Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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embers of DD NORMAN SCOTT Aginqan Poin'l'. Renamed Tennessee Poini' by Graieful Crew M Af'I'er Main Baffery Silenced Coasial Guns Splashing 1'he Desiroyer. k 'NV-'4 V1 Ah-h-h! How Romaniic Thai' Moon Makes This Soufh Pacific.

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The TENNESSEE's main baTTery began firing aT 0555. bombarding The Town oT Garapan Trom a posiTi0n SOFTIS 6,000 yards OTF shore while The island was yeT deep in The purple morning shadows. DusT and smoke rising Trorn The shaTTered Town made hiTs diTTicuIT To see and iT re- sembled Tiring inTo The AleuTian Tog. The TargeT was shiTTed To The bony ridge norTh oT IvlounT Tapochau where The main and secondary baTTeries unlimbered againsT designaTed pillboxes and gun emplace- menTs. From baTTle sTaTions on sky aTT, observers could waTch insfallafions being reduced, logs, concreTe, sTeel. armamenT pieces and human bodies being hurled high in The air amid a cloud oT smoke and dirT. The shells Then landed in a ravine on The wesTern slopes behind Tanapag I-larbor where I4-inch shells undermined a cliTT unTil iT slid across a road, blocking The highway. For The nexT 60 minufes, guns raked The Tields, The hills and The valleys, Tearing up The roads, desTroying pillboxes and sTarTing a Tire which burned Tor many hours. TENNESSEE guns knocked ouT an enemy arTillery piece while iT was engaged in shelling American Troops who were Then working Their slow way inTo The souihern ouTskirTs of Garapan. Sweeping back To Garapan, The north beach was walked wiTh gunfire and aT l2I5 baTTeries were working over a wooded area in The viciniTy oT The observaTion Tower To The norTh oT The Town. The TENNESSEE Then anchored oTT The wesT coasT oT Saipan, where iT was joined by The baTTleships CALI- FORNIA, PENNSYLVANIA, IDAI-IO and NEW MEXICO. Also on hand were The MARYLAND and COLORADO which had been on The bombardmenT line since mid- morning. From prepared posiTions on commanding Terrain, The enemy had oTFered sTubborn resisTance To The advancing Americans on The beach. Enemy arTiIIery and morTar Tire was inTense aT Times, and iniTiaI deep peneTraTions by The Troops were someTimes erased by The TanaTical Japanese. The slopes oT IvlounT Tapochau was reached and The advance became more rapid. By July 9, all organized enemy resisTance on The island had disappeared, al- Though Nippon's snipers were To harass The conquerors Tor many monThs. Long beiore ThaT The TENNESSEE's services were in demand aT anoTher parT oT The lvlarianas, where anoTher invasion had been planned. Leaving baTTered and bleed- ing Saipan on June 23, The TENNESSEE reached EniweTok June 25 where iT remained unTil July lo, geTTing underway on ThaT day Tor Guam. Number oi OperaTions AgainsT Enemy The BaTTle of Pearl Harbor. BombardmenT of Kiska in The AleuTians. Assaulf and CapTure oT Tarawa. AssauIT and CapTure of Kwaialein. AssaulT and CapTure of EniweTok. BombardmenT of Kavieng, New Ireland, AssaulT and CapTure of Saipan. AssaulT and CapTure of Guam. AssauIT and CapTure oT Tinian. Assaulf and CapTure oT Angaur, Palau Islands. AssauIT and RecapTure oT LeyTe, Philippine Islands. I Ba++Ie oT Surigao STraiTs. AssaulT and CapTure oT Iwo Jima, Assaulf and CapTure oT Okinawa, OperaTions in The EasT China Sea,

