Topeka (CL 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE AHMIHAI. AND THE CAPTAIN . Y h . ' I f. 1 , , . i . . ,f f 1 .- , 4 Very Businesslike Too . . . i

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ing south, the unit swept through the outer reaches of Tokyo Bay searching in vain for Japanese shipping. Although il was obvious that the unit had been picked up by Japanese radar, neither enemy planes nor ships ventured out to give battle. At 0135 on 19 Jul.y, having completed the sweep the unit turned east to rendezvous with the rest of the Task Force. En route, the radars picked up a single unidentified plane which closed and was taken under fire. The plane quickly withdrew and was not again detected. lnsignificant as it may have been tactically, the sweep made history in a small way for the Topeka, and provided another tip-off that the Japanese were about at the end of their rope. It might have been a dangerous mission, but the Japanese were unable, or unwilling, to make it so. Foul weather prevented further strikes until 211- July. On that day and the next the planes from the Task Force car- riers struck at enemy shipping in the vicinity of Kure and reported successful completion of their missions. Un the early evening of the 25th several -enemy planes followed the carrier planes back to the Task Force and were shot down by the combat air patrol without inflicting any dam- age to our forces. The force again retired for fueling, and struck once more at Kobe and Kure on the 28th and 29th of July. By this time the Japanese were suffering from a bad case of jitters because they were unable to keep up with the movements of the Third Fleet and never knew where it was going to strike next. Further, any one strike might have been the prelude to invasion at that point. With their fleet a negligible fac- tor, their air force shot to pieces and their major cities in ruins, the Japanese were looking at a black present and an even blacker future. On the afternoon of 29 July the Task Force shifted its position again. and on the 30th and 31st struck at the Tokyo-Nagoya area once more with devastating effects, then retired for fueling. For seven days no operations against the empire were undertaken while the Task Force fueled and engaged in anti-aircraft firing practice, moving gradually north to a position east of Honshu. Again on 9 and 10 August Task Force 38 struck savagely at the Japs, this time hitting northern Honshu with indus- trial centers and airfields, as well as aircraft, the principal targets. And on the 9th the Topeka, by the daring of one of its officers, stood momentarily in the limelight. On that day the Topeka had the routine air-sea rescue assignment. Purpose of the assignment is to recover from the water pilots of downed carrier aircraft. 1n the middle of the morning the Topeka was ordered to send a plane to the rescue of a downed British pilot from a British carrier operating with Task Force 38. Ensign Harry Poindexter, USNB, who is equally at home in a stud poker session, took off in his SC-1 Seahawk, a one- seater seaplane with space in the fuselage aft of the pilot to stuff a passenger, and flew to the point where the pilot had been reported downed, less than a mile from the Jap- anese beach and within range of shore batteries. Setting his plane down in the water, Ensign Poindexter picked up the British aviator, and was about to return to the ship when he was informed by radio that another British pilot had been downed about live miles away and was in the water. With some difhculty, Poindexter took off in the choppy water with his passenger and flew to the second pilot. While he knew that he could jam another passenger into the fuselage with only some slight discomfort to the passen- gers, Poidexter also knew that his light plane would be heavily over-balanced and might very well not be capable of taking off from the somewhat heavy seas. However, rather than leave the aviator to the mercy of the sea and the ma- chine-gunning Jap pilots, Poindexter set his plane down again and took the second pilot aboard. With friendly fighter planes circling overhead as protec- tion against Jap planes, Poindexter gunned his tail-heavy plane over the water and forced it into the air more by will power than anything else. When he radioed that he was bringing in two passengers, one of them badly injured, in his one-seater plane, half the shipis company was on the fantail to receive him and the Task Force Commander sent a message to the Topeka asking for complete details of the rescue. For his daring and courageous achievement in the D . 23 face of great odds, Ensign Poindexter was awarded the Dis- tinguished Flying Cross. On the evening of 10 August the ships retired again for fueling, but by this time there was but one item of conver- sation throughout the Topeka. A stateside radio news broadcast had told first of the Russian entry into the war, then of the devastating atomic bomb, and finally of the re- ported Japanese offer to surrender, which was supposed to have been transmitted to the U. S. and British governments through a neutral. Shortly after that, another report made the first official. Then there was no further news for a couple of days. But the ship was bright with jubilation for the long days of darkness seemed nearly at an end. With ine contempt for the Japanese efforts to extricate themselves short of unconditional surrender, Task Force 38 struck furiously at Tokyo again on 13 August, rested on 14 August, and that night moved back into position for another attack on 15 August. Meanwhile, newsbroadcasts from the states crackled with facts, rumors, speculation and hope. The Allied govern- ments had answered Tokyois plea for peace with a defiant reiteration that only unconditional surrender-specifically, an Allied Supreme Commander to whom the Emperor would be subservient-could bring an end to the holocaust which was crushing Japan. The world was awaiting the Japanese response, and in the little part of the world aboard the Topeka all the emotions that had been released by the earlier announcements were being held in check amid the deafening quietness which fell over the ship. At dawn on the-15th, the first wave of planes was launched, and the second. Before they reached their targets, the great news broke over the Task force like a tropical storm and the planes were recalled. Aboard the Topeka, men were going wild, singing, yelling, whistling and danc- ing. On the battle stations and living compartments, on the forecastle and in the wardroom, the word was the same: 26 ll J

