Letters from Lt. (j.g.) William Sliney, USS
Yorktown, to Miss Evelyn Soderquist, Seattle Washington,
Oct. 13, 1944 thru Sep. 14, 1945.
Compiled by Gordon Merritt
CV-10 USS
Yorktown
Class: Essex
Aircraft Carrier
Laid down: 1 December 1941
at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry dock Co. as
Bon Homme Richard
Renamed:
Yorktown, 26 September 1942 [to replace the 3rd USS Yorktown,
aircraft carrier CV-5, lost in the battle of Midway, 1942];
Launched: January 21, 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt;
Commissioned: April 15, 1943, Capt. Joseph J. (“Jocko”) Clark in
command.
Length: 856 feet
Beam:93 feet
Draft: 30 feet
Displacement: 33,292 tons
Armament: 90 aircraft; twelve 5-inch/38 caliber guns (original); reduced
to four 5-inch/38 caliber guns; 32 -- 40mm and 46 -- 20mm guns
On the 31st of July
1944, she cleared the Mariana Islands and headed-via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor
- back to the United States.
Yorktown arrived in the Puget
Sound Navy Yard [Bremerton, near Seattle, Washington] on 17 August and began a
two-month overhaul. She completed repairs on 6 October and departed Puget Sound
on the 9th. She stopped at the Alameda Naval Air
Station from 11 to 13 October to load planes and
supplies and then set a course back to the western Pacific.
Clark and Radford
13 Oct
1944 Alameda, Calif.
Had dinner in San Francisco…
I am on the 0000-0400 watch and boy does time drag. All I have to do is inspect different
stations and then report to the O.O.D. in the hanger deck, real tough eh.
19
October 1944 Pearl Harbor
The trip the last 2-3 days has been rather nice, the sea has calmed
down and turned to a beautiful blue and the flying fish are everywhere…
I guess by now you know about the invasion of the Philippines and what
it means to us…
21 Oct
1944 Pearl Harbor
This may be a hurried letter we have 2 hours to get our letters in so
that they can be mailed back to the States…
…from now on it is going to be rough sailing…
After
a stop at Pearl Harbor from the 18th to the 24th Yorktown
arrived back in Eniwetok on 31 October.
31 Oct
1944, Eniwetok
We have had a little excitement lately and it has kept us on our toes…
The weather lately has been beautiful, real blue skies, deep blue seas,
warm breezes, to put it in other words, its been darn hot. I am beginning to look like an Indian…
I just finished another 100 or so letters, I am a censor. Boy some of these guys did rather well in
Seattle, at least they write like they did, from their letters I’d say that we
had a ship full of lovers.
She departed the lagoon on 1
November and arrived at Ulithi on the 3d. There, she reported for duty with TG
38.4. That task group left Ulithi on 5 November, and Yorktown departed with it.
4 Nov
1944, Ulithi
We have been very busy lately going from 4:30 a.m. to any where up to
12 or 1 in the morning.
I wouldn’t mind it too much if it wasn’t for this heat, none of us have
kept a dry shirt on for more than 15 min. at a time. The water seems to pour out of everyone,
right now my writing pad is wet clear through.
Everything is damp and it is beginning to get on my nerves. Oh well.
We took our shots yesterday and today we all have muscles where muscles
never were before, boy it is sore.
4 Nov 1944, Ulithi
Christmas card,
“V Mail” “Merry Christmas from the Fighting Lady” Bill
On 7 November, the aircraft
carrier changed operational control to TG38.1 and, for the next two weeks
launched air strikes on targets in the Philippines in support of the Leyte
invasion.
13 Nov
1944 Leyte area
We
have been very busy lately and I have been averaging the same amount of sleep
as I did the last week with you…
I had my hair cut short and to top it off I decided to grow a
mustache… Everyone so far has given me
ideas on how the process can be speeded up, most of them off color, even the
Chaplin has added his two cents.
The days are getting hotter and I swear I’ll wear the bottom of my feet
off, between the heat of the deck and the continuous running…
17 Nov
1944 Leyte area
We can send mail out easy enough for every so often a tanker or
destroyer will come along side and take the mail off, but the incoming mail is
very slow…
We have not seen
land for a long while, just blue ocean, I sure would like to see some dirty
brown dirt again, just for a change.
22 Nov
1944, Leyte area
You won’t have much trouble guessing where we are the papers take care
of that little item for us. We are
fooling around with a hot fire, I am afraid some one may get burned but I guess
this is the only way to put it out now…
Detached from the task Force
on 23 November, Yorktown arrived back in Ulithi on the 24th.
25 Nov
1944 Ulithi
We hit port today (two or three tiny hunks of land about the size of a
good back yard) and right away I started visiting other ships in our group (my liberty
day). I thought I’d visit another
carrier and see the Wordie a fellow I had lived with 5 or 6 months at
Diego. When I asked the O.O.D. where his
room was he looked at me sort of funny like and told me that Wordie was killed
two weeks ago in a strike over enemy territory.
I felt like someone had kicked me in the face. I have seen a lot of fellows die lately ours
and theirs but this came awfully near home.
9 Dec 1944 Ulithi
My brother’s unit has received the presidential unit citation for
bravery under fire, so now he is once more ahead of me, gosh I’d better get
going.
My little brother has been telling the neighbors that I struck my
superior officer, that I am now in K.P. awaiting court marshal, boy I Have received 3 or 4 letters in the last week
asking my what the story was, some of them are really worried about me.
She remained there until 10
December at which time she put to sea to rejoin TF 38.
12 Dec 1944 “at sea”
I have been up since five this morning in the 8 – 12 pm watch so please
excuse the writing…
Things are about the same, the usual working days and nights with some
extra excitement thrown in, makes time go quickly. I spent all my day in the flight deck and it
is like Times Square in the rush hour, truckers tearing up and down, planes
warming up, gun platforms moving around, propellers tearing up the air boy one
bad misstep and no more Willie, but don’t worry sweet I have my head mounted on
a 360 degree platform so I don’t miss much.
I have added more sun to my brown body in the last two or three days,
this Irishman is getting on the dark side…
She rendezvoused with the
other carriers on 13 December and began launching air strikes on targets on the
island of Luzon in preparation for the invasion of that island scheduled for the
second week in January. On the 17th, the task force began its
retirement from the Luzon strikes.