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QU As The TENNESSEE IeTT cenTraI anchorage Gi EniweTok, iT was parT oT a special Task group which was To provide The pre-invasion bombardmenT and coverage Tor The landings oT The Troops who were To sTrike yeT One more blow aT The Japanese Empire. The journey was The mosT unevenTTuI oT any yeT Taken by The veTeran ship and no submarine conTaCTS were made and no enemy aircraTT were reporTed. Cruising oTT The wesTern coasT oT Guam on July I9. The TENNESSEE and oTher ships in The group wiTnessed The bombardmenT oT The island by The warships compris- ing anoTher group oT The Task Torce. BaTTIeships, cruisers and TasT-Tiring desTroyers lay in close ashore and bIasTed Japanese insTallaTions in The Apra harbor area. Enemy shore baTTeries savagely reTurned The Tire, buT no hiTs were observed. American observaTion and bomber aircraTT droned Through The blue sky, unmoIesTed by anTi-aircraTT Tire Trom The IiTTIe island which had once been American. JusT before sundown, a Naval demoliTion Team began iTs hazardous work oT examining The landing beaches Tor signs oT underwaTer obsTrucTions. The Japs opened Tire immediaTely on The Teams, and The ships answered The challenge wiTh Their 40 mm. guns. A plane sTreaked down The beach Trailing a Thick smoke screen. All hands were called To General Quar'Ters aboard The TENNESSEE in The blackness early The nexT morning. WiTh The TirsT Tew silvery sTreaks oT dawn in The easTern sky, a group oT LCI's moved slowly shorewardg, Landings were To be made on The Tollowing day, July ZI. by The TirsT and Third Marine divisions and The TENNESSEE had been assigned To cover The landings and Turnish The Tirepower on The wesTern coasT beTween Asan PoinT and Adelup PoinT. The beach lay To The souTh of Guam's Tiny capiTal and IargesT Town, Agana, The TENNESSEE's Two planes were launched To serve as observers and aT 0742 The main baTTery roared inTo acTion. STarboard 40 mm. guns concenTraTed Their Tire aT brush aTop a narrow ridge oh nearby Cabras Gm Island, Tiring Tour salvos a minuTe. One salvo slid oTTfThe rocky Top oT The ridge and igniTed a Tire in a ravine aT The base. The ship lazily maneuvered To a posiTion oTT Asan PoinT where The scene oT The Tollowing day's landings was prepared. Big I4-inch shells landed in The clearing, Tringed wiTh palms and Thick brush. AT I000, planes again Trailed a smoke screen To cover The approach oT The underwaTer demoliTion Team which had reTurned To compleTe iTs work near The dangerous reeTs. AT II30, The Team reembarked on The ships, The reconnaissance appearing To be highly successTuI. The ship was secured Trom General QuarTers aT I2lI and Tiring did noT resume unTiI IaTe in The aTTernoon. Enemy Tire was IighT Tor The mosT parT and The TENNESSEE conTinued To hurl iTs huge shells inTo designaTed areas, scoring direcT hiTs on enemy guns and buildings on Cabras Island. LiTTIe enemy acTiviTy was noTed and aT I706 The ship was again secured and The Task group re- Tired To The wesTward Tor The nighT. ShorTIy aTTer dawn, The TENNESSEE reTurned To her assigned posiTion on The Tollowing day when The scheduled landings would be made. AT 0533, bombard- menT oT Cabras Island began, wiTh 40 mm. Tire neuTraIizing The isle. BreakTasT was served aT sTaTions To all hands and aT 0755 The TirsT wave oT Troops IeTT Their TransporTs. Air sTrikes covered The landing beaches. SevenTeen TransporTs and as many landing craTT had arrived during The nighT and They cooly lowered Their small craTT inTo The waTer oT The harbor. Men scrambled down The sides and The boaTs were swung inTo pre- Iiminary posiTions. EarTher To The souTh, anoTher Marine Torce was also disembarking. As The hour Tor landing on The hosTile beach ap- proached, warships covering The operaTion increased Their QUVITIVS INTO The area. Cabras Island was smoThered WITI1 big shells. To The righT, The air Torce sTruck heavy blows in The viciniTy oT The harbor and on The IeTT, LCl s and desTroyers, escorTing The invasion craTT, paved The ap- proach wiTh a hail oT 40 mm. Tire. I