Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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ReTurning Trom nighT cruising The morning oT March 27, seven suicide planes picked The TENNESSEE QVOUP as Their TargeT. There had been snooper planes arOUf1CI mosT oT The nighT, none oT Them coming ne n Tion To aTTack, buT They musT have inviTed Their Kamikaze Triends. The planes circled The TormaTion, Taking Thelf Time in sizing up The siTuaTion and selecTing a 'TargeT. AT 06I5, iusT in The TwiIighT area beTween daybreals and sun-up, The TENNESSEE opened up wiTh The secondary baTTery and was quickly ioined by oTher ships in The TormaTion. Four planes were quickly shoT down, buT Three oThers goT inside The TormaTion, one crashing The NE- VADA, iusT oTT The beam To sTarboard. The DORSEY was hiT by a diving plane and The BILOXI suTTered damage Trom a near miss. The Three planes which crashed The ships were all smoking beTore They hiT. ar The Torma- In many ways This aTTack was Typical oT The hundreds ThaT The TanaTical Japanese carried ouT againsT The aT- Tacking American Torces in The Okinawa area. OTher raids were larger, some smaller, and oTTen single planes came screaming ouT of nowhere To crash inTo a ship. Daybreak and evening TwilighT were TavoriTe Times Tor suiciders ThaT resorTed To every decepTion To approach The ships wiThouT deTecTion. During The days prior To The landings on Okinawa, planes operaTed Trom airTields on The island and oTher nearby insTallaTions. When The enemy was Tinally driven Trom use oT The Okinawa air- Tields They sTarTed coming in Trom as Tar as Formosa and The home island oT Kyushu. Day aTTer day, beTore The landings on April I, EasTer Sunday, The TENNESSEE cruised along The coasT, pre- paring The way Tor marines and soldiers, covering under- waTer demoliTion Teams, Throwing sTeeI inTo every ThickeT and clump oT bushes ThaT mighT hide a Jap insTallaTion. ReporTs poured in oT suicide plane aTTacks, parTicuIarIy on single ouTIying ships on pickeT duTy. Submarines, midgeT subs, suicide boaTs, suicide swimmers, and The new bake bomb sTabbed aT The American ships. There were long hours aT baTTle sTaTions Tor all hands and The signs oT sTrain and weariness showed plainly on Their Taces. The day oT The landing was made To order, brilIianT sunshine, no misT or haze, and a soTT, warm spring breeze blowing genTIy Trom The green hills oT Okinawa. There was a TerriTic pre-landing bombardmenT ThaT IiTTed as The Troops hiT The beach. In The area prepared by The TENNESSEE There was no opposiTion. In oTher areas There was only sporadic reTurn Tire Trom small arms or morTars. AT The Time iT seemed unbelievable ThaT The Troops were on The beach wiTh so IiTTIe opposiTion. Many an Qld campaigner on The TENNESSEE immediaTely guessed Jfhaf The Jap had a Trick up his sleeve, and IaTer evenTs proved him correcT. The enemy had reTired To The souTh, massing Torces in advanTageous prepared posiTions. IT was To Take many weeks, and many lives, To drive The Japanese Trom These posiTions and To clear The island. '-, By nighTTaII oT D-Day more Than 65,000 Troops had landed and supplies were pouring ashore in The greaTesT T amphibious operaTion in The PaciTic. The immediafe obiecTives, YonTan and Kadena airTieIds had been secured and seabees were already on The scene wiTh bulldozers and oTher heavy equipmenT, rushing repairs To make The Tields ready To receive American TighTer planes. I Days Tollowing The landings developed a sameness, Tar Trom boredom, buT Tilled wiTh The sTrain oT long hours aT The guns, There were bombings and Torpedo aTTacks on boTh by day and aT nighT, occasionally briIIianT Tlares being dropped. IT was apparenT ThaT The enemy had designaTed The Kamikaze Corps oT Suicide PiIoTs To de- liver his mosT Telling blows wiTh Their one-way ramming TacTics. In The Tive weeks Tollowing The landings There were more Than 500 air raids by 2,200 planes. AmmuniTion was nearly depleTed and The TENNES- SEE puT inTo The Kerama ReTTo anchorage April 7 To rearm and Take on supplies. In The Tew days since The group oT islands had been secured, supply organizaTion had been perTecTed, a seaplane base was in Tull operaTion, and Kerama was a haven Tor suicide damaged ships. The busTIing harbor, wiTh all acTiviTies aTloaT, could provide all needs oT The TIeeT excepT Tor maior repairs. While in The anchorage reporTs sTarTed coming in oT an approaching enemy surTace Torce consisTing oT The baTTleship YAMATO, one or Two cruisers, and abouT eighT desTroyers. I-lurriedly compleTing rearming acTiviTies, The TENNESSEE reioined Task Force 54 and Tormed in baTTle line To meeT The approaching Torce. ThroughouT The aTTer- noon The Torce sTeamed back and TorTh as TurTher con- TacTs were reporTed wiTh The enemy, operaTing aT a speed ThaT would bring Them To The Okinawa area around mid- nighT. The old baTTIeships, TENNESSEE, IDAI-IO, NEW MEXICO, WEST VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, and COLO- RADO were headed Tor acTion. While waiTing Tor The enemy To approach The area. a single bogey was reporTed and he headed sTraighT TOT The TormaTion. The cruisers oT The righT Tlank opened Tire buT The sake-diver barrelled Through The barrage and crashed The MARYLAND. Minor damage was reporTed. IT was a happy crew ThaT heard oT The ouTsTandir1q success Task Force 58 had experienced. A swarm oT dif- craTT had sunk The YAMATO and mosT oT her escorTS. The survivors Turning back To make a dismal rep0r'f +9 headquarTers. CondiTions ashore by April II indicaTed ThaT TGPICI IOTOQFGSS Tollowing The landings could noT be Tained. Marines were meeTing meager opposiTion i drive norThward and were haIT The disTance up The Peninsula. In The souTh, l.T.iGeneraI Simon B. XXTV A'mY COFIOS was meeTing sTiTT opposiTion 'ePO'TIn9 heavy morTar, arTiIIery, and small arms

