Topeka (CL 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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Jil ,.., 4' 0 I: M if ' ' -fgf f,4 A' 3-'1 M ' X u ' Mog Mog Island, where the liberty parties went ashore, still had a number of native thatched huts, but most of the natives had been carried away by the Japanese or removed to other islands of the atoll. Native cemeteries were every- where on the island, and despite the presence of the newly constructed Navy buildings, there was a timeless air of placid permanence to the place. On 4 June the Topeka steamed out of Ulithi in company with the carrier Bon Homme Richard, the Oklahoma City and two destroyers to join with the fueling group then on its way to rendezvous with Task Force 38. The ship was at last about to move into the front line. The rendezvous with Task Force 38 was effected on 6 June, and the Topeka was ordered into Task Force 38.1, one of the groups comprising Task Force 38. The ship was now fulfilling the role for which she was designed-she was a part of the Fast Carrier Task Force whose mission was to destroy Japanese shipping, aircraft and shore in- stallations and whose lightning raids up and down the tenuously stretched Japanese Empire were fast annihilating the Japanese Fleet and demoralizing the Japanese govern- ment. These Task Groups were ordinarily composed of a half-dozen carriers, three or four battleships, seven or eight cruisers and a score or more destroyers. With their speed and fighting power, plus their ability to stay at sea for in- definite periods, they were the 'most devasting and most feared forces in the history of naval warfare. The group which the Topeka joined consisted of the carriers Hornet, Bennington, and Bon Homme Richard, the Battleships Indiana, Massachusetts, and Alabama, the light carriers San Jacinto and Belleau Wood, the heavy cruisers Baltimore and Quincy, the light cruisers San Juan, Okla- homa City, Atlanta and Topeka, and 15 destroyers. The group was operating about 300 miles east of Okinawa. On June 8 the carriers of the group launched an aircraft strike in support of the Okinawa campaign against enemy aircraft and installations on southern Kyushu, one of the three principal islands of the Japanese homeland. This was the Topeka's first taste of offensive action against the enemy. The ship went to General Quarters for the launching of the strike and for the recovery of the planes when they returned from the strike. This procedure was to become routine in the days to come, but on this day it was new and highly exciting. The crew had been warned that the greatest danger lay in the recovery of the planes by the carriers, for the Japanese aircraft frequently followed the planes back to the Task Group to attack at the time of recovery, when the carriers were most vulnerable. A few minutes after noon that day, the shrill call of air defense sounded over the ships Hsquawk-boxesf' Thirteen hundred men raced to their battle stations, believing that this, finally, was it. As it turned out, a bogey-unidentified aircraft-had been detected closing on the group, but it was identified as friendly just after the men reached their battle stations. This, too, was to become a familiar proce- dure, for it was not always possible to identify planes as friendly until they were close to the group. On 9 June the group fueled at sea in the morning and launched another air strike in the afternoon, and the fol- lowing day another strike was launched against Okino Daito Shima. For this strike, the Topeka lanuched one of its seaplanes for the air-sea rescue, but its services were not required. Late that day the entire group was underway for San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Philippine Islands. The Topeka had had herfirst opportunity-however short and indecisive it may have been-of playing on the first team. From now until the war ended, she would be a regular member of the first team. Three days later, with the decks hot enough to fry an egg from the merciless beating of the sun, the ship anchored in San Pedro Bay for minor repairs, painting and a general cleaning up. The 18-day stay at Leyte would have been more welcome had it not been for the weather. The sun bore down relent- lessly, and it was virtually impossible to sleep below-decks at night. From 1900 on, the topside decks were jam-packed with sleeping men. Those who cultivated the sun emerged with magnificently tanned skins. Because of the threat of enemy air action, gun watches were maintained just as they had been at sea. One night all the ships in the harbor were alerted by the shore radar station, but again the bogey turned out to be friendly. ' Liberty facilities at Leyte were limited, to put it mildly. The crew went ashore in groups of 200 or more to drink beef, SWIIH and play ball, but the oppressive heat confined 22

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WITH PAIIIFIII W!-IH PAINT

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