Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 38 text:

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, , ..,

Page 37 text:

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

Page 39 text:

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