All Hands Naval Bulletin - Nov 1944

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JAP SMOKE OFF PHILIPPINES

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Prospects in the Pacific:Jap Defeat to Take at Least 11/2 Years,Experts Say,After - a . -Victory in hurope

It will take an absolute minimum ofone and a half to two years after thedefeat of Germany to defeat Japan .0 No internal collapse of Japan is ex-pected; and even if it should occur, i twould not give the Allies a quick oreasy victory.Those are the conclusions drawn bythe Office of W ar Information in a re-cent report based on facts, figures,estimates and opinions of authoritiesin the Navy, War and Sta te Depart-ments and the Foreign Economic Ad-ministration.There is no question in the minds ofAmerican authorities that the Allieswill defeat Japan . The odds of militarystrength, natural resources, and thequality of the fighting forces andequipment-all favor the United Na-tions. The U. S. alone outclasses Japa nin raw materials, in the capacity t oproduce fighting equipment, in themilitary might of her warships andnaval materiel, and in her arm ed man-power. Add the forces of other UnitedNations, and the mustered power ofthe Allies is overwhelming.Following a re some specific examplesof the strategic advantages favoringthe Allies:1. Allied war production is over-whelming. The U. s. alone produces8,000 combat planes a month as con-trasted with Japans estimated produc-Page 4

tion of 1,400 o r 1,500 a month.2. Our Pacific commanders assertthat Japan has lost the power for astrat egic offensive beyond the range ofher land-based planes. This is due toU. S. supremacy in ca rriers, and to thesinking of many of the lighter screen-ing units of Japans fleet. Not elimi-nated, however, is the possibility ofsporadic raids by the Japanese on ourWest Coast.3. Japans mercha nt shipping, neveradequate to the demands of a con-quered Pacific empire, has been stead-ily reduced by naval, aerial and sub-marine action. Sinkings have aver-aged 1,500,000 tons a year, and i t isestimated that Japan has not evenyet pushed her ship construction t o1,000,000 tons a year.4. Japans industrial production hasbeen affected by B-29 bombings, a def-inite advance in the warfare againstJapan.6. Island-skipping has neutralizedabout 50 major bases on the fringes ofJapans outer zone of defense, and thevictories at Guam, Saipan and Tinianhave brought Allied forces withinstrik ing distance of the inner defensezone of Japa n itself, which extendsmore than 1,000 miles from the homeislands.6. Allied forces now are establishedwhere another giant stride to the west,

8. The tactical ability of Japanesegenerals h as not yet been probed, sincethere has been as yet no modern full-dress warfareon land masses in theEuropean pattern, and no battles ofarmor involving more than a compara-tively few tanks on eithe r side. TheAllies, on the other hand, have militaryleaders of proven ability in full-scalebattl es of maneuver.9. At sea the Japanese have beenoutfought and outmaneuvered. In theair they have lost about five planes toour one. On land Japanese soldiershave been beaten in every test ofstrength by the Allies since they wentover t o the offensive.10 . Japan has failed to capitalizefully on its conquests. Primarily, themeasure of Japan s war production isthe capacity of its pre-Pearl Harborindustrial plant rather than its con-quered raw material resources.On the other hand, there are a num-ber of considerations th at fa vor theJapanese and point toward a prolonga-tion of the war. Psychologically, thedefea t of Germany may even heightenJapans determination and fightingspirit and a t the same time induce alet-down in the effort of the Allies.The Japanese are expecting the Al-lies t o grow tired and accept a nego-tiated peace. Japanese war leadershave repeatedly predicted that Japanwill drag out the war so long, makethe Allies pay so dearly, that thesoft democracies will be forced intoa stalemate.Following are some of the factorson Japans side as listed in the OW1report:1. An appraisal of Japans war econ-omy by the F EA concluded tha t Ja panis capable of increasing her productionin almost every category of w ar equip-ment and military supplies.2. Geography fights on the side ofthe Japanese. Before the Allied mightcan be brought t o bear, it must bebased within strik ing distance of J a-pans home islands. Our present newbases in the Marianas are 1,500 statutemiles from her shores.3. Before major invasions can belaunched, a tremendous shipping prob-lem must be solved. The conclusion ofthe European wa r will release a largepa rt of the sh ipping now being usedin that theater, but several monthsmay be required before this shippingcan become effective in the Pacific.4. At present, the course of the w arin China is all in Japans favor. In-stead of securing additional advancedbases from which to strike a t Japanbv air, the Allies have lost several inChina within recent months.


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5. Despite losses in China and onPacific islands, Japans army has notyet been mustered to its full strength.Estimates are th at she has an army of4,000,000 men, 2,000,000 more availableand fit for milita ry service who haventbeen called up, and another 1,500,000between the ages of 17 and 20 , not yetsubject t o the draft. Between 200,000and 250,000 men come of age annua llyas replacements.6. Japans industries are beyond therange of ai r attack, except by ourB-29s, and will remain so until theAllies establish bases within 500 to 600

miles of her shores.7. Japan has many strategic sup-plies on the home islands, in nearbyKorea and Manchuria. The Army hasestimated that she also has stockpiledlarg e quantities of raw materials-enough rubber, for instance, for fiveyears or more of war.8. Despite our aerial victories andthe high ratio of Jap planes destroyedt o our own losses, it is estimated thatthe Japanese are currently able t o pro-duce planes as rapidly as we destroythem, and probably can even increasethis production slightly. They can nowmass their air power in a narrowingtheater of action. Secretary of theNavy Forrestal recently pointed outthat Jap planes now have greater firepower, armament, range, speed andload capacity; that aircraft of the U. S.Navy do not any longer have so big atechnical advan tage over enemy planes.9. Japan still has a powerful fleet,which includes from 10 to 13 battle-ships, from 1 0 to 12 large carriers andseveral smaller carriers, plus reducednumbers of smaller screening wa r ves-sels. Allied navies in the Pacific mustoperate only in large forces, lestsmaller forces be trapped and de-stroyed by the Japanese fleet.10 . Japan operates on interior linesof supply. The fa rthe r she is crowdedback toward her home islands, thegreater her logistical advantage be-comes, and the more nearly adequateher merchant fleet. Our supply line toJapan is nearly three times as long asthe supply line to Europe. It took wellover two years t o accumulate the tre-mendous materiel surplus used in theinvasion of France.11. Japans production of food onthe home islands, plus North China,Korea and Manchuria is calculated t obe sufficient t o maintain the populationon a minimum basis.12 . Japan retains all her major con-


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Official U. S. Navy photograpiiMOBILE S E R V IC E STATIO NS: A n oi ler , above, druws ulovzgside a WUY-ship for a transfusion in the Pacific. T h e destroyer below i s about to, receive a supply of f ue l from an assault trunsport in the South Pacific.

Official U. S. Coast Guard nhatoovaah

In football its the bal

light as they lug the ball e.Tokyo. But much of thetheir ground-gaining must ganonymous guards and tavessels cf the A fleet.Without its floating servicand machine shops the N;not have been able to mlightning thrusts which h athe war to Japans doorstep.force could not, for examplecomphshed that 8,000-milefrom Pearl Harbor whencapture Kwajalein, pastedshelled Guam, before returrmiles to Pearl Harbor.Under the old conceptionwarfare Japan thought shc I d > WLUICfrom ou r attacks as lone as she heldevery land bastaiice of Tokyo.pines, Guam, tlthe other ielanland and Austfigured that itus to establishthreaten her vitime, developmc

Task forces, in 1operate now,World War 11;were developed,thcy would have

and taking thenToday the Navjoz w f l e e f s s t n kFrom its traitask force can oacain ruei 011. am-

the lime-ver nearercredit for:o to those.ckles-the:6 stationsivy wouldake thoseve carriedOur task,have ac-rampageit helpedTruk andling 3,825

,e within -striking dis-By seizing the Philip-ie East Indies and allds between her home-ralia, Japan probablywould take years forbases close enough total areas; that, mean-mt of conquered terri-e made her too strongIS wars i t was unheard;o strike more than aor so from its base.the sense in which th eywere unknown untiland even when theythe Ja ps assumed th at5 to return to base f o ra strike.dved the problem byinder service stations1 ammunition depots,I to sea with the fleet.r can assemble a float-e at any point in anyabso lu t e l y no limit toi ng range .n of1 auxiiiaTy .$ips a

munition, spar e part s, food, freshwater-anything from a piece of sheetmetal to a sirloin steak. A ny dam-aged ship that still floats can be re-paired sufficiently to make port. Afloating advance base can do anythingexcept dock a ship-and th e chancesare theres a floating drydock not veryfar away that can handle the largestbattleship.A recent personal letter from an o f -ficer on one of our carriers stated:Before a recent operation we wereanchored in an atoll with a concentra-tion of auxiliaries. Almost as f a r asthe eye could see-nothing but ships,with no daylight whatever between thehulls.In the early days of the war, when


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OTJR ROVTNG ATlVANCE RASES -xil-?et*ue*Ve-

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WASHDAY: Crewmen swab deck under big guns o fthe Iow a, four th U . S. ship of that mame.

, he 45,000-ton US S Iowa re - ANTIAIRCRAFT: Gunners in foreground load c l ips'01


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'N E SHOP bas necessary m echalzical egu ip-to make all except major repairs to ship.

FIREPOWER: Mighty 16-incb gums hammer at dzs-tant target in preparation for strike im the Pacific.


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They Like It RuggedJ VUMen of the Splinter Fleet Know Only 2Kinds of Quarters: Small-and General!