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TENNESSEE confinued To blasT aT blockhouses, pillboxes, and o+her sTrong poinTs, fire being direcTed by fire con- Trol Teams iusT back of The TronT lines. Refurning from nighT cruising The morning of April IZ, all ships of The fire supporT uniT were ordered To sTay in formaTion, heavy air aHacks being anTicipaTed. Throughouf The morning The Task group sTeamed along aT I0 knofs, on The alerT for aTTacking planes. Carrier-based forces had good hunTing and drove off numerous aTTacks. By noon The raids had increased in sTrengTh and aT l400 many enemy planes were reporTed in The area, six sep- eraTe raids being Tracked. When The aTTacking planes were Ten miles from The TENNESSEE, The combaT air paTrol made conTacT and several enemy planes were shoT down. OuTnumbered, The paTrol was bypassed by Ten planes ThaT aTTacked The formafion. Seven of The planes selecTed The Big T as Their Targef. The enTire porT baTTery opened up and four of The aTTackers splashed in The waTer nearby The ship. Smoke from The porT guns was sweeping across The ship and made deTecTion impossible of The fifth plane ThaT made a pass aT a cruiser and Then came over The TENNESSEE's bow on The sfarboard side. The plane was firsT deTecTed aT 2,500 yards, dead ahead, wiTh several five-inch bursTs near The plane, fired from anofher ship. The forTies opened up wiTh The Twenfies, Throwing a hail of sfeel inTo The suicide plane. ln a few seconds, 84 rounds of 40 mm. and 4l0 rounds of 20 mm. mef The plane. A wheel was shoT off and smoke was observed Trailing from The engine. AT The beginning of his dive The plane was heading for The foremasf, buf appeared To swerve away To The lefT because of The conTinual hiTTing of The plane by The auTomaTic weapons fire. CuTTing Through The awning sup- porT on The bridge, The plane smashed Through signal halyards, radar equipmenT, and released a 250-pound bomb +ha+ sTruck The quarTer-deck, quickly followed by The burning plane, smashing Through To The armor deck. xTwenTy-Two men were killed insTanTly, or morTally wounded so ThaT deafh resulTed very shorTly ThereafTer. PharmacisTs' maTes wenT inTo acTion To give firsT aid To The l07 men ThaT were injured. STreTcher bearers removed The more seriously and crifically wounded To The collecT- ing sTaTion on The main deck. The less severely wounded were TreaTed by members of The crew. Burial services were held iusT as The sun was sinking on This sad day for The TENNESSEE. The ship's forces wenT To work on emergency repairs, however, and performing iobs which once could have been done only in maior navy yards, The TENNESSEE was firing again. Some of The TinesT work done by The ship was in The period beTween The aTTack of April Twelffh and The Third of May when she leT+ for Ulifhi and permanenf repairs. Vice Admiral Oldendorf relieved Rear Admiral Deyo as commander Baffleship Squadron I. AT ll0O The BIR- MINGHAM was broughT alongside The TENNESSEE and Rear Admiral Deyo shifTed his flag To her. On May 3 all hands were glad To see Ckinawa fade inTo The haze asTern. The men were Tired, dog Tired, nerves had been sTreTched To The limiT, yeT They had ToughT Their ship To The limiT in a manner ThaT reflecTed nofhing buf crediT To The enTire crew. The TENNESSEE wenT alongside The repair ship AJAX and a swarm of Technicians sTarTed work. Cuffing Torches flared and sparks flew as benT and Twisfed sfeel plaTes were cuT away, new guns insfalled, and new gun buckeTs consTrucTed. By June 3 The fighTing Rebel was on her way back To Okinawa, arriving June 9. The TenTh Army was massing for iTs final drive and gunfire from This ship helped open The way for The fresh Troops ThaT had been broughf in To relieve The baTTle- weary men. lT was comTorTing To see our own planes operaTing from The fields ThaT noT Too long ago had been The base for The suicide planes +ha+ smashed aT The fleeT. l-leavy paTrols of Army fighTers covered The area and The Jap- anese dominaTion of The air was definifely ended. Vice Admiral Oldendorf was soon made commander of all naval forces in The Ryukus, and as his flagship The TENNESSEE played an imporTanT parT in operaTions in The EasT China Sea. During July a Task group under his command covered minesweeping operaTions in The EasT China Sea, and hunTed enemy shipping beTween Shanghai and The home islands of Japan. The rouTe was eTfecTively blockaded, and several enemy planes were de- sfroyed by fighTers operaTing from The carriers of The formaTion. UnTil The end of The war The TENNESSEE prowled The EasT China Sea, long weeks of keeping a careful lookouT for snoopers and shipping aTTempTs To run The sea and air blockade. STrikes were made from escorf carriers aT enemy insTallaTions near The China coasT. Enemy mines infesfed The area and many of Them were exploded by desTroyers screening The Tormafion. AT war's end The TENNESSEE was operaTing from Buckner Bay, named for The gallanT General who losT his life in The closing days of The campaign. PreparaTions for furTher operaTions were being made when The T'irsT news of The Japanese offer To surrender arrived. ln a few days IT was deTiniTe ThaT The war was won, ln The Norfh, Cenfral, and SouTh Pacific, firing from Pearl Harbor To The final vicTory of Okinawa, The TENNESSEE had foughT her way To a brillianT record. To one of iTs men-of-war a naTion could say well done!