ORIGINAL: radar
I was just made aware that today is the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. My dad was a radarman aboard the Fletcher Class destroyer USS Terry, which was assigned a pre-invasion bombardment mission. The following is an account of the action that entailed.
At 02:45 on the morning of 1 March, Terry was assisting USS Capps (DD-550) in a search for a Japanese submarine, when a low enemy torpedo plane approached her starboard bow. He dropped his torpedo about 1,000 yards from Terry. The recognition officer spotted the intruder at precisely that moment and sang out "Torpedo Away". Terry leaped ahead at flank speed and came hard right. The torpedo passed harmlessly, 50 yards astern.
By 07:20, Terry was heading for a screening station north of the island. As she passed Kitano Point on the northern coast of Iwo Jima, an enemy battery opened fire and got the destroyer's range immediately. Terry responded with her main battery. Her high speed and radical maneuvers did not spoil the enemy's aim and, although eventually silenced, the battery scored a direct hit on the destroyer's starboard main deck. The starboard engine stopped, and Terry lost steering control and telephone communications.
Terry opened range with her port engine while USS Pensacola (CA-24), USS Nevada (BB-36), and some destroyers put the shore battery out of action. Ships and boats swarmed to Terry's aid. Medical personnel and repair crews came aboard in surprisingly short order. Her wounded received emergency treatment on board, then were transferred to hospital ships. Terry headed for the southern coast of Iwo Jima where she laid to for two days while undergoing emergency repairs. On 3 March, she cleared the Volcano Islands on the first leg of a long voyage back to the United States.
Good description, Radar.
