USS Haynsworth DD700 Operations

USS Haynsworth DD700 Invasions

Raided
.1. Luzon 2. Formosa 3. Binin Islands 4. Iwo Jima 5. French IndoChina 6. China
.Feb. 11, 1945 Left Ulithi with Task Force 58 of the Fifth Fleetunder Admiral Spruance .and
Mitcher--target practice.
Feb. 12, 1945 Still enroute--calm sea--launched planes for a CAP0700 and 1300.
.Feb. 13, 1945 Steaming as before 108 miles northwest of Saipan at 0800--no enemy .planes encountered yet.
Feb. 14, 1945 Joined by Indianapolis CL35 with Adm. Spruance--topped off from Essex .R9
--Picket duty 0900 to 2300--two submarine contacts at 1438 and 1730 off Iwo Jima 700 miles--no depth chargesdropped-not good solutions.
Feb. 15, 1945 Fueled from Bunker Hill at 0900--Resumed picket 12miles ahead of .Force--one of our ships sank a small craft 60 ftlong at 0952--calm sea, weather cold and raining.
Feb. 16, 1945 First strike on Tokyo and Yokohama--Haynsworth sank one Jap small .craft at 1030, took one prisoner. Haynsworth sank two more Jap small craft at 1500 and 1515--we took 11 prisoners 60 miles off Tokyo--rejoined screen at 1600--we then transferred 5 badly wounded Japs to Essex R9 and went back on 12 mile picket.Mitcher, Admiral, sent us a message of congratulations.
Feb. 17, 1945 Very bad weather--still on picket 0500--secondstrike on Yokohama and .
Tokyo--Sarotoga hit by fish, not bad.
Feb. 18, 1945 Three more Jap small craft sunk during night--Waldron DD699 rammed .
one and had to retire to Guam for repairs toher hull--Our raids on Tokyo and
Yokohama very successful--joinedby amphibs from Saipan--Task Force 59 has been
shelling Iwo Jima for two days. Now D-Day tomorrow on Iwo Jima--fueled from
Bunker Hill at 1245 and transferred the rest of the prisoners--One died that had his
face blown off--took screen station then went on picket duty on completion of task
group fueling--very cold and clear tonight. Can see other task force bombarding Iwo
Jima.
Feb. 19, 1945 We sent first plane strikes in on Iwo Jima--stillon picket duty--went to .GQ
at 1830, secured at 2045--three Japsshot down--GQ again 2055 to 2136
Feb. 20, 1945 Joined, screened heavies then fueled from AO42 at0800. Got mail from .
Essex R9 and took Ault's DD698 place in screen--GQ 1820 to 1905, Japs over
another force--remained in screen.
Feb. 21, 1945 Damage bulletin released on Tokyo. 509 planesd estroyed, 4 warships .and
10 cargo ships sunk. One CV sunk atYokohama, docks, factories, warehouses, routed and set afire--numerous small craft including three by Haynsworth. GQ 1800 to 2100 Jap raid fifty miles away, another group encountered them.
Feb. 22, 1945 Bulletin released raid on Iwo Jima. 3500 men and150 officers killed or .
missing or wounded--GQ 0930 to 1000--nothing--joined 80 miles south of Iwo Jima
by Alaska CB1.
Feb. 23, 1945 Fueled at 1000 from AO50 and took position in screen--lost man .overboard
off Cowpens R25.
Feb. 24, 1945 Topped off fuel from South Dakota B57--worst weather yet, waves 40 to 50 .
feet high--still in cruising formation--at 0600we are heading for Tokyo--we are now 580 miles southeast.
Feb. 25, 1945 Launched strikes on Nagoya--picked up Randolph CVE15--raid on .Tokyo,
heavy opposition.
Feb. 26, 1945 Raid on Nagoya--Damage, 149 planes, 2 trains, 1radar station, numerous
docks,
Feb. 27, 1945 Porterfield D792 shot up by Jap small craft--officer and 13 men .killed
at 0100--still in screen--water very rough.
Feb. 28, 1945 Fueled from AO82 at 1100--very nice day.
.March 1, 1945 Headed for China Coast at 32 knots--0600 launched strikes at Okinawa .
Jima--fueled from Essex R9 at 1030--Ault DD698 picked up pilot when his plan
crashed. He was off Essex R9--no enemy opposition today.
March 2, 1945 Are returning to Ulithi, Caroline Islands--expect to arrive March 5, 1300 to .1800. Form five Victor for AA firing --1800 resumed anti sub screen.
March 3, 1945 Fueled from AO62. Delivered Bunker Hill and Essexpilots to ATTU at .1300--joined screen at 1500 and proceeded at 22 knots.
March 4, 1945 AA firing in forenoon--arrived at Ulithi, CarolineIs. at 1400--fueled from .
