Chain of Command
On 4 January 1956 USS NEWPORTNEWS (CA-148) steamed for a tour of duty in the Mediterranean as flagship of Vice Admiral Ralph A. Ofstie, Commander Sixth Fleet. Vice Admiral Ofstie was relieved on board by VADM Harry Donald Felt on 12 April in Barcelona, Spain.
Criteria Criteria for award of the Republic of Korea Korean War Service Medal (ROK KWSM) have been established by the ROK government. To qualify for the medal, the veteran must have: Served between the outbrea... Criteria for award of the Republic of Korea Korean War Service Medal (ROK KWSM) have been established by the ROK government. To qualify for the medal, the veteran must have: Served between the outbreak of hostilities, June 25, 1950, and the date the armistice was signed, July 27, 1953, Been on permanent assignment or on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 non-consecutive days Performed his / her duty within the territorial limits of Korea, in the waters immediately adjacent thereto or in aerial flight over Korea participating in actual combat operations or in support of combat operations MoreHide
Criteria The National Defense Service Medal is awarded for honorable active service as a member of the Armed Forces during the Korean War, Vietnam War, the war against Iraq in the Persian Gulf, and for service... The National Defense Service Medal is awarded for honorable active service as a member of the Armed Forces during the Korean War, Vietnam War, the war against Iraq in the Persian Gulf, and for service during the current War on Terrorism. In addition, all members of the National Guard and Reserve who were part of the Selected Reserve in good standing between August 2, 1990, to November 30, 1995, are eligible for the National Defense Service Medal. In the case of Navy personnel, Midshipment attending the Naval Academy during the qualifying periods are eligible for this award, and Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) Midshipmen ae only eligible if they participated in a summer cruise that was in an area which qualified for a campaign medal. MoreHide
Description
The National Defense Service Medal was awarded for honorable active service for any period between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954.
Description Communist efforts to divide the South Koreans against themselves having failed, the North Koreans decided to attempt their subjugation by military force. At 0400, Sunday, 25 June 1950 (Korean Time), NCommunist efforts to divide the South Koreans against themselves having failed, the North Koreans decided to attempt their subjugation by military force. At 0400, Sunday, 25 June 1950 (Korean Time), North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel into the Republic and launched their main effort toward the South Korean capital city of Seoul, down the P'och'on-Uijongbu and Yonch'on-Uijongbu corridors. Strong attacks were also directed through Kaesong toward Munsan on the right, and toward Ch'unch'on on the left. On the west coast the Ongjin Peninsula was quickly captured. On the east coast a land column and a small seaborne detachment met near Kangnung.
By 28 June Seoul had fallen, the North Koreans had closed up along the Han River to a point about 20 miles east of Seoul, and had advanced as far as Samchok on the meat coast. By 4 July enemy forces were along the line Suwon-Wonju-Samchok. In withdrawing, the Republic of Korea ("ROK") forces had suffered such serious losses that their attempts to regroup and retain order were almost futile.
On 25 June 1950 the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling "for immediate cessation of hostilities" and "upon the authorities of North Korea to withdraw forthwith their armed forces to the thirty-eighth parallel." When the North Koreans failed to accede to these demands, the Security Council passed a second resolution recommending "that the Members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and restore the international peace and security in the area."
President Truman announced on 27 June 1950 the t he had ordered American air and naval forces to give cover and support to the South Korean troops (UN Defensive-27 June to 15 September 1950). On the 28th he authorized the Commander in Chief Far East to use certain supporting ground units in Korea, and authorized the U.S. Air Force to conduct missions on specific targets in North Korea. On the 30th the President further authorized the C. in C. Far East to use all forces available to him to repel the invasion, and ordered a naval blockade of the entire coast of Korea.
A Security Council resolution of 7 July 1950 recommended the establishment of a unified command in Korea and requested the United States to designate a commander of these forces. On 8 July President Truman announced the appointment of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur as Commander in Chief, United Nations Command (CINCUNC). On 14 July President Rhee placed all ROK security forces under the United Nations commander, an act which consolidated the anti-Communist forces under the United Nations Commend for the purpose of repelling the Communist aggression.
The U.S. forces at MacArthur's disposal included the four divisions in Japan-the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th, 24th, and 25th Infantry Divisions-and the 29th Regimental Combat Team in Okinawa. The divisions were lacking a third of their infantry and artillery units and almost all their armor units. Existing units were far under strength. Weapons and equipment were war-worn relics of World War II, and ammunition reserves amounted to only a 45-day supply. None of the divisions had reached full combat efficiency, since intensive training had been largely neglected because of occupation duties.
Initial U.S. strategy, dictated by the speed of the North Korean drive and the state of American unpreparedness, was one of trading space for time. On 2 July 1950 Task Force Smith, composed of two rifle companies and a few supporting units of the 24th Division, was flown from Japan to Pusan and moved by train and truck to defensive positions near Osan, 30 miles south of Seoul. Its mission was to fight a delaying action to gain time for the movement of more troops from Japan. On 5 July this small force was attacked by a North Korean division supported by 30 tanks and compelled to withdraw, after a stubborn defense, with heavy losses of men and equipment.
By this time the remaining elements of the 24th Division had reached Korea and were in defensive positions along the Kum River, north of Taejon and 60 miles south of Osan. ROK elements held positions to the east, some 50 miles above Taegu. By 15 July the 25th Division had arrived in Korea and was positioned east of the 24th Division. The 1st Cavalry Division arrived and closed in the P'chang-dong area on 18-19 July. Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, Commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, had been placed in command of all U.S. ground troops in Korea on 13 July, and, at the request of President Rhee, of the South Korean Army as well. As the ground troops of other U.N. members reached Korea, they also were placed under Walker's command.
North Korean forces crossed the Kum River and captured Taejon, an important communications center, on 20 July. U.S. and ROK troops continued to withdraw steadily to the southeast under constant North Korean pressure. During the withdrawal our Army's 3.5-inch rocket launcher was used (for the first time on a battlefield) with highly successful results against North Korean tanks. It was in this period that the 24th Division commander, Maj. Gen. William F. Dean, was reported missing when North Korean tanks broke through the forward unite of his division. It was learned later that he had been captured about 35 miles south of Taejon on 25 August.
The final days of July 1950 witnessed a series of hard-fought battles all along the 200-mile front of the United Nations perimeter. The northern front, a line running inland from Yongdok through Andong, Yech'on, Hamch'ong, and Hwanggan to Kumch'on, was defended at critical points by ROK troops and the U.S. 25th Division. The 1st Cavalry Division was battling on the west flank to keep the Yongdong-Kumch'on-Taegu rail line open. To block the southwestern approaches to Pusan, which the enemy was threatening, the 29th RCT advanced to Chinju, but was ambushed by a North Korean division and suffered heavy losses. Enemy pressure continued from Yosu and Chinju in the southwest to Kwan-ni on the Taejon-Taegu railroad, thence northeast through Yech'on to Yongdok on the Sea of Japan.
By the beginning of August the U.S. and ROK forces had withdrawn behind the Naktong River, a position which the U.N. Command was determined to hold. The area held in southeastern Korea resembled a rectangle, the southwestern side of which was guarded by the 24th and 25th Divisions to prevent a breakthrough to Masan. The 1st Cavalry Division was deployed on the western front to guard the Taegu railroad approaches. The northern front was defended by ROK divisions from a point south of Hamch'ang to a point just south of Yongdok on the east coast.
Early in August General Walker declared the strategy of trading space for time to be at an end, and ordered a final stand along this 140-mile perimeter around the port of Pusan, which had become a well-stocked Eighth Army supply base and the hub of a rail and road net leading to the battle front. By now the enemy's lengthened supply lines were under constant air attack, enemy naval opposition had been wiped out, and the blockade of the Korean coast had been clamped tight.
During the next month and a half, fourteen North Korean divisions dissipated their strength in piecemeal attacks against the Pusan perimeter. Walker, by rapidly shuttling his forces to meet the greatest threats, inflicted heavy casualties on the North Koreans and prevented serious penetrations. The enemy, determined to annihilate the Eighth Army and take Taegu and Pusan, massed for a two-pronged attack across the Naktong, one prong from the west and the other from the southwest. The principal actions were fought along the river from Waegwan south through Song-dong and Ch'irhyon-ni to the junction of the Naktong and Nam Rivers, and southwest toward Haman and Chinju.
While U.S. troops were fighting along the banks of the Naktong, other battles took place in the southwest. A veteran North Korean division, which had been concentrated for an assault upon Susan and Pusan, was hit by Task Force Kean. Named for the 25th Division Commander, the Task Force was composed of the 5th RCT, the 35th RCT of the 25th Division, the 1st Marine Brigade, and a ROK battalion. It opened a strong counteroffensive on 7 August 1950 to secure the left funk of the perimeter and prevent the enemy from driving on Pusan. Overcoming initial heavy resistance, it defeated the North Koreans and by 11 August commanded the high ground to the east of Chinju.
On the eastern flank of the perimeter the town of Yongdok was lost by ROK units, some of which then had to be evacuated by sea. On 12 August the port of P'chang-dong was attacked by enemy forces led by tanks which mounted screaming sirens. This force poured through a break in the R0K lines and linked up with North Korean advance agents in the port. These agents, disguised as innocent-looking refugees, carried mortars, machineguns, and other weapons in oxcarts, on A-frames and on their persons. While a force of North Koreans took P'chang-dong, the adjoining airstrip, of great importance to the U.N. forces as a base for tactical aircraft. On 13 August the danger was so pressing that all aircraft were evacuated. Within the next five days, however, ROK troops and a small U.S. task force recaptured P'chang-dong and returned it to U.N. control.
During this time a much larger force of North Koreans breached the U.N. positions at some paints in the Naktong River sector, but failed in their attempt to capture the rail junctions at Taegu. To hold a line near the river, Walker rearranged the defensive positions of the 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions, the 1st Cavalry Division, and the 1st Marine Brigade, deploying them in a manner which assigned combat zones of 15-30 miles to each division.
The enemy, continuing his efforts to crack the perimeter, massed several divisions above Waegwan to assault Taegu from the north. Despite a bombing raid in which U.N. air forces dropped 850 tons of bombs on the suspected enemy concentration area, the North Koreans launched a powerful attack which carried through the ROK positions and threatened Taegu. Stalwart defense and swift countermeasures in this area on 19 August saved Taegu from almost certain capture, parried the enemy 's three-pronged thrust at the city, and stopped the momentum of the North Korean offensive.
Shortly before midnight on 31 August enemy forces again attacked the Naktong River Line, this time in tremendous force. Disregarding very heavy casualties from U.N. air force bombing and strafing, they mounted a strong offensive against the entire Pusan beachhead from Haman in the south to P'chang-dong in the northern sector. The port of P'chang-dong was captured on 6 September, but again the Communists failed to capture the airfield. Waegwan and the "walled city" of Kasan were lost as the U.N. defenders fell back for a last ditch stand at Taegu. Between 4 and 11 September the enemy made important gains along the Naktong in some of the heaviest fighting of the war; but U.N. forces blunted the drive on Taegu and began to show slow progress of their own against very strong enemy resistance.
