Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 87 text:

fy if is' -5 .N K f, Marines Poured Ashore, Under ihe TENNESSEE'S Guns. 'I'o Begin Anofher Glorious Chapfer in 'l'he Corp's Hisiory .... f To ' K f 'fag X ,, 'f. pg- 1 ,fifis rfv A Q ' 2 , 333'fff '4' i n iii? f ww M , :I f' A. gh, in is L.: Q Q1 n n . M N LCl'S, BaH'ered by Fire from 'Phe Beach, Transferred Their Wounded wi'I'h Genfle Hands. . . H V ,s.W.-3-1. ' - 1 ll . I 4 l I ' 4 A 4 I 6 1 rl ai A i 1 , 1 x L Es 5, W S 1 , n s Q . Q KL n 41? s, lit 152 'I wi ixil' ji ,i iii Q! gill ul Mag! l, H ,EE- sign !r: 'e 1,4 UE A, .rf Jia iff? N55 .s fg iii in w ngg 5 fi? 1 ,lf i 'xi dei + nav i 1 1 -if 1 4, f 'l I ii!! 1 ,A Nj? WH 'LV 2 we s J 1. 1 1 in Q xlgl, fii 3 wk! Y 5' 1 Q .a. 3 . W ' W n Qli 4 ,lf i i n 1- 1 :W E if Q is E xi , lg Ei 1? n it ' 1 2 5? i 55 S: Q1 S ii T H L E 5 n 7 , ' 3 kv 255 'ii ive 2, Us 153

Page 86 text:

'cvvw-wmqmvzvz -is-ww-Juv-u. a. --. The remainder of The day was unevenTTul. The American warships and planes conTinued The bombardmenT of lwo Jima on February l8, l945, in preparaTion Tor Marines landing on The morrow. Again The TENNESSEE's main baTTery was broughT To bear on The norTheasTern slopes oT MT. Suribachi while The sec- ondary baTTery hammered away aT concreTe casemaTed arTillery posiTions on The high ground siTed To The righT flank and overlooking The landing beach and beach ap- proaches. lT was carried ouT aT ranges oT 2,200 To 6,000 yards, during which The ship's 40mm baTTery Tound TargeTs on cliTTs Tlanking The norTh end oT The beach and in hulls oT several Jap ships imbedded in sand near The shore. Several large and small Tires were sTarTed ashore. There was a specTacular explosion when hiTs were regis- Tered on a large ammuniTion dump which wenT up wiTh a cascade oT sparks and burned radianTly wiTh inTermiTTenT explosions Tor several hours. The easTern side oT The air- Tield was liTTered wiTh wrecked Jap planes and looked like a junk yard. Area Trom The waTer's edge To The airTield was pockmarked by vasT craTers caused by American shells and bombs. AnTi-aircraTT and shore baTTery Tire Trom The island was sfill encounTered when The TENNESSEE reTired Tor The nighf. ln The pre-dawn darkness oT D-Day or Monday, Febru- ary I9, I945, The TransporTs, Tank landing ships, landing craTT and vessels oT The EiTTh Amphibious Force arrived oTT The easT coasT oT lwo. AT daybreak The TransporTs halfed abouT eighT miles oTTshore and puT Their l-liggins boaTs in The waTer. Then The Troops were senT over The side inTo The boaTs and The landing boaTs circled again and again near The TransporTs, waiTing Tor The signal To make The run Tor The line oT deparTure. The Tank landing ships deTached Themselves Trom The TransporTs and moved abouT Three miles Trom The shore where They opened Their wide bows and disgorged a hosT oT amphibious landing vehicles carrying The assaulT Troops. Meanwhile, along wiTh oTher baTTleships, cruisers and desTroyers, The TENNESSEE had Taken up her posiTion several Thousand yards oTTshore To deliver The preparaTory bombardmenT Tor The landing. The bombardmenT com- menced aT abouT 0645, and Tollowed a Tamiliar paTTern. STarTing along The beaches The big guns ranged Tar and wide pouring shells inTo The slopes and heighTs which presumably concealed emplacemenTs. For more Than hours The landing area Took an awTul going over. FighTer planes and bombers ioined in The aTTack. While The bombardmenT was aT iTs peak, The leading wave oT amphibious vehicles had Taken sTaTion abouT 200 yards To The seaward oT The warships. Behind Them The resT oT The amphibious vehicles Tollowed by The l-liggins boaTs proceeded To Torm in parallel lines. ln The van was an escorT vessel which direcTed The movemenT by means oT a loud-speaker. The speaker blared, ATTenTion, TEN- NESSEE. You are on The line OT deparTure. The ship aT This Time was lying broadside To The island, her sTarboard side engaged. An unoTTicial voice TloaTed across Trom our quarTer-deck, WhaT do you expecT us To do, push This big Tub sideways? AbouT 0835 The TirsT wave oT amphibious vehicles shoved oTT on Their long Trip To The beach. The resT oT The assaulT waves Tollowed in lines, Timed down To The second. Every warship on The bombardmenT line increased The Tempo oT Their shelling and bombers dropped load aTTer load oT high explosives on enemy prepared posiTions Tac- ing The beach. The noise was incredible. AT The same Time a dozen gunboaTs moved in To Tire numerous salvos oT rockeTs inTo sTrong-poinTs aT very close range. Then TasT planes laid a smokescreen behind The beach To block oTT The Japs' view. Very soon The shore line and whole side oT MT. Suribachi were compleTely obscured by Tlames and smoke. The TENNESSEE was sTaTioned on The leTT Tlank oT The bombardmenT line, direcTly opposiTe MT. Suribachi. and under 3,000 yards Trom The shore line in which posi- Tion iT was our special duTy To mainTain neuTralizaTion oT Suribachi. The hundreds oT landing craTT came up on our porT side in a score oT boaT waves, each some eighTy boaTs 25 yards inTerval aparT, disposed aT disTance oT abouT 300 yards beTween waves. Then, They shaped a course which passed The TENNESSEE's sTern or bow-some pass- ing The bow and some The sTern. They came iniso close aboard we TelT as Though we could reach ouT on eiTher side oT The ship and Touch Them. . Soon The expanse oT waTer beTween The warships and The island was Tilled wiTh a procession oT landing craTT churning shoreward. When The leading wave was abouT,

