Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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.J 1284-ng 4' 7. Sfeamy, bloody, hearf breaking Guadalcanal held fhe affenfion of 'rhe world as Allied forces sfruck fhe firsf blow fo sfop fhe sfeam-rolling Jap War Machine. ln flue dirfy, sfinking iungles of fhis lifnlle-known island American marines added one of fhe mosf glorious chapfers in fheir his'l'ory. Affer fhe landings had been successfully effecfed fhe TENNESSEE re- furned fo fhe Sfafes and in Sepfember of l942 al Pugel Sound Navy Yard began fhe maior modernizafion which fiffed her for fhe operafions which secured fhe final surrender of Japan. This was nof a mere beaufy parlor freafmenf wifh fouches of refinemenf being added here and fhere. This was maior surgery and fhe resulf was a rebirfh for Baffleship 43, for virfually a new ship emerged. Old hands who leff fhe ship when she enfered drydock could nof recognize fhe Rebel when fhey refurned a few monfhs lafer. Navy Yard workmen swarmed over 'lhe decks and 'lhe din of air hammers and cuffing forches was so ferrific fhaf communicafion was only possible in sign language. Working wifh amazing speed, off came fhe old cage masfs and double sfacks. The supersfrucfure was cul' away unlil 'lhe main lurrels and vasf holes yawned in 'lhe deck where workmen lowered new equipmenl for fhe engineering planf many decks below. While fhe workmen were making a clean sweep of fhe TENNESSEE preparafory fo sfarling new consfrucfion, newspaper headlines, day afler day, fold fhe sfory of fhe grim baffle being foughf on Guadalcanal. There were fhose uncerfain days in Ocfober when fhe J reinforcemenfs and our own Army reinforcemenfs arrived al fhe crisis. Head- lines also fold fhe sfory of fhe many naval engagemeni-5 gf H15 Eagfem Solomons, fhe baffle of Cape Esperance and 'lhe balnlle of 'lhe Sanla Cruz Islands in which we losf fhe veferan carrier HORNET apanese succeeded in landing and a desfroyer. webinar is as M 19,1

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Chinese sTaggered Through The rugged mounTains back To India. STilweII summarized The siTuaTion by saying: I claim we goT a hell oT a beaTing. We goT run ouT oT Burma and iT is humiIaTing as hell. Eluding The enemy over hundreds oT miles oT The SouTh PaciTic's sea lanes in a bouncing PT boaT, General MacArThur arrived in AusTralia. I came Through, he said, and I will reTurn. Commended by LieuTenanT General JonaThan WainwrighT, MacArThur's Tiny army held ouT in The Tunnels below Corregidor unTil The pangs oT sTarvaTion Torced Them To capiTulaTe-and begin The DeaTh March oT BaTaan. The whiTe man was Through in The OrienT. The Rising Sun oT Nippon was in The ascendancy. AT Trifling cosT, Japan had won herselT an empire -an empire oT rubber, oT Tin, oT oil-oT all The Tabulous weaITh oT The EasT. BrighT places were Tew in The PaciTic. On April I8, The carrier I-lorneT sTeamed To wiThin 800 miles oT Tokyo beTore sending land planes againsT The Japanese capiTal. The brieT momenT oT DooIiTTIe's glory cheered a sad naTion. Across halT a world The Nazi hordes ThreaTened Moscow and The DeserT Forces oT sharp-Taced Marshal Rommel gaThered sTrengTh Tor an onslaughT againsT The GaTes oT Alexandria. A Turning poinT came in The TiTanic baTTle oT The Coral Sea, May 4-8, when The TirsT greaT modern sea- baTTIe was ToughT wiThouT surTace ships coming wiThin gun-range oT each oTher. The TENNESSEE was a uniT oT Task Force One which engaged The enemy, buT was given The rouTine Task of proTecTing The Hawaiian Islands and oThers To The rear from a Japanese ThrusT while The oTher baTTle raged. For Tour days, a Tlaming baTTle spread over 400,- OOO square miles oT Tropic waTers and coral reeTs, wiTh The Two TleeTs sTanding 80 To IOO miles aparT. Two American carriers were piTTed againsT Three oT The enemy's. I As The smoke oT The sTruggIe cleared, I5 Japanese warships, including one carrier, were damaged. Amer- ican losses included The galIanT LEXINGTON, a de- sTroyer and one Tanker. The Japanese were noT yeT halTed, alThough our air sTrikes on Their shipping were beginning To have iTs eTfecT. The enemy landed aT Buna in New Guinea and began Their laborious ThrusT over The Towering Owen STanley mounTain range Toward PorT Moresby. They reached Their peak in Their TuTile ThreaTs againsT AusTralia wiTh an aborTive aTTempT aT Milne Bay. Six monThs aTTer The sTrike aT Pearl I-larbor, Japan Turned To Midway and I-Iawaii. The TENNESSEE was again a parT oT Squadron One and desTined To play a rear-guard parT in The acTion. As The resuIT oT an accuraTe esTimaTe ThaT The enemy would now Turn This way, a vasT invasion armada oT more Than 80 enemy ships was ambushed in The BaTTle oT Midway, June 3-6. IT was anoTher greaT engagemenT spread ouT over vasT ,secTions oT calm PaciTic waTer, wiTh Japanese landings in The AIeuTians as a sideIighT. Submarines, Flying ForTresses, Navy Flying BoaTs, Marine Bombers and FighTers sTruck Their blows againsT The enemy as well as American Carrier Planes. The Japanese baTTle TleeT, crippled and