Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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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, , ..,

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carrying beach reconnaissance parTies going close inshore. drew Tire Trom The deTenders. The crew was SGCUI'9d Tfom general quarTers aT T854 and laTe ThaT nighT TransTerred 240 rounds oT Tive-inch ammuniTion To The McCord. The TENNESSEE wenT To baTTle sTaTions The nexT morning aT 0630 and shorTly aTTer The secondary baTTery opened up on a small, halT-submerged boaT along The pier. The painTul lesson oT Tarawa had been remembered. A Tire raged in The viciniTy OT The small boaT, buT iT could noT be observed wheTher iT was The TargeT or someThing burning on The beach behind iT. Planes Trom The carrier Torce began Their aTTaclc aT 0800, ravaging The area Tor Ten minuTes. A heavy bom- bardmenT Trom The TENNESSEE l4-inch guns Tollowed while LCl's and amphibious Tanks Tormed Tor The iniTial assaulT on Engebi's beach. Every warship in The lagoon opened Tire as The land- ing craTT began Their slow approach To The beach. The din and conTusion was TerriTic. A pill box was Torn Trom The earTh: Tlung slcyward wiTh iTs occupanTs. CoconuT logs, immense chunlcs oT concreTe TorTiTica- Tions and Japanese soldiers were Tossed high inTo The air. GreaT clouds oT smolce and dusT Turnished a perTecT screen Tor The invasion Torces. Dive bombers swarmed over The scene. As The wave oT boaTs approached The beach, Tlares . . . Buf. Sir, I-Ie's Only a Little One. .M x J J fnfmf QT- .iii . T lg Nalin T TTT r ' 'fwfr ' , - , 'T 'T TW . gl 5 ,Q ly. Q -V 1 1 , m 'A' fi y lff ' rs is fp 8 ' ::: .1.:'.g,,,, ' T If 1 X A if H 'z2?fgs.s::.qE if if .gi N, ..f ,TQ '-:rfb 'T 'L 4-A - T-H ' Xiv 'k 'Ji QTU' . jx 4.1. y , W T -4 ., L .l1.f14'f..-:1l, .,,, T , 4 .ig E ' -e ff .774 Z- .IJ T' 'E 1 l' 'T T !f...- if' Y- - 1 - r --A I ' i .Q ' H -if k e ' gf' ., 1 fe- . as . . are - 3' ' R ' T T lliil i 'fiil iilll i.Z'cr:w. - TRL ' 'T' .ii lilllilll ...Q fi' A 'L iT gi - - Tr .g1iTiliT:iiills.:Q: Z ' 11--v-'T as T .. . - . 'T' f N T as .... - E. fb or sf:fc -. as A as aa .,-.X N ,X W ,L ,f' , ,. were dropped Trom a low Tlying plane, The signal Tor The bombardmenirr To cease. The 40mm guns sprayed The beach line aheadioT,,The advancing boaTs. AT 0843 The TirsT wave oT Troops reached The beach, Tormed quiclcly wiTh Their Tanlcs and moved inland Through The under-A g rowTh. Engebi, which mighT have been so cosTly, was secured laTe ThaT aTTernoon by The 22nd lvlarine RegimenT. a Tine example oT The eTTecTiveness oT pre-invasion naval bom- ba rdmenT. The TENNESSEE rode aT anchor The Tollowing clay, 5,500 yards oTT The beach oT EniweTok lsland. Heavy gun- Tire roared To The souThward, buT The TENNESSEE did noT Tire. Army Troops made a landing on EniweTolc and sev- eral Times during ThaT nighT called Tor illuminaTion. The TENNESSEE Tired scores oT sTarshells which hovered over The island beTore Tlickering ouT in abouT a minuTe. De- sTroyers played Their searchlighTs over a wide area oT The island. Parry Island, wiTh iTs inTricaTe sysTem oT well-con- sTrucTed Trenches was nexT. The older deTenses on The island were well proTecTed, cleverly camouTlaged. NaTural Toliage rendered Them invisible Trom The air. From deep underground, The enemy could pour ouT a deadly hail oT lighT and heavy machine gun Tire while remaining well- concealed. 0h. Grandma-Whai Large Teeih You r d! X IQ. -fl? f-rf di QXZJ ,E aw- 11 65 . ATN