On the southern front the North Korean offensive, which opened with a massive artillery barrage near Haman, struck the 25th Division with tanks and waves of infantry, imperiling its forward positions. However, although the enemy had made impressive gains along the U.N. perimeter and General Walker still had to shuttle his units from one critical area to another, a strong beachhead remained in the hands of the U.N. Command.
By mid-August the offensive capability of the Eighth Army had been augmented by the arrival of the U.S. 2d Division, the 1st Marine Brigade, four battalions of medium tanks from the United States, and the 5th RCT from Hawaii. Before the month was out, five ROK divisions were restored to some semblance of order, and Great Britain committed the 27th Brigade from Hong Kong. With the arrival of these reinforcements an attempt could now be made to end the U.N. withdrawal and to begin a U.N. offensive in southeastern Korea.... More
Criteria The Legion of Merit is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States without degree for exceptionally outstanding conduct in the performance of meritorious service to the United States. ... The Legion of Merit is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States without degree for exceptionally outstanding conduct in the performance of meritorious service to the United States. The performance must merit recognition by individuals in a key position which was performed in a clearly exceptional manner. MoreHide
Criteria The Presidential Unit Citation may be awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and cobelligerent nations for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy occurring on or aft... The Presidential Unit Citation may be awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and cobelligerent nations for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy occurring on or after December 7, 1941. MoreHide
Criteria The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for for qualifying service within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946, under any of the following condi... The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for for qualifying service within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946, under any of the following conditions: On permanent assignment within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater; or, For service in a passenger status or on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 non-consecutive days; or, For service in active combat in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations against the enemy and awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by the commanding general of a corps, higher unit, or independent force that the individual actually participated in combat. MoreHide
Criteria The Philippine Liberation Medal was awarded for service in the liberation of the Philippines from October 17, 1944, to September 2, 1945. In order to qualify, one of the following provisions must be m... The Philippine Liberation Medal was awarded for service in the liberation of the Philippines from October 17, 1944, to September 2, 1945. In order to qualify, one of the following provisions must be met: Participation in the initial landing operation of Leyte and adjoining islands from October 7-20, 1944; or, Participation in any engagement against the enemy during the Philippine Liberation Campaign; or, Service in the Philippine Islands or in ships in Philippine wates for not less than 30 days during the period of October 17, 1944 to September 2, 1945. MoreHide
Criteria The Navy Cross may be awarded to any person who, while serving with the Navy or Marine Corps, distinguishes himself in action by extraordinary heroism not justifying an award of the Medal of Honor.... The Navy Cross may be awarded to any person who, while serving with the Navy or Marine Corps, distinguishes himself in action by extraordinary heroism not justifying an award of the Medal of Honor. MoreHide
Comments The Navy Cross is presented to Ralph Andrew Ofstie, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Carrier Division Commander, Task Unit ... The Navy Cross is presented to Ralph Andrew Ofstie, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Carrier Division Commander, Task Unit 77.4.32, in action against major units of the Japanese Fleet off Samar Island in the Philippines, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on 25 October 1944. In an engagement unique in naval history, Rear Admiral Ofstie's small task unit of escort carriers and screening ships, of which, as an Escort Carrier Division Commander, he was second in command, turned back a vastly superior enemy force sorely crippled by our guns, torpedoes and aircraft. His sound judgment and timely advice were of inestimable value. By his superb courage and unfailing determination against terrific odds, he was an inspiration to the officers and men of his unit. His conduct throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Navy of the United States.
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Criteria The Legion of Merit is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States without degree for exceptionally outstanding conduct in the performance of meritorious service to the United States. ... The Legion of Merit is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States without degree for exceptionally outstanding conduct in the performance of meritorious service to the United States. The performance must merit recognition by individuals in a key position which was performed in a clearly exceptional manner. MoreHide
Criteria The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for for qualifying service within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946, under any of the following condi... The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for for qualifying service within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946, under any of the following conditions: On permanent assignment within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater; or, For service in a passenger status or on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 non-consecutive days; or, For service in active combat in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations against the enemy and awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by the commanding general of a corps, higher unit, or independent force that the individual actually participated in combat. MoreHide
Description The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September–November 1944 on the islandThe Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September–November 1944 on the island of Peleliu, present-day Palau. U.S. Marines of the First Marine Division and later soldiers of the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division, fought to capture an airstrip on the small coral island. This battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager which ran from June–November 1944 in the Pacific Theater of Operations.
Major General William Rupertus, USMC—commander of 1st Marine Division—predicted the island would be secured within four days. However, due to Japan's well-crafted fortifications and stiff resistance, the battle lasted over two months. In the United States, it was a controversial battle because of the island's questionable strategic value and the high casualty rate, which exceeded all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War. The National Museum of the Marine Corps called it "the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines".... More
People You Remember
Admiral Ofstie was Commander Task Group 32.7, Western Escort Carrier Group.
Description The Battle of Samar (25 October 1944) was the nearest the Japanese came to success during the battle of Leyte Gulf and saw a powerful Japanese battleship force come close to destroying a force of AmerThe Battle of Samar (25 October 1944) was the nearest the Japanese came to success during the battle of Leyte Gulf and saw a powerful Japanese battleship force come close to destroying a force of American escort carriers.
The Japanese realised that an American invasion of the Philippines or of Formosa would cut their Empire in half and prevent vital supplies reaching the Home Islands from the south part of the empire. They decided to try and fight the 'decisive battle' of the war wherever the Americans attacked next. If the Americans attacked the Philippines then the Japanese hoped to use the scattered elements of their fleet in a coordinated attack that might allow them to get at the vulnerable invasion fleet. In the final version of the plan Admiral Ozawa's carriers, coming from Japan, were to drag the US 3rd Fleet away from the invasion beaches in Leyte Gulf, allowing three other Japanese fleets to advance through the central Philippines to attack the invasion fleets.
The most important of these three fleets was Admiral Kurita's I Striking Force. Admiral Kurita began the battle of Leyte Gulf with a powerful fleet, containing five battleships, twelve cruisers and fifteen destroyers. Amongst the battleships were the Musashi and the Yamato, the biggest and most powerful battleships in the world. He also had the older battleships Kongo, Haruna and Nagato, twelve cruisers and fifteen destroyers. This force suffered grievous losses before reaching Samar. In the two day battle of the Sibuyan Sea (23-24 October 1944) the Musashi was sunk by American aircraft, two cruisers were sunk by two American subs and a third crippled. Kurita started the battle of Samar with four battleships, six cruisers and ten destroyers.
On the American side the bulk of the battle was fought by Admiral Sprague's Taffy Three, with six escort carriers, three destroyers and four destroyer escorts. The escort carriers carried modern aircraft, but these were armed for ground attack and so didn't have many of the armour piercing bombs needed against battleships. Twelve more escort carriers in two groups were in the area, but the 7th Fleet's six old battleships were away to the south defending the Surigao Strait. The powerful modern carriers and fast battleships of the 3rd Fleet had been lured away to the north to try and intercept Ozawa's carriers (Battle of Cape Engano). Admiral Kinkaid, commander of the 7th Fleet, believed that Halsey had left a powerful task force (Task Force 34, Admiral Lee) to watch Kurita, but in fact this force had accompanied the 3rd Fleet north.
On the night of 24-25 October Kurita passed through the San Bernardino Straits, turned south and headed for Leyte Gulf. Soon after this, at about 5.30, he learnt that Admiral Nishimura's force had been destroyed and Admiral Shima was retreating (battle of the Surigao Strait). He probably never received the messages Ozawa sent out announcing that the 3rd Fleet was chasing him. Kurita could justifiably believe that the main parts of both the US 3rd and 7th Fleets were somewhere in or close to Leyte Gulf.
At about dawn (6.30) Kurita found Admiral Sprague's Taffy 3, a task force made up of six escort carriers and seven escorts. Kurita believed that he had found a 'gigantic enemy task force' containing large carriers, cruisers, destroyers and possibly battleships. He decided to abandon the charge into Leyte Gulf and turned to attack Sprague's force. At 6.58 the Yamato's main guns opened fire on a surface target for the first time.
Sprague realised that he was in trouble. At 7.01 he issued a call for help in the clear, ordered his aircraft into the air and headed for a nearby rain squall. Under cover of the rain he decided to try and reach the support of Taffy 2, thirty miles to the south. His destroyers were ordered to attack the Japanese fleet while the carriers made their best speed south.
Sprague's aircraft had a limited potential to do serious damage to the Japanese battleships. The escort carriers didn't have enough storage space to carry both fragmentation bombs for ground support and a significant number of armour piercing bombs. The Japanese had no way to know that, and the American aircraft were able to force the Japanese heavy ships into frantic manoeuvres, slowing their pursuit of the carriers. The torpedo firing destroyers were equally effective.
Just after 7.20am the cruiser Kumano was hit by a torpedo from the US destroyer Johnston DD-557. Her speed was reduced, and at 9.45 she was detached from the main fleet and ordered back through the San Bernardino Strait. This brought her into range of aircraft from the US 3rd Fleet and at around 9.45 she was attacked by SB2C dive-bombers and TBM torpedo bombers from TF 38. They only managed to score one near miss. A second attack early on 26 October managed three bomb hits, but the cruiser could still make 10kts. The Kumano managed to reach safety at Manila where she underwent repairs before leaving for Japan on 5 November. Her luck now turned - her convoy was attacked by four American submarines and the cruiser was hit twice. She remained afloat and reached Dasol Bay on the Luzon coast, but on 25 November she was sunk by American aircraft.
This first destroyer attack cost the Americans dearly. The Johnston was hit by three 14in and three 6in shells and the Hoel by shells that disabled her main engine. The Hoel remained in the fight until she was unable to move and at about 8.30 her crew abandoned ship.
A little further south the escort carriers came under fire from the Japanese battleships. Kalinin Bay and Gambier Bay were both hit but managed to main their position until the Gambier Bay was hit in the forward engine room. The destroyer Johnston attempted to distract attention from the stricken carrier but without success and the Gambier Bay sank at around 8.45am. The Johnston then managed to break up a light cruiser attack on the carriers, but in the process she became their main target and was sunk. Only 141 of her 327 crewmen survived.
The cruiser Chikuma was hit by a torpedo at around 8.54. It was a sign that Sprague's men were getting closer to help that this torpedo was probably launched by an aircraft from Admiral Felix B. Stump's Task Group 77.4.2. The engine rooms flooded, and the ship came to a halt. She was unable to respond when Kurita decided to withdraw from battle, and was left alone. She sank during the day with the loss of most of her crew. Another 100 were rescued by the destroyer Nowaki, but that ship was lost on the night of 25-26 October with the loss of all hands.
