Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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6l1lW Kwaialein, TirsT biT oT TerriTory held by Japan aT The ouTseT oT The war To Tall inTo American hands, had been capTured in a week of TighTing. OTher key islands were To Tall quickly and The greaT American TIeeT would hold undis- puTed sway over an addiTionaI I,OO0,000 square miles oT sparkling Pacific waTer. The way was now open Tor a series oT Task Torce aT- Taclcs on basTions of Nipponese sTrengTh. Truk, Japan's fabulous reef-girTed GibralTar of The Carolines, was neu- Tralized by aTTacks from carrier-based planes, Tollowed by bombardmenT from baTTleships, cruisers and desTroyers. The USS TENNESSEE, now a veTeran of Three opera- Tions in supporT of amphibious landings, IeTT The newly-won American base aT Kwaialein on The aTTernoon oT February I5 Tor a new obiecTive-Eniwefok. Accompanied by The baTTleships COLORADO and PENNSYLVANIA, Three cruisers, numerous desTroyers and a long line oT TransporTs, The TENNESSEE IeTT Kwaialein lagoon Tor The liTTle-known Marshall Island aToIl. The operaTion was To be a TeaT oT navigaTion raTher Than one oT gunnery, as no American ship since early in The l92O's had enTered EniweTok lagoon when a UniTed STaTes cruiser had dropped iTs anchor There. The charT was a copy of a Japanese map recovered by a navy diver Trom a Nipponese ship which had been sunk in Kwaialein lagoon during The recenT engagemenT There. Men of The TENNESSEE wenT To Their barrle sTaTions in The darkness of The morning of February I7. A pale halT- moon surrounded by a halo sTreamed down on ships oT The Task Torce as They sTeamed wesTward Tor Japanese-held EniweTok. etok The group arrived oTT one oT The Two enTrances lagoon and sTood idly by while small craTT swepT The Tor mines. Preceded by The minesweepsand The McCORD and I-IEERMAN, and Tollowed by The SYLVANIA and several TransporTs, The TENNESSEE Tered The quieT lagoon unopposed. The TENNESSEE didn noT Tire, alThough The oTher baTTleship and The desTroyers covered Parry Island wiTh blazing machine gun Tire. A Japanese Tlag TluTTered in The breeze on a nearby island under a whiTe banner. The lumbering TENNESSEE crossed The 25-mile wide lagoon: Took up iTs Tiring posiTion 5,000 yards Trom Engebi' Island, iTs TirsT TargeT. TransporTs, wiTh Their human cargo. huddled TogeTher away Trom The Tiring area. Planes Trom American TIaTTops sTraTed and bombed The island repeaTedly, screaming Through The brilIianT sun- lighT aT The level oT The Tall and maiesTic palms. Sandwiches and coTTee were gulped on sTaTions. Deadly mines, cuT by The sweeps, bobbed To The surTace oT The calm lagoon where They were deTonaTed by ma- chine gun Tire. I-I-I-lour, when Marines and soldiers would swarm ashore, was posTponed Trom I I IO un+iI l23O. S AT II27 The TENNESSEE'S main baTTeryiThundered againsT palm-Tringed Engebi Island and iTs air sTrip. AT regular inTervals The big guns roared aT various TargeTs. A nearby desTroyer poured 40mm Tire aT anoTher island. Observers saw a direcT hiT Trom a TENNESSEE shell on 5 bUlIdlnQ which disappeared in smoke and Tlame.,Tl'lSi. main baTTery shiTTed To anoTher TargeT and Thing. Si' T 1 ,.5- .1 Vg. ,h fn- 4 favs, , ..,