Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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kavleng JusT aT daylighT on March I5, I944, The TENNESSEE slipped ouT of The anchorage aT ETaTe and ThaT aTTernoon joined The USS NEW MEXICO, IDAI-IO, and MISSIS- SIPPI. Moving Through waTers more accusTomed To Jap- anese shipping Than The hulls oT American naval vessels. Task Torce 37 headed for Kavieng To enTerTain The Japs while Iv1acArThur's Torces slipped Through The backdoor To Take Emirau. Passing To The norTh of The Solomon Islands a heavy anTi-submarine paTrol was flown from The carriers MANILA BAY and NATOMA BAY. No conTacTs were reporTed and There was no enemy air acTiviTy encounTered by combaT air paTrols operaTing from The same carriers. The days passed quickly as scuTTlebuTT Tlew Thick and TasT as To whaT could be expecTed in The way oT opposi- Tion. IT was known from earlier carrier plane aTTacks ThaT The Japs had made heavy invesTmenTs in TorTiTicaTions. coasT defense guns oT unknown caliber, and a number oT anTi-aircraTT guns. Air aTTacks were probable, noT only Trom The highly improved airbase on Kavieng, buT Trom oTher Tields wiThin aTTack disTance. The Two carriers sTeaming along wiTh The aTTack group were a mighTy comTorTing sighT when ThoughTs sTrayed To The probabiliTy oT The Nips sending ouT a welcoming commiTTee wiTh sTeel calling cards. Rain squalls, heavy clouds, and a ceiling oT less Than I,000 TeeT blankeTed Kavieng as men oT The TENNESSEE wenT To Their baTTIesTaTions aT 0600 The morning oT March 20. A zigzag course was Tollowed in approaching The island ThaT loomed Through The overcasT abouT 0700. SpoTTing planes were launched an hour laTer and They quickly disappeared in The rain. STeaming along aT I5 knoTs The main baTTery opened up aT a range oT I4,940 yards aT 0904, Tiring one. Two, and Three gun salvos aT a slow pace. Plane spoTTers were having diTTiculTy in observing shell bursTs and adiusTing Tire. And Then iT happened. CoasTal baTTeries had opened up on The TENNESSEE and lookouTs reporTed gun Tlashes Trom The beach and There were splashes iusT oTT The sTarboard bow and very close To The desTroyer iusT ahead. AT 0928 The enTire secondary baTTery on The porT side opened up wiTh rapid conTinuous Tire, all direcTed aT The spiTTing muzzles OT The guns on The beach. I ExecuTing a quick I80 degree Turn The sTarboard sec- ondary baTTery was broughT To bear and Took up The chal- lenge. The Nips were beginning To geT The range and There were splashes close aboard on The sTarboard beam. Splashes were also observed on The sTarboard beam oT The IDAI-IO. The speed was kicked up To I8 knoTs as shells plopped inTo The waTer abouT 35 yards ahead and abouT 200 yards OTT The sTarboard beam. AT 0934 The secondary baTTery checked Tire, having expended I78 rounds oT Tive-inch in eighT minuTes. Re- ducing The speed To I5 knoTs and coming back on The Tiring line, boTh The main and secondary baTTeries rea opened Tire on The coa'sT deTense guns aT a range OT I2,000 yards aT 0936. In The nexT IO minuTes The Tive-inch guns poured 2 I9 rounds on The beach and ThaT was The laSI'

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. Following a dive bombing aTTack by swiTT Tlying American planes, The TENNESSEEE and PENNSYLVANIA lay close inshore and biased The island wiTh Their main baT- Teries. A huge shell Trom The TENNESSEE Threw a palm high in The air, caTapulTing The body oT a Japenese sniper who dropped wiTh a Thud To The beach. Six bloclchouses received direcT hiTs, dissolving inTo scaTTered debris. By Monday morning, February 2I, all islands excepT Parry had Tallen To The Americans. Parry was To be shelled one more day beTore The landings would be aTTempTed. Ships bombarded in relays, followed by The air Torce which dive bombed, level bombed and sTraTed. The de- fenders could gain no resT. The Tollowing day, The TENNESSEE dropped iTs huge hook