IX355 and anchored for night--bulletin ofT okyo, Iwo Jima and Okinawa Jima damage. 399 planes shot down in air, 329 destroyed on ground, 350 damaged. We sank 1 DD, 1 AM, 3PC, 5 AK, 21 coastal vessels and many small craft--probably sank1 CVL, 5 PC, 61 Coastal vessels, 12 luggers, 2 DD, 10 DE, 1 PC, 4AK and many small craft--OTA aircraft factory, Kaimutzi, Tama,Musasino and Tachikawa assembly and engine plants, hangers, radiostations, mills and warehouses--we lost 75 planes.
March 5 to 14, 1945 In port Ulithi, Caroline Is. berth 414--OnMarch 11 Jap made raid on .us--Randolph CVE15 damaged.
THIS WAS THE END OF THE FIRST OPERATION UNDER ADMIRAL .PRUANCE
Ships of Task force 58 were; Essex R9, Bunker Hill R17, Cowpens R25, New Jersey B62, .South Dakota B57, Astoria C90, Pasadena C65, Wilkes-Barre C108, Indianapolis C35, Alaska CB1, Springfield C66,Desron 62 and Desron 55.
Raids conducted by Task Force 58 . Tokyo Yokohama Bonin Volcano Is. China Nagoya OkinawaJima
.March 14, 1945 Underweigh less Desron 55 plus Desron 52--veryrough sea--three men .
on foc'sle hit by wave had broken jaw, arm and leg.
March 15, 1945 Went on 12 mile picket station number one--GQ twicebut no action yet .but other picket sank Jap small craft.
March 16, 1945 Joined at 0600 by battleships and cruisers and fueled from AO62--one .
ship sank mine.
March 17, 1945 Raid on Okinawa Jima canceled--Borie DD704, Weeks DD701, Ault .DD698, Lind DD703 and Walker DD517 sank some mines and had air alert 2240.
March 18, 1945 Air raid 0310--group shot down VAL--0830 a Zekedove on Essex R9, .
bomb missed and Essex R9 shot down Zeke--Firststrike on Kyushu, Honshu return 0900-0930. Two Jap heavies with cans reported 175 miles to northwest--patrols failed to find them.Shot down over whole task force were 3 Judys, 6 Zekes, 2 Bettys,3 Vals and 3 unidentified--1700 1 Val shot down by another group.
March 19th, 1945 We were lit up by Jap flares all night--0400 65miles from Honshu--.
target Kobe Kore Naval bases--0500 first airraid--0600 second air raid. Jap suicide plane dove and hit the Franklin CV13 and set it on fire--she was towed in by PittsbughC72--Wasp hit by bomb but no serious damage--0800 to 0900 3 Vals dove on Essex--all were shot down--bombs misses 100 yards from us.1330 2 Zekes shot down by her fighter planes and the Haynsworth shot down the other with two salvos--1415 1 Zeke dove on Essex fromc louds overhead, she shot it down in dive--1500 Zeke flew across our formations out of range--later reports said another group got it--Enterprize hit--no damage.
March 20, 1945 Returned to anti-sub screen, sank mines, picked up pilots whose planes .
crashed--cleared area fast last night--0600Franklin CV13 making 4 knots on her own--fueled from South Dakota V57 during air raid 1000 to 1100--message of congratulations from Com 5th Fleet and Sec. Navy--1200 Picket duty--GQ 1515-1600 and1830 to 2300 and 0400 to 0540--group shot down more Jap planes--Enterprise was hit again 1400--still no damage.
March 21, 1945 Still on picket duty--air alert 1040 and 1500--our fighter planes shot .down 10 Bettys and 2 Zekes--rejoined screen0500--no action in night.
March 22, 1945 Fueled at 0700 from AO51, delivered pilots for Essex R9 to Attu CVE .103-
-made Wasp R18, Yorktown CV10, Hornet CV12 and Hancock CV19--rejoined
screen 1600.
March 23, 1945 Back on picket--wagons left last night to bombard Minami Diato Jima--.we
are making strikes at Okinawa Jima--1500 airalert--one Sally shot down--1800 the
other picket in our group sank 2 Jap small craft--Haggard DD555 rammed and sank submarine.
March 24, 1945 Notified 0800 Jap suicide planes will attempt dives n us this morning--.still on picket1500 notified our fighters intercepted Japs.
March 25, 1945 Fueled from AO50 Tallaum after rejoining screen at0900--on .completion of task force fueling, went back to Okinawa Jima.
March 26, 1945 Launched strikes at Okinawa Jima 0600--joined byUSS Washington .BB56, North Carolina BB55 and Bataan CVE29--weadmitted Bismarck Sea CVE95 sunk at Iwo Jima--GQ 2048 and 2140--1 betty shot down.
