Log of the USS BLESSMAN 11 December 1944

LOG:
At Pearl Harbor, Underwater Demolition Team Number 15 reported above aboard the BLESSMAN. These were the men whose job it was to discover and remove underwater obstacles to and amphibious landings. The Navy realized the need for pre-landing information and preparation during the early island hopping campaign. This job had to be done by men on the spot. Therefore, the Navy organized and trained the underwater demolition teams.

My Comments:

It was about this time when I put in for a transfer to another ship. The reason I wanted a transfer was that I wanted to see what the rest of the Navy was like. I wasn't intending to make the navy my life's work but I was certain the life of a sailor was more than duty on a DE or an APD. It was a bad time to ask for a tranfer but I did it anyway.

The members of the underwater demolition crew were, for the most part, young men in good shape. Their officers were the same. They would board motorized rubber rafts, about six or eight men to the raft, and head for the beach. They all wore wet suits and were good swimmers. Close to the beach they would search underwater for objects that would hang up the landing craft trying to land men on the beach. When found, their job was to blow up these objects.

LOG:

On 11 December 1944, the BLESSMAN departed Pearl on the cruise, which was to have as its objective the landing in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. Brief stops the Eniwetok, Saipan, Ulithi, and the Palau Islands were made before the assault force was formed for the invasion. in the powerful force which left Kossol Roads, Palau on New Year's Day 1944 were battleships, cruisers, carriers, destroyers, destroyer escorts, and destroyer-transports.

As the task force entered Lingayon Gulf on 6 January 1945, they were met by a large group of Japanese Kamikaze planes attacking from all directions. When the smoke of the two-hour battle had cleared, several ships had been hit and 21 enemy planes were destroyed. The BLESSMAN had been credited with assisting in the destruction of two of them. The next day, the task force returned to the Gulf again, this time, unmolested. The demolition team went to work under cover of intense bombardment provided by the heavy ships. The BLESSMAN herself covered her swimmers by making the beaches too hot for any enemy bent on bothering the team in its work. So successfully was the job completed that the Army suffered not a single casualty when they went ashore on 9 January 1945.

The next day. The BLESSMAN was detached to escort the now empty transports back to Ulithi via Leyte Gulf. Here she rested, reprovisioned, and trained for the next operation, which was to take us a step closer to Japan.