Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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impracTicable To assume ThaT These conTacTs Japanese undersea cargo TIeeT aTTempT- The American blockade around Kiska. OT The TENNESSEE ThoughT They were ouT on rouTine paTroI unTil abouT noon, AugusT 2, The was passed, Make all preparaTions Tor bombard- oT Kiska lsland. This was one operaTion ThaT had labeled Top secreT and iT was a secreT. H Crowding The ladders and rushing To Topside Tor a look aT The obiecTive, The men were disappoinTed when all They could see was The usual misT and heavy cumulus clouds on The horizon. AT I3IO The TENNESSEE com- menced The approach Tor The bombardmenT of Kiska. sTeaming in company wiTh The USS IDAI-IO, DALE, PHELPS and ANDERSON, zig-zagging along aT I7 knoTs. Men Trom The TirsT and second divisions Tinished preparaTions Tor sTreaming paravanes aT l43O and The Task group slowed down To I2 knoTs as The paravanes hiT The waTer. A half hour IaTer The Two observaTion planes were launched To spoT Tire and aT I535 The loudspeaker blared SeT condiTion one ThroughouT The ship, and in a Tew minuTes added SeT condiTion Zebra. Approaching Trom The easT The TENNESSEE opened Tire aT a disTance oT 7,000 yards wiTh The secondary baT- Tery, gunning Tor anTi-aircraTT gun emplacemenTs on Sun- rise Hill. The TargeT was shrouded in low clouds and damage could noT be observed Trom The ship, alThough The coasT line was visible. There was no reTurn Tire Trom Sunrise PoinT. LT. Chapman, spoTTing Tire in plane No. 22, caughT a Tew clear glimpses oT The TargeT area and re- porTed iT well covered by The IOO salvos Trom The Tive-inch guns, one shell making a direcT hiT on a 75mm baTTery. The spoTTing plane drew lighT anTi-aircraTT Tire buT There was no damage. As The Task group proceeded along The coasT The main baTTery oT The TENNESSEE wenT inTo acTion and plasTered The submarine base aT Kiska Island and Then shiTTed Tire To a heavy anTi-airc:raTT baTTery on SouTh I-lead. This occurred abouT I63O and visibiliTy dropped To zero so ThaT observaTion oT damage was noT possible. AT The submarine base The airplanes again drew anTi-aircraTT Tire and aT I645 all baTTeries were ordered To cease Tire. For The TirsT Time The crew oT The TENNESSEE had Thrown lead aT The enemy, excepT aT Pearl Harbor, and iT was an enThusiasTic, parTIy seasoned group oT men ThaT secured Trom baTTIe sTaTions aTTer The TirsT bombardmenT. The paTTern was now seT Tor The years To Tollow oT The role This old baTTIeship would have in The long drive To Tokyo. ReTurning To Adak I-Iarbor The Task group awaiTed compleTion oT Army plans Tor The landings aT Kiska and early in The morning oT AugusT I5 The main and second- ary baTTeries again cuT loose on The island and The Troops poured ashore. OpposiTion? A lonely, sTarved Jap dog and a small driTTwood Tire wiTh a poT oT coTTee iusT com- ing To a boil. The oTTicial Tiles oT The Naval lnTelIigence secTion in WashingTon may show when and how The Japs deparTed Kiska buT aT The Time oT The landings iT was The number one mysTery ThroughouT The sTaTes. lvlen oT The TEN- NESSEE Teared The worsT, buT only The besT had hap- pened. Once again back To dreary Adak Harbor and Then orders began pouring in Tor The TENNESSEE To haul ouT oT AIeuTian waTers and make Tor San Francisco and Then To San Pedro Tor provisioning. Big plans were being made Tor PaciTic operaTions and The TENNESSEE was righT in The middle. They didn'T know iT Then buT The nexT opera- Tion was The sTarT oT slashing a paTh Through The PaciTic To drive The Japanese Trom The occupied islands. NexT sTop-Ta rawa I A we MM , To If I sAT1sFY-X ' 1 Q Tn fi f 4 X ' I - N I . v 1 'QW .. , I .T ff! v,,' , I ' - -711111 i , f. y , , 7 ,ir ,I I , , I ' ' i 5 n f 'II' 1 . , I I lf ' QA . ii 4.15 7 A n I 'Tj' X fx' ff f ffff K fy-SF KISAITT f-OG ,il f ,. fa T ffiisa X W X KET fwhyy,-,l7f,' ,rfrf H11 4001543 w - in 'HI' Fog on Th' loci' Deck-He Ain'T ET in Three new- T I seg Your ni-aan sir-is This ui' Bridge?

