Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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aipan ResTed Tor a monTh and a halT aT Pearl Harbor Tollowing The Kavieng bombardmenT, The TENNESSEE deparTed Tor The rapidly expanding American IDGSG Gi hard-won Kwajalein, May 3l, on The way Tor new sTriI4eS againsT The ToTTering Japanese Empire. This was To be The boIdesT sTrike To daTe--invasion OT The Marianas Islands OT Saipan, Guam and Tinian. Saipan and Tinian had long been under Japanese rule and allied inTeIIigence reporTs revealed The bases had been heavily TorTiTied wiTh pillboxes, gun empIacemenTs and oTher TorTiTicaTions. Guam, Tiny biT OT American soil in The broad PaciTic, had Tallen To The rampaging enemy in The early days OT The war and The Japanese had poured planes, Troops and heavy mounTain guns inTo island deTenses. This was To be a diTTerenT Type OT warTare Than had been seen on The specks OT sand which had already Tallen To The Americans. Here were expanses OT green Tields, mounTains and high rolling Terrain. JusT To The SOuTh OT Saipan, The TIaTTer Tinian plaTeau sprawled in The brilIianT sun. Guam, IargesT island yeT To be invaded in The CenTraI PaciTic, was desTined To be The scene OT biTTer mounTain TighTing. The TENNESSEE and oTher ships in The TasT growing American PaciTic FleeT slipped ouT OT Roi anchorage early in The morning OT June TO. Serving as The Tlagship OT Rear Admiral Howard E. Kingman, The TENNESSEE was accompanied by The baTTleship CALIFORNIA, The cruiser BIRMINGHAM and The desTroyers REMEY, NORMAN SCOTT, MERTZ and WADLEIGH. Ships in anoTher group were under The command OT Rear Admiral Jesse B. OIdendorT in The LOUISVILLE. Several aircraTT carriers, TransporTs and oTher ships ec- companied The groups. Hundreds OT pre-invasion sorTies againsT The Marianas, as well as Chichi Jima, Haha Jima, Yep and Palau had been Tlown Trom The decks OT TasT-sTriking new aircraTT carriers, soTTening The islands Tor The com- ing invasions. The approach To Saipan was unevenTTuI unTiI The group approached wiThin abouT 200 miles OT The obiec- Tive, when enemy acTiviTy became apparenT. Early in The morning OT June I3, a paTroI plane spoTTed a surTaced Japanese submarine abouT 20 miles ahead OT The Torce and dropped bombs wiThouT resuITs. AnoTher plane, paTroIling Tar ouT To sea, shoT down a Japanese BeTTy which had been Trailing The group abouT I0 miles asTern. FasT desTroyers dropped depTh charges as an enemy sub was conTacTed OTT The porT beam. The new baTTIeship Torce as well as carriers bombarded Saipan and Tinian on June I3. Men on The TENNESSEE heard The reporTs Over The ship's loud speaker sysTem, Tuned in on The observer's plane radio. The new TasT baTTIewagOns Tired Trom abouT I3 miles away, prowling a large area aT 27 knoTs. The observer was suddenly cuT OTT The air and many aboard The TENNESSEE ThoughT They heard an agonizing cry iusT beTore The silence. ThaT nighT gun Tlashes were observed on The horizon and The roving desTroyers conTacTed submarines several Times and dashed like Terriers To drop depTh charges. A Japanese sub passed on The surTace in The darkness and was inTercepTed by The desTroyers. Nearing Saipan, men OT The TENNESSEE wenT To General OuarTers aT 0400 in The darkness OT The morning OT June I4, The day beTore The scheduled American IPITCIIITQS- A Japanese TransporT burned Tiercely near The horizon and was sTiII under Tire Trom The Amr-BFTCGU desTroyer MELVIN. The main baTTeries OT The TENNESSEE wenT INTO PCTIOVI GQGIHST The shadows OT Saipan's wesT coaST 0548. Small minesweeps slowly approached The