Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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noT yeT drawing Tire Trom The island. SpoT'Ting planes Trom The ship dove Through a heavy barrage oT anTi- aircraTT Tire Trom The island. Orange-red Tlames surged upward Trom The viciniTy of The radio Tower on Saipan, The resulT oT early hiTS Trom Naval Tire. Many damaged Japanese craTT cluTTered The harbor. An air sfrike from carrier-based planes drew scaTTered ack-ack Trom The beach aT 0730. Angry liTTle planes dove again and again aT The island, Then TransTerred Their aTTenTion To nearby Tinian, buT in a Tew minuTes reTurned To Saipan. The TENNESSEE's secondary baTTery wenT inTo acTion aT 0820 Tor The TirsT Time, picking up a TargeT 8,300 yards in The disTance. ScaTTered powder on The porT side oT The quarTer-deck bursf inTo Tlame which was quickly ex- Tinguished. An underwaTer demoliTion Team in Tour small boaTs slowly approached The reef To carry ouT Their dangerous assignmenf. Fires from large oil dumps raged on The island and following each salvo Trom The TENNESSEEls big guns, new Tires were sTarTed, The oil having been Thrown over a wide area. The enemy, however, began To unlimber Their shore baTTeries. Japanese shells dropped in The immediaTe viciniTy of The BIRMINGHAM and lNDlANAPOl.lS. Ma- chine guns, seT up in beached Japanese small boaTs, raked The demoliTion Team and Tor a Time iT was impossible To waTch The proceedings on The beach due To smoke. Heavy morTar Tire from The beach endangered The courageous demoliTion Team making reconnaissance under The very guns oT The enemy. The TENNESSEE dropped a smoke screen abouT IOO yards inland To screen The acTiviTies of The Team Trom The enemy. The baTTery which had been harassing The Team near The reeT was locaTed by TENNESSEE observers and a barrage 'from The Big T desTroyed The baTTery, Throwing dirT and machinery high in The air. WiTh hardly a pause, The main baTTery swiTched To nearby Tinian, silencing a baTTery which had been Tiring on The American Task Force wiTh greaT regulariTy. y An air sTrike again raked Saipan and aT H40 beach baTTeries hiT The CAUFORNIA, Tearing away parT oT The supersTrucTure. The baTTery was well COHC96leCl and ob- servers Tailed To locaTe iT. Shells splashed near The TENNESSEE as The big guns again Trained on a con- cenTraTion oT Japanese Troops on The shore. The TENNESSEE conTinued To roam The area, seeking TargeTs and desTroying Them wiTh regulariTy. Saipan was again under a severe air aTTack aT l5l5, This Time The planes concenTraTing on an unpainTed sugar mill. , Dingy Japanese boaTs near The pier drew The aTTen- Tion oT The TENNESSEE and several were hiT, one sink- ing in The shallow waTer. Fire was diverTed To a block- house, aTTer which The guns swung back To The boaTs To Tinish The Task. They burned Tiercely againsT The pier. DirecT hiTs were also scored againsT Japanese barges in The area. The Tiring compleTed Tor The day, The TENNESSEE and The oTher ships leTT The area abouT l830 To reTurn The Tollowing morning, designaTed as D-Day. The ship was again called To General QuarTers aT 0430, 25,000 yards Trom Saipan. H-l-Tour, when The beaches would be Torced, was seT Tor 0800, laTer delayed unTil 0830. The I4-inch guns opened early and soon The TargeTs were obscured by The curling smoke. STraTing planes came in Time aTTer Time wiTh sTrikes againsT boTh Saipan and Tinian. Small Tire splashed OTT The sTarboard beam. l-l-T-Tour was delayed unTil 0840. PrompTly aT 08I5 The TirsT wave oT invasion boaTs began Their precarious Trip To The beach. A Triendly plane, hiT by ack-ack over Tinian, plunged To The earTh. Two parachuTes TluTTering open and slowly descended To The island. The TirsT invasion wave was making progress Toward The beach. Small calibre Tire splashed nearby. Under cover oT heavy smoke, The Troops sTormed The beach, Taking cover behind anyThing available. AT 09l4, The TENNESSEE received her TTrsT baTTle damage since The aTTack on Pearl Harbor when Three six- inch proiecTiles Trom a Japanese shore baTTery on Tinian Thudded inTo The ship simulTaneously, killing eighT men while wounding 26.

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