HENEVER sailors congregate,W rom Cherbourg to Saipan, anddebate which type of duty in the Navyis the most rugged, the boys of theSouthwest Pacific (splinter fleet willhave plenty of argument s t o supportthe case for their branch of the ser-vice.Their little SCs, PCs and YMSs-allsmall vessels with limited facilities-seldom make the headlines, but manya 3ap plane and sub has felt theirsting. Far out on the fringe of thePacific war zone, they are in therepitching when we make an amphibiousassault. After the beachhead has beensecured they take over the duty of es-corting the ships supplying the newbase. And when the Ja p planes havebeen chased out of the area an d thingsquiet down, the splinter fleet moves onto another advanced area-to repeatthe performance.Typical of the vessels of the escortand minecraft squadrons, serving dayin and day out to keep ou r forces leap-

frogging toward Japan, is the SC 699.Known as the (Shootin 699, she par-ticipated in 11 amphibious operationsin the Southwest Pacific in 11 months,with never a breather, o r a trip southof Milne Bay, in all that time. Herskipper was Lt. (j g) James W. Foris-tel, USNR, who gave up a St. Louis lawpractice fo r a crack at the Nipponese.In t he landing at Arawe, New Brit-ain, in December 1943, the Shootin699, already a combat veteran withseveral enemy planes t o her credit,gave the Japs a dazzling exhibition ofbroken-field running as she came inunder their shore batteries and res-cued from the water 7 1 men who hadbeen shot out of rubber landing boats.F o r this daring exploit LieutenantForistel received the Silver StarMedal.His citation from Vice AdmiralThomas C. Kinkaid, USN, commanderpf the 7th Fleet, stated tha t he dar-ingly and skillfully carried out searescue operations within known gunPage 12

Blazhg Ja p bomber m isses D D , hits SCrange of a Japanese shore battery,thereby saving the lives of many ofthe wounded. The citation told howthe 699 was strafed by six enemyfighter planes, but shot one down andforced the others to turn away.Later at Biak, in the Schouten Is-lands, the 699 proved that she couldtake it, as well as dish it out. Just asa beachhead had been established, fiveJ a p planes dove out of the sun. Threevanished in the confusion of shore anddestroyer ack-ack. One of the remain-ing planes, ablaze from jabs of th elittle SCs 40-mm. gun, fell into a steepspiral, just cleared the bridge of adestroyer, struck the water with itsleft wing and catapulted into th espeeding 699.

When the confusion had subsided, itwas found that a twin-motored Ja pplane was plastered all over the littlesub-chaser, one motor being actuallyimbedded in the hull. Wreckage of th eplane was thrown overboard from thequivering, blazing SC . With two ofher crew dead, others severely burnedo r injured and her skipper and sev-eral of the crew thrown into the waterby the impact, the executive officer,Lt. (jg ) Orville A. Wahrenbrock, USNR,of San Diego, Calif., led the remainderof the crew in fighting the fire and


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NEW CLASSIFICATIONS


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Official U. S. Navy photographOfic ers and enlisted m e@ share ringside seats as bluejackets m ix irt exhibitiort bout aboard aircraft telzder.

Handbill aduertises N a v y smokerat Salerno, Italy.Page 18

Fighting For FunWhen sailors arent fighting the emercred from World Wa r I to becomeJ a m o r the Nazis. one of their fa-voiite pastimes is seeing a good fightin a Navy-promoted smoker. This isone form of entertainment t hat can bestage d anywhere-on the ha ng ar deckof a carrier, in an open-air arena onGuadalcanal, o r in the bomb-spatteredSalerno Opera House.The talent doesnt have t o be im-ported from the States because mostof the out standing ring champions arein the armed forces, battling underthe management of Uncle Sam.Nearly every ship and station hassome amateur boxers or wrestlers,and often some topnotch professionals.Some of those youngsters appearingon cards at Guadalcanal or Salernomay become worlds champions afterthe war. Gene Tunney, now a com-mander in the Naval Reserve,

the worlds heavyweight champion.Odds are that some comparativelynow-unknown serviceman will someday lift Joe Louis heavyweightcrown.Its the job of the Navys welfare andrecreation officers to see that navalactivities, including ships and acbases, have entertainment. Thejfound that US0 shows with ra dfilm celebrities are always PObut when these are not av:theres nothing which draw scrowds or excites more enthcthan a good smoker.These may be small affairs,men from a single ship participating,or they may be are a elimination tour-naments comparing favorably withthe Golden Gloves tourney o r Madi-son Square Garden title bouts. Fo r

lvance7 haveio andNpular,ailablelargerisiasm


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Official U. S. Navy photograplisCOM MA ND ER ( th en Lieu tenant Comm ander) Mac-Donald and members of the OBannons crew areshown on the deck o f the ir des t royer dur ing the ceremony at whic h he received the Na vy Cross andthey were commended for the ir gal lan t perform-ance im the Bat tle of Kula Gulf on 5-6 July 1943.They Went to Hell and BackSkipper of USS OBannon Tells How 14Months of Almost ContinuousAction Forged Green Crew and New Ship Into a Great Fighting Team

By Comdr. Donald J. MacDonald,USNThe 2,100-ton destroyer, the ussOBannon, was brand-new when her

crew trooped aboard her for the firsttime a t Boston in J une 1942. Theiraverage age was about 19 , which mean tth at some of them were mere chil-dren who had fibbed to the recruitingo f f i c e r , w h i l eothers were intheir 30 s and40s, with chil-dren of theirown at home. Itwas early in thewar, the servicesw e r e h a r d -pressed for men,and a ship hadto take what itcould get.Seventy-five percent of these ladshad never been to seg before. Manyhad received very l ittles training in sea-manship, o r , for that knaGter, in any-thing else. Some had no idea what thewar was about or exactly where Japanwas. A considerable number had nomore th an an elementary-school edu-cation, although a few had been aboutto receive college degrees when theyenlisted. They represented nearly every

state in the Union, although the ma-jority came from the Eastern sea-board.As they came awkwardly abroad,duffle bags over the ir shoulders, un-certain which way t o turn, a tall hard-bitten pet ty officer who had been a tsea a dozen years was heard to mutter,Look at em. How you going t o wina war with a mob like that? Theydont know a gun mount from a horse.Its a sorry-looking crew.I did not agree. Wha t I saw comingaboard was a cross section of my coun-try, as it was then-raw and un-trained youth that had taken freedomand abundance for granted. But Iknew also that the children of freedomare ultimately more enduring andmore determined than the children ofslavery.Today I know I was right-that thi sassortment of clerks, mechanics andschoolboys, of Catholics, Protest antsand Jews, of Irish, Italians, Scandi-navians and colored boys, all loversof their country, would make a greatcrew.Timid and awkward though theywere at that moment, they made theReprin ted wi th permiss ion fromT he America@ Magaz ine ,

greatest crew, I think, th at ever sailedinto the blazing guns of an enemy.First, as executive officer, under Capt.Ed Wilkinson, later as commandingofficer, I served with the OBannonsindomitable crew, from her commis-sioning until her recent return fromth e South Pacific. They fought theJapanese almost continuously for 14months when the enemy was at th epeak of its power, and earned a battlerecord unequaled, I think, in navalhistory. And thanks to God and thegood judgment of all hands, we didnot lose a single man, killed orwounded.We trained. We worked night andday, getting the boys acquainted withth e OBannon, the OBannon with theboys. She was a new ship which, likemost of the crew, had never been tosea before. They had to be welded to-gether. I am glad now that it wasth at way. Ship and men grew intogre at fighters as one. Th at is onereason why the record is unique.But we were not gr eat fighters then,not by a l ong shot. On our first mis-sions into the Atlantic t o protect con-voys from submarine attack, the boyssaw several merchant ships go down.Some of them exploded, went to pieces,and sank immediately into the cold,green water with scarcely a trace. It

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was a shock. It was reality. Many alad began t o ask himself as the swe atbroke out on his pale forehead, Whatam 1 doing here? What is it all about?I may be sunk, myself. I may lose mylife. And back over the smoking hor-izon were the green hills of home, asoda at the corner drugstore, a prettygirl waiting t o go to the movies. Peo-ple back there were having a goodtime. Out here people were dying. Itwas tough.If we had got into some real actiohin tl e Atlantic-sunk a few subs in arunriing surface battle-it would havehelpcld a lot, but we dropped only afew depth charges at an invisible en- USS OBannon: Ship and m en gre w into great fighters as one.

emy with no certain results, t hen Thirteen American ships, eight of We veered very sharp ly and backed turrled and haded the little ship t o them destroyers, had been delegated. emergency, missing her. Then wethe South Pacific to meet the Jaw. to intercept them. Our ship, instead knew she was Japanese. The crew wasWe had had no baptism of fire. But of heading on to th e comfortable aboard, dying in the flames. J a p sail-we g o t one and got it early. -sa fet y of the base, turned back toward ors usually have no life jackets.Cur baptism was a Niagara of fire Guadalcanal. Dismay appeared on The water was full of men-friends-the battle of Guadalcanal, one of the eve ry face. Hadnt they ju st had a and enemies. Some were wounded andfiercest and most significant naval battl e? Presently we informed the men screaming. But no time to stop now.battles in history. In that battle Our th a t another one was likely to ensue, We had to get out. We had to h o wtask force defeated the major Part of and ordered them to put on their life where we were. We were low on am-the Japanese fleet in the south Pacific, jackets and stand by a t battle stations. munition and torpedoes and we didntPrevented Japans last desperate at- We didnt tell them they were about know the score. This, it seemed to me,tempt to recapture Guadalcanal, and, t o meet the whole Japanese South Pa- was the battle fo r the world. WeI think, turned the course of the wa r cific fleet. couldnt lose everything.in our favor. We met the enemy in pitch-dark- Then the re was a deep, muffled ex-Our men were in their prime physi- ness a little before midnight. The plosion under us. The OBannoncally. After a little less tha n five Ja ps opened up with searchlights. We seemed to ri se out of the wa ter. Imonths aboard the OBannon, they fired. Everybody fired. It was weird, thought, Shes going down, fo r sheknew the ship, the sea, and the ir guns. seeing the big gray ships appear in seemed to plunge head foremost. WeBut they didnt know hell. flashes of light and disappear into ut- slowed down. I called for reports. TheOn the morning of November 12, te r darkness as the salvos roared. They ship apparently was undamaged, ex-1942, as a member of a convoy escort, were like giant, ghostly light bulbs be- cept tha t there was a slight misalign-we stood off Henderson Airfield on ing turned off and on in the twinkling ment, which cut down our speed. LaterGuadalcanal to cover the landing of of an eye. we discovered that the hull was pitted,Marine reinforcements we had brought Suddenly we saw the peril of our as if by metal fragments. I dont knowup from o u r base. The boys had been situation. On one side of our column yet what happened. Either a torpedoup all night standing by. They were was a Japanese force possibly headed exploded in our wake, o r the depthtense. to bombard Henderson Airfield, on the charges of a sunken ship went off.Hardly had the troops tarted land- other was another force covering a When at last the American farceing han the japanesetruck from the Japanese troop landing. We were made a rendezvous beyond the sceneair. Three of torpedo bombers caugh t between the two. We went for- of battle, we found that of 13 shipsth at entered the fight only one had g o tith Zero fighter escorts swept over ward.us in succession. A t last we were in No man can adequately describe the ou t unscathed. Of our eight destroy-action! our little force off and shock and ter ro r and tremendousness ers, four were lost, only one was un-began to maneuver, meanwhile spat- of a gre at naval battle fought at close damaged. Rear Admiral Daniel J. cal-tering the sky with antiaircraft bursts. rang e in the dead of night. Every- lagha n, task force commander, hadprom he bridge I could see our green body was firing. The thunder was been killed on the bridge of the USSboys, pale and determined, manning deafening. The concerted fire lasted Sun Francisco, as well as Capt. Cas-th e guns like experts.Apparently, they only 20 minutes, but it seemed an sin Young, the Sun Franciscos skip-werent timid an y more. those who eternity. Then the black water began per. The cru iser Atlanta had re-followed tha t battle already know, the t o flicker with the reflection Of flame. ceived its deathblow and la te r wasguns on the ship s and the fighter Ships began to blow UP all over the scuttled. And the cruiser Juneauplanes from the airfield all bu t an- Place. One minute the OBannon Was was badly damaged, reducing hernihilated those bombers. 1 think only fourth in a Column of little destroyers. speed. She was torpedoed later whileone escaped; 9 were brought down by The next minute she was first in the we were making our way back to ourthe ships, 21 by the fighter planes. Column. The other three ships had base.