March 27, 1945 GQ 0500, 0600, 0710. Planes over another group.Expect to bombard .Minami Diato Jima tonight--2000 Desron 62 andCrudiv 17 left group and headed
toward target--0130 bombardment began--0230 bombardment completed...returned to group.
March 28, 1945 Rendezvous at 0600 with task group and tankers--fueled from AO44 .Patuxent at 0900delivered pilots to Essex CV9 from Attu CVE--joined screen at 1800 and we proceeded--1910
sankmine and caught up with force--bulletin read Jap fleet on prowl, be on alert.
March 29, 1945 0700 strikes out to find Jap fleet--reported off Kyushu on route to Sasebo--if none can be found, strikes will hit airfields on Kyushu, Kynoyga and Kuboba--Weeks DD701 sank mine--0830-
0900--We sank another mine 1248--GQ as Japs are fourteen miles away. Secured at 1315--GQ
1430--Jap Tojo dove on Cabot CV28 and dropped is bomb in front of CV28--just came through formation about30 feet over water--we all missed our golden opportunity as another group shot him down--secured at 1525--three casualties from the concussion of Mount two--1630 Waldron DD699 left formation to destroy mine--Japs seem to have waters well mined--Waldron joined screen at 1845--steamed SSW all night--target tonight, Okinawa.
March 30, 1945 Went to Essex CV9 and delivered belly tanks toBunker Hill CV17 at .0730--had air alert 2200 last night--target today Okinawa--plane crashed at 1120, both plane and pilot lost--most of cans topped off today--we expect to top off tomorrow.
March 31, 1945 Topped off fuel from South Dakota BB57--tomorrow we invade Okinawa .Jima--typhoon to miss us--British task force bombarded Ryukus Islands yesterday--finished topping off at 1000 and rejoined screen at 1030--steamed all day as other cans topped off.
April 1, 1945 Notified at 1545 Cushing DD550 sank submarine--0200this morning our .fighters shot down
one Betty over another formation--steamed 20 miles off shore....kept launching our strikes--
reports little anti-aircraft fire--no word on landing yet--two airfields taken 1145©--Little resistance--
getting rough.
April 2, 1945 Very rough--fueled from AO44 Patuxent at 0930--maneuvered all day as .other ships fueled--
rain in afternoon.
April 3, 1945 On picket station at 0300--still raiding OkinawaJima--very calm sea--storm .has passed--veryhot day--GQ 1300...one Dina shot down by our fighter planes 12 miles away--still of coast of Okinawa Jima--Borie DD704 accidentally rammed Essex CV9...notmuch damage--GQ 1800, no action--Ault picked up pilot when plane crashed 1815--GQ 0230 surface contact--turned out to be our bombardment group. April 4, 1945 Rejoined screen topped off from South Dakota BB57at 1200--we are .supporting landings on northern Okinawa Jima--we screened South Dakota BB57, Washington BB56 and North Carolina
BB55 all day--steamed in formation all night--still hitting Okinawa Jima.
April 5, 1945 Fueled from AO40 Lackawana at 0830--passed mail--bulletin released by .Com 5th Fleet--Japs are using rocket 14 ft.long with 1000 pound warhead driven by a man--speed 250 to 500 mph--suicide dives on ships--went on 12 mile picket 1700--Japs lit uptask force with flares all night.
April 6, 1945 Still on 12 mile picket--GQ 0500, 0855 and 1100--one Judy shot down by .CAP at 0510 and 15 shot down by CAP at 1115--one destroyer was strafed--at 1300 hundred one Judy shot downoverhead--1315 one Judy dove into us killing 7 and wounding 14--we had fire under control in one hour--transferred wounded to South Dakota BB57 1800--all ships radio gear out--operating on RCM frequency--among dead are Lenihan QM3/c, Heob Sm3/c, Knot S1/c,Deloach GM2/c, Kubena S1/c, Mclauglin S1/c, Satterlee S1/c.--amongthe wounded are Vasquez Sm3/c, Campbell CrM,
Holcombe RM1/c,Hollaman Rm2c, Goyer RM2/c, Malkieweitz S1/c, Lembo S1/c, MooreBKr3/c,
Davis Rm3c, Dempsey Tm 1/c, Morton S1/c, Studley RM3/c,Saia RM3/c, Lothrop our Executive
Officer burned his hands...God was with us all, Amen.