During
that retirement, TF 38 steamed through the center of the famous typhoon
of December 1944. That storm sank three
destroyers-Spence (DD-512), Hull (DD-350), and Monaghan(DD-354) - and Yorktown
participated in some of the rescue operations for the survivors of those three
destroyers.
19 Dec 1944 “at Sea”
We have had the usual amount of excitement on board so of it I would
not have believed if I saw it on the movie screen. One fellow was washed
overboard by one wave and washed right back on board by the next. He now plans to room with the Chaplain.
My divisional
officer fell into a prop last week and we buried what was left that
afternoon. We were all standing around
him when it happened and it sure left me feeling funny, I wasen’t very hungry
at breakfast that morning. He was a
prince of a man and had a swell wife and 2 kiddies at home. I sure respect these props, now, I decided I
didn’t want to play in their yard anyway.
She did not finally clear the
vicinity of Luzon until the 23d. The warship arrived back in Ulithi on 24
December.
27 Dec 1944 Ulithi
We had the usual Navy Christmas, the good wishes passed out
freely. The lazy Christmas day, the
turkey dinner at night. The fun we had
watching the packages from home opened and what some of the packages
contained. My roommate (200#) received
some vitamin pills from his mother, we all enjoyed that much to his
discomfort. I received the usual assortment
of shaving needs small games…
We have been
taking things rather easily lately but the Christmas vacation will soon be over
and then to work.
The aircraft carrier fueled
and provisioned at Ulithi until 30 December at which time she returned to sea
to join TF 38 on strikes at targets in the Philippines in support of the
landings at Lingayen.
1 Jan 1945
We had a hard day yesterday and so I just crawled into the sack last
night and never even knew the new year had come in and I cared less, I guess
about everyone did the same.
I now have charge
of all the gasoline lube oil etc, it sure keeps me busy 24 hours of the day,
everyone treats me with kid gloves because if I make a bad mistake they will
have to build a new Yorktown. Everyone
just waits for me to make a mistake and then do I catch hell form everyone wow…
The carriers opened the show
on 3 January 1945 with raids on airfields on the island of Formosa. Those raids continued on the 4th,
but a fueling rendezvous occupied Yorktown’s time on the 5th. She
sent her planes against Luzon targets and on anti shipping strikes on the 6th
and 7th. The 8th brought another fueling rendezvous; and,
on the 9th, she conducted her last attack-on Formosa-in direct
support of the Lingayen operation. On 10 January, Yorktown and the rest of TF
38entered the South China Sea via Bashi Channel to begin a series of raids on
Japan’s inner defenses. On 12 January, her planes visited the vicinity of
Saigon and Tourane Bay, Indochina, in hopes of catching major units of the
Japanese fleet. Though foiled in their primary desire, TF 38 aviators still
managed to rack up a stupendous score - 44 enemy ships of which 15 were
combatants.
Air Wing from Yorktown,
1943
12 Jan 1945
I have been plenty busy… Things have been happening fast and we don’t
get a chance to rest. I sure would like
to tell you some of the things that have happened to me and the ship but that
will have to wait until we meet again.
Some of our happenings read like a chapter in a travel novel. I have had my hands full with work and on top
of that I have to keep peace among my three chiefs & warrant officer, when
I took over all three were at each others throats but things are evening out
now and peace once more rains over my little household.
The captain of the ship called me four times the other morning to find
out how I was progressing with my job that I was doing that morning. I sure took a ribbing from the fellows, they
all wanted to be remembered to the Captain, he sure is a sweet fellow though he
treats us like his sons. Before I get
off the Yorktown my name will be very familiar.
She fueled on the 13th
and, on the 15th, launched raids on Formosa and Canton in China.
The following day, her aviators struck at Canton again
and paid a visit to Hong Kong. Fueling took up her time on 17, 18, and 19
January; and, on the 20th, she exited the South China Sea with TF 38
via Balintang Channel. She participated in a raid on Formosa on the 21st
and another on Okinawa on the 22d before clearing the area for Ulithi. On the
morning of 26 January. She reentered Ulithi lagoon with TF 38.
25 Jan 1945
…things have slowed down a little and I will have a little more time
(well at least for a few days) for writing…
January was certainly a busy month for us
and there were times when 2 or 3 hours in some 3 days was the maximum sleep I
received, it got so that I could sleep in any position that was available. I could crawl into some hole and curl up like
a kitten and fall asleep immediately. I
will never forget some of the things that happened to us in the last few months
or so, some of them I would like to forget, gosh I only hope people will never
forget the lesson that has been taught us, that men who want us to build a
little fence around us our country and forget the rest of the world, will never
hold office again. We will only have
peace if we show we are also prepared for war.
Debriefing Yorktown Pilots, 1943
30 Jan 1945 Utlihi
So you saw the “Fighting lady”.
When what do you think of our ship.
Of course you know that the Yorktown is the “fighting lady” and that
most of the real scenes were taken by our photographers here during different
operations from this ship. We could now
add a few that would really make your hair stand up on end…
[”The Fighting Lady”: made at
the height of World War II and considered one of the best documentaries of that
time, this film records the life of the aircraft carrier Yorktown from her
launching in 1943 through her victorious sweep across the Pacific—including
unsurpassed color footage of a suicide attack by Kamikaze pilots. It received
the Academy Award for Best Documentary as well as a Special Documentary Award
from the New York Film Critics. Narrated by Robert Taylor. USA, 1944, Color, 57
minutes.]
We are all anxious to see
that picture because many of the fellows that appeared in different shots are
still on board.
4 Feb 1945 Ulithi
We had a swell smoker (no women fan dancers though) the other day, we
had free ice cream, a swing concert, a few skits and a boxing show all in all
it was real good. Soon we hope to have the fleet premier of the “Fighting Lady”
we will have all the Admirals aboard, a buffet supper etc. for the picture showing.
8 Feb 1945
Ulithi
Well, we are off again so hold your hat…
We had the premier of the “Fighting Lady” aboard the fighting lady and
it was quite a party, we had the usual speeches, praise, etc, then the movie
and afterwards a buffet supper. It sure
seemed funny to see the fellows you know appearing on the screen, gosh in every
scene there was someone that we knew, when that G.Q. (general quarters) went it
felt so real we all had a feeling to get going to our battle stations. Boy that sure gives me a start when it hits
during the night, I usually wake up halfway up the ladder, everyone is running
and after a few jolts, you wake up completely.