buT 750 yards Trom Parry To begin iTs Tinal day oT bombardmenT. AT 0745, The LST's began disembarlcing landing Tanlcs. The invasion armada passed wiThin a Tew hundred yards oT The TENNESSEE. Led by six LCl's, They neared The beach. Closing in, The small craTT made Tor The beach behind a command boaT. AT 0900, The Marines had landed on Parry. An LCI exploded, Throwing smoke and debris over a wide area oT The churning waTer. An American plane If f . bursT inTo orange-red Tlame and came whining To The earTh. While aT his anchor windlass sTaTion on The TorecasTle on The TENNESSEE, Clarence A. lvlarTin was wounded in The righT lung, hiT by a sTray bulleT Trom The beach. He was TransTei-red To The USS SOLACE, a hospiTal ship, Tor TreaTmenT, subsequenTly recovered and was reTurned To duTy. STubborn resisTance was encounTered on Parry, par- Ticularly in The souThern porTion where boTh land mines and anTi-Tank mines were encounTered. By l330 The ad- vancing Troops had overrun mosT oT The island and were mopping up. Parry was announced as secured ThaT nighT. The TENNESSEE remained in The viciniTy unTil February 22, when iT goT underway Tor lvlaiuro. Ear To The SouTh, General Douglas MacArThur was planning his comeback To The Philippines. The nexT obiec- Tive Tor The now baTTle-wise crew oT The TENNESSEE was To be a diversionary ThrusT aT Kavieng, in New lreland, while UniTed STaTes Army Troops poured ashore aT Emirau in The AdmiralTies. 4 , An'4llsl' Where Do You Wish Your Bedroom Dug. Sir?': X X ,AL 1 if ., 11- ,Z 14. sewer Tidy uf a an-The Looie's sringin' 'XJ' Around. ii?S?l E. M ...., -VE : X-. - ' ? yjiiw .Kffei ,ff if J l

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heard Trom Them. Though The TENNESSEE paraded back and TorTh in TronT oT Them The resT oT The morning, noT a sound was heard Trom The beach. Men aT Their baTTlesTaTions were Tense during The re- mainder oT The bombardment expecTing aT any momenT ThaT some weil hidden gun on The island would open up. The TENNESSEE made seven Tiring runs on Their secTor hammering warehouses, an airTield, a supply depoT, and oTher insTallaTions. OTher shore baTTeries were Tound buT were plasTered by The main baTTery beTore They ever Tired a round. 1 Plane spoTTers never obTained a clear view oT any oT The TargeTs because oT low-hanging clouds and rain. When The secondary baTTery was covering a heavily wooded area. Topside spoTTers could noT observe explosions in Th Thick Toliage. IT was Tound necessary, on a number oT occa- , '49 Ls. 5 T T if sions To TTre shoTs in The waTer Tor spoTTing and Then liTT The range To cover inland areas. A welcome voice over The loudspeaker aT I239 said Secure Trom baTTlesTaTions and The bombardmenT oT Kavieng was over. There were a number oT Tires burning on The island and smoke had reduced visibiliTy To zero. lr' iusT a liTTle over Three hours The main baTTery had pumped 252 shells inTo The island and The secondary baTTery had unloaded l 892. CapTain Andrew D. Mayer USN had been aboard during The Kavieng sTrike and shorTly ThereaTTer he re- lieved CapTain l-laggarT as commanding oTTicer. As The TENNESSEE leTT The area Admiral William F. Halsey radioed CongraTulaTions on your eTTecTive plasTering oT Kavieng and The Rebel headed easTward To prepare Tor The largesT amphibious operaTion To daTe-The Mari- 6065. OPERATION I4 150 Kiska ....,........ . Tarawa .. . Kwaialein .. . Kavieng .,.. . Saipan . . Guam . . . , Tinian . , Angaur . . . . LeyTe ............,.... BaTTle oT Surigao STraiT .... 3 2 547 9 53l4 2732 3466 49l6 3412 AMMUNITION FIRED BY THE TENNESSEE AGAINST THE ENEMY 4OMM ZOMM I4 670 9 625 2l 437 25 138 6 5 ,'38 l l l 590 584 l,6 l 783 . EniweTok . . . , 960 l,577 3, I92 252 l,8 l 967 , , 77l 300 . . 822 , . 94I , , 698 , l , l 51 l ,70l 69 . l l,-4 l lwo Jima ..,......... . l,370 6380 8 .... Okinawa . . .. l,490 I2 275 9 300 3 674 TOTAL . . . . 9,347 46 73l 95 994 6 I46 W ci., QQ of