It wasnt so much pride as relief gone down 01 had been SO SeverlY dam- Bu t wha t of the Japan ese? In theth at made the boys smile as we turned aged that they had fallen out of Our entir e period of the bat tle of Guadal-back t o escort the transp orts and sup- battle line. canal they lost two battleships,, eightply ships away. Everybody thought Then the order came to cease firing. cruisers, six destroyers, and eightwe were going home. Bu t we werent. Our force had t o reorganize, t o see tran sports loaded with troops. FourWe on the bridge knew th at two forces other Jap transports were destroyedof the Japanese fleet were already on to maneuver. It was dangerous to by bombers and shellfire on the beach.the ir way down to Guadalcanal, one continue firing. By this time you We had gone into battl e on th eto bombard Henderson Airfield out of couldnt tell friend from foe. A ship morning of November 12 when theexistence, the other to cover the land- in flames sometimes ha s no identity. airpla nes attacked. Then men of thein g of troops above the Marine lines A great, burning battleship suddenly OBannon hardly had a wink of sleep< to destroy thei r beachhead once and swung across our course. We were until November 15, when we returnedfo r all time. so close we almost collided with her. to base. They were tense, shocked,

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Official U. S. Navy photograph

where we were. I turned and began


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terribly tired. O f course, they wereproud that they had been givencreditfor hits on a battleship and a cruiser,but they were far from happy. This,then, was it, riding up in a tiny shipbetween row on row of frightfully su-perior Japanese men-o-war and tryingto sink them? A se a full of bu rningships and drowning men instead of asoda at the corner drugstore and apretty girl coming down the street.So this was the foe, with its suppos-edly inferior ships and it s treacherouslittle sailors. Whew!It was a relief to the men tha t theyhad come out of their first battle with-out shedding blood. But for the f utu reit still left bloodshed to the imagina-tion.

A very pleasant memory of thatbattle, however, was of the lightcruiser Helena, with which the OBan-non had the honor t o serve throughmany a battle until July 7, 1943,when she went down with her gunsstill firing. It is seldom that the crewof one ship idolizes another, but i thappened in the case of OBannonandHelena. The two ships worked to -gether beautifully in all actions. Onthe terrib le night of November 12-13.it was the Helena that fired upon theenemy first, that inflicted some of theworst damage upon him, that seemedto be running to everybodys rescueall of the time, protecting embattleddestroyers as if they were her littlebrothers.

We had hardly returned t o basewhen we were ordered out again-upto Guadalcanal. My God, they said,wasnt it over get? No. It hadntbegun. We went up again and again.Sleepless and stunned, we would comedown from battle o r bombing, only torefuel, load ammunition and supplies,and turn the prow northward to theshoals of death. When I was givencommand of the ship, I found it prettyhard t o cheer up the men when weset out at night again after only afew hours in port. Everybody couldsee what direction we were headingin, but they didnt want t o believewhat they saw.I soon discovered that it was a goodthing, before we blacked out the shippreparatory t o entering dangerouswater, to tell the crew, over the loud-speaker system, just what to expect.I am not a t all oratorical. I have neverpreached or exhorted. I just told themh a matter-of-fact way and voiceEomething like this :Men, we probably will intercept alight Japanese task force at about10:30 oclock tonight. Sleep a little ifyou can, until the call for battle sta-tions. Wha tever you do, dont worry.Leave that to me.Cheerless as these little talks were,I am surprised at what they did forthe morale of t he crew. I had beenmaking these talks a long time when,one night, I forgot to tell them whatto expect. My quarter mas ter came t oPage 22

batt le record a f i i &etu wou ld be Proud of.me and said, Captain, the men ar e OBannon had not yet realized herself.stand ing around the loudspeakers The tension which a t first affected thewaiting for your talk. I was sur- very young now began to tell on theprised. But I soon discovered th at they older ones, some with children athad become almost superstitious about home.these cannonside chats. Some of them One older man came t o me one night,felt that it was a ritual necessary to in tears . Captain, he said, I cantvictory, t ha t without it they might be go back up there. I cant endure it.sunk. Dont you see, sir, were up here untilOne night, on a par ticula rly haza rd- were dead.!ous expedition, I hesitated to tell them It was a chilling statement. A l o tinto what grave danger they were go- of us had begun t o feel that we wereing. It was unwise, tense as we al- up there until we were dead, th at weways were, to go into details. We had were the sacrifice tha t must be madea chance of coming out of it, and until new ships could be built and sentthere was no reason t o worry every- an d new men could be trained.body. We couldnt stop th e expedition we all hate it.ju st because it Was going t o be t!ugh: We all want to go home. We cantCL know;, II - .

lPPb them with H e knew what I meant. He got con-trol of himself.inkingwater before battle.This remark of mine, as we grew We were then members of wha ttougher and tougher, became one of came to be known as the Cactusthe stock jokes of the OBannon. St rik ing Group, a little band of de-Whenever, in o u r brief periods of rest, stroyers which shuttled back and forthwe had wha t we call in the Navy a between o u r base and Guadalcanal, at-Happy Hour, an entertainment giv- tempting t o intercept the so-calleden by all who can perform, I was bur - Tokyo Express, which came downlesqued at a wooden mike saying, Its almost night ly to shell o u r positiongoing t o be chilly tonight. there, o r reinforce thei r troops. WeOne night when I said, We may had t o fight them off if we meant tomeet a light Japanese task force at save the men of Guadalcanal, because10:30 oclock, it was repor ted t o me Guadal was the keystone of civiliza-that a big Swedish machinists mate tion. If we held that, we could event-had said, Ja, light battleships, light ually fight up through the sea fro ntheavy cruisers and light barges that at New Ireland and New Britain,make 45 knots an hour. which, thank God, we ar e now doing.This humor relief was helpful in But we had t o stand more than menou r long period of s train, but the ordinarily can endure.


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Official U. S. Navy photographT H E HELENA (r ig ht ) , her fa ta l f lames l igh timg the waters of KulaG u l f , burms just before sinkimg om th e mormimg o f 6 July 1943. AB-other U . S. warship , gums blazimg away at the ememy, stamds by,We nad no chaplain aboard, al-though on occasions one visited ourship. Many of the men prayed with-ou t embarrassment. Nobody chidedthem. Approximately a third wereCatholics and wore rosaries and scapu-lars. My boy always saw t o it thatmy St. Christopher medal was neverfrom ar ound my neck. One of thecrew, with his rosary around his neck,was nearly struck by a shell frag-ment. Th at rosary never left hisbody after that. Bu t still it was tough,

even with humor and religion. It wastough to be out there until you weredead.Then the transformation began totak e place. Through the awful nightsof bombing, the exchange of shotswith cowardly ships, the sickeningvigil, the breaking strain, hate beganto emerge: What right have they tobe doing this to us? They are pound-in g at this beautiful little ship untilthey smash it. We will smash them.We are not here until we are dead.They are here until they are dead.Then the men of the OBunnonreally began to fight. They no longerthought of the green hills, the sodas,

the pretty girls. They became hunt-ers. They were no longer the hunted.The steel in their hearts was at lasttempered.One day we came upon two Jap-anese in the water, an airplane pilotand his wounded observer, floating inthe ir life jackets. The observer wasnear at hand; we brought him aboard.He died. We called t o the pilot toswim over. He wouldnt come, so weput out a boat to get him. We alwayscover such an operation with a ma-

chine gun. As our boat approachedhim, he yanked a pistol from his lifebelt and pointed it at our men. Themachine gunner let him have it. Werecovered th e pistol. The pin had hitthe shell. The shell didnt explode.The pilot and the pistol had been inthe water for about nine hours.What manner of man was this whocould fire upon his rescuers, his bene-factors? O r was he not human? Themost depraved man of the WesternWorld would not do anything like that .So these were the treacherous beastswho had made life almost unbearable?Well, the men of the OBannon wouldsee about that. They did. Their hategrew. They trusted no Jap., And theJa ps no longer tru st them. They swimaway when boats t ry to pick them up.As I sat some nights in my chairon the bridge, bound for some combatin the dark, I used to while away thehours thinking about theoretical prob-lems of strategy. Wh at would I do,I would think, if I came upon a sur-faced Japanese submarine in enemywaters, traveling at this o r tha t speedin such and such a direction.

One night I met her. We got closeenough t o read the numbers on herconning tower; then we let her haveit. We sank her with our guns. Thecrew were jubilant. Who was goingt o die now? We had fought battle afterbattle; we were still afloat, unhurt.And we had sunk a sub in a runningfight.At dusk one day as we lay in port,the boys on the OBunnon saw a taskforce slip out and head north. Theywaited hopefully for us to weigh an-chor, but we made no move. Then one

lad came up to me and said, Arentwe going, too?Not tonight, I said.Whats the matter, Captain? hesaid with a tremor in his voice. Arewe slipping?Ik ne w then the tide had turned.The boys of the OBannon were jealousof the privilege of figh ting the Japs .The crew were so cocky by the timewe took our first holiday in Sydney,Australia-a nine-day leave in April1943-that I felt it wise to ask themall not to boast while ashore. Othercrews might resent it. They had re-ceived enough acclaim, and I didntwant any scraps in defense of thehonor of the OBannon. They couldsave the fighting for the Japs. I toldthem I would make a release for th epress; that would suffice.

