The Second USS West Virginia (BB-48)-- Part 2: The One at Pearl Harbor

USS WEST VIRGINIA (BB-48)

(1923-1959)

It was launched in 1921 and commissioned in 1923 and was the last battleship to be launched before World War II.  It traveled the world and received six  of the "MeatBall," or battle Efficiency Pennants in the 1930s, an honor given to the battleship achieving the best score in gunnery, communications and engineering combined.

In 1940, it was sent to Pearl Harbor and during the attack, was hit by seven aircraft torpedoes and two bombs.  It sank, despite frantic attempts by the crew to prevent it.  Sixteen of the crew died.

However, the ship was raised in 1942 and after many repairs, was able to rejoin the fight in May 1943.  It was present during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

On August 31, 1945, the USS West Virginia steamed into Tokyo Bay, Japan and two days later was anchored a few miles away from the USS Missouri.  Thus it became the only ship that was present at both Pearl Harbor and the official Japanese surrender.

The mast of the ship was later moved to West Virhinia University in Morgantown where it sits in Memorial Plaza.

--GreGen

Okinawa Marks 77th Anniversary-- Part 2

Many in Okinawa are worried about the growing development of Japanese missile defense and amphibious capabilities on outer islands that are close to hotspots like Taiwan.

At a ceremony marking the June 23, 1945, end of the battle, about 300 attendees in Okinawa, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials offered as moment of silence and placed chrysanthemums for the war dead.  The number of attendants was scaled down because of coronavirus worries.

At the ceremony in Itoman City on Okinawa's main island, Gov. Denny Tamaki spoke of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying the destruction of tons, buildings and local culture, as well as the Ukrainians constant fear, "remind us of our memory of the ground battle on Okinawa that embroiled citizens 77 years ago."

"We are struck by unspeakable shock," he said.

Tamaki also vowed to continue efforts to abolish nuclear weapons and renounce war "in order to never let Okinawa become abattlefield."

--GreGen

Okinawa Ceremony to Mark 77th Anniversary of End of the Battle There

From the June 24, 2022, Chicago Tribune.

Okinawa marked the 77th anniversary of the end of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, with the governor calling for a further reduction of the U.S. military presence there as local fears grow that the southern Japanese islands will become embroiled in regional military tension.

The Battle of Okinawa killed about 200,000 people, nearly half of them Okinawan residents.  Japan's wartime miitary, in an attempt to delay a U.S. landing on the main islands, essentially sacrificed the local population.

Many inOkinawa are worried about the growing deployment of Japanese missile defense and amphibious capabilities on the outwer islands that are close to geopolitical hotspots like Taiwan.

--GreGen

USS Gridley (DD-380)-- Part 6: Operations Around the Philippines

1944

After screening aircraft carriers during the attacks on Okinawa and Formosa,  the Gridley joined the American forces for the Philippines Campaign.  While protecting large ships off Luzon 28 October 1944, she and the destroyer USS Helm detected and sank the Japanese submarine I-51 with a series of devastating depth charge attacks.

In the following days. the Gridley fought off Japanese kamikazes and returned to Ulithi with damaged carriers Franklin and Belleau Wood  on 2 November.

1945

The Gridley was soon at sea again, clearing Ulithi 5 November with the fast  carrier task force for the Leyte operation.  She later joined a group of escort carriers and served as a bombardment and patrol ship during the landings at Lingayen Gulf  until 10 February 1945.

After stopping again at Ulithi, the Gridley escorted the battleship USS Mississippi en route to Pearl Harbor and then sailed via San Diego and the Panama Canal for New York, where she arrived 30 March 1945.  She entered New York Navy Yard  the next day for much-needed repairs and after finishing her overhaul, departed the United States 22 June 1945 and served in Europe from July 1945 to January 1946.

She was decommissioned  on 18 April 1945 and sold for scrap in August 1947.

During her service, the Gridley earned ten Battle Stars.

--GreGen

Marine Corps Turns 246: Role in World War II

And still as mean as ever.