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The war is over -we're going home!! And in the quieter, reflective after glow, men thanked God for the end of the bloodshed and maiming and killing. 54' 42 41- 62 QE The shooting was not quite over-some of the Jap pilots apparently failed to get the word. For the next three days, Task Force 38 cruised in an area southeast of Tokyo and several Jap planes spotted near the formation were shot down by the combat air patrol and by the ship's anti-air- craft batteries. After 18 August however, no more enemy planes were seen. Acting on instruc.tions, the Topeka had meanwhile or- ganized' a landing party to go ashore in Japan to secure naval bases and air strips prior to the landing of the occu pation troops. The Topeka's landing party consisted of Commander Becker, Lieutenant Willis, Marine Lieutenant Joens, the Topekais detachment of Marines numbering 41 men, and one yeoman. These men boarded the APA Garrard, on 19 August, and on 30 August, after being delayed by the ty- phoons, went ashore shortly after the fourth Marine Com- bat Team which had hit the beach in full battle dress pre- pared for any emergency. The Topeka's landing party, therefore, was among the first American troops to occupy Japan. Immediately upon landing, the battalion of which the Topeka's group was a part moved to secure the Yokosuka air strip, which they held throughout the signing of the surrender and until relieved by the Fourth Marines. At no time did they encounter any resistance from the Japanese and on'8 September they returned to the Topeka, loaded with souvenirs and tall stories. The next four weeks were the longest in the short history of the ship. From the 20th to the 23rd the ship received fuel, supplies and passengers for transfer to other ships, was detached from Task Group 38.1 and joined Task Group 38.3, and cruised about in an area 180 miles southeast of Tokyo. On the 23rd the Task Group headed west to patrol the area south of central Honshu. Arriving in the desig- nated area uStripes'i, it was learned that two typhoons were moving toward the group from the south, one slightly West and the other slightly east. It was impossible to avoid the outer perimeter of both typhoons, and as a result the Topeka put in a few very rough days with the ship wallowing in the heavy seas and several cases of seasickness were observed. It was notable, however, that the quaking seaman who once turned an un- healthy green at the thought of rough seas now treated the subject with a heavy-handed variety of light humor. The typhoon was no picnic, nevertheless-the raging seas bat- tered the forward end of the aircraft carrier Waspis flight deck until it curled like a split dandelion stem. For the balance of the month the Topeka along with the other ships of Task Group c.ontinued to patrol area f'Stripes,', furnishing air-sea rescue destroyers and combat air patrol over the direct route between Okinawa and Tokyo. Concrete evidence that the war was really over was sup- plied on 31 August when the first big group of officers and men with sufficient points for discharge were detached from the ship and put aboard other ships for transfer back to the States. For those who remained aboard, the routine was be- coming somewhat deadly-other ships were participating in the big events in connection with the occupation and sur- render while the Topeka patrolled area HStripes . The first two weeks of September offered no change. The Task Group continued to patrol its area while planes from the carriers were observing and making food drops on prisoner-of-war camps on Honshu. On 7 September the landing party returned to the ship after having spent three weeks at the Yokosuka Naval Base. And a few days later the ship was ordered to Tokyo Bay for upkeep and recre- ation. On 16 September the Topeka anchored in Tokyo Bay. The home waters of a Japanese Navy that had perished in a vain attempt to enslave the world. rippled around count- less units of the victorious United States Navy. The Topeka had been underway for 77 consecutive days, from the day the anchor was hoisted at Leyte until it dropped in Tokyo Bay. It had been a long, hard stretch. but liberty in Japan was now on tap. J Every day about 300 men went ashore in Yokosuka. Yokohama, or Tokyo, and what they saw filled them with mingled. pride, regret and saympathy. Great areas of the cities were completely burned out, people were living in shacks hung together with the wreckage, few automobiles were on the streets, trains and street cars were bursting with humanity, stores were very nearly empty of goods' to sell. virtually 100 percent of the men and boys wore bedraggled uniforms of some sort, and with the exception of the very young, all the women had the same look of resignation. despair and utter weariness on their faces. The demand for cigarettes and candy was incredible'-a pack of American cigarettes brought as much as 30 yen, two dollars, in a street corner trade. bartering though forbidden, flourished on side streets. The Japanese, except for those who wanted to trade. seemed to maintain an impassive resigned calm amid the hordes of sailors and soldiers. The hunt for souvenirs was unflagging, and the items brought back to the ship to be treasured and cherished in years to come ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. Liberty in Japan was as if a country carnival, an Arabian Night and Macyis base ment had been scrambled up and left to untangle themselves amid the ruins of the Tower of Babel-and overtones of de- caying fish. The Topeka remained in Tokyo Bay for two weeks, with liberty parties every day, and those remaining on board cleaning. painting and repairing the ship. On September the news which was perhaps even more gladly received than the end of the war was broadcast over the loud speaker: The Topeka would be back in the United States for Navy 'Day on 27 October. If not more important it was certainly the perfect sequel to the peace news, and once again the men who had resigned themselves to remaining in the Pacific for an indefinite period. went wild with joy. if if s E l l 1 t -.1 -4 1 I 1 E l t 1 t I t t 1 l