When they returned-only two menout of the entire complement failedto come aboard the ship at the timeappointed, a remarkable record-oneof them brought a little wire-hairedterrier, a pup named Peggy. Peggythenceforward had several hundredmasters. She was the sweetheart offighting men, and they looked afterher as jealously as the Helena lookedout after us when we were togetheron a mission. Once, durin g a battlewhile she was leaping and barkingwith excitement, she jumped from thesuperstructure and broke her leg onthe steel deck. Th at was our first andonly serious casualty.

The ships doctor bound her leg withsplints and plaster, and soon she washobbling around the deck again. Someof the boys decorated her with a medalfor her bravery. When we returnedto the States I had to give her away.Quarantine, I knew, would not passher. It was a very sad parting.Peggy, I think, would have been animpossible mascot when we were firstcommissioned. Everybody was so busythinking about his life that he couldnot have admitted a terrier pup tohis heart. When Peggy did arrive, thecrew of the OBunnon were no longerconcerned with themselves. They wereinterested in bigger things.I cannot in this space recount all ofthe battles in which the OBunnm par-ticipated-five surface engagements ,seven bombardments of shore positions,three rescue operations, numerousfights with airplanes, and innumerableconvoy assignments. We have beencredited for helping sink a battleship,three cruisers and six destroyers. Bu tthere is one battle about which I musttell to enable you t o understand thecomplete fulfillment of the men of theOBunnon as Americans and as gallantfighting men.We were war-weary when orderscame, early in July 1943, to headnorthward again into the dangerouswaters of the Solomons. We had beengoing up almost every night for aweek and we felt due for a rest. Butthere we were heading northward.

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UNCOVERING AT SERVICESSIR: In the August issue, the INFORMA-TION BULLETINSxcellent article on war-time military courtesy says (page 3 0 ) :Strictly speaking, officers and men do notuncover in the open except for divine wor-ship, funerals and other religious cere-monies. Could you indicate exactly whenthey uncover?-H. F. G., Comdr., USNR.During religious services topside aboardship and during formal religious ceremoniesoutdoors ashore (such as Easter sunriseservi ce) ofSLcers and m en remai n uncoveredthroughbut the whole ceremony.Durina funerals. officersand m en remaincovered ~ while in Ke open, and uncoverupon entering the church. During burialat sea, they rem ain covered throuqhout theservice.I n general, a milita ry man uncovers dur-ing a religious ceremony but remains cov-ered. during, a military ceremony. Churchservaces, cavalian funerals or burial serviceswhich the oflcer or man attends as a friendor relatave rather than as a representativeof the Navy, are religious cerenzonies.Military fune rals and burial a t sea areregarded as malitary ceremon;ies.As f o r saluting, w hen called fo r, an ojjiceror man salutes rather than uncovers at amilita ry ceremony, as that i s his traditionalma rk of respect. Howe ver as a participantat a nonmilitary funeral & burial servicehe may, i f he wishes, follow the civiliai;custom and uncover (rather than salute)whe n such honors are called fo r as duringthe procession to the grave, th; loweringof the body, etc.I t should be noted that Jewish custonacalls for remaining covered during all re-ligious ceremonies, and that therefore therules regarding uncovering a s stated abovedo not apply to Jewish personnel who de-sire to observe their own precepts.-ED.DISCHARGES OVERSEAS

SIR: Will it be possible at the end ofthe w ar fo r an enlisted man, upon his ownrequest to be mustered out of *t he Navyin a foieign country if on duty in or nearthat country at tke time?-H. H. S..PhMSc, USNR.Under Article 1 6 8 9 o f Nav y Regs a manma y upon his own writte n request, be dis-char$ed outside of th e U.S In doing sohe waiv es all c l a m fo r tralzsportation atgovernment expense to the U.S. and allconsular aid.-ED.AIR BOMBER TRAININGSIR: What are my chances for becom-ing an a ir bomber? I entered the Navy inSeptember 1 9 4 2 . After boot training, Iserved at two air statlons. I was assigned.to a fighter training squadron and in July1 9 4 3 wa s advanced to AM3c. La st No-vember, I entered V-12. This July I willbe transferred to other duty because offailing grades due partially to illness.-E.M.E.. USNR.e Only a small quota of A O M s are selectedfo r training as air bombers, so the oddswould be greatly agrainst you, in view of*lour A M rating.-ED.TRAVELS WITH MAILSIR: For th e w m t five months I havebeen authorized by my commanding officerto regularly fiy with the mail to San Cle-mente and San Nicholas Island. Theseislands are over 1 0 0 miles past the threemile limit. Am I authorized to: (1 ) re-ceive flight pay: ( 2 ) wear American arearibbon; ( 3 ) wear a ir wings, and (4 ) re -ceive additional mustering-out pay?-A.F.S., Sp(M)lc.0 ( 1 ) No. See BuPer s Circ. Ltr. 102-J.8(N.D.B. cum. ed., 4 2 - 3 1 3 ) . (8 ) Yes. (5)No. See BuPe rs Circ. Ltr. 1 7 4 - 4 4 (N.D.B.30 June 1944, 4 4 - 7 4 7 ) . ( 4 ) The rights. f o ;nausterzng-out pay can not be determaneduntil discharge, when all service can beexamined.-ED.SPECIALISTS(F)PECIALISTS (F )SIR: Can a SP (F) c (Are flghter) beput in charge of training recruits? Is so,shouldnt he be given a CPO rating?-W.M.H.. USNR.

SIR: Can a SP (F) c (Are flghter) beput in charge of training recruits? Is so,shouldnt he be given a CPO rating?-W.M.H.. USNR.To your jirst question, Yes. The ratangi s primarily fo r fire-fighter instructors whoare used mainly to train men fo r fightingshzpboard fires. To the second questiolz:No, adv ancement depends upon recommen-dation of commanding o$Fcer fulfillmentof requirements and upon 6xistence ofwacancies i n COmplement.-ED,


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A summary of the regulations governing th e issuance andwearing of awards now designated for naval personnelIN his special eight-page section theINFORMATIONULLETIN gives inbrief f orm the ru les about decorations,medals and ribbons awarded t o naval .personnel-what the y ar e given for ,how you wear them, who awards them,what they look like.Also included is information onstars, service clasps and letters wornwith the ribbons; the wearing ofArmy, merchant marine and foreigndecorations; the relative standing ofawards, and a list of all PresidentialUnit Citations announced to date.During time of war, only the ribbonbars of the decorations and medalsar e worn, even fo r full-dress occasions.Reproductions of these in full colorwill be found on the center spread.Three new decorations appear therethat were not in the earlier INFORMA-TION BULLETIN rtic le of March 1943:the Bronze Star Medal, the Commen-dation Ribbon and the United Statesof America Typhus Commission Medal.Details of the first two will be foundin Table af Naval Decorations andRegulations, opposite page 36; the

MANNER IN WHICHRIBBONS ARE WORNRibbons of decorations, medalsand badges are worn in horizontalrows of th ree each, if you have th atmany, the rows to be ?4 inch apart.Any row with less than three rib-bons becomes the top row and iscentered over the row or rows be-neath it.They are to be worn on the leftbreast clear of the lapel, as far as

practicable. The upper edge of themain, or bottom, row should be ona line one inch below the point ofthe shoulder (a point halfway be-tween top and b o t t o m of theshoulder ioint. where your sleeveis joined): The arrangement by seniority(see table o n opposite page) isfrom the top down and from in-board outboard. For wearing ofArmy or foreign decorations, seenext page.Drawings below show manner ofwearing :

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third appears $ Decorations, Med-al s and Badges, opposite page 41.Although these two sections give thebasic information on most awards,further information on some of themwill be found on othe r pages. This in-formation covers questions frequentlyasked by naval personnel concerningarea campaign ribbons, the AmericanDefense Service Medal, PresidentialUnit Citations, Army medals, etc.STARS, SERVICE CLASPS, etc.

Gold, silver o r bronze stars; serviceclasps; and letters (such as A andW) are authorized to be worn onvarious medals and service ribbons.Numerals are not authorized.No more than one decoration of thesame type may be awarded to anyone person, but in lieu of a subse-quent award of the same decoration,a gold star is awarded, to be worn onthe ribbon.Stars, clasps and letters are author-ized for other medals and ribbons asfollows:Expeditionary Medal (Navy, MarineCorps): a bronze star for each expe-dition in excess of one. Navy and Ma-rine Corps personnel who served in thedefense of Wake Island, 7 to 22 Dec.1941, wear a silver W on the ap-propriate Expeditionary Medal ribbon.Victory Medal (World War servicemedal) : service clasps and battleclasps, to be worn on the ribbon of themedal, are authorized for each personwho performed an y of the dut ies desig-nated in BuPers Manual, Art. A-1037,par. (2). Clasps fo r service on shipsare awarded as shown in the list in

par. (5 ) of the same article.No one is entitled to more th an oneservice clasp, o r t o more than oneMeuse-Argonne battle clasp. A bronzestar is worn on the service ribbon barin lieu of any clasp authorized.When any person has been com-mended by the Secretary of the Navy,as a result of the recommendation ofthe board of awards, for performanceof duty during World War I not jus-tifying the award of a Medal ofHonor, a Distinguished Service Medalo r a Navy Cross, he wears a silverstar for each such citation.A bronze Maltese cross is placed onthe service ribbon for those officersand men of the Marine Corps andMedical Corps, United States Navy,who were attached to the AmericanExpeditionary Forces in France anytime between 6 April 1917 and 11Nov.1918, and who are not entitled to anybattle clasp provided fo r by GeneralOrder No. 83, War Department, 30Ju ne 1919.American Defense Service Medal:a service clasp, Fleet o r Base, isworn on the ribbon of the medal bythose who, between 8 Sept. 1939 and7 Dec. 1941, inclusive, performed du-ties set for th below. No person is en-titled to more than one such clasp.