It is sort of fun to watch a plane crash on deck during, or in a movie,
but it is an awful feeling when you suddenly look up and see that baby coming
down on you, I usually give one look and take off…
Yorktown remained at Ulithi
arming, provisioning, and conducting upkeep
until 10 February. At that time, she sortied with TF
58, the 3d Fleet
becoming the 5th Fleet when Spruance
relieved Halsey, on a series of raids on the Japanese and thence to support the
assault on and occupation of Iwo Jima.
15 Feb
1945
Habie and I play
acey-ducey for an hour or so before we hit the sack…
Things on board are going along as usual the “Fighting Lady” is sure
taking care of me, pretty soon I plan to call her the “lucky lady”, for luck
has been riding right on our fan tail.
On the morning of 16 February,
the aircraft carrier began launching strikes on the Tokyo area of Honshu. On
the 17th, she repeated those strikes before heading toward the
Bonins. Her aviators bombed and strafed installations on Chichi Jima on the 18th.
The landings on Iwo Jima went forward on 19 February, and Yorktown aircraft
began support missions over the island on the 20th. Those missions
continued until the 23d at which time Yorktown cleared the Bonins to resume
strikes on Japan proper.
24 Feb
1945
The Censor rules have been relaxed a little to help the morale of the
men so now we can say where we have been in the past (over a month back), So
here goes.
We sailed as you know in Oct. from the States and we came right through
to cover the Army Boys at Leyte in the Philippines, then we moved over and
covered the invasion of Mindova and in between that we made a few hurried trips
up to Formosa and China coast to stop the Japs from sending down reinforcements
to his mates in Luzon. We spent
Christmas at a spot called Ulithi an Island that reminds me of the Hollywood
variety, you know, palm trees, coconuts, soft breezes etc. The native huts were still standing and we
gained a good bit of how the natives lived, the water was real clear and warm
so we went swimming and spear fishing (the waters are thick with all kinds of
colored fish). We set sail shortly after
Christmas and since we can’t say any more I will end that discussion here…
Well I have to be off to work (this ship is really rolling) so I will
close here.
She arrived at the launch
point on the 25th and sent two raids aloft to bomb and strife
airfields in the vicinity of Tokyo. On the 26th, Yorktown air
crewmen conducted a single sweep of installations on Kyushu before TG 68.4
began its retirement to Ulithi. Yorktown reentered the anchorage at Ulithi on 1
March. She remained in the anchorage for
about two weeks.
11 March 1945 Ulithi
Things on board are the same, we had a few more of these exciting
moments but that is now getting commonplace.
We have had a chance to sunbathe lately so I decided to add to my
fading tan, the result was a nice sun burn…
Quite a few of the fellows left the ship so Hobie and I really made a
haul. I now have more records, a new
electric phonograph (cost $83 in the States and I got it for 40), a whole
library of books, pin up girls, a new raincoat, a jacket (summer) and 2 or 3
new pipes, so all in all I did quite well.
Two or three fellows I knew back in the States dropped in yesterday and
so we went over to the beach and had a great time, old Hobie had one too many
and I had a h… of a time getting him out of my sack. Ah the life of a sailor. It sure felt nice to raise a little hell,
sometimes our nerves get like piano wires on a rainy day and the breaking point
feels awfully close, a day or so of letting loose seems to solve the problem.
On 14 March, the Aircraft
carrier departed the lagoon on her way to resume raids on Japan and to begin
preliminary support work for the Okinawa operations scheduled for 1 April. On 18 March, she arrived in the operating
area off Japan and began launching strikes on airfields on Kyushu, Honshu, and
Shikoku. The task group came under air attack almost as soon as operations
began. At about 0800, a twin-engine bomber, probably a “Frances,” attacked from
her port side. The ship opened fire almost immediately and began scoring hits
quickly. The plane began to burn but continued his run passing over Yorktown’s
bow and splashing in the water on her starboard side. Just seven minutes later,
another “Frances” tried his luck; but he, too went down, a victim of the
combined fire of the formation. No further attacks developed until that
afternoon; and, in the meantime, Yorktown continued air operations. That afternoon, three “Judy’s” launched
attacks on the carrier. The first two
failed in their attacks and were shot down for their trouble. The third succeeded in planting his bomb on
the signal bridge. It passed through the first deck and exploded near the
ship’s hull. It punched two large holes through her side, killed five men, and
wounded another 26.
Yorktown, however, remained fully
operational, and her antiaircraft gunners brought the offender down. She
continued air operations against the three southernmost islands of Japan on the
19th but retired for fueling operations on the 20th.
On the 21st, she headed for Okinawa, on
which island she began
Softening-up strikes on the 23d. Those attacks
continued until the 28th
when she started back to Japanese waters for an
additional strike on the home islands.
28 March 1945 “at Sea”
…there have been times lately that I couldn’t sit down and write, my
nerves are just too tight and my mind won’t act after a night of no sleep and
then a 20 hour day. I haven’t written a
letter in the last three weeks… We spend all day and most of the night lately
at battle stations and if by chance we are lucky enough to be allowed to get to
our sack it is only a short time before we are right back, called by my friend
the battle “gong”. When the Captain said
that there would be heart aches, and that all of us would be dead tired for a
long while he was right.
There is a lull
here and I had to report to the flight deck, there is a beautiful moon… and
star filled sky…
On the 29th, the
carrier put two raids and one photographic reconnaissance mission into the air
over Kyushu. That afternoon, at about 1410, a single “Judy” made an apparent
suicide dive on Yorktown. Her antiaircraft gunners opened up on him and scored
numerous hits. He passed over the ship, very near to her “island,” and splashed
about 60 feet from her port side.
On
30 March, Yorktown and the other carriers of her task group began to
concentrate solely on the island of Okinawa and its
surrounding islets. For two days, the 30th
and 31st, they pounded the island in softening up strikes.
