Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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While smoke Trom The Tremendous explosion blofllfed The view oT The island Trom The TENNESSEE, one piIOT reporTed: The island is a mass oT Thick, black smokei can'T see how any living Thing can be leTT on The island. Guns oT The TENNESSEE conTinued To pour OUT The lead unTil abouT noon when The ship reTired Trom The Tiring area and recovered aircraTT. The planes were quickly re- Tueled and preparaTions were made To launch Them again. Cooks had been busy in The galley during The morning bombardmenT and dinner was served on baTTle sTaTions. ReTurning To The Tiring line, boTh The main and secondary baTTeries kepT up a conTinuous Tire The re- mainder oT The aTTernoon. SpoTTing planes reporTed ex- cellenT resulTs and TargeTs were swiTched rapidly as The islands oT Roi and Namur were sTripped oT deTensive posiTions by The TerriTic hail oT sTeeI. I-leavy Tire was mainTained unTil I700 when The ship moved away Trom The islands and ouT To sea Tor nighT cruising. Many Tires doTTed boTh islands and a heavy pall oT smoke driTTed wiTh The wind. Weary crew members, begrimed wiTh sweaT, grease, and powder crawled Trom baT'Tle sTaTions and lined up Tor supper. There was a rush Tor The showers and inTo The sack as G.O. would come early when The bombardmenT was resumed on Namur and The Troops poured ashore. During The TirsT day oT bombardmenT The gun crews had pushed ouT 376 rounds oT I4-inch and I,336 rounds oT Tive-inch ammuniTion aT The choice TargeTs ThaT doTTed The heavily TorTiTied islands. Troops had made Their posiTion secure on a number oT small islands oT Kwaialein aToll when The TENNESSEE sTeamed back inTo Tiring posiTion The morning oT Eebruary I. All hands were aT baTTle sTaTions aT 0500 and planes were soon launched To spoT Tire in supporT oT The land- ings on Roi and Namur Islands. Guns oT This ship sTarTed barking aT 0700 and kepT up a consTanT Thunder unTil shorTIy beTore The Marines landed on Roi Island aT IIS7. JusT beTore The landings every gun ThaT could bear on The island poured ouT sTeel in TerriTic quanTiTies. AbouT 0920 There was an explosion ThaT was so exTensive ThaT iT appeared ThaT a maior porTion oT The island had blown up. Topside observers who wiTnessed The explosion de- scribe iT as a vasT upheaval oT The enTire island and a cloud oT smoke and debris ThaT bIoTTed ouT The sun. A squadron oT planes Tlying above The cenTer oT The island were caughT by The TerriTic concussion. All oT The planes buT Two came TIuTTering ouT oT The sky like ducks sTruck by. a charge Trom a I2 gauge shoTgun. The wings oT The planes TIuTTered as The planes spun Through The vacuum and crashed inTo The ground, moTors roaring as The propeller spun in The dead air. A heavy rain sTai'Ted Talling aTTer The explosion. While The pre-invasion bombardmenT was building To iTs peak, oTher ships on The oTher side oT The aToll were blasTing Their side oT The island. Shells ThaT looked like TreighT cars came Through The air and landed dangerously near The TENNESSEE. Two ricocheTs deTonaTed aboiyf 500 yards oTT The porT guarTer and one ricocheT landed close aboard on The sTarboard bow. Passing over sky Tour and hiTTing 20 yards Trom The ship abreasT oT sky one. IT was learned laTer ThaT The Tire was coming Trom The USS MARYLAND and a reguesT To change The line oT Tire disposed oT any more unpleasanT near misses. The USS LOUISVILLE was noT so TorTunaTe as The TENNESSEE. One oT The ricocheTs splaTTered The LOUIS- VILLE wiTh shrapnel, punching I9 holes in The TanTail. Marines poured ashore aT Roi sTanding up and no opposiTion was Tound on The beaches. Never beTore had Naval gunTire been so eTTecTive in eliminaTing opposiTion To landings. The Tew Japanese ThaT were capTured were in a sTaTe oT near collapse Trom The shock oT The TerriTic bombardmenT. On all oT Roi, only six palm Trees re- mained sTanding and sTiIl bearing Tronds. The island was secured early in The aTTernoon and Troops poured across To Namur To help wipe ouT The opposiTion ThaT remained on The NorThern parT oT The island, There was a pockeT oT sTiTT resisTance and isolaTed machine-gun posiTions and snipers' nesTs. The Marines advanced behind air bombing, sTraTing and Tield arTillery Trom The small islands ThaT had been capTured The previous day. AssaulT engineers wiTh Tlame Throwers and demoliTion charges cleaned ouT The pill- boxes. W Erom The beach came reporTs ThaT The Japanese, desperaTe under The pounding oT The big guns, desTroyed Their own ammuniTion dumps and There were insTances oT mass and individual suicide. Securing Trom baTTle sTaTions aT I400, The opening phase oT The baTTle Tor The Marshall Islands was com- pleTe. IT was expecTed ThaT addiTional Tirepower would be needed aT Namur, buT iT was noT Tound necessary. AT nighTTall The ship again reTired Tor nighT cruising and re- Turned on The morning and Tound The Marines engaged in VTWOPPIHQ up operaTions. LaTe in The aTTernoon The ship enTered The lagoon and dropped anchor and many high ranking oTTicers came aboard To pay Their respecTs To Under-SecreTary EorresTaI. The Tollowing day a PBM landed alongside and EorresTaI and his parTy leTT The TENNESSEE To reTurn To Pearl I'Iarbor. ExTraordinary good luck was responsible Tor The com-' iDIeTe COnquesT oT The Marshall Islands aT a much earlier dire Than had been planned. From a sunken Japanese inTer-island TreighTer in Kwaialein lagoon divers Tound CompleTe charTs oT EniweTok aToll and Naval InTeIligence qU'CIfIY CIWSCICSCT, as Tar as possible, Their accuracy. VViTh The enTrance and reeTs oT Treacherous EinweTok Iagoon CIGGVIY SIWOWn, iT was decided To Take The gamble and PVSPGVGTIOFTS were rushed To make The TENNESSEE's nexT sTrike-EniweTok.

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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.

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Marines Poured Ashore ai' Roi. Jusf Another Island fo 'I'he Marines-Sofiened by Tennessee Fire. ,.N..,. N. , , ,K ., f ,fs-:, .1 Y .3 1-3, if . ,gap-args f. ,i W wt -ffm .,-:ug ,. ,L i ,. .. abr , an ,.:w 'L--if-,Wig gg? ,iii fill ..'..,-L 'S