USS Tarawa (LHA 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE FIRST TARAWA USS TARAWA CLHA-19 is the second ship named in honor of the battle of TARAWA. The previous TARAWA CCV-407 was one of the Navy's potent new 97,000-ton aircraft carriers and sister ship of the ESSEX, YORKTOWN, SHANGRI-LA and PRINCETON. She served from 1945 until her decommissioning in 1960. First Navy ship so named, the TARAWA was built in Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, and launched in the Elizabeth River on May 19, 1945. In a speech at the launching of the TARAWA, Marine General Smith, who commanded the furious 76-hour fighting on Tarawa atoll, said: lt is eminently fitting that this great ship should be named for an operation which marked the turning point of the war in the Pacific and began a new era of amphibious warfare. The same battle flag that went ashore with the Marines at Tarawa on November 20, 1943, was presented to the new carrier. The colors, under which 786 Marine and Naval medical personnel died, were hauled down from a riven coconut palm on February 13, 1944, by a picked color guard of men who had taken part in the assault and who had come into the Marine Corps from all sections of the United States. The big carrier, although nominally a sister ship of the other Essex class carriers, was given improvements in design and equipment that set her apart. The vessel was 856 feet in overall length, 110 feet extreme beam and 24 feet draft. Fully loaded the TARAWA displaced more than 34,000 tons and was able to be driven at a top speed of more than 30 knots. The TARAWA carried 80 planes and was equipped to launch and land the first developed jet-propelled aircraft. To operate the ship, man and service the aircraft, the TARAWA carried approximately 9,500 men. Heavily armed, the TARAWA carried twin and single mount five-inch guns, quadruple 40 millimeter and twin Q0 millimeter anti-aircraft weapons. Profitting from the lessons learned in the Pacific carrier war, the ship had new improved facilities for the stowage of bombs and rockets.

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3:30 p.m.: B Medical land on Bairiki, establish field hospital as soon as possible. A and C Medical land Beach Red 2 soon as possible. Bring morphine, plasma, dressings, stretchers. Before gigging in for the night the companies re-formed and moved into defensive positions. The sky deepened from rich purple to blackness. The first stars began to shine. Silence settled, disturbed only by faint scuffing of shovels as the men went on digging their foxholes, Then - Banzai! Blood for the Emperor! Two words went through the line: - Stand Fast. The first lap counter-attacks lasted one hour. The laps leaped from their holes and charged, running like possessed demons, wav- ing sabers, tossing hand grenades, firing light machine guns from the hip, charging with fixed bayonets. With knives, bayonets, rifle butts, the Marines fought them back. They were repulsed but not before opening a gap between A and B companies of the Sixth. Our wounded could not be moved. Men opened their first aid kits, bandaged their buddies in the darkness, and gave them water from their canteens. Non-commissioned officers moved among the men, shaking them, warning them to stay awake. 11:00 p.m.: The laps attempted to create a diversion. A few min- utes later they charged as before, screaming Banzai! The Marines stopped the charge and threw the laps back. 4:00 a.m.: The laps launched their final and most desperate attack. It was now or never. A few laps were naked and armed only with knives. For an hour, hand-to-hand fighting went on. Men gave their lives to save their buddies. 5:00 a.m.: The counter-attack ended. The stars fading. It's all over. .Qi'lM,,.?Q.il1in.pg: X 'il W .Hr ., W. L gi ifjxfi, it, X .l lil X. V' Q l. s.. .gm , M eww' We stopped them. Send stretcher bearers to evacuate the wounded. Navy corpsmen bandaged, applied tourniquets, injected mor- phine, lit cigarettes and stuck them between cracked lips and said, You'll be all right, kid. u Soon after the Sixth had finished its job, the First Battalion of the Eighth succeeded in cleaning out the last remnant of resistance on Beach Red 1. 1:12 p.m.: General Smith had the announcement carried by field telephone to all units on the islet and by radio to the ships of the task force that the battle of Betio was over. November 24, 1943. The assault troops began leaving Betio. It was slow business. They were leaving many comrades behind, in shallow graves, still lying face down in the waters of the lagoon, lying along the battered beaches, hanging on brutal wire. They did not talk much, these men who had done the impossible. There were no longer boys among them, only men. Bloody, bandaged heroes. Private First Class lames Williams of Birmingham, Alabama, stepped forward and liftes his bugle to sound colors for the first time over Tarawa. Men turned from digging foxholes, unloading boats, burying the dead. They stood at attention their dirty tired young hands at salute. Some of the wounded managed to stand up too. The piore seriously hurt could only turn their heads as they lay on their itters. They lost their weariness, a little of their sorrow. They could see their flag. It made them proud. hfor they knew, more than anyone else, what it meant to put it t ere. f s I 8 Q .,,5sxxyxxx 172.9 0 ' s v f -All 72 x ,f as j 'U ' l l mf e 2' ll' Q' A v 24 wks!!

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TARA A TR JUNE 19-Deployment begins JUNE 19-28-Enroute Adak, Alaska JUNE 29-JULY 3- AUG 6-13--COBRA GOLD '86 KERNEL POTLATCH '86 JULY 5-17-Enroute Subic Bay, R.P. JULY 18-29-Moored Subic Bay JULY so-AUG 5-Enroute Pattaya Beach, Thailand Y