Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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4' 'J 'T v QQ T v. - Q-14?-f?W . . f 11 . -Q li' f L ss re.. ' I as H Q The 20Th, amid The Thunder oT The big guns oT The USS SANTA FE, already engaged in bombarding The island and dueling wiTh Japanese shore baTTeries. The TirsT Tire Trom The TENNESSEE wenT screaming Toward BeTio's whiTe coral beach aT 0626, crashing among The enemy's clusTer oT guns guarding The sea approaches and air lanes. ReporTs reached The ship oT many planes, sTiIl abouT 45 miles disTanT, laTer proving To be Triendly. A Japanese submarine was reporTed dead ahead and desTroyers rushed like Terriers To The scene. Word Trom our paTrol- ling planes came back: The area is compleTely black. Fire conTinued Trom The TENNESSEE'S main baTTery. wiTh only shorT inTerrupTions, unTil abouT 0740, wiTh The secondary baTTery also joining in The acTion. TargeTs in- cluded a shore baTTery on NorThwesT PoinT and The beach- head area. During This phase oT The operaTion, TransporTs dis- charged Their assaulT Troops inTo landing boaTs, which moved slowly Toward The line oT deparTure under The guidance OT a desTroyer and a minesweeper. The range closed Trom l2,000 To 7,000 yards. I-I I-Iour-when landing parTies were scheduled To reach The beach was delayed unTil 0845. IT was again seT back To 0900. The big guns oT The TENNESSEE again wenT inTo acTion, preceding anoTher air sTrike seT Tor 0830. The iniTial wave oT landing boaTs headed Tor The beach and all was quieT momenTarily. AbouT 500 yards oTT The beach The T-liggins boaTs ran aground on The Treacherous reeT. Through a murderous barrage oT Japanese morTar shells and Tire Trorn auTo- maTic weapons, Marines scrambled over The sides oT The boaTs inTo waTer chin deep, wading ashore, Their weapons held high above Their heads. Few men reached The beach. Those who managed iT dove under The shelTer oT a reTaining wall. Midway on The beach was a coconuT log and coral pier, exTending Tar ouT in The lagoon. Nearby was a red Japanese ship Trom which The enemy poured a murderous Tire Trom machine guns on our landing craTT and men in The waTer. The red ship. a deaTh Trap Tor hundred oT Marines. had noT been shelled during pre-invasion bombardmenT and iT was noT unTil The Tollowing day when iT was de- sTroyed, an alerT piloT sending iT up in Tlames Trom an aerial bomb. The TENNESSEE resumed Tiring aT I054, delivering iTs big shells in a cerTain designaTed area. BoTh main and secondary baTTeries lobbed Their shells againsT TargeTs unTil II38. AT I224 Tiring again began, conTinuing unTil l3O0 when a cease Tire order was given. Air sTrikes Trom carrier planes conTinued To rake The island deTenders. Joined by The COLORADO and The screening de- sTroyers BAILEY and McKEE, The TENNESSEE pro- ceeded souThwesT oT BeTio where iT remained ThroughouT The nighT, reTurning To iTs Tire supporT area on Sunday morning, November 2I. BeTio, like many islands which Torm PaciTic aTolls, was connecTed by a road during The Time oT low Tide wiTh adjoining islands. A reporT ThaT Japs Trom BeTio were moving across To The nexT adiacenT island senT a landing parTy oT Marines To invade and occupy ThaT Tiny biT oT land laTe in The aTTernoon. The ship covered The landing buT was noT called on To Turnish Tire. No Tire was ordered on Sunday, alThough The crew wenT To general quarTers aT I334. MomenTs laTer, a large group oT planes were reporTed, laTer idenTiTied as our own. LaTe in The aTTernoon, The PorTland ioined The group To add iTs Tirepower To The already Tormidable array oT American naval mighT in The area. Again aT dusk, The TENNESSEE and COLORADO screened by The ever-presenT desTroyers BAILEY FRAZIER and ANDERSON wiThdrew, again To The souTh- wesT, To reTurn aT dawn on The morning oT November 22. Amid a scurry oT acTiviTy ThaT morning, The crew wenT To general quarTers again aT 0400 when unidenTiTied planes, I5 miles disTanT, were reporTed closing in. lnTer- cepTor planes Trom nearby carriers, hurriedly warmed up sped oTT The TlighT deck in darkness To Take up The challenge. The easTern Tip oT BeTio, knocking ouT a cosTal baTTery and covering The landing oT American Troops who were going ashore under heavy Japanese Tire. AbouT noon a landing craTT came alongside wiTh a Japanese prisoner, being held Tor quesTioning by Rear Admiral I-I. W. l-Iill, whose Tlag was being carried on The USS MARYLAND. The shore bombardmenT oT Tarawa was compleTed buT aT I748 depTh charges Torced a large Japanese sub- marines To surTace abouT I l,000 yards oTT The sTarboard beam. The sub was spoTTed by one oT The TENNESSEE'S Tive-inch gun crews when iT surTaced and 2l rounds were Tired upon iT wiTh eTTecT. The sub was being engaged aT shorTer range by The desTroyers MEADE and FRAZIER. The gaIlanT ERAZIER rammed and sank The sub, The enemy ship wiTh bow up, slowly sinking beneaTh The churn- ing PaciTic waTers. The desTroyer Then picked up survivors who had been manning a deck gun againsT iT. The TENNESSEE remained in The viciniTy oT Tarawa unTil December 3 when iT headed easT Tor Pearl I-larbor and CaliTornia. Tarawa was secure. IT had been secured aT The cosT oT many American lives, and The lessons gained in amphibious warTare had noT been purchased cheaply. The lessons had been learned however and how Thoroughly would be demonsTraTed Tully soon when The Marshall Islands would be invaded aT a Ii+Tle spiT oT sand called Kwaialein. AT 0800, The TENNESSEE delivered call Tire on