(a ) Fleet.-For service on the highseas while regularly attached to anyvessel o r ai rcr aft squadron of the At-lantic, Pacific o r Asiatic Fleets; t o in-clude vessels of the Naval Transpor-tation Service and vessels operatingdirectly under the Chief of Naval op-erations.(b) Base.-For service on shore atbases and n aval stations outside U. S.continental limits. (Includes duty inAlaska.)A bronze star is worn on the serviceribbon in lieu of .any clasp authorized.Navy, Marine Corps and CoastGuard personnel who served on vesselsin actual or potential belligerent con-tact with Axis forces in the AtlanticOcean ( as listed i n BuPers Manual,Art. A-1042) wear a bronze A ontheir service ribban in lieu of thebronze star.Naval Reserve personnel on train-ing duty under orders must haveserved at least 10 days in such duty.Persons ordered to active duty forphysical examination a nd subsequentlydisqualified are not entitled to theAmerican Defense Service Medal. Re-serve officers ordered t o ships of thefleet for training dnty (cruise) andofficers serving on board ships for tem-porary additional duty from shore sta-tions ar e not considered regularly at-tached and are not entitled to thefleet clasp.Area campaign medals (American;European-African-Middle E a s t e r n ;Asiatic-Pacific): a bronze star is wornon the service ribbon for certain au-thorized operations and engagements(complete list to date appeared in theINFORMATIONULLETIN,October 1944;p. 6 6 ) . For five or more such opera-tions o r engagements, a sliver star isworn on th e ribbon in lieu of each fivebronze stars authorized.Good Conduct Medal: a Good Con-duct Medal is issued as th e first awardto an individual and a pin.for eachsubsequent award. A bronze star isworn on the service ribbon fo r eachgood-conduct pin that is received.

~

NAVY HAS HONORED18,042 IN THIS WARMedals, decorations and ribbonsawarded during the current warto personnel of the Navy, MarineCorps and Coast Guard and by theNavy t o personnel of the Army

and of foreign nations:Medal of Honor. . . . .. .. . 56Navy Cross . . . . . . . . . . . ..1,687Distinguished Service Cross (Army) 4 0Distinguished Service Medal. . . . 1 4 6Legion of Merit . . . . .. . .. 1,003Legion of Merit (to foreigners). . 115Silver Star Medal. . . . . . . . . 3,319Distinguished Flying Cross. . . 1,973Navy and Marine Corps Medal. . 1 , 5 8 4Soldiers Medal (Ar my ). . . . . . 4 5Bronze Star Medal. . . . . .1,176Air Medal . . . . . . . . .. 5,283Commendation Ribbon .. . . . 1,611Life-Saving Medal .. .. . . . . . 4


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Vessels. and Units Which Have WonPRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATIONSVessel or Unit Type Date o f ActionUSS Alchiba Freighter Aug.-Dee. 1942USS Atlanta Cruiser 12-13 Nov. 1942USS Bernadou .Destroyer 8 Nov. 1942USS Bowfin Submarine 2d war oatro l (nodate indicated)USS Buchanan Destroyer 7 Aug. 1942 t o 2 6PPh 1944-- - -USS Cole Destroyer 8 N O ~ . 94 2USS Dallas Destroyer 10 Nov. 1942US S Enterprise Carrier 7 Dee. 1941 t o 1 5Nov. 1942

Fi rst M arine Division 7 Aug. to 9 Dec.USS Greenling Submarine May to Dee. 1942USSG uardfish Submarine Mav to Dee. 1942

(Reinforced) 1042( 3 war patrols)(2 war patrols)USS Gudgeon Submarine 7 Dee. 1 9 4 1 t o 2 5April 1943(Arst seven war

uss HaddockUSS HoustonUSS LafPeyU S S L C I ( L ) 1

Submarine pat rols)2d. 5th. 6th. 7thCruiserDestroyerLanding Craft,Infantry

~ bar patrols' (nodates indicated)7 Dee. 1941 t o 2 8Feb. 194215 Seot. to 13Nov.'1942July 1 9 4 3(Large)MTB Squadrons 1 2 and 2 1 Oct 1943 to March1944marine Aircraft Group 22 Jiine 1942USSMaury Destroyer 1 Peh. 1948 to 6AU R 1943USS McFarland Seaplane tender 20 June t o 16 Oet.1942USS Naut ilus Submarine Three war patrols(no dates indi-cated)6 June 1944avy Combat DemolitionUni t of Force "0"

USS Nicholas Destroyer 3uly 1943USS O'Bannon Destroyer 7 Oct. 1942 to 7Oct. 1943

Vessel or Unit Type Date o f ActionUS S Rndford Destroyer July 1943USS Sailfish Submarine 10t h war patr ol(no date indi-USS San CruiserSecond Marine Division (Rein -Franciscoforced) :

cated)Nov. 1942

Nov. 194311-12 Oct. and 13

20 Nov. t o 24Division UeadnmrtwsSpecial Troops iinclu ding Co."C," 1st Corps MediumTank Battalion)Service Troops2d. 6th. 8th. 10 th and 18thMaritie Rprimmpnts 26 Oct. 194227 July to 25 Oct.1943

Torpedo CarrierUSS Trigger SubmarineUSS Trout Subma:ine

Squadron 8( US S Bornet)

VIJ SquBdron 10 4VP Squadrons 11,34 and 52USS Wahoo Submarine

4 June 19425th, 6th and 7th-war patrols (nodates indicated)Numerous success-ful war patrols(no dates indi-cated)1 5 Aug. 1943 t o19 Mar. 194415 Sept. 1943 to

1 Feb. 19441 6 Jan. to 7 Feb.1943Wake Detachment: 8 to 22 Dee. 1 9 4 1First Defense Battalion, Mar-ine Fighting Squadron 211of Marine Aircraft Group21 , Army and naval person-nel present.List includes all citations announced as of 1 Oct. 1944.ommended for good-conduct awardsaf te r each three -year period of con-tinuous active service in time of na-tional emergency and/or war.Good-conduct pins are worn on theribbon of the medal. One bronze st aris worn on th e service ribbon fo r eachgood-conduct pin received.Fo r service terminating on or after1 July 1921 and prior t o 1 July 1931,good-conduct awards will %e made inaccordance with the requirements asto marks and recommendations in ef-fect at t he time of service and in ac-cordance with service requirements asfollows :(,a) Fo r f i r s t enlistment of fo r minorityenlistment, provided the enlistment IS ex-tended o r upon reenlistment within threemn n th a

he should take the question up with hisCO. If a further ruling o r interpreta-tion is required, th e question shouldbe referred through channels to Bu-Pers and will receive immediate atten-tion.SERVICE STRIPES are worn byenlisted men on th e left sleeve on coatsand jumpers. One service stripe isworn for each four years of activeservice in regular Navy o r Naval Re-serve. Although not a decoration o rmedal, the service stripe is includedin thi s section because of it s relationto the Good Conduct medal (above).The stripes are seven inches long,of scarlet cloth when worn on blueclothes, of blue twill when worn onwhit0 lrhnlri n r ornv filnthoa-."..I-.U.( b ) For f i r s t enlistment if honorably "---' -----* "- a-uJ .*""*-'.U*discharged from service begun in th eNaval Reserve Force and c o n t i n u e d in th e diagonally OClOSS the outside of theregular Navy by t r k n s f e r , provided that forearm at an ang le of 45". Onthe service in th e Navy is of not less thantwo years' duration and,that reenlistment 'Oats, the lower end Of the stripeis under continuous servlce. shall be not less th an two inches from(6 ) Fo r a second or subsequent e n l i s t - the cuff end of the sleeve; on jumpers ,ment, previous enlistment having termin- it shall be four inches above the upperedge of the cuff.ted with honorable discharge. Continu-ous service is no t necessary.

Stripes are stitched On the

( d ) Upon discharge from an extension Gold lace service stripes are worng i yfirT.a::Le: ~ t , $ t & , ~ ~ p ~ ~ ~ ~ ~1) by enlisted men holding three con-t h a t basic e n l i s t m e n t would have termi-nated with an honorable discharge. 12 years' continuous service during( e ) For a constructive enlistment offour years (or three years and ninemonths) active duty begun in the regularNavy an d continued in the Naval Reserve( c l a s s e s F3 . F 4 and F5), or where a re-tired man is recalled ana completes n o tless than three years an d nine months ac-tive duty.Fo r service ending before 1 July1921, see BuPers Manua l, Art. A-1046.If a man ha s an y question about hiseligibility for a good-conduct award

secutive good-conduct awards or with

which does not seem t o be covered here BURGEE PENNANT DESIGN FORor in BuPers Manual, Art. A-1046, PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATIONPage 36

which time records have been main-tained with marks and qualificationsequivalent to those necessary for thereceipt of good-conduct awards, pro-vided that in no case shall a man withless than 12 years' service be entitledt o wear the gold lace stripes; (2 ) byenlisted men of the Naval Reserve whoperform, cont inuous active duty, main-tain the required marks, and meet theforegoing qualifications.UNIT CITATIONS

The Presidential Unit Citation maybe awarded to any ship, aircraft o rother naval unit, and to any MarineCorps aircraft, detachment, o r higherunit, for outstanding performance inaction on or after 16 Oct. 1941.Under original regulations, the rib-bon could not be worn until after thesecond unit citation. This wa s modifiedby Alnav 137-43 as follows:(1 ) When a unit has received thePresidential Unit Citation all person-nel serving in th at unit during the oc-casion for which cited, o r any partthereof, wear the citation ribbon withone star permanently, regardless ofwhere they serve.(2) Such personnel wear an addi-tional star for each additional citationof the unit upon which they serve dur-ing the occasion for which the unit iscited, whether it be the same or an-other unit.(3 ) Personnel who subsequently joina unit which has been cited wear theplain citation ribbon without star andonly while attached to t hat unit.

(4 ) Flag officers and members oftheir staffs serving in a unit upon theoccasion for which cited, or any partthereof, a re included in the citation.When medals are worn, the Presi-dential Unit Citation is worn Bn theright breast; otherwise, on the left,with other ribbons.The insignia for units cited is a bur-gee pennant of blue, gold and scarlet(see drawing). Ships, aircraft andtank units, etc., display a bronzeplaque with this design centered abovethe engraved citation (individualplanes and tanks may paint the designin a suitable place). Fo r companies,battalions, regiments, etc., a battlestreamer is authorized, with the cita-tion engraved upon the standard.

