The Diary of Cecil
USS Murray DD 576
1944
Nov. 24- Arrived at Mare Island,
1945
Jan.5 – Underway at
Jan.6 – At
Jan. 7 – Underway at
Jan. 8 – Underway for speed run – made 39.5 knots and went back to
Jan. 9 – Underway for Radar Tracking – Tracked all day and
returned to
Jan. 10- Tied-up at Pier 16 at
Jan. 11- Underway for Hunter’s Point- Arrived there and tested
radios until
Jan. 20- Captain’s Inspection- At
Jan. 21-25- At sea- rough sea & nothing happening-
Jan. 26- At
Jan. 27- Refueled ship and took on more ammunition & stores-
Jan. 28- Tied-up in
Jan. 29- Underway at 06:44 with 5
carriers, 1 heavy battle cruiser, and 7 destroyers. Our destination is on an island named Ulithi which is one hundred miles Northwest of
Jan. 30- At sea-
Jan. 31- At sea which is damn rough- Two carrier
planes crashed- no survivors.
Feb. 1- Sea is still rough but was able to hold pay-day. Refueled
ship from carrier but fuel-line broke- rescued two men which fell off carrier. We also crossed the International date line and lost one day.
Feb. 3- Attempted to refuel ship again but broke our fuel line- We
are now north of the
Feb. 4-6- at sea – nothing happening
Feb. 7 – Entered Ulithi atoll at 1300. Refueled ship & took aboard more
ammunition – anchored at berth 134 –
Feb. 8 – anchored as before –
Feb. 9 – today, we striped ship for action and moved to a north
anchorage. Expect to get underway
tomorrow.
Feb. 10 – Underway at 930 with 5
carriers, 4 cruisers, 2 battlewagons, and 16 destroyers. We intend to strike
Feb. 11 – holding battle drills. Transferred pilot &
gunner to a battlewagon. A plane
crashed at 1830. Met another force which we joined.
Feb. 12 – Refueled ship from a
battlewagon. We are now
proceeding north – D – day is 16th.
Feb. 13 – Steaming north – expect an
attack from the air any time – No contact with the enemy so far – we are about
three hundred miles from
Feb. 14 – proceeding northward at 18 knots Gyro off 005°. Nothing happening as yet. Received foil-weather
happening as today. It is getting
colder and the sea is very rough. Anything may happen now!
Feb 15- Refueled ship at
Feb 16- Went to General Quarters at
Feb 17- Still a float and still in doubt how long our luck will
hold out. Sent five
waves of planes. Sea is rough and
ceiling very low. Our first wave was
almost wiped-out by heavy storm. Several
of our planes returned, but had to land in sea as they were shot-up pretty bad!
Our losses today were heavy but the Japs took a worse beating - We will refuel ship in the
morning- “Where do we go from here boys - Where do we go from here?”
Feb 18- Morning G.Q.- Our planes and
ships sank three Jap patrol boats. One
of our ships was damaged. Refueled ship. Our
fighter plane shot down 2 enemy planes. We are just inside the
Feb. 19- Laying off ninety five miles
from
Feb. 20 - Steaming just northwest of
the
Feb. 21- Laying off Iwo-Jima. Went to General Quarters
about
Feb. 22- Went to general Quarters around 09:30, a Jap-bomber
attacked one of our ships.
Feb. 23- Fueled ship-Had guard-mail duty. One of our forces was
attacked and a destroyer was hit and damaged by suicide ‘crash-dive’ Jap plane.
At
Feb. 24- Fueled ship and are now twelve miles on left flank of
formation by ourselves as picket patrol.
Feb. 25- Out alone still-14:00 went in search of one of our Pilots
forced at sea. Search unsuccessful. At
Our ship has been damaged in several places. We were very near to
Feb. 26 – Hit
Feb. 27 – Met tankers and refueled and took aboard stores.
Feb. 28 – Refueled ship again and received mail from a
destroyer. We ate again. Picket ship way out ahead of our
formation. Believe to be heading for
March 1 – Fueled ship. Received war correspondent from one ship and
transferred him to another. Today we hit
Damage to the enemy: Sank two Jap destroyers and damaged 1,
another damaged two 20,000 ton merchant ships.
Destroyed a number of Jap aircraft and damaged air fields and also
damaged Jap Naval Base. Will get more
report tomorrow. Some ships were ordered
to bombard tonight, so yet we don’t know which ones will have the job.
March 2-13- Entered Ulithi and went
alongside a tender. We were attached by
Jap Suicide planes which one crashed a carrier and another hit the beach. We went to general quarters several
times. Left port at
March 14- Joining forces and are
proceeding to the Northwest.
March 15- Joined task force 58, still proceeding to
Northwest. Expect excitement on this
trip.
