Luzon

December of 1944 was an intermission from invasion warfare in the Pacific. With the capture of Letye, the United States forces stabilized the southern Philippines. The Army under MacArthur seized several small, undefended islands and captured the large island of Mindanao, which had not been occupied by the Japanese in force. The big invasion and battle would be at Luzon. Manila, the capitol, along with Subic Bay and Corregidor were in Luzon. This invasion would wait until January of 1945.

In December of 1944, the Naval Combat Demolition Crews that would later be the core groups in the Underwater Demolition Teams of 21, 22, 23, and 24 were training at Fort Pierce. Although those men were trained as NCDU, many of the changes already instigated in Maui, had by this time been incorporated into the Fort Pierce training program. This was especially true of reconnaissance swimming techniques.

During that same month in Maui, Teams Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen had finished training about Christmas time. Teams Fourteen and Fifteen had departed for the western Pacific, and Teams Sixteen through Nineteen had started their Maui training program.

The invasion of Luzon was scheduled for January 9, 1945. The Luzon invasion resulted in a new first for Underwater Demolition. Captain Hall (Bull) Hanlon was assigned Commander of Underwater Demolition Teams. The Captain used the USS Gilmer, Team Five’s old “four stack” APD at Guam, as his flagship. In previous operations, UDT was quasi commanded by the ranking UDT team commander in the invasion plan. This was usually a Lieutenant Commander. Now UDT had more brass clout to coordinate bombardment needs, team assignments, and intelligence reporting. Six Underwater Demolition Teams were assigned to the Luzon operation. Those teams were Teams 5, 8, 9, 10, 14, and 15. We will review each team’s operations in order of their commission age beginning with Team 5.

Hollandia, New Guinia where they enjoyed some rest and recreation. In late December, the Team engaged in some advanced training. They were still assigned to the Humphreys, and on December 27 the Team joined the bombardment group for the invasion of Luzon. Moving north and west the enormous fleet passed near Leyte. And as they moved north from there, the Japanese started attacking with fighter and dive-bombers. The attack was almost continuous for the rest of the journey to Luzon. This was the first evidence in the research for this manuscript verifying the use of Kamikaze by the Japanese. Many ships were hit. The escort carrier, Ommaney Bay, was sunk and the Light cruiser USS Louisville was hit.

On January 7, 1945, the attack force moved into Lingayen Gulf on the West Coast of Luzon. Lingayen Gulf is over one hundred miles north of Manila. The big guns of the bombardment force immediately started sending salvo after salvo into the beach areas to be checked by the UDT Teams.

That afternoon Team Five was assigned about 2000 yards of beach to reconnoiter. The swimmers were dropped from the LCPRs at 1430 (2:30 P.M.). They were dropped further from the beach than they had been at Leyte, and that coupled with good fire support from the bombardment force, kept the LCPRs safe from enemy fire. The long swim took nearly two hours and swimmer retrieval was at 1630 (4:30 P.M.). The beach was clear of obstacles and mines. The swimmers reported that there was no enemy fire directed at them.

The following day, January 8, the Team made some diversionary missions in to some other beaches. On January 9, the attack troops invaded Luzon. Those who landed on Team Five’s beach walked on to the beach unopposed.

On January 10, the team received orders to leave for Ulithi. The Humphreys was on full battle alert and under constant threat of attack from the suicide planes until the ship moved beyond Letye.

Team Five had four invasions behind them with many reconnaissance and demolition missions accomplished. At Ulithi, they were transferred to the USS Mississippi. The old battleship took them to Pearl Harbor, where the men were given a six-day leave. After the leave, the Team moved over to the Maui Underwater Demolition training Base. In March, Team members received orders to depart for the states and by April they were on a 30-day rehabilitation leave throughout the United States. From the leave, the men reported to Fort Pierce, Florida, where the Team was reorganized with many replacements.