In t ime of peace, sh ips may also flythe pennant itself, and may displaya painted pennan t of insignia designfrom some place on the top hamper soas to be visible to other units.If a unit is cited more than once,a blue star is added for each extracitation, up to a total of five stars.Commanders of forces afloat makerecommendations t o the Secretary ofthe Navy via official channels for thePresidential Unit Citation for units oftheir commands deemed worthy of it.Units must perform services in actionabove and beyond the high standardexpected of our forces and outstand-in g as compared to services of com-parable units in the same o r similaractions.A complete list of Presidential UnitCitations announced to date appearson this page. As furth er units ar ecited, the notices will appear as usualon Decorations and Citations pages.


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T A B L E O F N A V A L D E C O R A T I O N S A N D R E G U L A T I O N SName of medaand rihhon

Medal of Honor.

Medal ofHonor(1917-!8) (n olonger issued).Navy Cros...--...*:*Distih@ishedService M edal

Legion of Merit..

Silver Star Meda

DistinguishedFlying Cross.

Navy and Mari iCorps Medal

Bronze Star Med:

Air Medal............

CommendationRibbon.

Purple Hear

Specially Meritoous Medal, Wwith Spain (Ilonger issued).Presidential UnitCitation.

Authorized by:Act of 21 Dec.1861: act of 3-___-

Mar.'1901; ac t of3 M ar 1915. ac tof4Fei1.1919';ac tof 7 Aug. 1942,which supersedesabove acts.Act of 4 Feb. 1919.

Act of 4 Feh. 1919;act of 7 Aug.1942.Act of 4 Feh. 1919.act of 7 Aug:1942.

Ac t of 20 J u ly1942. ExecutiveOrder No. 9260of 29 Oct. 1942.Act of 7 Ang. 1942.

Act of 2 J u ly 1926Exec. Order No4576 of 28 Ja n1927. Exec. OrdeiNo.ombat only.

..........do ..........:ombat ornoncombat.......... o.

:ombat only.

2ombat ornoncombat.

Noncombatonly.

:ombat ornoncombat...do .........

.......... do .........

Combat only.

Noncombatonly.

Combat only.

Time limits for rpeommendationsor awardsMust be issued within 5 years fromdate of distinguished act, or rec-ommended within 3 years of act ,or service.

...do...............................................

Vo time limit......................

Must be issued within 5 years fromdate of distinguished act orservice. or recommended within 3years, except when awarded incases reviously subm itted andtnrne fdown for Medal of Honor,DSM, or Navy Cross.Mu s t be issued within 3 years fromda te of distinguished act orservice, or recommended within 2years from d ate of act or service.Must he issued within 5 years fromda te of distinguished act orservice, or recommended within 3years, except when awarded inlieu of a letter of commendationpreviously awarded for heroism.Yo time limit.....................................

.......... o..................._________._________

\W

Gratui ty2 per month fromda te of dis-tinguished act, toenlisted men only.

Do.

Do.Do.

lo gratui typrovided.2 per month fromda te of distin-guished act, forenlisted men only,since 6 Dec. 1941.2 per month fromda te of distin-guished act or ser-?ice, for enlistedmen only.lo gratui ty forservices prior to7 Dee. 1941; $2per month fromdate of distin-guished act, afte r7 Dee. 1941, forenlistedmen only.authorized.?o gratui ty

Do .

Do;

Dm

Do:

Do.

NOTE-A gold s tar is,warded in lieu of a second,ward of thesam e decoration.Sach additiona l awa rd wh!charries a gratuity shall entitlehe recinient to further ad-l i t ionalbay at the rate of $2)eristinguishedonth fromct orat eervlcef th eorvhirh the award is made, andhis shall continue thrqngh-) u t h i s a c t i v e s e r v i c e ,vhether continuous or not.


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AREA CAMPAIGN MEDALSThese are awarded to members ofU. S. land and naval forces who, be-tween 7 Dec. 1941, inclusive, and adate 6 months af te r the end of thewar, serve outside U. S. continentallimits for 30 days (must be consecu-tive if on temporary or temporary ad-ditional duty; see detailed rules andexplanations below).The three areas for which areacampaign medals are awarded, andtheir geographical definitions (see alsomap above), are as follows:

AMERICAN AREA. East boundary:F rom t he Nor t h P o l e , sou t h a l ong t he75th mer idian west lon gi tude to the77th paral le l nor th la t i tude, thencesou t heas t t h rough Davis S t r a i t t o t heinter secti on of the 40th paral!el nor thl a t i t ude and t he 35 t h mer l d lan wes tl ong i t ude t hence sou t h a l ong t ha tmer idian to the 10th paral le l nor th la t i -t ude t hence sou t heas t t o t he i n te r sec -t i onof t he equa t o r and t he 20t h mer -i d ian wes t l ong i t ude t hence a long t he20 th mer id i an wes t l ong i t ude t o t heSouth Pole .West boundary: From th e Nor th Pole ,sou t h a l ong t he 141st mer i d i an wes tl ong i t ude t o t he eas t boundary ofAl aska t hence sou t h and sou t heas ta l ong t he A l askan boundary t o t hePacif ic Ocean, then south a lo ng th e130th mer idian to i t s intersect ion wi ththe 30th paral le l nor th la t i tude, thencesou t heas t t o t he i n t e r sec i on of t h eequa t o r and t h e l 0Ot h mer i d i an wes tlongi tude, thence sou th a long the 100thmer i d i an wes t l ong i t ude t o t he S ou t hPole.EUROPEAN-- AFRICAN - M IDDLEEASTERN AREA. East boimdary:F rom t he Nor t h P o le , sou t h a l ong t he60th mer idian, eas t longi tude t o it si n t e r se r t i on w i t h t he eas t e rn borde r ofI r an t hence sou t h a l ong t h a t borde rt o t he Gul f of Oman and the intersec-t ion of the 60th mer id ian eas t longi -

t ude t hence sou t h a l ong t he 60 thmer i d i an eas t l ong i t ude t o t he S ou t hPole.West boundary: C oi nc i den t w i t h t h eeast boundary of the American ares-ASIATIC-PACIFIC area. Eaut bnimd-ary: C oi nc i den t w i t h t he we s t boundaryof th e American area . Went boundary:C oi nc i den t w i t h t he eas t boundary ofth e European-Afr ican-Middle Easterna r ea .Area compaign medals are author-ized under an y one of the followingconditions:(a) S e a d u t y . Attached to and sew-ing on board a Navy o r Coast Guardvessel, o r any other t o which regularly

assigned, in the designated area, o ras a member of an organization beingtransported for duty in an ar ea aboardsuch vessels, for a period of 30 days.This service need not be continuousnor in the same vessel.(b) S h o r e d u t y . Attached to andregularly serving on shore in a desig-nated area for a period of 30 days.Such service need not be continuousnor in the same locality, but must bewithin the designated area.(c ) Any combination of (a ) and (b)tha t will aggregate 30 days in a desig-nated area.(d) Patro l s . Service in patrol ves-sels o r aircraf t operating in o r aboveocean waters, provided the individualhas been attached t o such units for aperiod of 30 days and has performedregularly required patrols. This pro-vision is applicable even though thebase from which such vessels o r air-craft operate is within U . s. continen-tal limits.(e) Combat . In all cases where a ves-sel, aircraft o r other unit engages incombat with, attacks, o r is attackedby enemy forces, all personnel servingin that vessel, aircraft o r other unitimmediately become eligible for the ap-propriate area medal without refer-ence t o the 30-day provision. However,the certain presence of enemy forces,especially in the case of enemy sub-marines, must be established.( f ) Haaardous d u t y . Engaging inan y service in a designated ar ea which,in the opinion of the appropriate fleetor frontier commander o r Command-ant, U. s. Marine Corps, is equally ashazardous as combat duty renders theindividuals concerned immediately elig-ible for the appropriate area medalwithout reference to any time limita-tion. This applies t o such operationsas mine recovery and disposal, bombdisposal, or equally hazardous opera-tions.(g ) Pa s s e n g e r s . No individual enroute in a purely passenger stat us be-comes eligible for any area medal un-less he o r the means of conveyanceis attacked by or engages in combatwith the enemy, in which case he im-mediately becomes eligible. Pati ents in

a hospital ship are considered attachedto the ship rather than passengers.(h ) T e m p o r a r y o r t e mp o r a r y a d d i -t i o n a l d u t y . No person on such dutyis eligible unless it includes a periodof a t least 30 days consecutive dutyin a designated area o r unless he en-gages in combat with o r is subjected toatta ck by enemy forces.(i) In any case, service which en-titled an individual to a clasp o r staras defined in existing orders also en-titles him to the ribbon of t he ar eain which the service is rendered.Outside cor.:inental limits of th eUnited States means more thanthree miles offshore. Coastal duty in-side that area would not be consideredoutside continental limits. For the pur-poses of these medals, Alaska is con-sidered as outside U. s. continentallimits.Pending issue of the medals ( af te rthe war), service ribbons are author-ized to be worn in lieu of them. Fo rparticipation in certain operations o rengagements, a bronze star is worn.A silver s ta r is worn on the ribbonin lieu of each five bronze stars.A complete list of the only opera-tions and engagements for which starshave so f a r been authorized appearedin the INFORMATION BULLETIN, October1944, p. 66. As future lists are author-ized, they will be printed in th e BUL-LETIN.

DELEGATED AUTHORITYFOR AWARDS

The Commander in Chief, UnitedStates Fleet; the Commander inChief, Pacific Fleet; the Com-mander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet;and the Commanders 3d, 4th, 7th,8th and 12th Fleets, have been dele-gated authorit y by the Secretary ofthe Navy to award the Navy Cross,th e Legion of Merit, Silver StarMedal, Distinguished Flying Cross,Bronze Star Medal, Navy and Ma-rine Corps Medal, Air Medal andPurple Heart.Commanders in chief may dele-gate their authority to makeawards to any flag commands with-in their fleets when such delega-tion will work t o facilitate prompt-ness in making awards.Authority to award the PurpleHeart may be delegated by fleetcommanders t o officers in th e Na vyand Marine Corps senipr to th erank of captain (colonel) who areexercising command, and to islandcommanders of the rank of captain(colonel).