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kwalaleln Cinderella IiberTies were The rule Tor The men oT The TENNESSEE as preparaTions were being made Tor a mosT daring and sTraTegic move ThaT would bIasT open The cenTraI Pacific. ChrisTmas oT I943 was spenT in San Eran- cisco while yard workmen were painTing The ship ouT aT I-IunTer's PoinT. The word was ouT ThaT a big operaTion was in The making and on December 29 This ship headed Tor San Pedro and San CIemenTe Island where Tull-scale rehearsals were held. The main and secondary baTTeries blasTed pseudo TargeTs and The crew kepT an eye on The clock hoping ThaT pracTice would be over early enough To make a dash back To San Pedro. By The Time The ship rounded The breaIcwaTer, liberTy parTies were decked ouT in blues and were ready To make The break Tor Pecos STreeT landing and Their TavoriTe spoTs in Long Beach and Los Angeles. Early on The morning oT January I3 The TENNESSEE headed Tor Lahaina Roads, beauTy spoT oT I-Iawaii, ar- riving on The 2IsT. Provisions were Tossed aboard and a big TIeeT Tanker pumped TueI,oiI as Tinal preparaTions were made Tor The big show in The cenTraI PaciTic-Kwaialein AToII in The Marshall Islands. Under-SecreTary oT The Navy James ForresTaI and an impressive sTaTT oT Admirals represenTing six Navy bureaus came aboard shorTly before geTTing underway for The Marshalls. I-Ie announced ThaT he was here To observe, TirsT hand, whaT The men oT The Navy needed, whaT They had To say, and To learn whaT could be done To make Their work more eTFecTive. Since I9I4 The Japanese had held The Marshalls, 2,000 miles souThwesT oT Pearl I-Iarbor. Their deTenses had been planned and perTecTed in The greaTesT secrecy. Roi and Namur Islands, The TENNESSEE's TargeTs, were known To be inTesTed wiTh blockhouses, coasT deTense guns, ma- chine-gun emplacemenTs, and an inTricaTe sysTem oT Trenches. Reconnaissance phoTos made by carrier based planes, showed heavy TorTiTicaTions guarding The principal beaches. Here was a seT-up ThaT would TesT The men and equipmenT oT The TENNESSEE, Though Tor weeks swarms of carrier based planes had smashed aT The island deTenses. Joining The largesT TleeT ThaT The world had ever seen, The TENNESSEE added iTs mighT To The overpowering naval sTrengTh under The command oT Admiral R. A. Spruance, operaTing wiTh Task Force 53. FavoriTe meeTing place oT Under-SecreTary EorresTaI and his sTaTT was The CPO mess. A number oT The Admirals said ThaT They Taced sTarvaTion if iT had noT have been Tor The coTTee and sandwiches available aT all hours. One Two-sTar Admiral remarked ThaT he liked The ChieT's mess because he could Tind ouT whaT was going on and geT beTTer inTormaTion Than he could in oTI7icer's counTry. ShorTIy aTTer nidnighT The Task Torce and The Trans- porTs carrying The 4Th Marine Division slipped Through The EasTern chain oT The Marshall Islands and approached Jap-held Kwaialein Trom The NorTheasT. The TransporTs moved To an area WesT oT The aToIl, while The baTTle- ships TENNESSEE and COLORADO, The cruisers MOBILE and LOUISVILLE, plus The desTroyers ANDERSON and MORRIS Took a posiTion To The EasT oT Kwaialein. AT 0430 The morning oT January 3I, I94-4, The men were aT General OuarTers and a deep voice on The loudspeaker ordered, SeT condiTion Zebra. Behind The TENNESSEE, sTeaming along aT I2 knoTs, were The MOBILE, LOUIS- VILLE, and COLORADO, in ThaT order. Planes were launched aT 0625 To spoT Tire and TurreT Two cuT loose aT 07I0 wiTh Three gun salvos direcTed aT pillboxes guarding The beach iusT To The EasT oT Tokyo pier on Roi Island. TurreT One opened up on The same TargeT and smacked I5 shells dead on. JusT Then, carrier based dive bombers came over The island and unloaded Their deadly cargo and Tire Trom The TENNESSEE was checked unTil The bombing aTTack was complefe. Japanese anTi-aircraTT guns opened up on The swooping planes and spoTTers marked Them Tor TargeTs. As soon as The planes were ouT oT The way The main baTTery hiT The anTi-aircraTT guns wiTh Two Three-gun salvos ThaT puT Them ouT oT commission. The secondary baTTery opened up on pill- boxes along The beach and soon had Them reduced To a Dile oT rubble. For The nexT Two hours The main and secondary baTTeries hammered away aT choice TargeTs on Namur Island. AT 0930 Troops swarmed ashore on The small islands ThaT Tlanked boTh Roi and Namur and seT up IighT arTilIery To help in The pounding oT The Two sTronghoIds oT The aTolI. A Tew minuTes oT The bombardmenT sTarTed one very large Tire on Namur. The TENNESSEE was crediTed wiTh reducing several large blockhouses, includ- ing one called PaI, an imporTanT obsTacle ThaT was To be removed aT all cosTs. T-Iigh spoT oT The day was when The MOBILE blew up an ammuniTion dump which rose in The air like a huge mushroom and showered The island wiTh sparklers.