USS Tarawa (LHA 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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' 1 l is CO TEN TS SAFETY DEPARTMENT COMBAT CARGO NUCLEUS LANDING FORCE STAFF THIRTEENTH MARINE AMPHIBIOUS UNIT ASSAULT CRAFT UNIT ONE PHIBRON ONE STAFF TACTICAL CONTROL SQUADRON TWELVE THE CRUISE - DEPARTURE SUBIC BAY, REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES PATTAYA BEACH, THAILAND SINGAPORE FREMANTLE, AUSTRALIA HONG KONG PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII HOMECOMING 106 108 110 112 124 130 134 138 146 156 164 174 186 194 204

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T BLE OF THE SHIP COMPHIBRON ONE THE COMMANDING OFFICER THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT AIR DEPARTMENT AIRCRAFT INTERMEDIATE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT COMBAT SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT DECK DEPARTMENT MEDICAL DEPARTMENT DENTAL DEPARTMENT ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT SUPPLY DEPARTMENT NAVIGATION DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT 9 12 15 16 20 28 38 46 54 58 66 73 74 86 96 100

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THE BATTLE Before November 20, 1943, the name of TARAWA was known to only a few. Three days later that name, and the name of Betio beach-head, went around the world like the flash from an exploding shell. Today those names stand' for the first sea-borne assault on a defended atoll. They will continue to endure as monuments of unsurpassed heroism of the Second Division Creinforcedb of the United States Marine Corps. As one of his last acts as Commandant of the Marine Corps, General T. Holcomb brought four men back to prepare an authentic story of the assault. These men produced ai book entitled Betio Beach-head , a clear, accurate, and vivid story of every step of the battle, from the days plans were laid until the last shot was fired and the Stars and Stripes were raised over the torn battlefield. ' ln respectful memory of the valor of all who engaged in that heroic battle, condensations from the book are herein presented to you with compliments of its authors, its publishers CG.P. Putnam Sons? and those of the Commanding Officer of this ship, that you may place these words among your momentos of your cruise aboard the USS TARAWA. . For two dragging weeks the crowded transports had been zig-zagging through the blue waters of the South Pacific, and for the Marines aboard it had been two weeks of weary monotony. They were headed for one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history, but they did not know that then. They did not even know where they were going. At the end of these two weeks, on November 14, 1943, they found out. Tarawa The Marines rolled the strange name off their tongues and repeated it to each other. In their wildest speculations, none had ever said the name Tarawa. Six days later the first assault was landed. Nine days later the bloody battle was history. ' If you want to place the small solitude of Tarawa, start from San Francisco, go roughly two thousand nautical miles toward the southwest and you'll be at Pearl Harbor, . . . travel three thousand more nautical miles along the general route and you reach, where they straddle the equator, the Gilbert Islands. One of them, a few degrees north of the line, is the atoll of Tarawa. Betio lies at Tarawa's southwestern end. lt is somewhat smaller than New York City's Central Park. With a length of two and a half miles, it is only eight hundred yards across at its widest, and it narrows down to a fraction. Over a period of fifteen months the Japanese did a very sound job of perfecting their defenses for the Gilberts, and the heart of their efforts was little Betio. The pillboxes for the automatic weapons, and even the riflemen's pits, were scientifically constructed to withstand heavy bombardment. Guarded by these defenses was a landing field that gave the Japanese a position nearest to our travel routes from San Francisco to Hawaii and Australia. lt was our first major obstruction on the road to Tokyo. In addition to Japanese made defenses, there was the reef, there were the tides. Three months before D-Day, a guard detail was posted before the door of a room on the third floor of the musty old Windsor Hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, where the Second Division made its headquarters. This was K Room. To this room came admirals and generals, colonels and naval captains. Fresh data stamped Secret and Ultra Secret piled up on the desks in K Room. The task confronting these men was peculiarly difficult. For the first time in military history, a strongly defended coral atoll was to be stormed and taken from the enemy. It was a case of precedents having to be created, not followed. Previously, American troops landed las military gospel dictates? on the least strongly held areas on the large land masses. This could not be done at Tarawa. The maps of K Room showed every installation the Japanese had built. This was the first problem to be solved. Next was the problem of the reefs. This was a tough one. The information as to the depth of water over the reefs was indefinite. General Smith and his staff did know that part of the reef was exposed at low tide. Their reports told them that during the period of neap tide, a maximum of three feet or less of water, even at high tide, might be experienced. So they could not be sure that even at high tide they could get landing boats to the beach. Even with the best breaks there would not be much time. The span of high tide is only four hours. There were other things which they knew. that added to the natural barrier of the reef were underwater obstacles which the enemy had built, which were certain to stymie the ordinary landing boat. They considered the amphibious tractor as a possible answer. Before committing himself to such a plan, General Smith decided to test them. Every conceivable underwater obstacle was erected, and live ammunition was fired at the amphibs as they moved through and over obstacles to the beach. The results of this rehearsal satisfied him that amphibian tractors could cross fringing coral reefs and that medium tanks couldbe disembarked from LCT's on the edge of such a reef. lt was Sunday morning and the sunlight felt warm and good. Church services were held. Landing craft moved between transports with the clumsy grace of a big fish. When morning came on, the 1st day of November, 1943, they were moving to sea. On November 14, 1943, Task Force Commander Rear Admiral Harry Hill sent this message to his ships: Give all hands the general picture of the projected operation and further details to all who should have this in execution of duties. This is the first assault on a defended atoll and with northern attack and covering forces the largest Pacific operation to date. On the morning of D-Day, troop officers read this message, an . it li 3 in is I , if W' .. I , J. M .aw M fe My J L . 41 .4 from General Smith, to their men: A great offensive to destroy the enemy in-the Pacific has begun. American air, sea and land forces, of which this division is a part, initiate this offensive by seizing Japanese atolls in the Gilbert Islands which will be used as bases for future operations. The task assigned to us is to capture the atolls of Tarawa and Apemama. Army units of our Fifth Amphibious Corps are simultaneously attacking Makin, one hundred and. fifty miles to the north of Tarawa. Early this morning combatant ships of our Navy bombarded Tarawa. Our navy screens our operations and will support our attack tomorrow morning with the greatest concentration of aerial bombardment and naval gunfire in the history of warfare. lt will remain with us until our objective is secured and our defenses are established. Garrison forces are already enroute to relieve us as soon as we have completed our job of clearing our objectives of Japanese forces.