Authority to award the Commkn-dation Ribbon, previously confinedto SecNav, Cominch, CincPac andCincLant, has been extended by Al-nav 179 to fleet commanders of theran k of vice admiral or above, ef-eective 13 Sept. 1944. Wearing ofribbon is not authorized for com-mendations by fleet commanders,other than a commander-in-chief,issued prior to this date. Delegatedauthority is not extended t o task-force commanders o r other flag of-ficers not fleet commanders.Pane 41


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ttered Aachen.tisans take Belgrade,


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Official U. S. Navy p ! i o to~ra i i I iMEMORIAL on the beach a t Tarawa stands in tribute to the Marines whogave their l ives a year ago th is month to take that Jap base in the Gi lberts .shipping, which had sought shelterfrom these raids at Hong Kong, wasdiscovered by the 14th AAF bombers.and a cruiser and thousands of tons ofmerchant shipping in the harbor weresunk.Officers of the 20th Air Force re-vealed that the huge Superfortressescarried six times the bomb load thatcould have been carried by an equalnumber of B-17s o r B-24s, and thatthey traveled 2,300 miles on the For-mosa raids. Only one bomber was lost.With little fanfare and very limitedfacilities, the 14th AAF has been whit-tling away at Japanese shipping alongth e China coast. Since 1 Jan. 1944,Maj. Gen. Claire Chenaults flyershave sunk 384,250 tons of shipping,probably sunk 107,600 tons and dam-aged 205,700 tons. A large par t ofthis total was accounted for by B-24sin sweeps against Japanese shippingin Formosa Straits and along thesoutheast and south China coasts.Based on a three-month average, eachton of bombs the 14th dropped hasprobably sunk 482 tons of Japaneseshipping.The only Japanese successes duringOctober were advances toward Kwei-lin, site of a U. S. ai r base, and th ecapture of Foochow, major port onChinas east coast opposite Formosa.In Burma, Indian troops capturedTiddim, the base from which the Jap-anese had launched their unsuccessfulinvasion of India early this year.Behind the Siegfried Line theNazis resisted our advances fiercely

at Aachen and other strong points,Aachen, one of the principal gatewaysinto the Reich, stubbornly held outaft er spurning an American ultimatumto surrender or face destruction. Aterrific aerial and artillery bombard-ment of 1,600 tons was unleashed onthe city after the 12 October deadlinepassed, and the Yanks moved in. On20 October the city, with a pre-warpopulation of 160,000, was taken bythe U. S. 1st Army.At the north end of the 450-milewestern fro nt the Germans chalked uptheir biggest defensive success byforcing the withdrawal of the Alliedairborne forces which had establisheda bridgehead across the lower Rhineat Arnhem. This was a tragedy for the6,000 o r more sky troops th at made thedescent and fought in an island ofhell fop 11 days. Only 2,000 straggledout, leaving behind 1,200 wounded andthe remainder killed o r captured. Nev-ertheless, the battle the 1st AirborneDivision .had fough t enabled Allied

forces to Move in force across theWaal, larger branch of the Rhine, ina threat t o outflank the Siegfried Line.South of the Aachen sector the U. S.3d Army was fighting close-range bat-tles f o r the small towns in the Metzsystem of fortifications. The 7thArmy, before the Belfort Gap, was ina similar situation, making small butsteady gains.The Canadian 1st Army pushedthrough the Netherlands in an effortt o win fo r the Allies the use of thegreat port of Antwerp. Its objectivewas to clear the estuary of the ScheldeRiver, below the port, where an esti-mated 15,000 Germans were holdingout. Far behind the front lines, theCanadians captured Boulogne andCalais.On the eastern fro nt there was a lullearly in October as the Red Army con-centrated on its Balkall campaign. TheRussians smashed 25 miles insideCzechoslovakia and crossed into Hun-gary. They joined forces with MarshalTito in Yugoslavia and soon werefighting in the streets of Belgrade. Aweek later its capture was announced.Thai, on 8 October, Marshal Stalinannounced that an offensive had beenlaunched in Lithuania. The Red Armyadvanced 62 miles in four dags on a175-mile front and captured 2,000places. Riga, capita l of Latvia, fellon 13 October, freeing two Red armiesfor action against East Prussia. Thata push already had penetrated intoEast Prussia was admitted in Germancommuniques. Far t o .the north, inFinland, other Red Army troops tookPetsamo and were helping the Finnsto clear their country of remainingGerman troops.

A terse announcement by the Polishradio on 3 October marked the end ofthe eric of Warsaw. In the shatteredPolish capital, exhausted survivors ofthe patriot force that had risen toseize the city on the approach of theRed Army, gave up the hopeless str ug-gle. F o r 63 days they had held outwith hoarded rifles, machine guns andgrenades against Nazi tanks, cannonand flame throwers. Allied planes haddropped food and arms, but with halfof Warsaw leveled, a fifth of th e popu-lation killed or wounded and no imme-diate hope of relief, the patriots underGeneral Bor surrendered.To the south the U. S. 5th Army andthe British 8th battered at the GothicLine. On the east end of the line theBritish captured Rimini, which theGermans had made impregnablewith concrete pillboxes, minefields andbarbed-wire entanglements, and stoodpoised before the plains of Lombardy.The 5th sloshed through the mud t owithin nine miles of Bologna.

CASUALTY FIGURES - IIasual ties among naval personnel through 20 October totaled 68,743.I Total since 7 Dec. 1941: Dead Wounded Missing* Prisoners TotalU. S. Navy . . . . . . . . . 1 7 . 8 2 9 8 , 4 9 7 8 , 5 5 2 2 , 5 3 7 3 7 , 4 1 5U. S . Marine Corps. 8 , 7 3 8 1 8 , 8 7 0 9 2 0 1 , 9 4 3 3 0 , 4 7 1U. S. Coast Guard.. 5 2 2 1 9 4 1 4 1 0 8 5 7- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _I Total . . . . . . . . . . 2 7 , 0 8 9 2 7 , 5 6 1 9 , 6 1 3 4 , 4 8 0 6 8 , 7 4 3 II -- IInumber of personnel now carried in the missing status undoubtedly are1 prisoners of war not yet offlcially reported as such.


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targetof fivee were30-mm.le firstashingkillingeight

uuu, UllYn the for-he engage-11 trainingbond par-r for theith 94.9%of nay in


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Official U. S. Coast Guard pliotoorapllFLOATING HANGAR: Navy blimp, operating from escort carrier in theCentral Pacific, takes off.on a patrol mission.

Ships 8z StationsA monument honoring the memoriesof Lieuts. Irwin W. Lee, USNR, andGeorge W. Stephenson, USNR, was Un-veiled at dedication ceremonies forCamp Lee-Stephenson, NCTC, Quod-dy Village, Me., named fo r those twoCEC officers, the first t o give theirlives in combat while serving with aConstruction Battalion. They werekilled on Rendova Island in the Solo-mons in July 1943.

0 Frank Firuta, S ~ C ,SNR, workingon the motor of an airplane a t NAAS,Green Cove Springs, Fla., blinked andrubbed his eyes, but it didnt goaway. The it was his name on therocker-box of the Wildcat just wherehe had scratched it six months beforewhile employed in the Eastern Divi-sion of General Motors Corp. at Lin-den, N. J., prior t o enlisting in theNavy.0 For Vincent J. Lee, AS, USN-I ( S A ) ,of Jersey City, N. J., it was threestrikes and IN. Lee enlisted in No-vember 1942 but after several weeksrecruit trai ning a t NTC, Bainbridge,Md., was discharged when the Navydiscovered he was only 16. Six monthslater, upon reaching 17, he again en-listed and entered training at NTS,Newport, R. I., but was dischargedaf te r a few days because of poor eye-sight. Thirteen months later he wasdrafte d. Now hes at Bainbridge in Co.0 Equipped only with matches, smallscrews and a pot of glue, Donald Far-rington, TM2c, USNR, Highland Park,Mich., on duty at NAS, Kaneohe, T.H., took over 375 hours of his leisuretime and constructed a model of theuss Astoria. Built on a scale of 1/16Page 48

8.

of an inch t o one foot, the model is10 inches high, 36 inches long and 4inches wide. Nine thousand five hun-dred matches were used.0 It happened a t NTC, Bainbridge,Md., according t o the Mainsheet, sta-tion paper:

The duty officer answered the phonein his office:Im John Smith, apprentice seamanof Co. 3124, said the voice a t theother end. Im in the fifth day of mynine-day recruit leave. Would it be allright if I came back to Bainbridge to-morrow?

the DO.Where are you now, Smith? asked.Home, sir, said Smith.Well, whats the trouble, Smith?Im homesick, sir.Skipper the Bear, mascot of NCBD3050, Camp Lee-Stephenson, QuoddyVillage, Me., was placed on a strictdiet following an illness which resu ltedfrom a shower of candy, ice creamand coca-cola, the g ift s of well-mean-ing Seabees.@ A 15-minute noonday program ofnews and recorded music has been in-augurated at the Armed Guard Cen-ter, Brooklyn, N. Y., and reaches menon the main deck over the public ad-dress system during chow.A gun from the old uss Ne w O rleans, salvaged from a junk pile byChief Gunner Maurice Shea, USN, nowdecorates the west ga te a t Naval Re-pair Base, New Orleans, La. A Hotch-kiss semi-automatic Mark IV, thethree-pounder was manufactured atthe Washington Navy Yard. The NewOrleans was placed out of commissionat Mare Island Navy Yard in 1922.How the gun got t o New Orleans is amystery,

0 All manpower controls over veter ansof t he presen t war were abolished las tmonth by Paul V. McNutt, chairmanof the War Manpower Commission,leaving them free to obtain any kindof civilian work. Previously, veteranswere exempt from manpower controlsf o r 60 days afte r their discharge. Nowthey need no statement of availab ilityfrom previous employers to changejobs. Also, they may be hired withoutgoing through the U. S. EmploymentService.About 5,000,000 persons will bechanging jobs in the year followingVictory-in-Europe day, the Office ofWa r Information estimates, but a sub-stantia l pa rt of these workers will beabsorbed in reconversion of indThe report declared that in mostwill continue t o be thleast six months after V-Eorecast easing of gasolinegradually over severalmonths and the end of passenger cartire rationing within three monthsafter V-E day.Selective Service has directed localdraft boards t o abolish the limitedservice classification, 1-A (L) , becausethe armed services no longer are call-ing for men qualified for limited duty.Boards also were directed t o place men38 years of age and older in the 4-Aclassification. All men who have beenhonorably discharged o r dischargedunder honorable conditions frpm thearmed forces will be placed in 1-c,where they will not be subject to callunder present regulations.New training courses des@ed t oteach nearly one million junlor host-esses in 2,000 US0 clubhouses how t ohelp servicemen become readjusted tocivilian surroundings were begun lastmonth. The emphasis has beenchanged, US0 officials said , from send-ing the serviceman away with cheerfulremembrances of the U. S. t o helpinghim become oriented once more t o theAmerican community. Hostesses arewarned not to refer to battlefrontexperiences.0 Steamship companies are planninga post-war career for the Navys LSTsas coastwise merchant ships, automo-bile carriers on the Great Lakes andcargo feeder ships in some pa rt s of theCaribbean. Steamship lines handl inglumber and other commodities alongthe Pacific Coast are particularly in-terested in obtaining the landing craft.No sales price has yet been workedout by federal officials.President Roosevelt has directedSecretary of Agriculture Claude R.Wickard and Brig. Gen. Frank T.Hines, administrator of veterans af-fairs, to make a report on the pros-pects for discharged servicemen in thefield of agriculture. More than a mil-lon members of the armed forces, thePresident said, have indicated theirintention of becoming farmers andranchers i n civilian life. He suggestedthat some means be devised t o givefarm training t o those untrained, andto place them on sound agriculturaltracts from which they could make aliving.