Page 88 text:

mi rms: TLT T' 'Q Q T i ' . las. Y: . K .............a 300 yards Trom The beach The warships moved Their Tire inland, and our TighTer planes commenced sTraTing The landing area. During The Tinal approach To The beach There was lighT morTar and arTillery opposiTion, buT The TirsT waves goT in almosT unTouched. The iniTial landings were e1TecTed aT 0859 on The beach sTreTching approximaTely 3,500 yards norTh Trom MT, Suribachi-The FiTTh Marine Divi- sion on The leTT near The volcano, The l3ourTh Marine Division on The righT near The high roclsy cliTTs aT The norTh end oT The beach. On The beach, The TirsT wave oT Troops guiclily esTab- lished a line behind The waTer-cuT Terrace aT The waTer's edge. The Terrace, Tive or six TeeT high, seT abouT 25 TeeT Trom The shore, and oTTered cover. Inland Trom The Terrace The beach rose gradually To a cenTral plaTeau where The island's biggesT airTield is locaTed, and This airsTrip was The iniTial obiecTive. WiThin a Tew minuTes aTTer The landing small groups oT Marines could be seen advancing up The open slopes easT oT The airTield, burning ouT pillboxes wiTh Tlame Throwers. Machine guns raTTled Trom The high ground. The soTTening up oT The island by shells and bombs had by no means eliminaTed The numerous pillboxes, Trenches, riTle piTs, and machine-gun posiTions which deTended The rouTes inland Trom The beaches. Three oT our Tanlcs arrived on The scene To assisT in dislodging The Japs Trom Their pill- boxes and oTher sTrong poinTs. Meanwhile The TirsT conTingenT oT assaulT Troops pushed up The slopes oT blaclc volcanic sand, now under shell and morTar Tire Trom The Japanese, and disappeared Li'H'le Shell Fire PiTs in The Big PH' of M1-, Su,-qbqchi. .