1 April 1945 “at Sea” off
Okinawa
Here it is 9:30 Easter Sunday night and I have just returned from
church. The service was the same but
instead of the different bright colored hats and smart suits there was an odor
of work, a feeling of restlessness, of tension, I think if anyone had dropped
their steel had on the deck there would have been a stampede. All during the service my mind wandered back
to other Easter Sundays, the bright red coats and cute hats on the girls, the
girl next doors’ first high heels and how funny they looked, my first pair of
long pants and the exalted feeling they seemed to give me, the felt hat that I
never wore again. It felt so nice to
excape the present if just for a while.
Things on board have been the same with the usual minutes of extreme
excitement, the usual long tiresome hours, the little pleasure, the usual run
of hot foots, (the Chaplin being the chief recipient), the cat naps in some
secluded corner, Hobie’s and I playing acy-ducy, etc.
On 1 April, the assault troops
stormed ashore; and, for almost six weeks, she sent her planes to the island to
provide direct support for the troops operating ashore. About every three days,
she retired to the east to conduct fueling rendezvous or to rearm and
reprovision.
5 April
1945
Things go on the same, with the long day now just routine, and the
hours of sleep coming at any time there is a lull, all in all though I am still
very much alive and in the best of health so I feel very lucky.
The “lady” continues to look over us and all of us now feel as though
there is some power taking care of us, it can’t be all luck, may be your
prayers are helping pull us through.
The only exception to that
routine came on 7 April when it was discovered that a Japanese task force built
around the elusive battleship, Yamato was steaming south for one last,
desperate, offensive. Yorktown and the other carriers quickly launched strikes
to attack that valued target. Air Group 9 aviators claimed several torpedo hits
on Yamato herself just before the battleship exploded and sank as well as at
least three 500-pound bomb hits on light cruiser Yahagi before that warship
followed her big sister to the bottom.
The pilots also made strafing runs on the escorting destroyers and
claimed to have left one afire in a sinking condition. At the conclusion of
that action, Yorktown and her planes resumed their support for the troops on
Okinawa. On 11 April, she came under air attack again when a single-engine
plane sped in on her. Yorktown’s antiaircraft gunners proved equal to the test,
however, and splashed him just inside 2,000 yards’ range.
14 April 1945
Life goes on the same, the hours just a long and sleep just as
scarce. I now have acquired the habit of
making a steel deck feel like a bed at the Waldorf, of course my back still
doesn’t like the procedure, but I’ll bring that around or bust it.
We have been all the way from the coast of Indo China (Saigon and
Camrahn Bay) up the coast and beyond. We
have had some real experiences in that time and I don’t think I will ever get
over the funny feeling I get when I see a Jap plane making a run on us. You just lay there and watch the guns turn
the sky into a black mass and half pray and swear that “that got him”. Then suddenly there is an explosion and the
Jap become a ball of fire, then everyone on deck gives a cheer and proceed to
let off steam by telling their own personal reactions.
19 April 1945
We attack Luzon and Formosa on 3-9 Jan.
Attack shipping and airfields along French Indo-China coast, Canton,
Hong Kong and Formosa. Attack Mausei
shots area (Okinawa Shima) 21-24 of Jan.
Then we went north to attack an undisclosed place. A day before the attack the news got out, that we were to be the
first carrier operations against Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, etc. The morning of the attack dawned cold and cloudy. The … destroyers were busy dropping depth
charges to keep the subs away from the mother hen and her chicks (us). The guns were slowly searching the sky like
spiders looking from the fly. All of us
breathed a sigh of relief when the first fighters disappeared into the clouds.
Seconds turned into minutes into hours and then our chicks began to drop into
the deck and soon were under wing. Then
the questions began to fly, you know the rest the best Jap pilots became flying
meteors over Tokyo that day, we had caught the Jap napping.
We then sailed south again and softened up Iwo Jima and remained there
until the marines had things in hand, this ended the operation and that is a
much as I can tell you…
30 April 1945
…there is little more that I can tell you about our
operations today. The days are still as
long the night so much longer. I slept
last night on a bench and I caught a beauty of a cold in my back, I feel like a
man of 60 today.
Sporadic air attacks continued until her 11 May
departure from the Ruykyus but Yorktown sustained no additional damage and
claimed only one further kill with her antiaircraft battery. On 11 May, TG 58.4
was detached to proceed to Ulithi for upkeep, rest, and relaxation.
14 May 1945 Ulithi
We buried a sweet buddy of mine yesterday, I had watched him die the
day before on the flight deck and I didn’t know what to do for him or myself,
as he looked up at us with that look of wonder in his eyes it sent a sharp pain
into all of us – if it had been humanly possible I think we all would have
shared part of his pain. He was a swell
fellow and the two of us had planned our leave together. It left me kind of
blue. That’s one of the reasons I don’t
give the future much thought…
The weather if very warm again and so I may get a chance to work on my
tan again they are giving us a short breathing spell so I may be able to sunbathe
one of these days.
We saw our first
movie in over two months last night and you ought to have heard the howl go up
during the love scene, boy you couldn’t hear yourself think…we sure get a kick
out of it.
18 May 1945 Ulithi
Life goes on the same not much changes, but the scuttlebutt from the
“smoke watch” has us going back in the same time as last, we were in your fair
city but it have my doubts. We have had a few movies lately (last 4 nights) …
it will probably soon end and then it will be another two months before we see
another, oh well enjoying it while we can.
22 May 1945 Ulithi
The lady and I are still the same, still playing leap frog in the Japs back
yard and not liking his year any too much, the land is pretty poor but so with
all this human Jap fertilizer the ground should become rather rich but what the
heck will grow on Jap fertilizer, that is the big question. You were right the lady is like the Irish,
she goes looking for the scrap, and boy she usually finds them. We plan to change the name from the “Fighting
Lady” to the “Battling Bitch”. I think
the change in name is a good one especially since everyone going back to the
states in big carriers claim they are off the “fighting lady”.
Yorktown entered the lagoon at
Ulithi on 14 May and remained there until 24 May at which time she sortied with
TG 58.4 to rejoin the forces off Okinawa.
26 May
1945
… you have the wrong idea on those celebrations. Hobey and I had one drink and since we hadn’t
smelled it in over two months we got a pretty heavy back kick. The night Dick came over we had 4 and boy we
really spun in, we never touch anything while underway, and darn little in
port. When we get to a place where there
is land, the ship sends the crew and officers off and gives them beer to drink,
not to get drunk on but mostly to loosen up taunt nerves. If you had been through some of the things
this crew has been through you’d realize what it means to quite [?] down. At the end of that last affair if a fellow
dropped a pencil behind us we’d all jump a foot, we were as tight as an eight
day clock.