Happy birthday USMC!!

During World War II, Marines performed a central role in the Battle of the Pacific, along with the U.S. Army.  

The Battles of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Guam,  Tinian, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa saw fierce fighting between the Marines and  the Imperial Japanese Army.

Some 600,000 Americans served in the Marines during the war.

The Battle of Iwo Jima, which began on February  19, 1945, was arguably the most famous Marine engagement of the war.  The Japanese had learned lessons from their defeats during the Marianas Campaign and prepared many fortified  positions on the island, including pillboxes and a huge network of tunnels.

They put up a fierce resistance, but American forces reached the top of  Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945.  The mission was accomplished with high losses of 26,000 Americans and 22,000 Japanese.

--GreGen

Happy 76th Birthday Battleship USS Wisconsin

From the April 16, 2020, We Are the Mighty Blog "World War II battleship celebrates 76th birthday" by Jessica Manfre.

Congress authorized her construction in 1939 and work started on her in 1941 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.  The Wisconsin was launched on the second anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1943.  It was commissioned  April 16, 1944.  She fought in WW II in the Pacific, earning five Battle Stars with actions at Luzon, Formosa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan.

Decommissioned after the war, she was recommissioned for the Korean War and later, the Gulf War.  Finally, decommissioned for a third time, she sat in mothballs before becoming a permanent museum ship at Norfolk, Virginia, where she is today.

Happy Birthday Big Wis..  --GreGen

Kamikaze Strike on USS Tennessee, April 12, 1945

From Wikipedia.

In the last post, I gave Henry Cannon's account of the kamikaze hit on the battleship USS Tennessee.

On the afternoon of April 12, 1945, the Tennessee was one of the fire support battleships when she was attacked by five kamikazes.  Four were shot down, the last three within hundreds of yards of it.  The fifth one, an Aichi D3A Val dive bomber got through and flew at the Tennessee's bridge.

It ended up crashing into the signal bridge. and began sliding aft along the superstructure, crushing anti-aircraft guns and their crews.  It was carrying a 250-pound bomb went through the deck and exploded.

Twenty-tow men were killed or mortally wounded and another 107 wounded.

However, it did not put the ship our of action.  The dead were buried at sea and wounded transferred the following day to the casualty-evacuation ship USS Pinkney.  The ship's crew then did emergency repairs and by April 14, the ship was back in service.

--GreGen

When Kamikaze Hit the USS Tennessee, Henry Cannon Jumped Into Action

From the July 6, 2018, TPR Org.  by Danielle Trevina.

"People throw a rag doll into the air," said Henry Cannon.  "That is how I flew into  the air.  I was hurt pretty good."

After only a few weeks of basic training, Mr. Cannon was assigned to the battleship USS Tennessee (BB-43).  The Tennessee had been repaired and modernized after Pearl Harbor was attacked.  A few days into the Battle of Okinawa, on April 12, 1945, a kamikaze crashed into his ship.

He rushed to help wounded friends, but an officer told him to seek cover because Henry was also badly wounded.  All in all, he helped eight wounded to the medics.

--GreGen

Looking for the USS Emmons-- Part 2: Five Kamikazes Hit It Almost Simultaneously

Four kamikazes missed the Emmons by mere yards and then, almost simultaneously, five crashed into the ship's bridge and main deck.  The Emmons soon was engulfed in flames.

It remained afloat, though, and was deliberately sunk by U.S. forces  April 7 to prevent capture.

The ship sits 40 meters deep.

Now, a Japanese team has extensively mapped the wreck using 3-D imaging.  They found the ship still had four unexploded depth charges and next to it is an engine, likely from one of the kamikazes that so damaged the ship.

Interesting That a Japanese Team Would Be Doing This.  --GreGen

Looking for the USS Emmons-- Part 1: Battle of Okinawa

From the June 14, 2018, Laboratory Equipment "Advanced 3-D Seafloor Imaging of World War II Destroyer sunk off Okinawa" by Seth Augenstein.