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The nexT day iT was learned ThaT a sTriking group senT by our TleeT air wing had made conTacT and claimed sunk, one damaged. The planes operaTed under The usual weaTher condiTions, zero visibiliTy, zero ceiling. There was one dark and biTTer nighT The laTTer parT of July when The crew became as Tense as The mainspring oT a dollar alarm clock. Radio reporTs came in ThaT ad- vance Torces had conTacT wiTh nine enemy surTace craTT, laying a headon course To inTercepT Admiral Kingman's NorTh PaciTic force. The ship was in condiTion Three and as The inTervening disTance decreased, condiTion Two was seT. Original reporTs had The enemy Torce I50 miles away and moving aT high speed. As The range closed more oT The crew wenT To Their sTaTions and when 45 miles disTanT all hands were aT quarTers, ready Tor Their hrsT baTTle. And Then, The enemy Torce disappeared. There were many Theories offered as To whaT hap- pened To The phanTom Torce. Many of The Crew believed ThaT The Japs had employed Their TavoriTe baTTle ma- neuver oT Turning Tail and hauling ouT oT The area. OThers believed ThaT The enemy Torce was made up of huge, cargo-carrying submarines who had merely been running on The surTace and when They spoTTed The American TleeT had submerged and had proceeded To reinforce The Kiska garrison. To This day There has never been an official explanaTion. There is a good deal oT evidence To supporT The cargo submarine Theory. A Tew nighTs laTer anoTher Task Torce made radar conTacT wiTh some nine unidenTiTied obiecTs aT 20,000 yards, and The baTTleships MISSISSIPPI and NEW MEXICO Tired abouT 600 rounds Trom Their main baTTery aT The TargeTs. No wreckage was ever Touncl. The following day one of our scouT planes reporTecl nine unidenTiTied ships approaching The Kislca area. When This Task Torce rushed To The area, noThing was found. il 5 . i' V . Q 9 XXL f a 5 e F5 claw vm- 'ra-I Hsieh wmie - A A W

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11 Q-1 Y A, , FY, i i i 'tv i Qi 'l'G YGW The Time Tor Americas TirsT real oTTensive in The CenTral PaciTic was aT hand. The soldiers oT The Emperor had been halTed, and now Thousands oT new amphibious vessels, Tresh Trom America's quickly builT shipyards, would run onTo The whiTe coral beaches oT The PaciTic. Millions oT jungle-Trained Troops would swing inTo acTion Tor The TirsT Time. To provide a springboard Tor TuTure operaTions and To neuTralize enemy power over a wide area oT The PaciTic, liTTle Tarawa AToll became a maior obiecTive-an obiecTive whose memory will Torever burn in The hisTory OT America. Today huge bulldozers have leveled The sTouT Japanese pillboxes and Tilled The yawning shell holes and bomb craTers oT Tarawa. Rows of small while crosses above neaTly kepT mounds oT whiTe sand mark The 'final resTing place oT men who paid wiTh Their lives ThaT we mighT seize This enemy TorTiTicaTion and gain a TooThold Tor The long march To Tokyo. Leaving ETaTe in The sTeaming New l-lebrides on November I3, The USS TENNESSEE operaTed as a parT oT Task Force 53, providing pre-invasion bombardmenT and covering Tire as green-clad marines swarmed ashore aT H-l-Tour. The TENNESSEES obiecTive was Tiny BeTio lsland, lying aT The souThwesT corner oT Tarawa Moll, where The Japanese had concenTraTed Their defenses. l.iTTle more Than Two miles long and 700 yards across aT iTs widesT poinT. BeTio, like oThers in The C5ilberT group, had Tor many years been under BriTish rule, Two days aTTer Pearl l-larbor, war upseT The peace and Tranquil liTe of The 27,000 brown-skinned naTives oT The GilberTs and The Japanese hoisTed Their Rising Sun over The baking sands oT Tarawa on ChrisTmas Day, l94I. EorTiTicaTion and sTrengThening oT The newly-won islands did noT Take place unTil The Tollowing SepTember when naTives, Torced To move Their villages, labored Tor Their conquerors and hacked coconuT logs To build pill-boxes, TorTiTicaTions and aircraTT reveTmenTs oT modern war. OperaTions were seT To begin wiTh an American air sTrike againsT The island's deTenders aT 0545 November 20, To be Tollowed aT 06I5 by Tire Trom The TENNESSEES Torward TurreTs. TargeTs were To be a baTTery oT enemy six-inch guns deeply emplaced on The island's norThwesT poinT. During The Tiring, The plans called Tor The ship To move close inTo The island and circle The area, giving boTh Torward and aTT TurreTs ample opporTuniTy Tor Tiring. The naval bombardmenT phase oT The acTion was seT To end aT 0830 when Marines Trom snub-nosed landing barges would move onTo The coral beach. The Tennessee manned iTs baHle sTaTions aT 05l5 on The morning of T