…we are darn glad to hear that the end had come in Europe because it
means that a lot of our friends will come home in one piece and also it will
help speed things coming this way.
… the Pacific is a hell hole and I would not wish it on anyone.
Well… it may not be too long before the “Lady” sticks her nose into
Bremerton…
On 28 May, TG 58.4 became TG
38.4 when Halsey relieved Spruance and 5th Fleet again became 3d
Fleet. That same day, the carrier resumed air support missions over Okinawa.
That routine lasted until the beginning of June when she moved off with TF 38
to resume strikes on the Japanese homeland. On 3 June, her aircraft made four
different sweeps of airfields.
3 Jun 1945 “At Sea”
This will probably be a short note, we just secured and I have yet to
take a shower and go to church…
We are still seeing that beautiful blue Pacific from one end to the
other and believe me it is getting tiresome.
I sure yearn to put my feet on good solid ground again.
The following day, she
returned to Okinawa for a day of additional support missions before steaming
off to evade a typhoon. On the 6th and 7th, she resumed
Okinawa strikes. She sent her aviators back to the Kyushu airfields and, on the
9th, launched them on the first of two days of raids on Minami Daito
Shima. After the second day’s strikes on
the 10th, Yorktown began retirement with TG 38.4 toward Leyte. She
arrived in San Pedro Bay at Leyte on 13 June and began replenishment, upkeep,
rest, and relaxation.
10 June 1945 “at
sea”
As you can see we are still surrounded by water on all sides and my
love for it has grown no stronger not that I don’t love the sea but enough is
enough.
I saw another
beautiful sun set last night, each color strutting its beauty so that l could
see. The whole show seems to remind us
down below that we are so small and unimportant in the overall plan of the
world.
The “Lady” and I are still the same both happy and healthy but lonely
for the people we love. My gang are the
same. I know them all now, I even share
their worries and their joys, we are some what of a family and I try to solve
the bigger worries and troubles. They
are all good kids even though sometimes they drive me nuts I still like all of
them.
I
can’t say I have been to any movies lately, but my day will come…
…As to why I
slept on a bench when at battle stations … it is next to impossible to get
below decks as everything is dogged down for safety sake and at the time I
wrote that letter we were at battle stations just about all the time so…
21 June 1945 San Pedro
Bay, Leyte, Philippines
The Lady and I are still healthy and happy as we could be out here,
still dreaming of home and the people connected with it. We have been taking it easy lately and so we
have seen some good shows.
We saw the first natives since we have been out here and don’t let
anyone kid you, these natives know the value of the American dollar. We asked them how much for the beads “1
dolla” “5 dolla”. Some of those little
kids had their shirts just loaded with dollar bills, just what use they were to
them I don’t know since there weren’t much to buy that they needed. It was fun talking to them and getting their
ideas on the Japs, some of the stories were very interesting. The heat here went up as high as 120 degrees
in the shade and it make life pretty unbearable for a New Englander, every part
of me seems to be crawling, I was darn glad to get back on board again.
…I don’t want to get your spirits up or down either but I doubt if we
will be back before Oct. or November, I could be wrong, but that is my guess…
27 June 1945 San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Philippines
We have been taking it easy lately taking on supplies and cleaning up
the ship, so we have the usual movie call at night, we saw the movie you told
me about ‘Keep your powder dry’. It was
cute but damn it I wish they would stop having the husbands all killed, we see
enough of that without having it on the screen, every picture we have see this
time has a crying scene in it, I feel like picking up my chair and throwing it
at the screen.
We have sports in the afternoon around four and it is sure funny to see
the hanger deck, there are footballs, baseballs, basketballs, volley balls, badmitten
balls, all floating through the air it looks like 123rd street in
New York on Saturday afternoon. We just
start at one end and play everything, ending up rowing in the athletics room, I
have to get rid of this Navy Muscle some way.
A fellow is playing some of Chopin’s music in the wardroom piano over
my head and it sounds very good, sort of light and free, Chopin wrote happy
music.
The
warship remained at Leyte until 1 July when she and TG 38.4 got
Underway to join the rest of the fast carriers in the
final series of raids on the Japanese home islands.
6 July 1945 “at sea”
We are at sea again and so the movie call is no more and the 0330
reveille call has become the highlight in our lives.
We are back whacking the waves
again, and funny I sort of like it. The
land we saw was not much, the natives were a dirty lot, they think that the
older the meat gets the better it is so they let it hang out in the hot sun,
come what may it stays until it is strong enough to walk by itself (some of it
was strong enough to run).
The drainage runs down on both sides of the street and added to the
color of the surroundings. The houses are rather well built, the bottom part is
open and the top part is closed (some what).
It wouldn’t take much looking to know what your neighbor was doing. Its funny the girls have nice dresses on,
their hair fixed up but never any shoes, each and every one a Daisy Mae.
The little boys are cute, we threw them money and they can really swim
down and get it. They spend hour after hour in the water. They remind me of the Portagee kids catching
money in their mouths off the docks in Providence town on Cape Cod.
The heat is still with us but we hope to get rid of it soon, it is
somewhat of a heat wave… …guess I
better close, flight quarters just blew so I have to be off. Write soon…and keep praying for me and the “Lady”.
By 10 July, she was off the
coast of Japan launching air strikes on the Tokyo area of Honshu. After a
fueling rendezvous on the 11th and 12th, she resumed
strikes on Japan, this on the southern portion of the northernmost
island-Hokkaido. Those strikes lasted from the 13th to the 15th.
16 July 1945 “at sea”
I have lost all conception of time during the last two weeks or so but
I think my last letter to you … was around 30th of June. Our days have reached the 19 hour stage and
believe me when they ring secure most of us don’t even bother to take a shower
we just make bear tracks to our rack. I
don’t mean to bore you … just trying to explain to you and also to myself why I
haven’t written to anyone in the last 2 or 3 weeks
There is little I
can tell you about our operations or our travels, they probably would make for
dull reading anyway.