The cruiser Chokai was hit by 500lb bombs at around 9.05am. The bombs caused heavy fires and damaged the forward engine room. The cruiser came to a halt, and couldn't be rescued. At around 10.30 the crippled cruiser was sunk by a spread of torpedoes from the destroyer Fujinami.
By this time Kurita was rather losing his grip on the battle. The Yamato was some way behind his cruisers and visibility was poor. He wasn't aware of the damage to three of his cruisers, and had lost sight of the carriers. At 9.11, believing that he had won a major victory over a squadron of fleet carriers, Kurita ordered his surviving ships to withdraw from the battle.
At about 10.50 the cruiser Suzuya suffered a near miss that detonated the torpedoes in the starboard forward torpedo tubes. This set off a fire made worse when more of her torpedoes exploded at around 11.00. Damage control measures failed and at about 12 noon a series of ammunition explosions began. The ship was abandoned at 1pm and sank twenty minutes later.
Taffy 3's ordeal wasn't yet over. At 10.50, just as the Suzuya was being attacked, nine kamikaze aircraft attacked the task group, in one of the first organised suicide attacks of the war. Most were destroyed or missed, but one hit the escort carrier St Lô, triggering explosions that sank her. A second kamikaze attack twenty minutes later did more damage but failed to sink anything.
It took Kurita about two hours to regroup. He then turned south with his remaining fifteen ships in an attempt to reach Leyte Gulf, the original target of his operation. At 11.40 one of his lookouts reported sighting a battleship and destroyers. The fleet turned aside to chase this phantom before turning south again. At around 12.30, when only forty five miles from Leyte Gulf, Kurita decided that it wasn't worth risking the destruction of his fleet just to sink empty transport ships. He had also received reports that an American carrier task force had been sighted 113 miles north of the gulf, and he now decided to turn north to deal with this
In fact Halsey's carriers were still far to the north. All morning he had been receiving urgent calls for help, but had refused to turn back. In the resulting battle of Cape Engano Halsey sank all four of Ozawa's carriers. At around 11 he ordered one of his carrier groups to turn south, and his fourth carrier group, which was some way to the east, was also directed towards Kurita. This fourth task group was first to come into range and during the afternoon it launched two attacks on Kurita's fleet. After spending all afternoon looking for the American carriers Kurita retired to the eastern end of the San Bernardino Strait at 6pm. He was under orders to wait for dark and try and fight a night battle, but at 9.25, with fuel short, he decided to retreat west through the straits. He would suffer further air attack on 26 October, but the main fighting in Leyte Gulf was over.
Kurita has since been blamed for his decisions to withdraw from combat at 9.11 and to turn back from Leyte Gulf at 12.30. Both can be defended using the information available to Kurita at the time, but he later believed the second decision to have been a mistake. If Kurita had advanced into Leyte Gulf then his fleet would almost certainly have been destroyed - if not by Kinkaid's escort carriers and old battleships then by the 3rd Fleet. All he could have achieved was the destruction of empty transport ships, and perhaps a damaging bombardment of the US troops on Leyte, but neither would have altered the eventual course of the fighting in the Philippines.
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Memories Admiral Ofstie was Commander Carrier Division 26, part of Task Unit 77.4.3 (Taffy III), during the BAdmiral Ofstie was Commander Carrier Division 26, part of Task Unit 77.4.3 (Taffy III), during the Battle Off Samar.... More
Criteria The American Defense Service Medal was awarded for service in the Armed Forces between September 8, 1939, and December 7, 1941. Army members had to serve 12 months to be eligible, but Navy and Marine ... The American Defense Service Medal was awarded for service in the Armed Forces between September 8, 1939, and December 7, 1941. Army members had to serve 12 months to be eligible, but Navy and Marine Corps members were eligible based on any length of service. MoreHide
Other Memories
USS Enterprise (CV-6), the "Big E", was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the seventh US Navy ship to bear that name. She was a Yorktown class aircraft carrier, launched in 1936, and one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to survive the war (the others being Saratoga and Ranger). She participated in nearly every major engagement of the war against Japan, including the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea actions during the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, as well as participating in the "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo.
Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II. She was the only ship outside of the British Royal Navy to earn the highest award of the British Admiralty Pennant. Some have labeled her the most glorious and honored ship in all of United States Naval history, rivaled only perhaps by the 18th-century frigate USS Constitution.
Initial Operations Enterprise was launched 3 October 1936 at Newport News Shipbuilding, sponsored by Lulie Swanson, wife of Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson, and commissioned 12 May 1938.
Enterprise sailed south on a shakedown cruise which took her to Rio de Janeiro. After her return, she operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean until April of 1939, when she was ordered to duty in the Pacific. Based first at San Diego and then at Pearl Harbor, the carrier and her aircraft squadrons trained for any eventuality, and transported aircraft among the island bases of the Pacific. Enterprise had just completed one such mission, delivering Marine Corps Fighter Squadron 211 to Wake Island on 2 December 1941 and was en route to Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
World War II
After Pearl Harbor Enterprise scout bombers arrived over Pearl Harbor during the attack and, though surprised, immediately went into action in defense of the naval base; six of them were shot down by the Japanese. The carrier, meanwhile, assembled her remaining aircraft in a fruitless search for the Japanese striking force. Enterprise put into Pearl Harbor for fuel and supplies in December and sailed early the next morning to patrol against possible additional attacks on the Hawaiian Islands. While the group did not encounter any surface ships, Enterprise aircraft sank the Japanese submarine I-70 at 23¡ã45¡äN, 155¡ã35¡äW on 10 December 1941.
During the last two weeks of December 1941, Enterprise and her group steamed west of Hawaii to cover those islands while two other carrier groups made a belated attempt to relieve Wake Island. After a brief rest at Pearl Harbor, the Enterprise group sailed on 11 January, to protect convoys reinforcing Samoa. On 1 February, the task force dealt a hard blow to Kwajalein, Wotje, and Maloelap in the Marshall Islands, sinking three ships, damaging eight, and destroying numerous airplanes and ground facilities. Enterprise received only minor damage in the Japanese counterattack, as her force retired to Pearl Harbor.
During the next month Enterprise's force swept the central Pacific, attacking enemy installations on Wake and Marcus Islands, then received minor alterations and repairs at Pearl Harbor. On 8 April 1942, she departed to rendezvous with Hornet and sail westward escorting Hornet on her mission to launch 16 Army B-25 Mitchell bombers in the "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo. While Enterprise fighters flew combat air patrol, the B-25s were launched on 18 April, and flew undetected the 600 miles to their target. The task force, its presence known to the enemy, reversed course and returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 April.
The Battle of Midway Five days later, the "Big E" was speeding toward the South Pacific to reinforce the U.S. carriers operating in the Coral Sea. However, the Battle of the Coral Sea was over before Enterprise could reach her destination. Ordered back to Hawaii, the carrier entered Pearl Harbor on 26 May, and began intensive preparations to meet the expected Japanese thrust at Midway Island, in what became known as the Battle of Midway.
Battle was joined on the morning of 4 June 1942, when four Japanese carriers, unaware of the presence of U.S. naval forces, launched attacks on Midway Island. Just three hours after the first bomb fell on Midway, planes from Hornet struck the enemy force, and 30 minutes later Enterprise and Yorktown aircraft joined in to sink the Japanese carriers.
On 28 May, the Enterprise sortied as the flagship of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, CTF-16, with orders "to hold Midway and inflict maximum damage on the enemy by strong attrition tactics." With Enterprise in TF 16 were Hornet, six cruisers, and 10 destroyers. On 30 May, TF 17, Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in Yorktown, with two cruisers, and six destroyers, sailed to support TF 16; as senior officer, Rear Admiral Fletcher became "Officer in Tactical Command".
Each side launched air attacks at the other during the day in one of history's most decisive battles. Though the forces were in contact until 7 June, by the end of the 4th, the outcome had been decided. The tide of the war in the Pacific turned in the favor of the United States. Yorktown and Hammann were the only American ships sunk, but TFs 16 and 17 lost a total of 113 planes, 61 of them in combat, during the battle. Japanese losses were far more severe, consisting of four carriers, one cruiser, and 272 carrier aircraft. Enterprise aircraft bombed S¨ry¨± and Akagi. Enterprise came through undamaged and returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1942.
South Pacific operations After a month of rest and overhaul, Enterprise sailed on 15 July 1942, for the South Pacific, where she joined TF 61 to support the amphibious landings in the Solomon Islands on 8 August. For the next two weeks, the carrier and her planes guarded seaborne communication lines southwest of the Solomons. On 24 August, a strong Japanese force was sighted some 200 miles north of Guadalcanal and TF 61 sent planes to the attack. In a battle of the Eastern Solomons, an enemy light carrier Ry¨±j¨ was sent to the bottom and the Japanese troops intended for Guadalcanal were forced back.
Enterprise suffered most heavily of the American ships; three direct hits and four near misses killed 74, wounded 95, and inflicted serious damage on the carrier. But well-trained damage control parties, and quick, hard work patched her up so that she was able to return to Hawaii under her own power.
Repaired at Pearl Harbor from 10 September, to 16 October 1942, Enterprise departed once more for the South Pacific, where with Hornet she formed TF 61. On 26 October, Enterprise scout planes located a Japanese carrier force and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands was underway. Enterprise aircraft struck carriers and cruisers during the struggle, while the "Big E" herself underwent intensive attack. Hit twice by bombs, Enterprise lost 44 killed and had 75 wounded.
Despite serious damage, she continued in action and took on board a large number of planes from Hornet when that carrier was sunk. Though the American losses of a carrier and a destroyer were more severe than the Japanese loss of one light cruiser, the battle gained priceless time to reinforce Guadalcanal against the next enemy onslaught. Enterprise was now the only functioning US carrier in the Pacific Theater. On the flight deck, the crew posted a sign: "Enterprise vs Japan".
Enterprise entered Noum¨¦a, New Caledonia, on 30 October, for repairs, but a new Japanese thrust at the Solomons demanded her presence and she sailed on 11 November, repair crews from Vestal (AR-4) still working on board. On 13 November, aviators from Enterprise helped to dispatch the damaged battleship Hiei. When the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended on 15 November 1942, Enterprise had shared in sinking 16 ships and damaging eight more. The carrier returned to Noum¨¦a on 16 November, to complete her repairs.
Sailing again on 4 December, Enterprise trained out of Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, until 28 January 1943, when she departed for the Solomons area. On 30 January, her fighters flew combat air patrol for a cruiser-destroyer group during the Battle of Rennell Island. Despite the destruction of a large majority of the attacking Japanese bombers by Enterprise planes, Chicago was sunk by aerial torpedoes.