After the termination of the Leyte operations, Team 8 moved to New Caledonia, where the team members had physical fitness training and advanced training for the Lingayen Gulf attack on Luzon. Still aboard the Badger the team moved to Palau Islands in the Carolina Islands to stage for the Luzon effort. On January 1, 1945 the attack force left the Carolinas bound for Lingayen Gulf and Luzon.

Team Eight worked along side Teams Ten and Fourteen on the north beaches of the Lingayen Gulf. The Team made two pre-assault reconnaissance missions finding no obstacles or mines. They charted the beaches, and reported the fire support was excellent.

After the Luzon landings, Team 8 returned to Ulithi, which was by this time a large anchorage and staging area for the assault forces for all future invasions.

Team Nine after being hurt with casualties at Leyte had moved to New Guinia after that operation. The team was assigned to the USS Belkamp after the Brooks was put in for repairs. In late December of 1944, the team aboard the Belkamp moved to Kossol Passage in the Palau Group. There they joined other units of the fire and bombardment group1 and at the end of the month, the headed for the Lingayen Gulf.

On the morning of January 6, the Belkamp entered Lingayen Gulf through placid and mine-swept waters. This was in contrast to their earlier missions at Leyte, where the un-swept waters forced their support forces to stay so far from the beaches that they were ineffective. The bombardment group proceeded to shell shore positions most of that day1 and moved out to sea in the late afternoon. The night of the 6th, the fleet sustained heavy enemy air attacks from both the small suicide planes and larger bombers.

The following morning the fleet moved back into the Gulf, and Team Nine working along side Of Teams 5 and 15 made a reconnaissance mission of their assigned beaches on the south of Lingayen Gulf. The Belkamp moved within 3000 yards of the beach and dropped all four LCPRs. The swimmers were dropped into the water at a little over a thousand yards from the shoreline. Swimming into the beach the men drew some light enemy fire. But the low profile of the swimmers in the water, and the intense fire support from the huge bombardment force just outside of 3000 yards resulted in no casualties from the enemy fire. The beaches were clear of obstacles and mines, the beach approaches were deep, and the beaches were found suitable for all types of landing craft.

The assault troops moved into those beaches on January 9, and had no problems as they approached and landed on the beaches under strong fire support.

Early in the morning of January 11, D-day plus 1, the Belkamp was cruising screen duty just outside the transport area, when two Japanese swimmers were sighted clinging to pieces of wreckage in the water. It was assumed they were survivors of a suicide boat attack made earlier on the anchored transports. Team Nine sent one of the LCPRs to retrieve the swimmers and take them prisoners. Just as they approached the swimmers and prepared to throw them lifelines, one of the swimmers attempted to throw a grenade into the LCPR. The Team Nine men had no choice but to kill the Japanese because they refused to surrender. Later the same day, the Team killed eleven more suicide swimmers operating in the area.

On January 12, the Belkamp was still on screening duty outside of the transport anchorage. They had been under a sustained Kamikaze attack for several hours when a suicide plane, moving low under the radar, struck the Belkamp amid ship. The plane wiped out the forward stack and two of the LCPRs. The exploding plane set off considerable amounts of 3-inch gun shells that had been readied for the 3-inch deck guns. The combination of explosions set the Belkamp afire. The fire was soon extinguished, but when Team Nine counted their losses, they had eight men dead, three missing, and thirteen wounded. The USS Newman, APD-59, pulled alongside to aid and evacuate the wounded. The Belkamp was towed to shallow water and there anchored. Team Nine survivors were assigned to the USS Sands, APD-13, and on the morning or January 13 they left Lingayen Gulf bound for Pearl Harbor.

Team Nine was down to twelve officer and forty-seven men after being decimated at both Leyte and Luzon. The survivors were assigned to the training staff at Maui, where they stayed until May of 1945. That month they were relieved of the training staff duty by Team 13 and moved to the San Francisco for a thirty-day leave and then reported to the Naval Amphibious Base at Fort Pierce. After a thorough physical examination, only three officers and twenty-one men were judged to be physically fit for further demolition duty.

