Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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. .

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 89 text:

Wi. Over The skyline aT The souTheasT end oT The airTield, where They esTablished a deTense on The O-l line designaTed in fl-ie operaTion order. ATTer This obiecTive had been reached by The assaulT Troops, larger uniTs ThaT had been crouched behind The Terrace on The beachhead waiTing To advance, sTarTed inland Towards The airTield. BuT as The second assaulT uniTs began moving across The open space, resisTance sTiTTened. The Japs poured morTar, rockeT and arTillery Tire on The enTire area be- Tween The waTer's edge and The airTield. This Tire was murderous. The range oT every obiecT on The beach had been zeroed in by The Japs in advance oT D-Day. This hosTile Tire was coming Trom MT. Suribachi on The leTT and The norThern plaTeau on The righT. The rolling bar- rage Trom The TENNESSEEE guns was immediaTely dis- conTinued and our Tiring was shiTTed To The caves along The beach aT The TooT oT MT. Suribachi and To The enemy baTTeries on The norTh Tlank. Jap morTars erupTed in The groups oT men among The shore and among The Thin lines oT Marines edging up The sandy incline Toward The airTield, and They suTTered casu- alTies. An enemy baTTery was belching deaTh sTraighT down The lengTh oT The beach. A land mine exploded now and Then, knocking ouT a Tank or amphibious TracTor. A Tank was iusT sTarTing To Thread iTs way beTween The beach and The airTield when iT was knocked ouT by a Jap shell. QTher Tanks bogged down and Tipped halT over in The soTT volcanic sand where They became helpless TargeTs oT Jap gunners. PuTTs oT smoke and dusT rose Trom morTar blasTs creeping up and down The beach, while oTTshore shells splashed among The boaTs. Landing craTTs were blown up vw l A., ' T if ,f7.i,3 Y, x -Wbnr I 7' 47 4 hf,,?.gx . if TENNESSEE Fire Wrecks Coasi Defense Guns ai' Iwo. Briiish Made. The Japs Moved Them All The Way from Singapore