March 16- Fueled ship- Our destination is- Kyushi
and
March 17- Fueled ship - At
March 18- Went to General Quarters at
18:30- steaming course at 135 at 19 knots we are 38 miles off Jap
coastline - General Quarters sounded several times during the night - several
enemy planes we knocked down. Some of
our ships were damaged and one of our carriers was damaged pretty badly by a
500lb. bomb.
March 19- Morning G. Q. at
March 20- Morning G. Q. several boggies -
G.Q. at
March 21- Morning General Quarters secured and refueled ship. G.Q. at
March 22- Refueled ship today and joined our original formation. We will again hit
March 23- Morning General Quarters sounded at
March 24- Morning G.Q. - carrier air craft gave Japs-pounding. Nothing new happening.
March 25- Morning G. Q. - Refueled ship. News report stated Jap task-force with
reinforcements was sunk in an attempt to land on
March 25- Joined oilers
and supply ships today. Received stores and refueled ship. Underway again destination
unknown.
March 27- Routine morning General Quarters - secured at
…it’s target. Jap torpedo
plane came in low and fast. We managed
to fire enough rounds at it to cause it to crash on our Portside. In fact I believe a couple of jo-potts were thrown in.
We opened fire too late! The
plane dropped its torpedo at 100 yards distance striking our ship above the
waterline - passing on through a forward compartment and exploding as it went
out the port side. Shrapnel riddled gun
#1 and #2 included a large section of port side of ship. One man was killed and six badly
injured. The wounded were late and
transferred to a carrier for medical attention.
We took on a large amount of water before holes were welded - so far the
ship is still floating. Our speed is 2
knots. At
March 28- Morning General quarters and secured an hour later. We are now with task group 58.2- joined them
last night. Met
tankers at
March 29- Underway for some port
repairs. Taking on water up
toward and have formed a bucket brigade.
Typhoon reported 850 miles from us, but we are in back of it. The water is rough with waves 20 feet high
and pounding the forward part of our ship.
March 30- No mishaps as yet - Ocean very rough! We expect to be in a safe port in two days.
March 31- still underway - Water is calmer and we can breathe a
sigh of relief -
April1- Easter today and also April fools day - Entered
April 2 - 4 Shifted anchorages twice - Expect to go to
April 5 - 7 Set special at
April 8 - 9 At sea - crossed International date
line and gained a day. We were
lucky in missing out on surface engagement between the Japs
and us on the 6th.
April 10- At sea. All’s well.
April 11- Entered
April 12- Went into Dry Dock to have repairs for damage done. Authorities examining the fragments of the
object which hit us discovered it to be a 1100 lbs.
Bomb and not a torpedo - We shaped two horse shoes out of fragments and placed
them where the bomb entered and left ship.
April 13 - 16 Ship in dry docks - I
left today for four day rest and recreation at Camp Andrews on other side of
Oahu,
April 20 - Returned from rest-camp and now to settle down to some
hard work. Received
news via radio that President Roosevelt died.
April - 21 to May 5 - In dry dock.
May - 6 Left dry dock- ship has been repaired and is now prepared
to seek out the enemy and destroy them.
I’ll guess I’ll get some more needed actions.
May 7 to 27 – In and out of
May 27 to June 3- In and out of
June 3 to 9 – Same routine as before.
June 9 – Out today firing exercise
torpedo runs. One torpedo being
accidentally fired while tubes were trained in, went
completely through #2 stack. The fish pinned a torpedo man against #1 torpedo
tubes causing slight injury. We are now
having our stack repaired at
June 10 to 11 – Tied up in
June 12 - Underway at
June 13 to 17 - At sea holding battle drills. Will arrive at our objective
tomorrow. Refueled
ship today.
June 18 – At the island Jaluit – will
commence bombarding at
June 19 -20 On our way bound for Saipan – Sea calm, weather very rough. Nothing happening.
June 21- Today at
June 22. Underway at sea. Today at
June 23- Enter and Anchored in
June 24- Anchored as before-
June 25- Took aboard ammunition and stores and got underway for Einwetok in the
June 26- At sea bound for Einewetok –
Held drills -
June 27 to July 2 - Anchored in
July 3- Today we got the straight “dope”. We are bound for Wake Island to intercept a
Jap Hospital Ship to see what it contains and what it is doing out near Wake
Island. Thirty special men were picked
to board the ship and they were given instructions in handling small - arms,
and what to do in case the ship proves hostile.
July 4- We will overtake ship this evening around
and to
receive boarding party. It was a large
ship (converted liner). The ship was
examined and told to proceed on its way. After it leaves Wake, we will board it again.
July 5- We will go aboard again at
(The following is copies of messages received from the enemy ship
to our ship the
July
4
Name of ship is TAKASAGO MARU
Captain agrees with inspection of his ship=
Destination of ship is
There are one hundred-fifty nine in crew & one hundred-Eighty
nine in Medical personnel.
Tubes have been removed from Radio transmitter.
Captain says he is observing Radio silence.
Ship left Muroran on Hokaido
in the Empire - June 27.