burning, Tled under The hail oT American bombs and Torpedoes. IT was Nippon's mosT disasTrous loss in her naval his- Tory. TwenTy Japanese warships, including Tour air-- craTT carriers, lay TwisTed and desTroyed on The ocean Tloor and Three baTTleships were damaged. AT IeasT 275 enemy planes would Tly no more. The UniTed STaTes Navy losT The carrier YOTRKTOWN and one desTroyer. This oTTicialIy ended our reTreaT in The PaciTic, buT I-IiTler's army was marching on STalingrad and Rommel had capTured Tobruk and was speeding To El Alamein. The Time had been reached when America would seize The iniTiaTive in PaciTic TighTing. IT came on AugusT 7, I942, on sTeaming Guadal- canal, a liTTIe isle in The Solomons, when Marines under Maior General Alexander A. VandergriTT scored a briIIianT surprise landing, seized The prized I-lenderson airTield and The nearby Tulagi anchorage. The TENNESSEE was again a parT oT The Task Torce on paTroI acTion Tar behind The scenes oT The landings. Guadalcanal marked The sTarT, The TirsT oT many amphibious landings on The road To Tokyo. While Americans ToughT Japanese Tor The insecT- inTesTed iungles oT The liTTIe island, The TENNESSEE was ordered back To The PugeT Sound Navy Yard aT BremerTon Tor modernizaTion, To make all in readiness Tor The many operaTions, soon To come, which were Then on The planning boards oT WashingTon and Pearl Harbor.

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Al lhis lime Admiral William F. lBulll Halsey look command of lhe naval forces in lhe area and lhe slage was sel for a show down engagemenl. On November I3, I4 and l5 lhe decisive ballle, known as lhe ballle of Guadal- canal, look place. ll was lhe grealesl surface aclion, al lhal lime, since lhe ballle of Julland in lhe Eirsl World War. The Japanese senl lhree forces of warships and lransporls, wilh a spear- head of al leasl lwo ballleships and I6 cruisers and deslroyers in one column. This vanguard was almosl deslroyed al nighl by a cruiser lask force led by Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan. Callaghan, malching his cruiser San Francisco againsl one of lhe ballleships, boldly lhrusl his lillle column in lhe midsl of lhe Japanese. Callaghan losl his life bul lhe Japanese were rouled in lhe confusion. Eilher unaware of lhe disasler lhal had overlaken lheir vanguard or unable lo arresl lheir ballle plans, lhe olher lwo Japanese forces came on lhe nexl day and ran inlo a similar massacre. The final counl was al leasl 28 Japanese ships sunk, including one ballle- ship and I2 lransporls loaded wilh lroops. Two American cruisers and six deslroyers were sunk: lhal made a serious sublraclion from lhe meager naval power we had al lhal lime. Refilling of lhe TENNESSEE wenl forward al a furious pace as growing American mighl was unleashed on slill anolher fronl. Moving wilh lhe grealesl secrecy Gen. Dwighl D. Eisenhower's greal expedilion sailed from England and America and slormed lhe Norlh African shore November 7. For lhe firsl lime lhe Axis parlners were informed lhal America's induslrial power had slarled lo roll as lhey saw increasing forces appearing in lhe Pacific and lhe greal armada lhal supplied lhe Norlh African forces. The workmen of lhe Pugel Sound Navy Yard ballled againsl lime in rebuilding lhis old ballleship. ll was nol long unlil lhe new design of lhe superslruclure was apparenl. There was a modern foremasl, a new mainmasl. and a new slack. When finally compleled, only a lrained eye could dis- linguish lhe superslruclure from lhal of lhe newesl of ballleships. A ballleship's reason for being is lo deslroy lhe enemy wilh her big guns. The finesl in eguipmenl was inslalled lo conlrol and aim lhose guns. Technicians inslalled rangekeepers lo follow enemy movemenls unerringly and make compensalions for everylhing from lhe speed of lhe wind lo lhe wear of lhe guns. There were new inslrumenls lo permil accurale fire no maller how badly lhe ship rolled and pilched. Olher experls came aboard lhe TENNESSEE lo inslall Eyes and Ears -- lhe grealesl secrel of lhe war al lhal lime-Radar. Wilh lhis equipmenl gunners of lhe TENNESSEE would know al all limes, whelher nighl or day. visibilily zero or clear, lhe exacl localion of lhe enemy in lhe clouds, on or under lhe sea. As lhe modernizalion neared lhe final slage, guns began lo slick oul from every vanlage poinl. There were sixleen five-inch guns wilh lhe finesl of modern conlrolling equipmenl and forly and lwenly millimeler guns on lhe lopside decks in every available spol. Meanwhile lhe officers and men lo fighl lhe ship were coming in. Old hands lhal had been senl away lo schools lo learn all aboul lhe new equipmenl relurned lo find a ship lhal was huslling and buslling and nearly ready lo carry lhe lighl lo lhe enemy. Old hands and new hands plunged inlo lhe work, learning lhe characlerislics of lhe new equipmenl, evolving lhe proper procedures. They were ready as lhe ship was ready when lhe TENNESSEE pul lo sea again in May of i943 lo cul a swalh lhrough lhe far norlh and lhe Pacific lhal ended in Tokyo. i' 'A' i'