Team Ten, still aboard the Rathburn and commanded by Lieutenant A. Choate, drew their assignment for the north beaches of Lingayen Gulf along side Teams Eight and Fourteen. Team Ten’s swimmers found no mines or obstacles and reported their beaches safe for landings. The survey was completed on the afternoon of January 7, and the assault troops landed three days later.

The Luzon operation involved more than one invasion, and about two weeks later Team Ten made a night reconnaissance on beaches near Manila. The approaches were shallow and consisted of sandbars that might shift in position. The following morning the Army landed assault troops, and Team Ten swimmers spent most of D-Day charting natural channels through the approaches to facilitate the beaching of larger landing vessels carrying tanks.

Underwater Demolition Team Fourteen was the first “fleet team.” Admiral Turner, Commanding Officer of the Pacific Amphibious Forces, in September of 1944, issued a directive to organize three underwater demolition teams using volunteer combat veterans from the Pacific Fleet. Team Fourteen personnel in all had participated in 33 invasions and allied landings, some in the Atlantic but most in the Pacific. Many of them were from the APDs who had transported UDT teams in the Pacific. Working with the UDT in invasions, crewmen desired to escape the usual boredom of ship duty for the more adventurous life of the Demolition Teams.

Not trained with the rigors of Fort Pierce, the men were subjected to similar training at Maui. In addition to the swimming and physical training, the men had to cover the experiences of basic underwater demolition. The team was liberally reinforced with demolition veterans from Team Able and a few from other earlier teams. Their Commanding Officer was named Lieutenant A. B. Onderdonk a veteran of the Marianas then with Team Seven. Their Executive Officer was Lieutenant (jg) C. E. Emery, who came from Teams One and Three. One of the team platoon officers was Lieutenant William Hawks who was one of Tom Crist’s officers in Team Two.

The week after Thanksgiving, Team Fourteen was assigned to the USS Bull, APD-78, and by the middle of December they were on their way to Ulithi. After a short stop in Ulithi, they moved on to Kossol Passage near Pelelui, where they joined the bombardment force forming for the invasion of Lingayen Gulf.

On January 7, 1945, Team Fourteen experienced their first combat operation as a demolition team. The team worked with the two veteran teams, Teams Eight and Ten, on the north beaches of Lingayen Gulf. After a heavy beach bombardment, platoons one and three, operating under cover of (2) LCIGs and heavy fleet units, made a reconnaissance of White beach near the town of San Fabian. Only light sniper fire was encountered and the team had no casualties. The beach reports were ideal – deep-water approaches, no mines, no obstacles, and the beach slope was good for landing craft.

Having traveled about about 7000 miles for a couple of hours work, the Bull was assigned screen duty to protect the transports. For five nights, under almost constant Kamikaze attack, the Bull cruised off Lingayen Gulf adding their fire support in defense against the suicide planes.

On January 12, 1945, Team Fourteen aboard the Bull left for Ulithi in the Carolinas Underwater Demolition Team Fifteen trained in Fort Pierce as part of Class Seven. In early September of 1944, seventeen crews of Class Seven left Fort Pierce, destination Maui. Those crews were organized as Team Fifteen for the Maui training. The team’s advanced Underwater Demolition Training commenced on October 9 and was completed by November 21. Lieutenant Houston Brooks was assigned to be Commanding Officer and Lieutenant (jg) John Schantz was assigned Executive Officer.

On November 30, Team Fifteen was assigned to the USS Blessman, APD-48. After a one-week delay, the Blessman and the USS Bull with Team Fourteen aboard left Pearl Harbor bounds for Eniwetok. From there the teams moved to Saipan and later to Ulithi. Team Fifteen arrived at Ulithi on Christmas Eve, and had Christmas Eve service on the fantail of the Blessman. One day later, the Blessman cruised south and west towards Kossol Passage in the Palau Islands and arrived there on December 30. At Kossol Passage the team joined the bombardment force for the Luzon operations, and almost immediately departed for the Lingayen Gulf.

