Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 52 text:

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

Page 51 text:

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.

Page 53 text:

I The landing craTT were momenTariIy IosT Trom view in The dense smoke. As The cloud gradually IiTTed, The enemy was dropping deadly IiTTIe morTar shells among The advancing boaTs. AT 0830, air observers reporTed Troops on The beach slowly working inland Trom Their landing spoTs. Their progress was IosT Trom view Trom The ship. Fire Trom The TENNESSEE conTinued unTiI IOO3 and shorTIy aTTer The crew was secured Trom General Quariers. . During The aTTernoon, Tour American Tanks could be observed working up The slope oT a hill To The rear of Adelop PoinT. I-IaITway To The Top, They haITed and Tired aT nearby TargeTs and also on Top oT The ridge which dominaTed The enTire area. The American air Torce Took up The baTTIe oT The Top oT The ridge and sTruck The Japanese defensive posiTions There Time aTTer Time. The Japs soughT To defend The high ground on The island, raTher Than meeT The Marines on The beach. LaTe in The aTTernoon, The TENNESSEE, COLORADO and CALIFORNIA puT To sea wiTh screening desTroyers Tor Saipan, and The scene oT The nexT operaTion, Tinian. Number OT Days in Pacific Areas NoT LisTed as CombaT Areas Area Dafe Days EnrouTe BremerTon ..... .. 22 Dec. -28 Dec. 7 EnrouTe San Francisco ............... ..... 2 6 Feb. 42- 2 Ivlar. 5 AT Sea ................................ .. I8 Mar. 42-22 Mar. 5 Covering Force During Coral Sea BaTTIe .... . . I4 April 42- 9 Ivlay 25 EnrouTe San Francisco ................. ...22 June 42-23.June 2 AT Sea ............................. . . . 5 July 42- 6 JuIy 2 Covering Force During Solomons . . . I Aug. 42-I3 Aug. I4 EnrouTe BremerTon ............., . . . I8 Aug. 42-26 Aug. 9 EnrouTe San Pedro ............ . . .22 Ivlay 43-30 May 9 EnrouTe AIeuTians .... 2 June 43- 9 June 53 22 June - 3 July 6 July -22 July 3 Aug. 43-I2 Aug. I8 Aug. -23 Aug. EnrouTe San Francisco . .. . . . 24 Aug. '43-30 Aug. '43 7 EnrouTe San Francisco ...2I SepT. 43-22 SepT. 2 EnrouTe Pearl I-larbor .. 9 OCT. '43-I4 OCT. 6 EnrouTe New I-lebrides .. . .. .2I OcT. '43- 4 Nov. I5 ETaTe .............. 5 Nov. 43-I2 Nov. 8 EnrouTe Tarawa ....... . . . I3 Nov. '43-I7 Nov. 5 EnrouTe Pearl I-larbor .. . , 4 Dec. 43-IO Dec. 7 Pearl I-larbor ..................... .. . I I Dec. '43-I4 Dec. 4 EnrouTe San Francisco .....,......... ...I5 Dec. '43-20 Dec. 6 EnrouTe San Pedro and San CIemenTe . . . i. 29 Dec. 43-I2 Jan. I5 EnrouTe Pearl I-larbor and Lahaina Roads . .. . . . I3 Jan. 44-2I Jan. A 9 EnrouTe Kwaialein ............................,.... ...22 Jan. '44-25 Jan. ' 4 EnrouTe New I-Iebrides and Kavieng ................... .. . 4 Ivlar. 44-I5 Ivlar. I2 EnrouTe New I-Iebrides, Pearl I-larbor, Kwaialein and Saipan . .. .23 Ivlar. 4-4-IO June 49 EnrouTe EniweTok and Guam ..............,.......... .. , 25 June 44-I6 July 22 EnrouTe EniweTok, New I-Iebrides, Solomons and Angaur . II Aug. 44- 6 SepT 27 EnrouTe AdmiraITy Islands and Philippines ............. ...27 SepT. '44--I5 OCT. I9 EnrouTe UIiThi, Pearl I-larbor and BremerTon ......... .. I Nov. '44-26 Nov. '44 27 EnrouTe Pearl I-larbor and Iwo Jima ....... . . .25 Jan. '45-I4 Feb. 2I EnrouTe Ulifhi and Okinawa ...... . .. 9 Mar. '45-22 Mar. '45 I4 EnrouTe Ulirhi and Okinawa .... . . . 6 May '45- 4 June 30 TOTAL 440