The USS Emmons was a 350-foot minesweeper rushed into service in World War II.  On April 6, 1945, in the Battle of Okinawa, the USS Rodman was under an intense kamikaze attack.  The Emmons took position near it to provide anti-aircraft fire.

It shot Japanese six planes down.

But, the ship's luck soon ran out.

--GreGen

U.S. Marine Corps in World War II-- Part 1: Many Engagements in the Pacific

Fom Wikipedia.

The United States Marine Corps played a central role in the War in the Pacific along with the U.S. Army.

Actions included Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Guam, Tinian, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The Battle of Iwo Jima began 19 February 1945.  The Japanese had constructed many fortified positions along with pillboxes and tunnels.  The Marines reached the summit of Mt. Suribachi on 26 February.  Fighting was fierce, but the island taken with 26,00 American casualties and 22,000 Japanese.

--GreGen

Flag of the USS Tennessee on E-Bay

From e-Bay.

USS Tennessee (BB-43) Flag flown at Battle of Okinawa in 1945.  48-star, 9 X 5 foot flag made of wool.  In great shape.

According to the seller, this is what his uncle told him:  "During the bombardment and battle, the Tennessee was hit by a kamikaze and 20 sailors were killed.  This was on the same day that FDR died.  To honor FDR and the dead sailors, a new flag was hoisted the following day and was flown for one day only and then replaced with another one.  His uncles says this is that one-day flag."

The seller wants $500 for it.  This would sure be a great addition for the museum in Scott County, Tennessee.

A Lot of History in That Flag.  --GreGen

Okinawans Still Haunted by Horrors of War-- Part 2

Over 100,000 Okinawans died along with 80,000 Japanese troops.  Almost every family suffered at least one casualty during the U.S. bombardment by air, sea and on land.

The island's lush green landscape was turned into a scorched wasteland.

More than 12,000 Americans also died, the worst bloodshed suffered by them during the War in the Pacific.

Many felt this slaughter and bloodshed foretold of what would happen should the U.S. be forced to invade Japan itself.

Yoshiko Shimabukure lost two older siblings and was told that should she be captured by the Americans that she would be raped and burned alive.

--GreGen

Okinawans Still Haunted By the Horror of War-- Part 1

From the June 22, 2015, Yahoo! News/ARP by Alastair Hummer.

Yoshiko Shimabukure still has nightmares of watching friends and Japanese soldiers die as they hid in caves to escape the American shelling.  She was one of 222 female students mobilized as a battlefield nursing unit for the Imperial Army in March 1945.

They had only basic training putting on bandages, but the Japanese soldiers they tended "has legs ripped off, their intestines were falling out, faces missing."  She was just 17 at the time.

many of her friends died when they were ordered by Japanese soldiers to leave the caves under fire.  Others jumped off the cliffs as Americans approached. Others blew themselves up with grenades.

--GreGen

USS Idaho Sailor's Diary Found in Arizona-- Part 3: Raising the Iwo Jima Flag, Kamikaze Strike

I am of the understanding that diaries were illegal on American ships during the war for fear of their falling into enemy hands, which makes this discovery all the more important.

MARCH 3, 1945:  "Received ammunition off Iwo Jima from ammo ship. They finally changed the battle flag on Mount Suribachi for a big one--looked like they wouldn't get her up for awhile but they did."  "The famous flag-raising as witnessed from the USS Idaho.

MARCH 25, 1945:  "Arrived off Okinawa during the night--  all quiet."

APRIL 12, 1945:  "We got it today.  Terrific suicide attack by God knows how many Jap planes--  55 were shot down in our immediate area.  We got 5 in 4 minutes & received a suicide plane in our port blister.  ...when that guy hit us he really raised hell--I've got port stack, & pieces of the plane covered the entire platform.  I pulled 5 pieces of Jap pilot off my clothes--the largest about as big as my hand--the explosion sure scattered him."

JULY 31, 1945:  )Last entry) "Out for practice firing--  can you imagine that?"

