in Puge+ Sound area. Underway enrou+e San Pedro, California. A+ sea, and a+ anchor a+ San Pedro, Cali. fornia. A+ anchor a+ San Pedro, California, and af sea. Underway enroufe Aleufian Islands. A+ anchor a+ Adalc, Aleu+ians. Parficipafed on pa+rol mission in Bering Sea as par+ of Nor+h Pacific Force, U. S. Pa- cific Fleef. A+ anchor a+ Adalr, Aleu+ians. ' A+ sea. A+ anchor a+ Adalc, Aleu+ians. Underway enrou+e Du+ch Harbor, Alaslca. A+ anchor a+ Du+ch Harbor, Alaslra. On pa+roI mission in AIeu+ian wafers, and during which +ime +he USS TENNESSEE par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ of Kislra on 2 Augus+, I943. A+ anchor a+ Adalr, Aleu+ians. A+ sea. During +his period +he USS TEN- NESSEE parficipafed in +he bombardmen+ of Kislca on I5 Augus+, I943. A+ anchor a+ Adalc, Aleu+ians. Underway enrou+e San Francisco, California. A+ San Francisco, California. Underway enrou+e San Pedro, California. A+ anchor a+ San Pedro, California. Underway enrou+e Pearl Harbor, T. H. Berfhed a+ Pearl Harbor, T. H. Underway enrou+e New Hebrides Islands. A+ anchor a+ Efafe, New Hebrides. Underway enrou+e Tarawa Afoll, Gilberl' Islands. Parficipafed in +he bombardmen+ and occu- pafion of Tarawa, Gilberf Islands. Underway enrou+e Pearl Harbor, T. H. Berfhed af Pearl Harbor, T. H. Underway enrou+e Hun+er's Poin+, California. Hun+er's Poin+, California. Underway enrou+e San Pedro, California. 1944 A+ anchor a+ San Pedro, California, and operafing off Clemenfe Island. Underway enrou+e Lahaina Roads, T. H. A+ anchor a+ Lahaina Roads, T. H. Underway enrou+e Kwaialein Afoll, Marshall Islands. Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and occu- pafion of Kwaialein. A+ anchor a+ Kwaialein. Underway enroufe Maiuro Afoll, Marshall Islands. .A+ anchor a+ Maiuro. Underway enrou+e Kwaialein. A+ anchor a+ Kwaialein. Underway enrou+e Eniwefok Afoll, Marshall Islands. 4 Parficipafed in +he bombardmen+ and occur pa+ion of Eniwefoh.

Page 21 text:

ThaT so lew hiTs were obTained considering The number and proximiTy oT The bombs ThaT Tell around us. We compared noTes aTTerwards, and decided ThaT during The baTTle abouT eighTeen To TwenTy bombs Tell wiThin I00 yards oT The ship. 5. Thar aT Times The TENNESSEE was enTirely hidden by huge smoke clouds driTTing Trom The ARIZONA and WEST VIRGINIA. Scenes abouT The ship aTTer The baTTle beggar descripTion. The waTer surrounding The TENNESSEE was covered wiTh burning oil, which spread Trom The ARIZONA, and Tire brigades were engaged in a desperaTe TighT Tor Two days To save The ship. During This Time damage conTroI parTies ToughT Tor many hours To exTinguish a large Tire ThaT had sTarTed back aTT in The oTTicers' quarTers. In The meanwhile casualries and survivors Trom oTher ships began To arrive. ThaT aTTernoon Ten sur- vivors oT The ARIZONA Marine deparTmenT were re- ceived on board, and amongsT Them was CapTain John E. Earle, Jr., who had assumed command on The previous day. Prior To his TransTer on The 6Th oT December, CapTain Earle had been a deTachmenT oTTicer on The TENNESSEE and we were ThankTul To see him Turn up alive. IT was a greaT shock To us when he inTormed us ThaT oT The eighTy-eighT Marines who Tormed The ARIZONA DeTachmenT, only ThirTeen were able To escape, and The oTher sevenTy-Tive had perished. MosT oT The survivors had been in The main-Top when The ship blew up and in some miraculous way, in spiTe oT The inTense heaT and choking smoke, had climbed down The masT, iumped overboard, and swam ashore Through paTches oT oil burning on The waTer. The only iniury received by The swimmers was sore guTs, caused by shock oT bombs exploding in The waTer. Among Those who perished was The EirsT SergeanT oT The ARIZONA-SergeanT John Duveene. The sur- vivors Told us ThaT aTTer coming up on deck, SergeanT Duveene suddenly wenT back inTo The ship wiTh The obiecT oT recovering The deTachmenT's viTaI records. PresenTly he sTaggered on deck again badly burnT all over, his cIoThing on Tire, buT carrying The records. I-le leaped overboard, and was never seen again. AbouT 9:00 p.m. ThaT evening we had a mild scare, Two planes wiTh running lighTs on Tlew low direcTly over The TIee+, and every American gun ThaT would bear opened Tire. IT