I
just came down from the flight deck (2200 or 10 o’clock” and I have to laugh,
no matter how long those kids work they always seem to have enough energy to
fight or wrestle on the deck, they seem to have an unlimited amount of energy stored
somewhere. Half of my crowd were
wrestling and the other half were busy playing strip poker (they hadn’t secured
us yet for the day).
The quiet fellows in my outfit are the ones that have three or four
girls and are continually promising to marry each and every one, their chief
worry is that some day I might switch their letters. The steward mates (Negroes) are the ones that
I get a kick out of, they really write the letters.
Well…it is pretty late and we have only a few hours before we are off again,
so I better close.
A fueling retirement and heavy
weather precluded air operations until the 18th at which time her
aviators returned to the Tokyo area. From the 19th to the 22d, she
made a fueling and underway replenishment retirement and then, on the 24th,
resumed air attacks on Japan.
20 July 1945 “at sea”
Well… we finally had that mail call (three weeks since our last
one)… Some of our mail never will catch up
at the rate we are going.
Things are the
same here, the day starts at 0100 (breakfast at 10’ clock…and usually ends
around 2100 (9 o’clock) after which I usually say the he-- with everything and
crawl into the sack…
I see where they are publishing the story of the Bunker Hill, I also
saw that one from the flight deck.
Working on the flight deck is like having a ring side seat at the prize
fight, there is little that happens of excitement that I miss (Oh happy day).
[USS
Bunker Hill was an aircraft carrier: On the morning of 11
May 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion, Bunker Hill was hit and
severely damaged by two suicide planes. Gasoline fires flamed up and several
explosions took place. The ship suffered the loss of 346 men killed, 43
missing, and 264 wounded. Although badly crippled she managed to return to
Bremerton via Pearl Harbor.]
I guess you know that we covered the troops on Easter Sunday when they
landed on Okinawa. I had a special
interest in this, my cousin who I had grown up with and played ball with was
with the marines that made the first landing, I also have a feeling my little
brother was there. We worked day and
night (remember me telling you about the sleeping on the bench incident) for
darn near 3 months before our work was done.
We had a kamikaze skim across our deck and superstructure and explode
only a few feet off our port. We had as
many as 4 dive on us in one afternoon and after three months of that our nerves
were a little sharp to say the least.
Its funny after the realization that we were alive it wasn’t long before
everyone was relating what he saw the other fellow do and getting a great kick
out of it, our old sense of humor stayed right with us.
I wish I could tell you when we will be back. Our hit parade now reads “Women”, “when are
we going back”, and “Religion”. I hope
it will be in October but that is just a wish.
For two days, planes of her
air group pounded installations around the Kure naval base. Another fueling
retirement came on the 26th, but the 27th and 28th
found her planes in the air above Kure again.
26 July 1945
Kure,
Things here are the same, the fellow next door was killed yesterday and
now the room seems cold and empty, its hard to believe that we won’t see him
anymore, won’t enjoy his quick laugh and easy going way. He was tall and thin and young with so much
to live for. It all seems like part of a
dream, this life we lead.
Things here are the same, we still have the long days, today I took on
fuel from a tanker so the day was an easy one, we usually don’t do much on
fueling days, just rigging up and then watching the gauges to see that the
incoming pressure doesn’t exceed a certain amount, it is a far cry from the
usual wild day on the flight deck.
Crew
calisthenics, Yorktown,1943
On the 29th and 30th,
she shifted targets back to the Tokyo area before another fueling retirement
and another typhoon took her out of action until the beginning of the first
week in August.
30 June
1945
This is just a short note mainly to send you the picture of the Best …boys
aboard the “Lady”. It is not a good
picture but since pictures are scarce it will have to do.
We all feel like we will be back to Bremerton around Nov. sometime…
6 Aug 1945 “at sea”
Al (TBF pilot) and I are sitting here writing together. He has all his pictures of his wife and
little boy. His little boy is only 6
months old and sure is cute. Al is so
darned proud of him it is funny. Al and
I just met a week or so ago and now are quite friendly, he drops down the room
and we talk about all things. He has
that slow Montana way about him that is so different from the ways of the
people back home that I get a kick out of listening to him.
Life aboard the lady is still the same, not as bad as the Okinawa
operation, it seems the Jap air force is waiting for a certain day and then
things are really going to pop.
You said that we would not come back unless the ship was badly hit but
if that is the case we will never be back, this ship is too lucky to let a Jap
spoil our record, the “Lady” is one of the best carriers out here so… I do
believe though that they may send us back this fall sometime for there is so
much a ship and crew can stand of this frontline sea fight, a few months out of
here would bring up the efficiency a great deal.
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Atomic Bomb is dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. On
August 6, 1945 President Harry Truman announces that the United States has
dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The
Force From Which the Sun Draws its Power The
President said: “The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed
against those who brought war to the Far East .... If they [the Japanese
leaders] do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the
air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth” (Seattle Star,
p 5). The
atom bomb was produced and constructed at three main sites: Oak Ridge near
Knoxville, Tennessee; Richland, Washington; and near Santa Fe, New Mexico. At
Richland, where residents worked exclusively on producing the atom bomb, the
town increased in population from none to 60,000 in two years. How
It Was Done The
mission to bomb Hiroshima began at 2:45 a.m. local time August 6, 1945. At
that time a B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay lifted off with two
escort B-29s from a small island in the Marianas and flew the 1,500 mile trip
to Japan. The Superfortress was a warplane designed by the Boeing Airplane
Company, built by Martin at Omaha, and specially modified by Boeing at
Wichtita, Kansas. At
liftoff from Tinian Island, Enola Gay pilot Colonel Paul W. Tibbets
Jr. and a few technicians knew that the plane was carrying the atom bomb.
During the 6 ½ hour flight the Colonel described to the rest of the crew the
10 ½ foot long, 9,700 pound bomb, dubbed “Little Boy.” As the planes
approached Japan, the two B-29 escorts pulled out and the Enola Gay
continued alone. At 9:15 a.m. at 31,000 feet elevation, the destination was
reached and the bomb released. Forty
three seconds later the atom bomb exploded at 1,850 feet over the city of
Hiroshima where 343,000 people resided. The number of deaths that day was
incomprehensible. Estimates ranged from 60,000 to 100,000. Radiation killed
thousands more in the months and years to follow. Of the 76,000 buildings in
the city, 70,000 were destroyed or damaged. An area of four-square miles was
vaporized. The
Atomic Age The
next day, on August 7 the Seattle Star wrote an editorial on the
atomic bomb. Following is an excerpt: “The best kept secret of the war!