Mighty Interesting Diary.  --GreGen

"Wee Vee" Vets Visit West Virginia-- Part 2; Bomb on a Stretcher

On April 1, 1945, while bombarding Okinawa, the USS West Virginia was hit by a kamikaze.  A bomb from it penetrated to the second deck but fortunately didn't explode.  Said Joseph Variot: "They rolled it onto a stretcher and carried it up to the deck, where it was disarmed and cast overboard."

Four sailors died and 77 were wounded in the crash.  West Virginia veteran Herbert Crask of Arizona related that one of those killed then was the telephone operator where he would have been had he not had his knees messed up at Iwo Jima which had landed him in a hospital ashore.

--GreGen

`The Okinawa D-Day Invasion

From the April 12, 2012, Vindy.com "Easter Sunday to remember."

Michael J. Lacivita was there at the Okinawa D-Day invasion on April 1, 1945, Easter Sunday.  It was the second largest invasion of the war, after, of course, the Normandy, France, D-Day.  This one had the code name I-Day, or Operation Iceberg.

At dawn, he was on LST-582 along with 450 men from the First Marine Division.

The USS West Virginia was to their port side and the USS Idaho and USS Tennessee on their starboard.  To some that might make you feel safe to have three battleships surrounding you, but not so at this battle as battleships were major Japanese bomber and kamikaze targets.

One Japanese plane dropped bombs between the LST and the West Virginia.  Another aimed at the Idaho and missed just off its stern.  Within less than a half hour, 4 of 4 kamikazes were shot down.

They stayed in Okinawa for two weeks, then left for Guam on April 14th.

--GreGen

USS Whitehurst (DE-634)-- Part 2: Sank a Sub and Hit By Kamikaze That Killed Norman Ellsworth.

On October 29, 1942, the Whitehurst received word that the destroyer escort USS Eversole (DE-404) had been torpedoed and sunk. The Whitehurst and USS Bull went to the scene and while the other ship rescued survivors, the Whitehurst searched for the submarine, making contact and sinking the I-45, believed to have been the submarine that had sunk the Eversole.

The Whitehurst next served off Okinawa during the invasion and on April 1, 1945, was struck by a kamikaze. Norman Ellsworth was among those killed.

The ship did not sink and returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs and later served in the Korean War. It was featured in the movie "The Enemy Below" where it was the USS Haynes.

In 1969, it was struck from the Navy List and eventually taken to sea and sunk as a target ship by the USS Trigger (SS-564) on 28 April 1971.

--GreGen

The USS Industry (AMc-86)-- Part 2

On 1 May 1945, the Industry and two other converted minesweepers left Pearl Harbor and made stops at Eniwetok, Guam and Saipan. It arrived at Okinawa 4 July 1945 and located and raised mines and sunken Japanese midget submarines. During this time, it fought off enemy aircraft in July and August. In September, it rode out a powerful typhoon. //// However, on 9 October 1845, one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded in the Pacific hit Okinawa and the Industry was driven onto a reef. Its crew kept her afloat until the next morning when rescue arrived. //// It was determined to be a complete wreck and it was stripped of its equipment, decommissioned 22 Dec 1945 and the hulk sunk. //// I found out it was Typhoon Louise that wrecked the Industry. //// --GreGen

WWII's "Ship That Wouldn't Die" Survives Again-- Part 2

The USS Laffey is also the only surviving World War II destroyer that served in the Atlantic and took part during D-Day. It was decommissioned in 1975 and brought to Patriot Point in 1981.

Lee Hunt, 89, said, "It's where I spent my youth. I grew up on that ship." He is a Plankholder, meaning that he was a member of the original crew. "I was on it when I was 17 and spent my 18th birthday killing people in Germany in the invasion of France and right on to Okinawa and the Philippines and what have you."

Hunt was not surprised on that March 1945 attack. "We knew we were going to get hit. Every destroyer out there on picket duty knew they were going to be attacked."

Renovation of the Laffey was paid by a state loan which the museum intends to pay back from operating expenses.

Next Time in Charleston, I Know Where I'm Headed. --GreGen