Detached after the battle, the carrier arrived at Espiritu Santo on 1 February, and for the next three months operated out of that base, covering U.S. surface forces up to the Solomons. Enterprise then steamed to Pearl Harbor where, on 27 May 1943, Admiral Chester Nimitz presented the ship with the first Presidential Unit citation won by an aircraft carrier. On 20 July 1943, she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a much-needed overhaul.
The Yorktown class had proved to be vulnerable to torpedoes and while undergoing repairs in late 1942, Enterprise also received an extensive refit, which included an anti-torpedo blister that significantly improved her underwater protection.
Return to Duty Back in action waters by mid-November, Enterprise joined in providing close air support to the Marines landing on Makin Atoll, from 19 November to 21 November 1943. On the night of 26 November, the "Big E" introduced carrier-based night fighter operations in the Pacific when a three-plane team from the ship broke up a large group of land-based bombers attacking TG 50.2. After a heavy strike by aircraft of TF 50 against Kwajalein on 4 December, Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor five days later.
The carrier's next operation was with TF 58 in softening up the Marshall Islands and supporting the landings on Kwajalein, from 29 January to 3 February 1944. Then Enterprise sailed, still with TF 58, to strike the Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands, on 17 February. Again, the Enterprise made aviation history, when she launched the first night radar bombing attack from a U.S. carrier. The 12 torpedo bombers in this strike achieved excellent results, accounting for nearly one-third of the 200,000 tons of shipping destroyed by aircraft.
Detached from TF 58, Enterprise launched raids on Jaluit Atoll on 20 February, then steamed to Majuro and Espiritu Santo. Sailing 15 March, in TG 36.1, she provided air cover and close support for the landings on Emirau Island (19 March¨C25 March). The carrier rejoined TF 58 on 26 March, and for the next 12 days, joined in a series of strikes against the islands of Yap, Ulithi, Woleai, and Palau. After a week's rest and replenishment at Majuro, Enterprise sailed (14 April) to support landings in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea, and then hit Truk again (29 April¨CApril 30).
On 6 June 1944, she and her companions of TG 58.3 sortied from Majuro to join the rest of TF 58 in attacking the Marianas Islands. Striking Saipan, Rota, and Guam between 11 June and 14 June, Enterprise pilots gave direct support to the landings on Saipan on 15 June, and covered the troops ashore for the next two days.
Aware of a major Japanese attempt to break up the invasion of Saipan, Admiral Spruance, now Commander 5th Fleet, positioned TF 58 to meet the threat.
The Battle of the Philippine Sea On 19 June 1944, the greatest carrier aircraft battle in history took place, the Battle of the Philippine Sea. For over eight hours, airmen of the United States and Imperial Japanese navies fought in the skies over TF 58 and the Marianas. By the end of the day, an American victory was apparent, and at the conclusion of the strikes against the Japanese fleet on 20 June, the triumph became complete. Six American ships were damaged, and 130 planes and a total of 76 pilots and aircrew lost. But with a major assist from U.S. submarines, three Japanese carriers (Hiy¨, Sh¨kaku and Taih¨), were sunk, and 426 ship-based aircraft were destroyed. Japanese naval aviation never recovered from this blow.
The battle over, Enterprise and her companions continued to support the Saipan campaign through 5 July. She then sailed for Pearl Harbor and a month of rest and overhaul. Back in action waters on 24 August, the carrier sailed with TF 38 in that force's aerial assault on the Volcano and Bonin Islands from 31 August to 2 September, and Yap, Ulithi, and the Palaus from September 6 to September 8.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf After operating west of the Palau Islands, the Enterprise joined other units of TF 38 on 7 October and set course to the north. From October 10 to October 20, her aviators flew over Okinawa, Formosa, and the Philippines, blasting enemy airfields, shore installations, and shipping in preparation for the assault on Leyte. After supporting the Leyte landings on 20 October, Enterprise headed for Ulithi to replenish, but the approach of the Japanese fleet on 23 October brought her racing back into action.
In the Battle of Leyte Gulf (23 October¨C26 October), Enterprise planes struck all three groups of enemy forces, battering battleships and destroyers before the action ended. The carrier remained on patrol east of Samar and Leyte until the end of October, then retired to Ulithi for supplies. During November, her aircraft struck targets in the Manila area, and the island of Yap. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1944.
Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Kamikaze Sailing 24 December for the Philippines, Enterprise carried on board an air group specially trained in night carrier operations. She joined TG 38.5 and swept the waters north of Luzon and of the China Sea during January of 1945, striking shore targets and shipping from Formosa to Indo-China. After a brief visit to Ulithi, the Enterprise joined TG 58.5 on 10 February 1945, and provided day and night combat air patrol for TF 58 as it struck Tokyo on February 16 and February 17.
She then supported the Marines in the Battle of Iwo Jima from the day of the landings, 10 February, until 9 March when she sailed for Ulithi. During one part of that period, Enterprise kept aircraft aloft continuously over Iwo Jima for 174 hours.
Departing Ulithi 15 March, the carrier continued her night work in raids against Ky¨±sh¨±, Honsh¨±, and shipping in the Inland Sea of Japan. Damaged lightly by an enemy bomb on 18 March, Enterprise entered Ulithi six days later for repairs.
Back in action on 5 April, she supported the Okinawa operation until again damaged (11 April), this time by a suicide plane, and forced back to Ulithi. Off Okinawa once more on 6 May, Enterprise flew patrols around the clock as the menace of the kamikaze increased. On 14 May 1945, she suffered her last wound of World War II when a suicide plane destroyed her forward elevator, killing 14 and wounding 34 men. The carrier sailed for repairs at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving 7 June and where she was still moored on V-J Day, 15 August 1945.
Post-War Service
Operation Magic Carpet Restored to peak condition, Enterprise voyaged to Pearl Harbor returning to the States with some 1,100 servicemen due for discharge, then sailed on to New York, arriving 17 October 1945. Two weeks later, she proceeded to Boston for installation of additional berthing facilities, then began a series of Operation Magic Carpet voyages to Europe, bringing more than 10,000 veterans home in her final service to her country. During one trip to Europe, the ship was awarded a British Admiralty Pennant, the only ship not in the Royal Navy to receive this honor.
The End of the Big E Enterprise entered the New York Naval Shipyard on 18 January 1946 for inactivation, and was decommissioned on 17 February 1947. Although there were several attempts at preserving the ship as a museum/memorial, the fund raising efforts failed to raise enough money to buy the vessel from the Navy and the "Big E" was sold on 1 July 1958 to the Lipsett Corporation of New York City for scrapping at Kearny, New Jersey. A promise was made to save the distinctive tripod mast for inclusion in the Naval Academy's new football stadium, but was never fulfilled (a memorial plaque was installed at the base of what is still called "Enterprise Tower"). Scrapping was complete as of May, 1960.
In 1984, a permanent "Enterprise Exhibit" was dedicated at the Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida to house artifacts, photos and other items of historical interest.
Other surviving Enterprise artifacts include: the ship's bell, which resides at the U.S. Naval Academy, where it is traditionally rung only after midshipmen victories over West Point; the sixteen foot, one-ton nameplate from the ship's stern, which sits near a Little League park in River Vale, New Jersey; and one of the anchors, which is on display at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Various other artifacts and mementos (including one of her portholes) are also kept aboard the current USS Enterprise.
In addition to her Presidential Unit Citation, Enterprise received the Navy Unit Commendation and 20 battle stars for World War II service.
Other Memories
The fifth USS Saratoga (CV-3) was the second aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. She was commissioned one month earlier than her sister and class leader, USS Lexington (CV-2) which is the third actually commissioned after USS Langley and Saratoga. As Saratoga was visually identical to her sister Lexington, her funnel was painted with a large black vertical stripe to assist pilots in recognizing her. This identifying mark earned her the nickname "Stripe-Stacked Sara."
She was laid down on 25 September 1920, as the Lexington class Battle Cruiser #3 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, a division of the American Brown-Boveri Electric Corporation at Camden, New Jersey; construction cancelled and re-ordered as an aircraft carrier and reclassified CV-3 on 1 July 1922, in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty limiting naval armaments; launched on 7 April 1925; sponsored by Mrs. Curtis D. Wilbur, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned on 16 November 1927, Captain Harry E. Yarnell in command.
1928 to 1940 Saratoga, the first fast carrier in the Navy, quickly proved the value of her type. She sailed from Philadelphia on 6 January 1928, for shakedown, and on 11 January, her air officer, the future World War II hero, Marc A. Mitscher, landed the first aircraft on board. In an experiment on 27 January, the rigid airship Los Angeles (ZR-3) moored to Saratoga's stern and took on fuel and stores. The same day Saratoga sailed for the Pacific via the Panama Canal. She was diverted briefly between 14 February and 16 February to carry Marines to Corinto, Nicaragua, and finally joined the Battle Fleet at San Pedro, California, on 21 February. The rest of the year was spent in training and final machinery shakedown.
On 15 January 1929, Saratoga sailed from San Diego with the Battle Fleet to participate in her first fleet exercise, Fleet Problem IX. In a daring move, Saratoga was detached from the fleet with only a single cruiser as escort to make a wide sweep to the south and "attack" the Panama Canal, which was defended by the Scouting Fleet and Saratoga's sister ship, Lexington (CV-2). She successfully launched her strike on 26 January and, despite being "sunk" three times later in the day, proved the versatility of a carrier-based fast task force. The idea was incorporated into fleet doctrine and reused the following year in Fleet Problem X in the Caribbean. This time, however, Saratoga and the carrier Langley (CV-1), were "disabled" by a surprise attack from Lexington, showing how quickly air power could swing the balance in a naval action.
Following the fleet concentration in the Caribbean, Saratoga took part in the Presidential Review at Norfolk, Virginia, in May and returned to San Pedro on 21 June 1930.
The USS Saratoga, her distinctive funnel stripe clearly visible, with all flags up for Navy Day on 27 October, 1932.During the remaining decade before World War II, Saratoga exercised in the San Diego-San Pedro area, except for the annual fleet problems and regular overhauls at the Bremerton Navy Yard. In the fleet problems, Saratoga continued to assist in the development of fast carrier tactics, and her importance was recognized by the fact that she was always a high priority target for the opposing forces. The fleet problem for 1932 was planned for Hawaii and, by coincidence, occurred during the peak of the furor following the "Manchurian incident," in which Japan started on the road to World War II. Saratoga exercised in the Hawaii area from 31 January to 19 March and returned to Hawaii for fleet exercises the following year between 23 January and 28 February 1933. On the return trip to the West Coast, she launched a successful air "attack" on the Long Beach area.