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agedGrstrosw a sequiilatioandOLSUCO


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h-re

.,C:LIC.LI uc-n the rightnch-Italian.teries andwere wellGUINEA-ilanes overerely dam-barges and1: Straight,ir pat-

er off Bali-bnnaissance


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Tw o Liberators of the 7t h AAE' bombedWake Island on the nizht of 6 Octoberwithout encountering a nfiairc raft flre.Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands wasbombed 6 October. There wa s no antiair -craft flre.The airfleld and gun positions on,NauruIsland were bombed by 7th AAF Mitchellson 5 October. Ant iaircr aft flre wa s in-effective.Neutralization raids on enemy-held posi-tions in the Marshall Islands continued.ALLIED HEADQUA RTERSEW GUINEA-Manado: Air patrols sank or severely dam-aged a 3.000-ton vessel and a small freigh-ter in Gorontalo Gulf . . Ceranz: Sev-eral luggers and smaller ciaft were dam-aged in low-level attacks . . . Vogelkop:Patrol planes strafed troop-laden rafts, in-flicting casualties . . Bismarck-Solomons:Patrol Dlanes ranzi nc over New Irelandand Bougainville %ombed enemy concen-trations and destroyed a barge. Lightnaval units shelled shore positions south-east of Kavieng and at Choiseul Bay.ROME,N a v y communique-On the nightof 6- 7 October H M ~ ermanant met and_ . - .~~~. . -~~~. .~ .. ..~~.engaged an enemy force near the entranceto the Gulf of Salonik a. One enemy de-troyer was sunk and a second seriouslydamaged.On? October the French cruiser EmileBertilt and the U. S. destroyer Eberlebombarded enemy vessels near Port0 Mau-rizo. Hit s were obtained on a n enemyF-lighter and a large m erchant vessel.CHUNGKING,4th AA F communique-More than 1 1 0 , 0 0 0 tons of. Japanese sea-going shipping, representing 4 2 vesselsmore than 1 0 0 feet in length, were sunkby the 14th AAF during operations in Sep-tember bringing the total of enemy ship -ping sink since January to an aggregateof 233 ships of nearly half a million tons.Eleven ships totaling 11,700 tons prob-ably were sunk and 6 1 vessels of 41,400tons were damaged, making a monthly to-tal of 1 1 4 vessels of more tha n 163,000tons which were successfully attacked.In addition to the ton nage categories th e14th AAF sank 4 4 5 enemy boats O f lessthan 1 0 0 feet as welr as a naval vessel ofsimilar size, probably sank two nava l ves-sels and 4 6 miscellaneous craft and dam-aged two naval vessels of less than 1 0 0feet and more than 1,700 miscellaneouscrafb. 9 OCTOBERU. S. Pacific Fleet Communiaue.Units of the Paciflc Fleet attacked Mar-cus Island on 8 October (West Longitudedate) and throughout the day subjectedenemy installations and shore defenses todeliherate and destructive sun flre in good. ....visibility. Considerable dzmag e was- in-flicted and th e grea ter pa rt of the coastdefense batte ries were silenced. Buildingswere hit and Ares were started.

ALLIED HEADQUARTER S,EW GUINEA-Halm ahera : Fighter-bombers hit. Kau air-drome with 1,000-pound bombs and set flreto a small freighter and a coastal vessclnear Djailolo . . . Amboina-Ceranz:Twentv-three coastal vessels and s mall&aft were destroyed or damaged in thisarea . . Vogelkop: Light naval unitsshelled a barge hideout in Wandamen BayBismarcks-Solomorcs: Light naval&nits harassed the shorelines at night.10 OCTOBER

U. . Pacific Fleet CommuniqueCarrier-based aircraft of the PaciflcFleet swept over the Ryukvu Islands ingreat force on 9 October (West Lqngiturledate). All naval and merchant shw s th atcould be found were attacked and severedamage was done to shore installations.Preliminary reports. indicate that the fol-lowing dam age was inflicted on the enemy :Sunk : one destroyer, one minesweeper.one submarine tender, two medium cargoships, two small cargo ships and flvecoastal cargo ships.Probably sunk : wo. medium cargo ships.four small cargo ships. one medium oiltanke r and seven coastal cargo ships.Damaged : hree medium cargo ships, sixsmall cargo ships, one destroyer, two smalloil tankers.In addit ion to the foregoing. more than2 0 luggers and other small craft were sunkor damaged.Complete surprise was achieved in th eattack. More tha n 75 enemy aircra ftwere destroyed on the ground. Four teenenemy aircraft were shot down. Buildingsand defense installations on the islandswere severely bombed and strafed, andmany were left burning. There wa s no

damage to our surface shim and ourplanelosses were light.The carrier task forces which conductedthe attack are part of Admiral Halsey's3d Fleet and the carriers are under theimmediate command of Vice Admiral MarcA. Mitscher.ALLIED HEADQUARTERS,EW GUINEA-Philippines: Ou r heavy bombers withfighter escort. attacke d the enemy 6as e atZamboanga ancl destroyed six float planesand set fire to 2 1.000-ton vessel, two sninllfreighters and a barge . . . R n 2n i n h e r a :Our flghter-bombers hi t airdromes and de-stroyed warehouses on the west coast andsank four barges . . Amboina-Ceram:Patrol planes destroyed a lugger and twosmall craft . . . Vogelkop: Fighter squad-rons on southe rn patrols bombed Kaimana.strafed fou r barges along the coast.ROME,N a v y communique-It is repo rtedfrom the Aegean that in addition to anenemy destroyer already reported sunk byH M S Termagant near the entrance t o th eGulf of Sal on iki on the nrght of 6- 7 Octo-ber, an armed trawler and large caiquewere sunk in the same area. HM S Tuscanwas in company with the Termagant.On 7 October naval aircraft sank onecaique and damaged another besides driv-ing an enemy minesweeper ashore in theEgripos Channel between the east coast ofGreece and Euboea. They also san k amerc han t vessel we st of Lemnos. On th esame day HM S BZnck Prince and the de-stroyer Terpsichore sa nk a passenger ship,one large caique and one enemy landingcraft north of Skiathos.On 8 October l ight coastal craft sankone merchant vessel and one lighter of fPs ar a, wes t of Chios. On the night of8- 9 October light coastal craEt met andengaged a convoy off Gaid aro Island onthe west side of the entrance to the &I fof Athens. An enemy ta nk er of about 7 50tons was hit with the flrst bursts and aAre wa s left blazing from stem to stern.Light coastal forces operating in th enorthern Adriatic on th e night of 8-9 Octo-ber engaged a southbound enemy coastalconvoy off Maestra, 3 0 miles sou th of Ven-ice. One schooner blew up, anot her san kand two more were damaged.LONDON,dmiralty communique - nenemy force consisting of two arm ed traw -lers and two patrol craft was interceptedearly yesterday off th e Hook of Hollandand engaged by lipht coastal forces of theRoyal Navy. In the course of thre e flerceengagements, hits with torpedoes were ob-taine d on one of the arm ed traw lers whichblew up and disappeared.Meanwhile, to the northward off DenHelder, another patrol of light co astalforces encountered an enemy force consist-ing of three modern M-class minesweeperswhich were proceeding toward the south-west. His Maiestv's Shim attacked a tclose ran ge wi t6 torpedo ahd gunflre. Twohits with torpedoes were obtained on oneminesweeper;, which blew up and sank.

11 OCTOBERALLIED H E . \ D Q I . . 4 R T E R S . S E W ( : I ' I s E -Molitccan: Fixlitcrs ant1 light naval cr;iftattackcd coaskil tarm.ts ; in11 ground in -stal lat ions in the northern Halmahews.destrovinz or damaging 18 barges . . .Vogelkop! Patrol gan es attacked smallcra ft and barges on the south coast, whilelight naval units harassed Geelvink Bay. . . Bisnzarclc-Solonaons: Light nava l

See 1 October .

units at night harassed enemy shore posi-tions.Ram, Savy/ coil1 inicniqzte-It is repo rted-from tlie south of Friinc*t, th at on 8 Octo-ber the IJSS Rhcrle shd1c.d an ammunitiundumw. enemv-occuwied buildinzs and arailrb ad bridge whiie supporting-the Ar mynear the Franco-Italian frontier. Directhits were obtained and Ares started.On 8 October the destroyer H M S W i l t o mnnd an TACG shelled German troow con-centratioFs-and gun positions on th e main-land of Albania, nort h of Corfu. Ver ygood results were reportted.12 OCTOBER

ALLIED HEADQUART ERS,EW GUINEA-Ralnzahera: Air patrols attacked smallcoastal shipping . . Timor: Our mediumunits. in a masthead attack on enemvshipping near Kupang, destroyed a smaflfreighter, a coastal vessel and a barge. . . Vogelkop: Our light naval units atnight shelled enemy shore positionsBismarck-Solomons: Motor torpedo ba t sshelled the New Ireland coast.ROME,N a v y communique-The U. S . de-stroyer GZeaves bombarded a bridge with24 0 rounds in the neighborh

All Hands Naval Bulletin - Nov 1944

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Transcript of All Hands Naval Bulletin - Nov 1944