was like a Tireworks dis- play, The golden Tracer Tire sTreaked Trom end To end along The line oT ships. One oT The planes crashed on Eord Island, and The oTher was shoT down iusT beyond aT Pearl CiTy, sTarTing a blaze ThaT was visible Trom all parTs oT The harbor. The Tollowing day iT was learned ThaT These planes were Trom The aircraTT carrier USS ENTERPRISE. During The resT oT The nighT noThing TurTher hap- pened, excepT ThaT all This Time The ARIZONA had been burning Tiercely, lighTing up The harbor Tor a greaT disTance, and much To our discomTiTure we were visible Tor miles round. She burned Tor Two days. Then Tollowedvseveral days oT Tidying up The ship, evacuaTing our wounded, burying The dead, and wriTing oT The reporTs. IT was very hard To know which oTTicers and men To recommend Tor special recogni- Tion when all had done so well. AT 3:30 p.m. on The 20Th oT December, The baTTle- ships PENNSYLVANIA, MARYLAND, and TENNES- SEE, accompanied by desTroyer escorT, leTT Pearl l-Iar- vor bound Tor The UniTed STaTes. I-Iardly had we puT To sea when our desTroyers reporTed submarine conTacT, and The baTTleships commenced To Zig-Zag as The desTroyers swepT over The area dropping depTh charges, buT noThing could be seen oT The resulT owing To our speed. AbouT This Time The TENNESSEE Touled some sub- merged obiecT which may have been a submarine. Eor one momenT The ship suddenly seemed To slow downq Then, giving a series OT shorT ierks, she wenT on again. We all remarked on iT'in The casemaTe, and The people sTaTioned below reporTed ThaT iT TelT like we rammed someThing below surTace. There Then sTarTed The long voyage home during which we had a number oT submarine scares, including The rumored sinking oT one submarine by a desTroyer abouT I2:00 midnighT on The 28Th oT December. Eor The resT, a condiTion oT alerTness, a bad sTorm, and Tinally The mainland. I On The 29Th oT December The TENNESSEE enTered The PugeT Sound Navy Yard aT BremerTon, WashingTon, Tor proper repairs and some sTrucTural alTeraTions. For eighT weeks hundreds oT workmen were employed aboard us, working day and nighT, and we leTT BremerTon on The 26Th oT Eebruary, I942, no worse Tor The BaTTle oT Pearl Harbor, buT insread a more eTTicienT ship Than we had been beTore The acTion.

Page 23 text:

23-24 February 25-29 February .... I-6 March ........ 7-I4 March ....... I5-I9 March ...... 20 March . . . 2I-24 March ...... 25 March-6 April . 7-I5 April ....... I6 April-30 May . .. 3I May-7 June . .. 8-9 June ......... I0-I3 June ....... I4-22 June ....... 23-24 June ....... 25 June-I5 July . .. I6-I9 July ....... 20-2l July 22 July .......... 23 July-I Augus+ . . 2-9 Augus+ ....... I0-I I Augus+ ... .. I2-I8 Augus+ ...... I9-23 Augus+ ...... 24 Augus+- I Sep+ember . . 2-3 Sep+ember . . . 4-5 Sep+ember . . . 6-I I Sep+ember I2-I9 Sep+ember 20 Sep+ember . . . ZI-24 Sep+ember 25-27 Sep+ember . 28 Sep+ember- II Oc+ober I2-I8 Oc+ober ... I9-29 Oc+ober . . 25 Oc+ober . . . 30-3I Oc+ober .. I-4 November . . 5-I5 November I6-I7 November IB-26 November Underway enrou+e Maiuro. A+ anchor a+ Maiuro. Underway enrou+e New Hebrides Islands. A+ anchor a+ E+a+e Island, New Hebrides. Underway enrou+e New Ireland. Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ of Kavieng, New Ireland. Underway enrou+e New Hebrides Islands. A+ anchor a+ Efa+e Island, New Hebrides. iUnderway enrou+e Pearl Harbor, T. H. Ber+hed a+ Pearl Harbor, T. H. .Underway enrou+e Kwaialein. .A+ anchor a+ Kwaialein. .Underway enrou+e Marianas Islands. .Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and occu- pa+ion of Saipan, Marianas Islands, dur- ing which +ime ship received re+urn +ire and hi+s from enemy shore ba++eries on Tinian. .Underway enrou+e Eniwe+ok. .A+ anchor a+ Eniwe+ok. .Underway enrou+e Guam, Marianas Islands. .Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmenl' and occu- pa+ion of Guam. .Underway enrou+e Saipan. .Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and occu- pa+ion of Tinian, Marianas Islands. .Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and occu- pa+ion of Guam. +o, and a+ anchor a+ .Underway enrou+e Eniwe+ok. A+ anchor a+ Eniwe+ok. Underway enrou+e New Hebrides Islands. ..A+ anchor a+ Espiri+u San+o Island, New Hebrides. ..Underway enrou+e Solomon Islands. ..A+ anchor a+ Por+ Purvis, Florida Island, Solomon Islands. ..Underway enrou+e Wes+ Caroline Islands. .Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and occu- pa+ion of Angaur Island, Palau Group, Wes+ Caroline Islands. ..A+ sea. ..A+ anchor a+ Kessel Passage, Palau Islands. ..Underway enrou+e AdmiraI+y Islands. ..A+ anchor a+ Manus Island, AdmiraI+y Is- lands. ..Underway enrou+e Philippine Islands. . .Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and occu- pa+ion of Ley+e Island, Philippine Islands. During +his +ime +he TENNESSEE was under numerous Japanese air a++acks. ...Par+icipa+ed in +he Ba++le of Surigao S+rai+, Philippine Islands. During +his sur+ace en- gagemen+ +his vessel delivered heavy +ire on Japanese warships. ...Underway enrou+e, Uli+hi. ...A+ anchor a+ UIi+hi. ...Underway enrou+e Pearl Harbor, T. H. ...Ber+hed a+ Pearl Harbor, T. H. . . .Underway enrou+e Bremer+on, Washing+on. 'I945 27 November, '44- 24 January, '45 25-26 January . . ..Ber+hed a+ Puge+ Sound Navy Yard, Bremer- +on, Washingion. ...A+ anchor off Blake Island, Puge+ Sound, Washing+on. 27 January ........ 28 January- I February ..... 2 February ....... 3-I I February .... I2-I3 February ... I4-I5 February ... I6 February- 7 March ....... I0-20 March .... . 2I-25 March ..... 26 March-3 May .. 4-6 May ..... . . 7 May-2 June . .. 3-9 June .. .. I0-22 June .. 23 June-3 July 4-I4JuIy .. Trial run c++ Por+ Townsend, Washing+on. Underway enrou+e Pearl Harbor, T. H. Ber+hed a+ Pearl Harbor, T. H. Underway enrou+e Marianas Islands. A+ anchor a+ Saipan, Marianas. Underway enrou+e Volcano Islands. Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and as- sauI+ of Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands. Underway enrou+e Ulifhi. 8-9 March ........ .A+ anchor a+ Ulirhi. .Underway enrou+e Ryukyus Islands. .Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and as- sauI+ of Okinawa Shima. Okinawa Gun+o, Ryukyus Islands. During +his opera+ion +he USS TENNESSEE successfully assis+ed in repelling numerous enemy air a++acks, and was s+ruck by a Japanese suicide plane on I2 April l945. .Underway enrou+e UIi+hi. .A+ anchor a+ Uli+hi. .Underway enrou+e Okinawa Shima. .Par+icipa+ed in +he bombardmen+ and as- sauI+ of Okinawa Shima. .Par+icipa+ed in pa+roI mission in Ryukyus Islands area. Par+icipa+ed in pa+roI mission in Eas+ China Sea. I5-I6JuIy .. .... A+ anchor a+ Buckner Bay, Okinawa Shima. I7-24 July .... .... 25 July-7 Augus+ . 7 Augus+- I5 Sep+ember I6-I7 Sep+ember I8-I9 Sep+ember 20-2I Sep+ember 22 Sep+ember- I Oc+ober . .. 2 Oc+ober . . 3-6Oc+ober . . 7 Oc+ober . . 8-I4 Oc+ober . . I5-22 Oc+ober . 23-26 Oc+ober . 27-29 Oc+ober . 30 Oc+ober- 2 November . 3-I4 November I5-I8 November I9 November- 6 December . 7 December . . . Par+icipa+ed in patrol mission in Ryukyus Islands area. ,.Par+icipa+ed in pa+roI missions in Eas+ China Sea. During +his opera+ion +he USS TEN- NESSEE assis+ed in suppor+ing Carrier Task Force delivering air s+rikes aqains+ enemy ins+aIIa+ions in area of Shanghai, China, on 28 July I945, and Chusan Is- land off China coas+ on 6 Augus+ I945. ..A+ anchor a+ Buckner Bay, Okinawa Shima. . .Underway in Eas+ China Sea during +yphoon. ..A+ anchor a+ Buckner Bay, Okinawa Shima. ..Underway enrou+e Wakayama Harbor, Hon- shu, Japan. ..A+ anchor a+ Wakayama Harbor, Japan. Par+icipa+ed in occupa+ion of Japan dur- ing which on 25 Sep+ember, I945, +he USS TENNESSEE suppor+ed +he ini+iaI landing o+ occupa+ionaI forces 0+ U. S. Arm a+ Waka ama and sen+ ashore a Y Y I Marine reconnaissance par+y +or purpose of gaining in+orma+ion o+ area. Underwa enrou+e Tokyo Bay Japan . . . y , . . . .A+ anchor a+ Tokyo Bay, Japan, par+icipa+ing in securi+y of Yokosuka Naval Base. ..Underway enrou+e Wakayama Harbor, Japan. ...A+ anchor a+ Wakayama Harbor, Japan. ...Underway enrou+e Singapore. ...A+ anchor a+ Singapore. . . ,Underway enrou+e Colombo, Ceylon. ...A+ anchor a+ Colombo, Ceylon. .. ,Underway enrou+e Cape Town, Sou+h Africa ...Ber+hed a+ Cape Town, Sou+h Africa. . . . . Underway enrou+e Philadelphia, Pennsyl vania. ....Docked a+ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.