Exercises in 1934 took Saratoga to the Caribbean and the Atlantic for an extended period, from 9 April to 9 November, and were followed by equally extensive operations with the United States Fleet in the Pacific the following year. Between 27 April and 6 June 1936, she participated in a fleet problem in the Panama Canal Zone, and she then returned with the fleet to Hawaii for exercises from 16 April to 28 May 1937. On 15 March 1938, Saratoga sailed from San Diego for Fleet Problem XIX, again conducted off Hawaii. During the second phase of the problem, Saratoga launched a surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor from a point 100 miles off Oahu, setting a pattern that the Japanese copied in December 1941. During the return to the west coast, Saratoga and Lexington followed this feat with "strikes" on Mare Island and Alameda. Saratoga was under overhaul during the 1939 fleet concentration, but between 2 April and 21 June 1940, she participated in Fleet Problem XXI, the last to be held due to the deepening world crisis.
World War II
1941 Between 14 October and 29 October 1940, Saratoga transported a draft of military personnel from San Pedro to Hawaii, and on 6 January 1941, she entered the Bremerton Navy Yard for a long deferred modernization, including widening her flight deck forward, fitting a blister on her starboard side and additional small antiaircraft guns. Departing Bremerton on 28 April 1941, the carrier participated in a landing force exercise in May and made two trips to Hawaii between June and October as the diplomatic crisis with Japan came to a head.
When the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Saratoga was just entering San Diego after an interim drydocking at Bremerton. She hurriedly got underway the following day as the nucleus of a third carrier force (Lexington and Enterprise were already at sea), carrying Marine aircraft intended to reinforce the vulnerable garrison on Wake Island. Presence of these aircraft on board made Saratoga the logical choice for the actual relief effort. She reached Pearl Harbor on 15 December and stopped only long enough to fuel. She then rendezvoused with Tangier (AV-8), which had relief troops and supplies on board, while Lexington and Enterprise provided distant cover for the operation. However, the Saratoga force was delayed by the low speed of its oiler and by a decision to refuel destroyers on 21 December. After receiving reports of Japanese carrier aircraft over the island and Japanese landings on it, the relief force was recalled on 22 December. Wake fell the next day.
1942 Saratoga continued operations in the Hawaiian Island region, but on 11 January 1942, when heading towards a rendezvous with Enterprise 500 miles south-west of Oahu, she was hit without warning by a deep-running torpedo fired by Japanese submarine I-16. Although six men were killed and three firerooms were flooded, the carrier reached Oahu under her own power. There her 8 inch guns, which were useless against aircraft, were removed for installation in shore defenses, and the carrier proceeded to the Bremerton Navy Yard for permanent repairs and installation of a modern anti-aircraft battery.
Saratoga departed Puget Sound on 22 May for San Diego. She arrived there on 25 May and was training her air group when intelligence was received of an impending Japanese assault on Midway. Due to the need to load planes and stores and to collect escorts, the carrier was unable to sail until 1 June and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 6th, after the Battle of Midway had ended. She departed Pearl Harbor on 7 June after fueling and, on 11 June, transferred 34 aircraft to Hornet and Enterprise to replenish their depleted air groups. The three carriers then turned north to counter Japanese activity reported in the Aleutians, but the operation was canceled, and Saratoga returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 June.
Between 22 June and 29 June, Saratoga ferried Marine and Army aircraft to the garrison on Midway. On 7 July, she sailed for the southwest Pacific, and from 28 July to 30 July, she provided air cover for landing rehearsals in the Fiji Islands in preparation for landings on Guadalcanal. As flagship of Rear Admiral F. J. Fletcher, Saratoga opened the Guadalcanal assault early on 7 August when she turned into the wind to launch aircraft. She provided air cover for the landings for the next two days. On the first day, a Japanese air attack was repelled before it reached the carriers, but since further attacks were expected, the carrier force withdrew on the afternoon of 8 August towards a fueling rendezvous. As a result, it was too far away to retaliate after four Allied cruisers were sunk that night in the Battle of Savo Island. The carrier force continued to operate east of the Solomons, protecting the sea-lanes to the beachhead and awaiting a Japanese naval counterattack.
The counterattack began to materialize when a Japanese transport force was detected on 23 August, and Saratoga launched a strike against it. The aircraft were unable to find the enemy, however, and spent the night on Guadalcanal. As they were returning on board the next day, the first contact report on enemy carriers was received. Two hours later, Saratoga launched a strike which sent Japanese carrier Ryûjô to the bottom. Later in the afternoon, as an enemy strike from other carriers was detected, Saratoga hastily launched the aircraft on her deck, and these found and damaged seaplane tender Chitose. Meanwhile, due to cloud cover, Saratoga escaped detection by the Japanese aircraft, which concentrated their attack on, and damaged, Enterprise. The American force fought back fiercely and weakened enemy air strength so severely that the Japanese recalled their transports before they reached Guadalcanal.
After landing her returning aircraft at night on 24 August, Saratoga refueled on the 25th and resumed her patrols east of the Solomons. A week later, a destroyer reported torpedo wakes heading toward the carrier, but the 888-foot flattop could not turn quickly enough. A minute later, a torpedo from B1 type Japanese submarine I-26 slammed into the blister on her starboard side. The torpedo killed no one and only flooded one fireroom, but the impact caused short circuits which damaged Saratoga's turbo-electric propulsion system and left her dead in the water. Cruiser Minneapolis took the carrier under tow while she flew her aircraft off to shore bases. By early afternoon, Saratoga's engineers had improvised a circuit out of the burned wreckage of her main control board and had given her a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h).[1] After repairs at Tongatabu from 6 September to 12 September, Saratoga arrived at Pearl Harbor on 21 September for permanent repairs.
1943 Saratoga sailed from Pearl Harbor on 10 November 1942, and proceeded via Fiji to Nouméa, which she reached on 5 December 1942. She operated in the vicinity of Nouméa for the next twelve months, providing air cover for minor operations and protecting American forces in the Eastern Solomons. Between 17 May and 31 July 1943, she was reinforced by the British carrier, HMS Victorious, and on 20 October, she was joined by Princeton (CVL-23). As troops stormed ashore on Bougainville on 1 November, Saratoga's aircraft neutralized nearby Japanese airfields on Buka. Then, on 5 November, in response to reports of Japanese cruisers concentrating at Rabaul to counterattack the Allied landing forces, Saratoga conducted perhaps her most brilliant strike of the war. Her aircraft penetrated the heavily defended port and disabled most of the Japanese cruisers, ending the surface threat to Bougainville. Saratoga herself escaped unscathed and returned to raid Rabaul again on 11 November.
Saratoga and Princeton were then designated the Relief Carrier Group for the offensive in the Gilberts, and after striking Nauru on 19 November, they rendezvoused on 23 November with the transports carrying garrison troops to Makin and Tarawa. The carriers provided air cover until the transports reached their destinations and then maintained air patrols over Tarawa. By this time, Saratoga had steamed over a year without repairs, and she was detached on 30 November to return to the United States. She underwent overhaul at San Francisco from 9 December 1943 to 3 January 1944, and had her antiaircraft battery augmented for the last time, receiving 60 40 millimeter guns in place of 36 20 millimeter guns.
1944 The carrier arrived at Pearl Harbor on 7 January, and after a brief period of training, sailed from Pearl Harbor on 19 January with light carriers, Langley and Princeton, to support the drive in the Marshalls. Her aircraft struck Wotje and Taroa for three days, from 29 January to 31 January, and then pounded Engebi, the main island at Eniwetok, the 3rd to the 6th and from the 10th to the 12th of February. Her planes delivered final blows to Japanese defenses on the 16th, the day before the landings, and provided close air support and CAP over the island until 28 February.
Saratoga then took leave of the main theaters of the Pacific war for almost a year to carry out important but less spectacular assignments elsewhere. Her first task was to help the British initiate their carrier offensive in the Far East. On 4 March, Saratoga departed Majuro with an escort of three destroyers, and sailed via Espiritu Santo; Hobart, Tasmania; and Fremantle, Australia, to join the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. She rendezvoused at sea on 27 March with the British force, composed of carrier HMS Illustrious, HMS Renown (flagship of Vice-Admiral second-in-command Eastern Fleet), HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant with escorts, and arrived with them at Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), on 31 March. On 12 April, the French battleship Richelieu arrived, adding to the international flavor of the force, which also included warships from Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. During the next two days, the carriers conducted intensive training at sea during which Saratoga's fliers tried to impart some of their experience to the British pilots.
On 16 April, the Eastern Fleet, with Saratoga, sailed from Trincomalee, and on the 19th, the aircraft from the two carriers struck the port of Sabang off the northwest tip of Sumatra (Operation Cockpit). The Japanese were caught by surprise by the new offensive ("caught with their kimonos up"), and much damage was done to port facilities and oil reserves, with minimal losses. The raid was so successful that Saratoga delayed her departure in order to carry out a second. Sailing again from Ceylon on 6 May, the force struck at Soerabaja, Java, on 17 May with equally successful results. Saratoga was detached the following day, and passed down the columns of the Eastern Fleet as the Allied ships rendered honors to and cheered each other.
Saratoga arrived at Bremerton, Washington, on 10 June 1944, for overhaul. On 24 September, she arrived at Pearl Harbor and commenced her second special assignment, training night fighter squadrons. Saratoga had experimented with night flying as early as 1931, and many carriers had been forced to land returning aircraft at night during the war, but only in August 1944 did a carrier, Independence, receive an air group specially equipped to operate at night. At the same time, Carrier Division 11, composed of Saratoga and Ranger (CV-4), was commissioned at Pearl Harbor to train night pilots and develop night flying doctrine. Saratoga continued this important training duty for almost four months, but as early as October, her division commander was warned that "while employed primarily for training, Saratoga is of great value for combat and is to be kept potentially available for combat duty." The call came in January 1945. Light carriers like Independence had proved too small for safe night operations, and Saratoga was rushed out of Pearl Harbor on 29 January 1945, to form a night fighter task group with Enterprise for the Iwo Jima operation.
1945
The USS Saratoga in Puget Sound after battle damage repairs had been made.Saratoga arrived at Ulithi on 7 February and sailed three days later with Enterprise and four other carrier task groups. After landing rehearsals with Marines at Tinian on 12 February, the carrier force carried out diversionary strikes on the Japanese home islands on the nights of 16 February and 17 February, before the landings on Iwo Jima. Saratoga was assigned to provide fighter cover while the remaining carriers launched the strikes on Japan, but in the process, her fighters raided two Japanese airfields. The force fueled on 18 February and 19 February, and on 21 February, Saratoga was detached with an escort of three destroyers to join the amphibious forces and carry out night patrols over Iwo Jima and night heckler missions over nearby Chi-chi Jima. However, as she approached her operating area at 17:00 on the 21st, an air attack developed, and taking advantage of low cloud cover and Saratoga's insufficient escort, six Japanese planes scored five hits on the carrier in three minutes. Saratoga's flight deck forward was wrecked, her starboard side was holed twice and large fires were started in her hangar deck, while she lost 123 of her crew dead or missing. Another attack at 19:00 scored an additional bomb hit. By 20:15, the fires were under control, and the carrier was able to recover aircraft, but she was ordered to Eniwetok and then to the West Coast for repairs, arriving at Bremerton on 16 March.