That was Hanford, the story of the making of the ‘atomic bomb.’ It is almost
inconceivable that so many people could work on a project, so many people
figure in making the bombs themselves and not one word leak out as to what
actually was being manufactured there. … The
secret now unveiled is overwhelming. Note well the president’s warning words
– ‘We must consider the establishment of an appropriate commission to control
the production and use of atomic power within the United States.’ It is one
of the greatest scientific advances in the history of man, if not the
greatest. … This
discovery makes it imperative that nations learn to get along with one
another, makes … [even the] talk of war, something that MUST be avoided. The
atomic bomb is so powerful, so tremendous in its effect that man might
eventually eliminate himself. … A tiny nation like Switzerland, if it had the
scientists, and prepared itself, might conceivably destroy a nation many
times its own size. Thus
it becomes necessary that nations must take steps to re-educate mankind, not
in technology or mechanics – he’s all but gone too far there – but in
psychology and sociology. There is a new premium placed on good sense and
understanding between men. It forces this evolution for a plan of peace which
must endure or result in the eclipse of man. … In other words, so terrible is
this weapon that man’s first instinct must be NOT to rush into wars but to
prevent wars” (Seattle Star, August 7, 1945). After
Japan’s failure to surrender immediately, a second B-29, named Bock’s Car,
was dispatched on August 9 to drop a second atomic bomb, dubbed “Fat
Boy,” on the city of Nagasaki. The only wartime uses of nuclear weapons to
date (1999) claimed over 100,000 lives and injured or sickened tens of
thousands more. Notwithstanding
the fearsome novelty of atomic power, B-29 raids over Tokyo and other
Japanese cities with conventional incendiary bombs were far deadlier. The
Japanese surrender on August 10 (signed September 2) averted the one million
additional civilian and combatant deaths that would have resulted from an Allied
invasion of the Home Islands, according to military planners. Sources: |
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On 8 and 9 August, the carrier
launched her planes at northern Honshu and southern Hokkaido. On the 10th,
she sent them back to Tokyo. The 11th and 12th brought
another fueling retirement and a typhoon evasion, but, on the 13th
her aircraft hit Tokyo for the last time.
11 Aug 1945 “at sea”
Things have been topsy-turvy since late last night when the Captain
told us about the proposed Jap surrender, just these few words turned a very
sleepy crew into a party crowd in a very few seconds. We have been hearing scuttlebutt all day
today and things seemed to have stalled, so now we are slowly turning back to
routine of sea war.
This last week has been a good one
for us, hearing the Army Air Force name their targets, the news of the atomic
bomb and the final entrance of Russia in this theatre of war made us feel that
finally this whole damn mess is about over.
It wasn’t long after the news came over the speaker system that there
were 10 fellows in the room and the thing that all hit us first was that we
were alive, that we could now go home and perhaps plan a peaceful life.
It is hard to believe that the hours of uncertainty are almost over,
that regimentation is almost a thing of the past, that we have probably seen
the last of the flaming Kamikaze.
…what was the
reaction back home or are they like us still waiting for the final step.
On the l4th, she retired to
fuel destroyers again; and, on the 15th, Japan agreed to capitulate
so that all strikes planned for that day were cancelled.
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19 August 1945, “at sea”
My buddy that I went to high school with was killed at Okinawa and just
found out that my cousin got in a way of a bomb and ended up in the hospital
with brain concussion and internal injuries, he went from 200 lbs to 140 but is
well on his way to getting well now. He
was in the same outfit as my buddy.
So the war ends or at least that is what they say, we lost 4 or 5
officers killed on the day that the Jap emperor announced the conclusion of the
war, and since then we have been on the alert for any monkey business. It doesn’t seem possible that this fanatic
who could dive his plane into a flight deck would think of giving up without a
death fight. This sure caught us flat
footed, we have been walking around lately with the same feeling that you’d get
after the big game has ended, everything seems to have come to a stop all of a
sudden, the sudden gun alerts, the battle stations the diving flaming suicide
planes, the awful suspense, they are all gone and now the flight deck is almost
as same as grand central station or park, in fact we were up there this afternoon
(Sunday, no work) playing catch with a hard ball and gloves. The whole ship slept little the night the
news was announced, of course we couldn’t pick up a favorite girl and go out
and raise hell but we could marvel at the fact that we were alive and could
make plans for the future… Gosh… we have been lucky, it wasn’t natural that we
should be so fortunate, some how your prayers helped us through. Thanks…
From 16 to 23 August, Yorktown
and the other carriers of TF 58 steamed around more or less aimlessly in waters
to the east of Japan awaiting instructions while peace negotiations continued.
Then, on the 23d, she received orders to head for waters east of Honshu where
her aircraft were to provide cover for the forces occupying Japan. She began
providing that air cover on the 25th and continued to do so until
mid September.
26 August 1945,
east of Honshu, Japan
Gosh it sure seems funny to be sunbathing and only a few miles off
Tokyo, a month ago we would have on our steel helmets, our face would be
completely covered with flash proof gear and there would be gloves over our
fingers and hands, and every gun and look out …at the sky. It now seems like just a bad dream, sort of a
nightmare. I never will forget the weird
scream that use to go up from the gun mounts and flight deck when one of the
“zoot suit boys” missed us, it use to set my hair on end (all ½”of it), ah yes
the old days.
After the formal surrender on
board Missouri (BB-63) on 2 September, the aircraft carrier also began air-dropping
supplies to Allied prisoners of war still living in their prison camps.
8 Sept 1945 east of Honshu,
Japan
I received my first real enjoyment of this trip the other day when I
took a 6 ½ hour ride over central Japan.
We went in search of prisoner of war camps with instructions to drop our
food parcels to them. We were catapulted off around 10:25 and it wasn’t too
long before we saw the coastline of Japan before us. The first thing that impressed me was the
beauty of the land. There were quaint
little fishing villages nestled in between the coastline mountain ranges. Each little village seemed to have a large
house and around it were the smaller homes, all around the village were the
rice grain fields, every bit of land seemed cultivated and all of it was a very
impressive green (something I had not seen in 12 mo.) Each village had one or two roads leading in
and Shinto Shrines were at the head of the roads.