On January 7, 1945, Team Fifteen on the Blessman moved with the bombardment force into Lingayen Gulf. Working right behind and giving support to the minesweeper, the fleet directed heavy fire ‘on to shore installations. During the late afternoon of that day the fleet moved close in to the beaches of San Fabian and Lingayen Sectors of the beach. As this maneuver was being carried out, a heavy attack from suicide planes developed A number of ships of the bombardment fleet was hit, but none were sunk. Shore bombardment continued as the ships fought fires from the Kamikazes and still concentrated heavy anti-aircraft fire at the incoming planes. Before nightfall, the fleet moved out of the Gulf and took refuge in the open sea for the night.

The following morning, January 8, Team Fifteen dropped its LCPRs into the water from the Blessman at about 2000 yards off their assigned beaches. The Team was operating along the south beaches of Tingayen Gulf along side Teams Five and Nine. They were assigned the West Flank Green Beach and East Flank Yellow Beach. The LCPRs moved shoreward with Platoons One and Two assigned to make a swimming reconnaissance.

The APD line was about 2000 yards, and a little further out were the destroyers and cruisers, all pouring a withering fire into the beaches. In close at about 1000 yards, the LCIG gunboats were sending salvo after salvo of rockets into the dune line. Team Fifteen dropped its swimmers into the water inside of the LCIG line.

The swimmers swam quickly into the surf line. Little if any enemy fire was noted. The beach approaches were deep, no mines or obstacles were found, and the beach slope from the water to the dune line was ideal for landing craft beaching. The swimmers were in the water for about 80 minutes and suffered no casualties.

On January 11, D-Day +1, Team Fifteen was assigned to survey a 3000-yard beach. The landing of supplies to support the assault troops had been slowed by very high surf and an alternative beach was needed. Two platoons were used for this reconnaissance. The crews left the Blessman at 1520 hours and proceeded shoreward. As the LCPRs, moved inshore, they took frequent soundings establishing water depths at 100-yard intervals. At the 500-yard line, the LCPRs dropped one platoon of swimmers and one platoon of rubber boat crews. The swimmers and rubber boat crews did very well and the approaches were satisfactory, but the surf was breaking as high as 12 feet, a condition that existed on the regular supply beaches, and what was causing the trouble for the supply landing craft.

By 1730, orders were radioed from the Blessman to terminate the operation because of impending darkness. The LCPRs contacted the swimmers and rubber boat crews, who now were ashore, and instructed them to report to the swimmer pickup area immediately. After swimmer pick up, a muster revealed that four men were missing. The Blessman received a radio message from LST 627, who reported retrieving a Team Fifteen swimmer from the water. The LCPRs working in close to the beach sighted the three other men on the beach. Darkness was imminent, and the platoon officer sent a rubber boat crew with the rubber boat attached to an inch and half line extending to the LCPR. When the rubber boat was caught in the surf, it capsized and was swept towards the beach by the giant waves. The rescue crew managed not to get trapped by the surf and swam back to the LCPR. Darkness hid the three on the beach, and the LCPR returned to the Blessman at about 1930 hours (7:30 P.M.). The Blessman had received orders to join a convoy for immediate departure from the area. At flank speed, the Blessman caught up with the departing convoy.

The three missing swimmers finally managed to swim out through the surf, and they luckily were sighted and retrieved from the water by LSM 11 the following morning. The Humphries carrying Team LSM #11, and at a later date Team Fifteen.

Team Fifteen, during that post-assault reconnaissance mission lost (2) rubber boats, (1) carbine, and (1) 38 caliber revolver.

The Blessman with Team Fifteen aboard set out for Ulithi escorting the convoy and arrived there on January 23, 1945.

In the next issue of the BLAST, Marvin Cooper recounts the time period of late winter 1945 as the Teams completed their work in the Philippine Islands and focus on the assault of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was the first Homeland Island of Japan to become the target of a landing assault by American forces and the UDTs were to play a crucial and compelling role.