On 22 May, Saratoga departed Puget Sound fully repaired, and she resumed training pilots at Pearl Harbor on 3 June. She ceased training duty on 6 September after the Japanese surrender, and sailed from Hawaii on 9 September, transporting 3,712 returning naval veterans home to the United States under Operation Magic Carpet. By the end of her "Magic Carpet" service, Saratoga had brought home 29,204 Pacific war veterans, more than any other individual ship. At the time, she also held the record for the greatest number of aircraft landed on a carrier, with a lifetime total of 98,549 landings in 17 years.
Decommissioning
The sinking SaratogaWith the arrival of large numbers of Essex-class carriers, Saratoga was surplus to postwar requirements, and she was assigned to Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll to test the effect of the atomic bomb on naval vessels. She survived the first blast, (Test ABLE) an air burst on 1 July, with only minor damage, but was mortally wounded by the second (Test Baker) on 25 July, an underwater blast which was detonated under a landing craft 500 yards from the carrier. Salvage efforts were prevented by radioactivity, and seven and one-half hours after the blast, with her funnel collapsed across her deck, Saratoga slipped beneath the surface of the lagoon. She was struck from the Navy List on 15 August 1946.
Saratoga received seven battle stars for her World War II service.
In recent years, the submerged wreck, the top of which is only 40 ft below the surface, has become a scuba diving destination, one of only two (the other being the USS Oriskany in the Gulf of Mexico) carrier wrecks accessible to recreational divers.
Chain of Command
Commanding Officer of embarked Fighter Squadron (VF) 6.
Other Memories
The fifth USS Saratoga (CV-3) was the second aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. She was commissioned one month earlier than her sister and class leader, USS Lexington (CV-2) which is the third actually commissioned after USS Langley and Saratoga. As Saratoga was visually identical to her sister Lexington, her funnel was painted with a large black vertical stripe to assist pilots in recognizing her. This identifying mark earned her the nickname "Stripe-Stacked Sara."
She was laid down on 25 September 1920, as the Lexington class Battle Cruiser #3 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, a division of the American Brown-Boveri Electric Corporation at Camden, New Jersey; construction cancelled and re-ordered as an aircraft carrier and reclassified CV-3 on 1 July 1922, in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty limiting naval armaments; launched on 7 April 1925; sponsored by Mrs. Curtis D. Wilbur, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned on 16 November 1927, Captain Harry E. Yarnell in command.
1928 to 1940 Saratoga, the first fast carrier in the Navy, quickly proved the value of her type. She sailed from Philadelphia on 6 January 1928, for shakedown, and on 11 January, her air officer, the future World War II hero, Marc A. Mitscher, landed the first aircraft on board. In an experiment on 27 January, the rigid airship Los Angeles (ZR-3) moored to Saratoga's stern and took on fuel and stores. The same day Saratoga sailed for the Pacific via the Panama Canal. She was diverted briefly between 14 February and 16 February to carry Marines to Corinto, Nicaragua, and finally joined the Battle Fleet at San Pedro, California, on 21 February. The rest of the year was spent in training and final machinery shakedown.
On 15 January 1929, Saratoga sailed from San Diego with the Battle Fleet to participate in her first fleet exercise, Fleet Problem IX. In a daring move, Saratoga was detached from the fleet with only a single cruiser as escort to make a wide sweep to the south and "attack" the Panama Canal, which was defended by the Scouting Fleet and Saratoga's sister ship, Lexington (CV-2). She successfully launched her strike on 26 January and, despite being "sunk" three times later in the day, proved the versatility of a carrier-based fast task force. The idea was incorporated into fleet doctrine and reused the following year in Fleet Problem X in the Caribbean. This time, however, Saratoga and the carrier Langley (CV-1), were "disabled" by a surprise attack from Lexington, showing how quickly air power could swing the balance in a naval action.
Following the fleet concentration in the Caribbean, Saratoga took part in the Presidential Review at Norfolk, Virginia, in May and returned to San Pedro on 21 June 1930.
The USS Saratoga, her distinctive funnel stripe clearly visible, with all flags up for Navy Day on 27 October, 1932.During the remaining decade before World War II, Saratoga exercised in the San Diego-San Pedro area, except for the annual fleet problems and regular overhauls at the Bremerton Navy Yard. In the fleet problems, Saratoga continued to assist in the development of fast carrier tactics, and her importance was recognized by the fact that she was always a high priority target for the opposing forces. The fleet problem for 1932 was planned for Hawaii and, by coincidence, occurred during the peak of the furor following the "Manchurian incident," in which Japan started on the road to World War II. Saratoga exercised in the Hawaii area from 31 January to 19 March and returned to Hawaii for fleet exercises the following year between 23 January and 28 February 1933. On the return trip to the West Coast, she launched a successful air "attack" on the Long Beach area.
Exercises in 1934 took Saratoga to the Caribbean and the Atlantic for an extended period, from 9 April to 9 November, and were followed by equally extensive operations with the United States Fleet in the Pacific the following year. Between 27 April and 6 June 1936, she participated in a fleet problem in the Panama Canal Zone, and she then returned with the fleet to Hawaii for exercises from 16 April to 28 May 1937. On 15 March 1938, Saratoga sailed from San Diego for Fleet Problem XIX, again conducted off Hawaii. During the second phase of the problem, Saratoga launched a surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor from a point 100 miles off Oahu, setting a pattern that the Japanese copied in December 1941. During the return to the west coast, Saratoga and Lexington followed this feat with "strikes" on Mare Island and Alameda. Saratoga was under overhaul during the 1939 fleet concentration, but between 2 April and 21 June 1940, she participated in Fleet Problem XXI, the last to be held due to the deepening world crisis.
World War II
1941 Between 14 October and 29 October 1940, Saratoga transported a draft of military personnel from San Pedro to Hawaii, and on 6 January 1941, she entered the Bremerton Navy Yard for a long deferred modernization, including widening her flight deck forward, fitting a blister on her starboard side and additional small antiaircraft guns. Departing Bremerton on 28 April 1941, the carrier participated in a landing force exercise in May and made two trips to Hawaii between June and October as the diplomatic crisis with Japan came to a head.
When the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Saratoga was just entering San Diego after an interim drydocking at Bremerton. She hurriedly got underway the following day as the nucleus of a third carrier force (Lexington and Enterprise were already at sea), carrying Marine aircraft intended to reinforce the vulnerable garrison on Wake Island. Presence of these aircraft on board made Saratoga the logical choice for the actual relief effort. She reached Pearl Harbor on 15 December and stopped only long enough to fuel. She then rendezvoused with Tangier (AV-8), which had relief troops and supplies on board, while Lexington and Enterprise provided distant cover for the operation. However, the Saratoga force was delayed by the low speed of its oiler and by a decision to refuel destroyers on 21 December. After receiving reports of Japanese carrier aircraft over the island and Japanese landings on it, the relief force was recalled on 22 December. Wake fell the next day.
1942 Saratoga continued operations in the Hawaiian Island region, but on 11 January 1942, when heading towards a rendezvous with Enterprise 500 miles south-west of Oahu, she was hit without warning by a deep-running torpedo fired by Japanese submarine I-16. Although six men were killed and three firerooms were flooded, the carrier reached Oahu under her own power. There her 8 inch guns, which were useless against aircraft, were removed for installation in shore defenses, and the carrier proceeded to the Bremerton Navy Yard for permanent repairs and installation of a modern anti-aircraft battery.
Saratoga departed Puget Sound on 22 May for San Diego. She arrived there on 25 May and was training her air group when intelligence was received of an impending Japanese assault on Midway. Due to the need to load planes and stores and to collect escorts, the carrier was unable to sail until 1 June and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 6th, after the Battle of Midway had ended. She departed Pearl Harbor on 7 June after fueling and, on 11 June, transferred 34 aircraft to Hornet and Enterprise to replenish their depleted air groups. The three carriers then turned north to counter Japanese activity reported in the Aleutians, but the operation was canceled, and Saratoga returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 June.
Between 22 June and 29 June, Saratoga ferried Marine and Army aircraft to the garrison on Midway. On 7 July, she sailed for the southwest Pacific, and from 28 July to 30 July, she provided air cover for landing rehearsals in the Fiji Islands in preparation for landings on Guadalcanal. As flagship of Rear Admiral F. J. Fletcher, Saratoga opened the Guadalcanal assault early on 7 August when she turned into the wind to launch aircraft. She provided air cover for the landings for the next two days. On the first day, a Japanese air attack was repelled before it reached the carriers, but since further attacks were expected, the carrier force withdrew on the afternoon of 8 August towards a fueling rendezvous. As a result, it was too far away to retaliate after four Allied cruisers were sunk that night in the Battle of Savo Island. The carrier force continued to operate east of the Solomons, protecting the sea-lanes to the beachhead and awaiting a Japanese naval counterattack.
The counterattack began to materialize when a Japanese transport force was detected on 23 August, and Saratoga launched a strike against it. The aircraft were unable to find the enemy, however, and spent the night on Guadalcanal. As they were returning on board the next day, the first contact report on enemy carriers was received. Two hours later, Saratoga launched a strike which sent Japanese carrier Ryûjô to the bottom. Later in the afternoon, as an enemy strike from other carriers was detected, Saratoga hastily launched the aircraft on her deck, and these found and damaged seaplane tender Chitose. Meanwhile, due to cloud cover, Saratoga escaped detection by the Japanese aircraft, which concentrated their attack on, and damaged, Enterprise. The American force fought back fiercely and weakened enemy air strength so severely that the Japanese recalled their transports before they reached Guadalcanal.
After landing her returning aircraft at night on 24 August, Saratoga refueled on the 25th and resumed her patrols east of the Solomons. A week later, a destroyer reported torpedo wakes heading toward the carrier, but the 888-foot flattop could not turn quickly enough. A minute later, a torpedo from B1 type Japanese submarine I-26 slammed into the blister on her starboard side. The torpedo killed no one and only flooded one fireroom, but the impact caused short circuits which damaged Saratoga's turbo-electric propulsion system and left her dead in the water. Cruiser Minneapolis took the carrier under tow while she flew her aircraft off to shore bases. By early afternoon, Saratoga's engineers had improvised a circuit out of the burned wreckage of her main control board and had given her a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h).[1] After repairs at Tongatabu from 6 September to 12 September, Saratoga arrived at Pearl Harbor on 21 September for permanent repairs.