Captain states medical personnel are Navy. All others except boat crews & radio are
civilians.
(Our executive officers’ signal)
“Boring isn’t it?” White.
Captain states before being stopped he planned to stop one or two
hrs. at Wake depending on whether X does not know how
many patients he was to pick up.
Investigation of superstructures finished, now starting in forward
holes.
Estimate inspection about one-third
complete.
Estimate another hour or two at the most. Meeting at most cooperation.
Four stripe Medical officer
is in command name of Kakisaka X Merchant skipper
appears to be Navigator N. this trip - saw our plane this morning and saw one of
our subs the 28th or 29th.
Inspection completed X no evidence of any violations X will leave
in about ten minutes after making entry in log and warning captain (Jap) about
radio silence.
Thank Captain for his cooperation.
Tell him he may proceed when our boats are clear - advise me when
you get back.
Are boats (ours) still lying off (ans.)
Your - Affirmative
Entry completed leaving now whale boat will follow later.
Whale-boat is returning now (ques.)
Is all party clear ship (ans.)
Affirmative
July 5-
Second versa is same as first.
Destination is
No Americans or Allies aboard
Nine-hundred and sixty patients aboard.
Four-hundred Ninety X Navy Four-hundred and eighty-four- Army nine
Malnutrition X Fourteen wounded.
You have a red light showing in Gun #1
Inspection about three-quarters completed - only questions will be
about the Malnutrition patients which the doctor stated are all qualified
patients. More
details on that in a moment. Doctor
estimates 1050 patients X ten to fifteen % T.B. X Fourteen
wounded X remainder Malnutrition.
Least severe Malnutrition barely able to move X Estimates 15 or
20% of total patients will not survive voyage Doctor states all are hospital
patients 25% of Malnutrition patients will be on their feet in a month.
Stores situation satisfactory so far – if it continues that way –
shall I direct ship to proceed
…orders for getting…join our task-group…fuled
ship and left
July 20 & 21- Arrived at our rendezvous with tankers and
refueled ship, pick-up …passenger for delivery to another ship. Commence delivering mail and we …ished, join our squadron and received …the orders.
-July 22- Today we were given picket… with four other destroyers
50 miles… ont of tack group – Our carrier
First wave... attack….but later…again…
July 23-24- Out on Pickett duty…our planes are still attacking
July 25- Still on picket duty…Morning General Quarters sounded…0:15
as our aircraft peppered
…hour…we…the night we saw…high in the air in…fighters got it. We had
a couple of contacts, but were friendly.
July 26- General quarters at
July 27- Morning General Quarters…
Tonight we… again, and… force in the…
July 29 - Morning G.Q. at
July 30 - Morning Generals… sounded at
The lagoon… and we enter at… and left at a…We sank a small craft
by gun fire and another can fired two torpedoes at another, causing damage. None of our ships suffered any damage. We entered the lagoon at
The following messages was sent from Commander of Task force 38 to
our squadron (25th squadron)
... tactical maneuvering CMA Fire… X
communications and all… of a good Destroyer sailor… most ably demonstrated
last… in a tence and daring raid.
“Loud a…For a well p…in the best…you have been…Emperors Black
List. X Ha…
July 31 - We are now out of …of
Aug 1- Dull day today…around, screening our group…wondering what
we’ll do no[w]…
is terrible -
I’m losing weight. As of today we have
been on the
open sea (just
off
Aug 30- In position as usual - Refueled ship & transferred
passengers from one
ship to another. Received
stateside mail. At
we received
orders for taking…large carrier by to
We are on our way now.
Aug. 31- Our orders have been changed again. We delivered
one large
carrier to another tas[k] force. Where it relieved another
carrier. The other carrier will then be escorted, back
to Eniwe[tok]
in the
Sept. 1 – At sea screening task… 38.3 We haven’t seen land for… good
while. We changed comm…
yesterday. We have a new Ca… Today we had a couple more…
for typhoid and typhus.
Sept 2- 4
Nothing new h… happened.
We are still at sea… day was declared Sept. 2. I ce…
by having a cup of coffee. Tomor… we will be in
Sept 5 - 11 – We have been ordered… escort a large carrier back to
Sept. 13 - 15
Tied-up in
Sept. 16 - 22
Moved away from the tender and tied-up alongside another
destroyer. We are now painting the ship
in preparation for the return to the
Sept. 23 - 24
Took aboard 90 passengers for passage to
Sept. 25 – Underway for
Sept. 26 - 30
At… Canal…
Oct. 1 - 6 We are now between
Oct. 7 - 8 Today - we arrived in
Oct. 9 - 11 Tied-up at a dock
in
Nov. 7 - 8 Thirty days leave was given to 1/3 of crew. Still the ship is at the
Nov. 9 - 18 – Liberty in Charleston Stinks!
Nov. 19 – Today I left the U.S.S. Murray for good!