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Excerpts from: Fading Victory--The Diary of Admiral Matome Ugaki, 1941-1945. (Passages in parentheses were not written by Ugaki but were supplied by me or the author of the book)

April 6, 1945
Japanese planes did an extensive search on 6 April around Okinawa sighting two groups (six carriers). (these were Task Groups 58.1 and 58.3. Ault, Haynsworth, Waldron and Weeks were part of 58.3) We directed our reserve strength against them.

Visibility on the sea was not good, clouds fully covering the sky. But there was no waste of our attacks, as those who couldn't find enemies carries out special (kamikaze) attacks against enemies around Okinawa. In the meantime, the first wave of our fighter force, twenty-seven planes, lured enemy fighters high up in the sky, meanwhile the second, third and fourth (each wave had the same number of planes) (total of 108 planes) took command of the air over the line of Amamioshima, thus facilitating the advance of special (kamikaze) attack planes. Besides, Army Headquarters reconnaissance aircraft dropped radar-deceiving tapes to the east.

The attack (previous night) against the enemy task force resulted in rounding up the enemy from the south while at the same time we managed to have the large enemy force come over toward Minami-Daitojima. Taking advantage of this opportunity, over 110 naval special (kamikaze) attack planes, those belonging to the Tenth Air Fleet, detoured to the west and hurled themselves against the enemy fleet at Okinawa. Nintey army special attack aircraft of the Sixth Division and First Air Fleet also made coordinated attacks.

The sea around Okinawa thus turned into a scene of carnage, and a reconnaissance plane reported that as many as 150 columns of black smoke were observed, while others described it as difficult to observe them. Judging from the radio-equipped planes' report of their reach objective without enemy fighter interference, most of them seem to have succeeded.

The following from Morison, Victory in the Pacific, pp. 276-274

The U.S. suffered severe losses on 6 April, although far short of later Japanese claims. Three destroyer,s two ammunition ships and an LST were sunk, nine destroyers and a mine layer, badly damaged; about 12 more had minor damage. personnel casualties were heavy. The score might have been higher had the U.S. forces not been alerted. U.S. fighters shot down many Japanese planes before they reached the battle area. Many others were downed during the action either by ships' fire or combat air patrols.