1943 Saratoga sailed from Pearl Harbor on 10 November 1942, and proceeded via Fiji to Nouméa, which she reached on 5 December 1942. She operated in the vicinity of Nouméa for the next twelve months, providing air cover for minor operations and protecting American forces in the Eastern Solomons. Between 17 May and 31 July 1943, she was reinforced by the British carrier, HMS Victorious, and on 20 October, she was joined by Princeton (CVL-23). As troops stormed ashore on Bougainville on 1 November, Saratoga's aircraft neutralized nearby Japanese airfields on Buka. Then, on 5 November, in response to reports of Japanese cruisers concentrating at Rabaul to counterattack the Allied landing forces, Saratoga conducted perhaps her most brilliant strike of the war. Her aircraft penetrated the heavily defended port and disabled most of the Japanese cruisers, ending the surface threat to Bougainville. Saratoga herself escaped unscathed and returned to raid Rabaul again on 11 November.
Saratoga and Princeton were then designated the Relief Carrier Group for the offensive in the Gilberts, and after striking Nauru on 19 November, they rendezvoused on 23 November with the transports carrying garrison troops to Makin and Tarawa. The carriers provided air cover until the transports reached their destinations and then maintained air patrols over Tarawa. By this time, Saratoga had steamed over a year without repairs, and she was detached on 30 November to return to the United States. She underwent overhaul at San Francisco from 9 December 1943 to 3 January 1944, and had her antiaircraft battery augmented for the last time, receiving 60 40 millimeter guns in place of 36 20 millimeter guns.
1944 The carrier arrived at Pearl Harbor on 7 January, and after a brief period of training, sailed from Pearl Harbor on 19 January with light carriers, Langley and Princeton, to support the drive in the Marshalls. Her aircraft struck Wotje and Taroa for three days, from 29 January to 31 January, and then pounded Engebi, the main island at Eniwetok, the 3rd to the 6th and from the 10th to the 12th of February. Her planes delivered final blows to Japanese defenses on the 16th, the day before the landings, and provided close air support and CAP over the island until 28 February.
Saratoga then took leave of the main theaters of the Pacific war for almost a year to carry out important but less spectacular assignments elsewhere. Her first task was to help the British initiate their carrier offensive in the Far East. On 4 March, Saratoga departed Majuro with an escort of three destroyers, and sailed via Espiritu Santo; Hobart, Tasmania; and Fremantle, Australia, to join the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. She rendezvoused at sea on 27 March with the British force, composed of carrier HMS Illustrious, HMS Renown (flagship of Vice-Admiral second-in-command Eastern Fleet), HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant with escorts, and arrived with them at Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), on 31 March. On 12 April, the French battleship Richelieu arrived, adding to the international flavor of the force, which also included warships from Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. During the next two days, the carriers conducted intensive training at sea during which Saratoga's fliers tried to impart some of their experience to the British pilots.
On 16 April, the Eastern Fleet, with Saratoga, sailed from Trincomalee, and on the 19th, the aircraft from the two carriers struck the port of Sabang off the northwest tip of Sumatra (Operation Cockpit). The Japanese were caught by surprise by the new offensive ("caught with their kimonos up"), and much damage was done to port facilities and oil reserves, with minimal losses. The raid was so successful that Saratoga delayed her departure in order to carry out a second. Sailing again from Ceylon on 6 May, the force struck at Soerabaja, Java, on 17 May with equally successful results. Saratoga was detached the following day, and passed down the columns of the Eastern Fleet as the Allied ships rendered honors to and cheered each other.
Saratoga arrived at Bremerton, Washington, on 10 June 1944, for overhaul. On 24 September, she arrived at Pearl Harbor and commenced her second special assignment, training night fighter squadrons. Saratoga had experimented with night flying as early as 1931, and many carriers had been forced to land returning aircraft at night during the war, but only in August 1944 did a carrier, Independence, receive an air group specially equipped to operate at night. At the same time, Carrier Division 11, composed of Saratoga and Ranger (CV-4), was commissioned at Pearl Harbor to train night pilots and develop night flying doctrine. Saratoga continued this important training duty for almost four months, but as early as October, her division commander was warned that "while employed primarily for training, Saratoga is of great value for combat and is to be kept potentially available for combat duty." The call came in January 1945. Light carriers like Independence had proved too small for safe night operations, and Saratoga was rushed out of Pearl Harbor on 29 January 1945, to form a night fighter task group with Enterprise for the Iwo Jima operation.
1945
The USS Saratoga in Puget Sound after battle damage repairs had been made.Saratoga arrived at Ulithi on 7 February and sailed three days later with Enterprise and four other carrier task groups. After landing rehearsals with Marines at Tinian on 12 February, the carrier force carried out diversionary strikes on the Japanese home islands on the nights of 16 February and 17 February, before the landings on Iwo Jima. Saratoga was assigned to provide fighter cover while the remaining carriers launched the strikes on Japan, but in the process, her fighters raided two Japanese airfields. The force fueled on 18 February and 19 February, and on 21 February, Saratoga was detached with an escort of three destroyers to join the amphibious forces and carry out night patrols over Iwo Jima and night heckler missions over nearby Chi-chi Jima. However, as she approached her operating area at 17:00 on the 21st, an air attack developed, and taking advantage of low cloud cover and Saratoga's insufficient escort, six Japanese planes scored five hits on the carrier in three minutes. Saratoga's flight deck forward was wrecked, her starboard side was holed twice and large fires were started in her hangar deck, while she lost 123 of her crew dead or missing. Another attack at 19:00 scored an additional bomb hit. By 20:15, the fires were under control, and the carrier was able to recover aircraft, but she was ordered to Eniwetok and then to the West Coast for repairs, arriving at Bremerton on 16 March.
On 22 May, Saratoga departed Puget Sound fully repaired, and she resumed training pilots at Pearl Harbor on 3 June. She ceased training duty on 6 September after the Japanese surrender, and sailed from Hawaii on 9 September, transporting 3,712 returning naval veterans home to the United States under Operation Magic Carpet. By the end of her "Magic Carpet" service, Saratoga had brought home 29,204 Pacific war veterans, more than any other individual ship. At the time, she also held the record for the greatest number of aircraft landed on a carrier, with a lifetime total of 98,549 landings in 17 years.
Decommissioning
The sinking SaratogaWith the arrival of large numbers of Essex-class carriers, Saratoga was surplus to postwar requirements, and she was assigned to Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll to test the effect of the atomic bomb on naval vessels. She survived the first blast, (Test ABLE) an air burst on 1 July, with only minor damage, but was mortally wounded by the second (Test Baker) on 25 July, an underwater blast which was detonated under a landing craft 500 yards from the carrier. Salvage efforts were prevented by radioactivity, and seven and one-half hours after the blast, with her funnel collapsed across her deck, Saratoga slipped beneath the surface of the lagoon. She was struck from the Navy List on 15 August 1946.
Saratoga received seven battle stars for her World War II service.
In recent years, the submerged wreck, the top of which is only 40 ft below the surface, has become a scuba diving destination, one of only two (the other being the USS Oriskany in the Gulf of Mexico) carrier wrecks accessible to recreational divers.
Other Memories
USS Detroit (CL-8) was an Omaha-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the fourth Navy ship named for the city of Detroit, Michigan.
Detroit was launched 29 June 1922 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts; sponsored by Miss M. Couzens, daughter of James J. Couzens, the Mayor of Detroit, Michigan; and commissioned 31 July 1923, Captain J. Halligan, Jr., in command.
After a shakedown cruise to the Mediterranean Detroit joined the Scouting Fleet for exercises and maneuvers along the east coast and in the Mediterranean. In September and October 1924 she was on lifeguard station for the Army round-the-world flight, then served as Flagship for Commander, Light Cruiser Divisions, until 23 November. After overhaul at Boston, she sailed 2 February 1925 for the west coast and fleet maneuvers along the coast and in Hawaiian waters. She returned to Boston 10 July 1925 with the Scouting Fleet.
As flagship for Commander, Light Cruiser Division 3, between July 1925 and March 1926 and between July and December 1926, Detroit continued to participate in maneuvers and fleet problems along the east coast and in the Caribbean. During March-April 1927, she patrolled off the coast of Nicaragua to protect American interests during political disturbances there.
Detroit sailed from Boston on 16 June 1927 as flagship for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe. She made goodwill visits to various ports in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and received official visits from the Kings of Norway, Denmark, and Spain, and the President of the Irish Free State. She also transported Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg between Ireland and France for the talks which led the following year to the signing of the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact.
The cruiser returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on 12 September 1928, for duty with the Scouting Fleet, serving as flagship for Commander, Light Cruiser Divisions, from 6 July 1929 to 29 September 1930. In January 1931, she sailed for a combined fleet problem off Balboa, then became flagship for Commander, Destroyer Squadrons, Battle Force, on 19 March 1931, based on San Diego, California. Detroit's operations included exercises along the west coast and maneuvers in Alaskan and Hawaiian waters. Except for a fleet problem in the Atlantic in 1934 she remained in the Pacific with the Battle Force, operating from her base at San Diego.
In 1941 Detroit's home port became Pearl Harbor. She was moored at her base with Raleigh (CL-7) and Utah (AG-16) when the Japanese attacked on 7 December. The other two ships bore the brunt of an attack by six torpedo planes, and despite several strafing passes Detroit, was able to get underway safely and set up an Anti-aircraft fire which accounted for several planes. She was ordered to sail at once to investigate the west coast of Oahu for any indications of a landing by the Japanese, then to join the search for the retiring Japanese force.
Returning to Pearl Harbor 10 December 1941, Detroit took up Convoy escort duty between her home port and the West coast. On one of these voyages, she took on board 9 tons of gold and 13 tons of silver from the submarine Trout (SS-202) (which had evacuated it from Corregidor) and delivered the Bullion to the U.S. Treasury Department at San Francisco. In September, 1942, Detroit escorted two convoys to Pago Pago, Samoa, rescuing the crew of a downed PBY during one passage.
Detroit sailed from San Francisco 10 November 1942 for Kodiak, Alaska, to become Flagship for Commander, Task Group 8.6, and patrol between Adak and Attu to prevent further enemy penetration of the Aleutians. On 12 January 1943, she covered the unopposed landings made on Amchitka to gain a base from which to cut the Japanese Supply line, and after repairs at Bremerton in February and March, returned to patrol duty to intercept reinforcements trying to reach the Japanese garrisons on Kiska and Attu. In April, she bombarded Holtz Bay and Chicago Harbor on Attu, returning the next month to join in the assault and capture of the island. In August she took part in the bombardments of Kiska, then covered the landings of 15 August which revealed that the island, the last outpost held by the Japanese in the Aleutians, had been secretly evacuated.
Detroit remained in Alaskan waters until 1944 operating with the covering group for the western Aleutian bases. In June, 1944, she saw action with TF 94 during the bombardment of shore installations in the Kuriles. She sailed from Adak25 June, and after repairs at Bremerton, arrived at Balboa on 9 August to serve as temporary flagship of the Southeast Pacific Force. She patrolled on the west coast of South America until December.