We spotted an
airfield and started down to take pictures.
Our pilot said that he was going down as close as possible to the ground
and believe me if I stuck my foot out it would have touched Japanese soil. We had a good look at all the Jap airplanes
lined up on the field and the Japs standing beside them watching us go by. We then climbed up stairs again and crossed
the mountains into the inland sea.
It is hard to describe the beauty of the scene below me, the lazy white
clouds floating by, below them blue water ringed by green rolling mountains,
here and there the symmetry marred by some small village. We passed on and soon saw the larger sites
that we were looking for. Again we went
down real low, just off the tops and some times below and found ourselves
feeling like peeping toms. The first
thing that struck me here was the fact that every building (ie. the ones that
weren’t burnt or blown down) seemed so shabby. All of them needed fixing up and
painting. The sheets and blankets were all out on the line being aired (the
blankets all seemed to have Japanese inscriptions on them.) The people were all busy looking out the
window at us, down below them were the children and when I say I saw a lot of
kids I’m not kidding, these Japs must have spent their nights at home, they
must really believe in mass production.
It was fun to watch the heads pop out of the streetcar windows as we
went by. One little kid was busy
throwing rocks at us but his aim was poor, a birds aim was better and he really
messed up the glass in the green house.
There were few cars around (I saw one 1936 Plymouth) but a heck of a lot
of bicycles and all ridden by men (the women walk). I also noticed that the women seemed to be
doing all the work in the fields (these Japs are not so dumb). I did see one lady dressed in a bright blue
affair strutting down the road with a funny umbrella over her head (she must
have had a different line of work).
We found one camp and those boys were really happy to see us. We went
right down into them and damn near knocked a few off the roof of the shed they
were living in. We dropped our food and
medicine and took our pictures and went up stairs again.
The group joined up and we stared back to the ship, we came aboard
around 4:30 and believe it or not I was darn glad to be back. The Father was right, these Japs had no right
in the war.
On 16 September, Yorktown
entered Tokyo Bay with TG 38.1. She remained there, engaged in upkeep and crew
recreation, through the end of the month.
24 September 1945 “Tokyo
Bay”
As you know we are sitting in Tokyo Bay enjoying the scenery. It sure is swell to feel real earth
underneath again even if it is Jap. I
have been to Tokyo, Yokohama, Yakosuka and many smaller places so far and
everywhere it is the same. The houses
are packed together and shabby, the food is poor and expensive, the people thin
and pretty beat looking.
All the men are wearing some sort of Japanese army & navy uniform
from the very youngest to the oldest.
They seem friendly and some act like we were old friends. It is hard to believe that these women we
were talking to were the ones who had beat and tortured our flyers a few short
weeks ago.
There is very little good things to buy, the people are poor and have
little to sell, inflation has made money rather valueless and much of the nice
things were destroyed in the bombing.
Between Yokohama and Tokyo there is mile after mile of burnt out
industrial sections. The Japs just shrug
their shoulders and say “Fire bombs you know”.
We saw the
Emperors palace and the moat around it.
It is very beautiful and it seems too strange to see whole Jap families
come up and bow before the gates of the palace.
Tokyo itself was a very beautiful city and is something like our
Washington, D.C. Of course now most of
the buildings are burnt out but the shells are standing and smooth symmetry is
there.
We saw a geisha
house and the girls but they are like the rest of the girls here…
We will be on the west coast on or before the 27th of
Oct. We will be, I think, in some sort
of Navy Day parade somewhere, in either Seattle, Frisco, or L.A. We may stay or we may come right back out, it
is hard to say yet…
On 1 October, the carrier
stood out of Tokyo Bay on her way to Okinawa. She arrived in Buckner Bay on 4
October, loaded passengers on the 5th, and got underway for the United
States on the 6th.
After a non-stop voyage,
Yorktown entered San Francisco Bay on 20
October, moored at the Alameda Naval Air Station, and
began discharging
passengers. She remained at the air station until 31
October at which time she shifted to Hunters Point Navy Yard to complete minor
repairs. On 2 November, while still at the navy yard, she reported to the
Service Force, Pacific Fleet, for duty in conjunction with the return of
American service men to the United States. That same day, she stood out of San
Francisco Bay, bound for Guam on just such a mission. She arrived in Apra
Harbor on 15 November and, two days later, got underway with a load of
passengers. She arrived back in San Francisco on 30 November and remained there
until 8 December. On the latter day, the warship headed back to the Far East.
Initially routed to Samar in the Philippines, she was diverted to Manila en
route. She arrived in Manila on 26 December and departed there on the 29th.
She reached San Francisco again on 13 January 1946. Later that month, she moved
north to Bremerton, Wash., where she was placed in commission, in reserve, on
21 June. She remained there in that status through the end of the year. On 9
January 1947, Yorktown was placed out of commission and was berthed with the
Bremerton Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.
[During the War the “Fighting
Lady” received 11 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. She was re-commissioned for the Korean and
Vietnam war and in 1970 recovered the astronauts of Apollo 9 moon mission. She is now de-commissioned and on view at
Patriots Point Museum at Charlestown, South Carolina.]
------------------------
US Navy Muster Rolls, Yorktown 1944
Sliney, W. J. Lieut (jg) , Sept. 1, 1944 date of rank, A-V (S), MOS on
board 2, MOS at Sea 7, Asst. V.F. Eng. Off.,
other duties Inven. Bd.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evelyn O. Soderquist born Aug. 30, 1923, Seattle, Washington;
married James L. Merritt, 1918-1993, (TSGT. US Army, 3rd Inf. Div.),
Feb. 20, 1946; she died Dec. 3, 2018, aged 95, Seattle, Washington. 2 children.
William
J. Sliney and Evelyn Soderquist met at a USO dance in Seattle. They wrote during the war. In the
later part of the war she became engaged by mail to James Merritt, who was in
Europe.
William John Sliney, born 23 Mar 1920 Boston, Mass., 27 Apr
1943 military date. Died 26 Dec 2006, age 86, Monmouth New Jersey. He
married Claire E. Hurst, June, 1952, 1927-2010.
2 children.
William J. Sliney,
1938 Evelyn
O. Soderquist, 1941