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Back to Bills chronology

April 7, 1945 Steaming in formation--0800--expect to leave group tomorrow and return to .Pearl Harbor or San Francisco--Jap fleet 300miles away--we sent planed after them--funeral services at 1400--GQ 1225 when one Judy dove on Hancock CV19--1300 to 1400 with fourother cans picked up survivors of Hancock CV19--badly damaged she had fire out in half hour--1415 two more Judys low were shot down by our Corsairs--at 1615 one more Zeke dove on Bunker Hill CV17 but was shot down in dive--held funeral services for our buddies at1900--transferred two of our men that were wounded plus Hancock's to South Dakota VV57 at 1945--our planes upon contact with Jap fleet sank 1 Jap battleship (Yamota) 2 cruiser, 1 heavy carrier and4 destroyers--we also lost Brush DD746 and Calhoun DD801.
April 8, 1945 GQ 0500, 0900, 1035...no action, thank God!--ordered to return to base .tomorrow--will probably go back with tankers--GQ 1430 when one Nick dove on Hancock CV19--it was shot down along with another as one got away--secured 1535--resumed screen steamed SSE toward tankers.
April 9, 1945 Notified that Holiman RM2/c, Matchat S1/c, Dyer RM3/c, Goyer RM2/c and .Campbell CRM died on South Dakota VV57yesterday--rendezvous with tankers at 0700--on way back to Ulithi with Task Unit 58.3.10 with Hancock CV19, Cabot CVL28, Stembel DD644 it will sure be good to getaway from it all--re-fueled from AO34 the Chicopee at 0900 and transferred the Hancock's CV19 men back to her before we proceeded toward our base--Hancock sent usa message telling of our guts and how much she appreciated us picking up her men under fire.
April 10, 1945 Still enroute--notified there is an air raid atUlithi.
.April 11, 1945 Arrived Ulithi 1300--fueled from AO20 Sepulga and took berth alongside .Yosemite AD19--
Sierra AD18
April 12 to 17, 1945 In Ulithi Borie DD704 was given our aft stackand Mount #42--.Compton DD705 arrived
on 16 so did Enterprise CV6 with cans from TF58--went alongside Sierra 14th to 16th.
April 17, 1945 Under weigh for Eniwetok in the Marshall Is. 0600very nice day.
.April 18, 1945 0700 passed Cape Blanco a merchant freighternroute from Ulithi to USA--.very nice day--we fired AA in the afternoon at balloons--still proceeding--sub contact at 0400...proved to be one of our own.
April 19, 1945 Sea getting very rough--expect to arrive tomorrow morning--Passed .Shangri-La CV with escort and some merchantmen.
April 20, 1945 Wild storm--we are unable to locate Eniwetok--wemet the Yamhill, a .merchant ship.
(Editor's Note: The merchant ship asked our navigation officerfor a heading to steer clear of Eniwetok since we hadn't seen the sun for several days our position was only known by dead reckoning not by star shots. He confidently gave them a heading and when we steamed into Eniwetok a couple of days later the merchant ship wasaground on the shore only a few hundred yards from the harbor entrance.)
April 21, 1945 Arrived Eniwetok 1140--fueled from Gemsbok IX117at 1200 left at 1700--.storm cleared.
April 22, 1945 Enroute Eniwetok to Pearl Harbor--nice weather--today ended second .operation with Admiral Spruance.
Ships of Task Force 58
.Essex R9, Bunker Hill R17, Hancock R19, Cabot R28, Bataan R29, New Jersey BB 62, .South Dakota
BB57, Washington BB56, North Carolina BB55, Indianapolis C35, Pasadena C65, Springfield C66,
Astoria C90,Desron 62 and Desron 48.
April 23, 1945 Still enroute--attacked submarine at 1700 quit at1830--not sure whether .sunk or not.
April 24, 1945 Good weather--still enroute
.April 25 - 26, 1945 ÄÄStill enroute--good weather
.April 27, 1945 Arrived Pearl Harbor 0730, moored Dog 2
.April 28, 1945 Underweigh for Mare Island United State of America and 17 days leave--.very nice day
April 29, 1945 Still enroute--nice weather
.April 30, 1945 Foggy and misty
.May 1 - 3, 1945 Continued steaming
.May 3, 1945 Arrived Mare Island 1500 and unloaded all ammo.
.May 3 to July 29 Mare Island and 17 days leave.
.This concluded the entries in the diary. As the excitement cooled down, apparently so did his enthusiasm for continuing the diary.
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