Clearing San Francisco on 16 January 1945, Detroit arrived at Ulithi 4 February for duty with the 5th Fleet. She acted as flagship for the replenishment group serving the fast carrier task forces until the end of the war, and entered Tokyo Bay on 1 September. Detroit was one of two ships present at both Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and at the signing of the Japanese surrender (the other was the USS West Virginia). Detroit continued to direct replenishment operations for the Occupation fleet and in addition, the repatriation of Japanese to the home islands from Pacific bases. She left Tokyo Bay on 15 October for the United States with returning servicemen on board as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Detroit was decommissioned at Philadelphia 11 January 1946, and sold 27 February 1946.
Detroit received six battle stars for World War II service.
Other Memories
The first USS O'Bannon (DD-177) was a Wickes class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I . She was named for Presley O'Bannon.
O'Bannon was laid down by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, 12 November 1918, launched 28 February 1919, sponsored by Mrs. Henry O'Bannon Cooper descendant by marriage of Lt. O'Bannon, and commissioned at San Francisco 27 August 1919, Lt. Robert F. Gross in command.
O'Bannon sailed out of San Diego for exercises and training maneuvers along the coast of California and in Hawaiian waters throughout her career. In the spring of 1920 she conducted experiments with torpedoes, then was in reserve commission from June to November, when she resumed her training schedule. She decommissioned at San Diego 27 May 1922, was struck from the Navy List 19 May 1936, and was sold 29 September 1936.
Other Memories
The first USS Whipple (DD-15) was a Truxton-class destroyer in the United States Navy.
She was laid down on 13 November 1899 at Sparrows Point, Maryland, by the Maryland Steel Company; launched on 15 August 1901; sponsored by Miss Elsie Pope; and commissioned on 17 February 1903, Lt. Jehu V. Chase in command.
After training in Chesapeake Bay, Whipple was assigned to the 2d Torpedo Flotilla, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and was based at Norfolk. The destroyer periodically served as flagship of the flotilla and operated off the east coast and in the Caribbean until she was placed in reserve at Norfolk on 5 September 1905.
Returning to active service on 16 July 1906, the ship conducted tactical exercises and routine training operations through November of 1907. On 2 December, Whipple stood out of Hampton Roads and headed south toward the Caribbean for goodwill visits?"showing the flag."
Subsequently following in the wake of the 16 battleships of the Great White Fleet, Whipple and her flotilla-mates called at Rio de Janeiro; rounded Cape Horn for ports on the Chilean and Peruvian coasts; and conducted target practice at Magdalena Bay, Mexico. After participating in a fleet review at San Francisco on 8 May 1908, Whipple remained on the west coast, based at San Diego, as a unit of the Pacific Torpedo Flotilla.
Departing San Francisco at the end of a towline on 24 August, the destroyer subsequently took part in fleet battle problems in Hawaiian waters. Upon completion of the exercises, she steamed back to the west coast via Samoa and Magdalena Bay, Baja California, before arriving at San Diego on 1 December.
For the next six years, the destroyer operated off the west coast between San Diego and Magdalena Bay and made one cruise to Alaskan waters for maneuvers. The ship received the Mexican Service Medal for service off the Mexican coast in 1914 and 1916. While that country suffered in the throes of revolution and civil strife, the destroyer conducted patrols and stood ready to protect American lives and property.
On 6 April 1917, America entered World War I on the side of Britain, France, and Italy. Whipple soon commenced patrols off the approaches to the vital Panama Canal before departing the Panama Canal Zone on 5 July.
Refitted for "distant service," the destroyer put to sea on 28 August, bound for the Atlantic war zone, and put into the Azores on 17 September. Whipple operated on escort duties, convoying ships to and from the strategic islands for the next three months.
She then received orders to report at Brest, France. Antisubmarine patrols and convoy escort duties occupied Whipple through the early spring of 1918. On 17 April, munition ship Florence H. blew up off Quiberon Bay. Braving flying debris from the exploding ship, Whipple joined Stewart (Destroyer No. 13) and Truxtun (Destroyer No. 14) in rescuing 32 men of the 77-man crew of that doomed vessel.
Whipple carried out her routine wartime patrol duties through the end of hostilities. On 9 December, the destroyer departed the French coast and headed homeward, touching at the Azores and Bermuda before making port at Philadelphia on 3 January 1919.
The destroyer was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 7 July 1919, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 15 September. On 3 January 1920, J. G. Hitner, of Philadelphia, purchased the ship for scrapping.
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USS Chattanooga (C-16/PG-30/CL-18) was a Denver-class light cruiser in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the second Navy ship named for the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Chattanooga launched 7 March 1903 by Crescent Shipyard, Elizabethport, New Jersey; sponsored by Miss L. N. Chambliss; completed at the New York Navy Yard; commissioned 11 October 1904, Commander A. Sharp in command; and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.
Chattanooga's first cruise following shakedown was to the Caribbean, from which she returned to New York City to join the squadron which cleared for Cherbourg, France 18 June 1905. At Cherbourg, Brooklyn received on board the body of John Paul Jones, which the squadron brought home to the United States Naval Academy, arriving at Annapolis 23 July. Through the remainder of the year, Chattanooga aided in training men of the Maine and Massachusetts Naval Militia, and cruised briefly in the Caribbean. On 28 December she cleared San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the Suez Canal and duty in the Pacific. Between 29 April 1906, when she arrived at Cavite, P.I., and 10 August 1910, when she reported at Puget Sound Navy Yard for inactivation, Chattanooga joined the Asiatic Fleet in its winter operations in the Philippines and summer cruises to China, aiding in representing America's strength and interest in the Orient. Chattanooga was decommissioned at Puget Sound Navy Yard 17 September 1910.
Chattanooga was placed in reserve commission 31 August 1912, remaining at Puget Sound, and in full commission 21 April 1914, for duty in Mexican waters. Through 1915 and 1916, she cruised to protect American interests from the disorder of the Mexican Revolution, and this duty continued after America's entrance into World War I until May 1917. Chattanooga then sailed through the Panama Canal for several months of patrol duties in the Caribbean, searching for German raiders. From July 1917, she escorted convoys from the Atlantic coast to rendezvous with other escorts in the approaches to French ports. This rugged duty across the stormy mid-Atlantic was broken only by two escort missions to Nova Scotia.
Chattanooga took part in the Victory Fleet Review taken by the Secretary of the Navy in New York harbor 26 December 1918. After an overhaul, the cruiser carried a party of Liberian officials to Monrovia, then turned north for Plymouth, England, which she reached 7 May. As flagship of U.S. Naval Forces, European Waters, Chattanooga sailed among English and French ports until June. On 29 June, she served as leading honor escort guarding President Woodrow Wilson's departure from France in George Washington, then sailed on to call at German and Belgian ports before arriving in the Mediterranean for service as flagship for U.S. Naval Forces, Turkish Waters. Cruising primarily in the Black Sea, she also served in the Adriatic in connection with the disposal of ships of the former Austro-Hungarian Navy. From January through May 1921, she conducted regular patrols with the cruiser squadron assigned to European waters, and on 1 June, returned to the United States. She was decommissioned at Boston 19 July 1921, and laid up at Portsmouth Navy Yard until sold 8 March 1930.
Description The United States of America declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. The U.S. was an independent power and did not officially join the Allies. It closely cooperated with them militarily buThe United States of America declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. The U.S. was an independent power and did not officially join the Allies. It closely cooperated with them militarily but acted alone in diplomacy. The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material and money, starting in 1917. American soldiers under General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in the summer of 1918. They played a major role until victory was achieved on November 11, 1918. Before entering the war, the U.S had remained neutral, though it had been an important supplier to Great Britain and the other Allied powers. During the war, the U.S mobilized over 4 million military personnel and suffered 110,000 deaths, including 43,000 due to the influenza pandemic. The war saw a dramatic expansion of the United States government in an effort to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the U.S. military. After a slow start in mobilising the economy and labour force, by spring 1918 the nation was poised to play a role in the conflict. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson, the war represented the climax of the Progressive Era as it sought to bring reform and democracy to the world, although there was substantial public opposition to United States entry into the war.
Although the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, it did not initially declare war on the other Central Powers, a state of affairs that Woodrow Wilson described as an "embarrassing obstacle" in his State of the Union speech. Congress declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on December 17, 1917, but never made declarations of war against the other Central Powers, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire or the various Co-belligerents allied with the central powers, thus the United States remained uninvolved in the military campaigns in central, eastern and southern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
The United States as late as 1917 maintained only a small army, smaller than thirteen of the nations and empires already active in the war. After the passage of the Selective Service Act in 1917, it drafted 2.8 million men into military service. By the summer of 1918 about a million U.S. soldiers had arrived in France, about half of whom eventually saw front-line service; by the Armistice of November 11 approximately 10,000 fresh soldiers were arriving in France daily. In 1917 Congress gave U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans when they were drafted to participate in World War I, as part of the Jones Act. In the end Germany miscalculated the United States' influence on the outcome of the conflict, believing it would be many more months before U.S. troops would arrive and overestimating the effectiveness of U-boats in slowing the American buildup.
The United States Navy sent a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join with the British Grand Fleet, destroyers to Queenstown, Ireland and submarines to help guard convoys. Several regiments of Marines were also dispatched to France. The British and French wanted U.S. units used to reinforce their troops already on the battle lines and not to waste scarce shipping on bringing over supplies. The U.S. rejected the first proposition and accepted the second. General John J. Pershing, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commander, refused to break up U.S. units to serve as mere reinforcements for British Empire and French units. As an exception, he did allow African-American combat regiments to fight in French divisions. The Harlem Hellfighters fought as part of the French 16th Division, earning a unit Croix de Guerre for their actions at Château-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and Séchault.
Impact of US forces on the war
On the battlefields of France in spring 1918, the war-weary Allied armies enthusiastically welcomed the fresh American troops. They arrived at the rate of 10,000 a day, at a time when the Germans were unable to replace their losses. After British Empire, French and Portuguese forces had defeated and turned back the powerful final German offensive (Spring Offensive of March to July, 1918), the Americans played a role in the Allied final offensive (Hundred Days Offensive of August to November). However, many American commanders used the same flawed tactics which the British, French, Germans and others had abandoned early in the war, and so many American offensives were not particularly effective. Pershing continued to commit troops to these full- frontal attacks, resulting in high casualties against experienced veteran German and Austrian-Hungarian units. Nevertheless, the infusion of new and fresh U.S. troops greatly strengthened the Allies' strategic position and boosted morale. The Allies achieved victory over Germany on November 11, 1918 after German morale had collapsed both at home and on the battlefield.... More
On 4 January 1956 USS NEWPORTNEWS (CA-148) steamed for a tour of duty in the Mediterranean as flagship of Vice Admiral Ralph A. Ofstie, Commander Sixth Fleet. Vice Admiral Ofstie was relieved on board by VADM Harry Donald Felt on 12 April in Barcelona, Spain.