Evening star., 1942-09-03
Third OF a Series.)
BY B. ]. McQUAID,

BY B. ]. McQUAID,
War Correspondent OF The Star ant
Chiesso Daily News.
ABOARD A UNITED STATES
LIGHT CRUISER IN ALEUTIAN
WATERS, Aug. Eight months t
the day from Pearl Harbor ane
the ships OF this North Pacific
task force have just commemoratee
that forlorn event by blowing the
top of Jap-infested Kiska Island
If anything, the Japs on Kiska
seem to have been more surprised
than the Pearl Harbor people were
The admiral commanding the
outfit reminds us of the date in q
message flashed from his flagship
adding congratulations ito all hands
on a good job well done"
This referred to the 400 tons OF
steel and high explosive which oul
ships have just deposited on JAP
shore installations and on supply
vessels, transports and warships
known to have been congregateo
In Kiska Harbor as our firing began
No Air Protection for Ships.
In spite of the fog we finally got
IN and got good shot at the
place on our fourth try and after
even the stoutest hearts had begun
TO agree with the cynics that at
this time Of year 1t could not be
done.
A shot in q million, maybe, and
maybe We were lucky. The point
is that in about Is minutes of
hroadside salvos and continuous
rapid fire from guns of our cruisers
and destroyers, we have put down
on Kiska an almost unbelievable
weight of metal. For purposes of
comparison: In order to achieve
equivalent results by air hundreds
of heavy bombers would be required
and the attack would require weeks
to prepare and execute, if indeed
1t could be executed at all in the
kind of weather characteristic of
this area.
We have accomplished this with
out any air protection Of our own,
against opposition from Jap shore
batteries and what were believed to
be strong concentrations of Jap sea-
plane fighters and torpedo planes,
and possibly land-based planes as
well. Actually, mere driblet of Jap
planes got into the air against us
and these ran for cloud cover in
obvious panic before the hail of our
IA batteries, our pom pomS, and our
s20-mms.
Shore Battery Silenced.
For a soul-searing few minutes
the shore batteries seemed likely to
establish a better record. They un-
questionably had the range on this
particular ship. But they inaccu-
rately estimated our speed and their
shells fell harmlessly into the water
a few hundred feet away. Be-
fore they could correct for this error,
our port battery of antiaircraft had
wiped them out with a finality ex-
ceedinsly reassuring to us, and prob
ably pretty horrible for the Jap gun
crews,
l am assured by the commanding
officer that this was q pretty snappy
gunnery performance, highly credit
able to the officers and men involved.
The control officer, a young lieuten-
ant commander, ran this show en-
tirely on his own initiative. The
commanding oficer, busy with the
bombardment, Gid not even know
about 1t until afterward.
Our mission was ACCOMPLISHED
without the known loss of a single
life and without even the most
trifiing damage to any Of our ships.
Even our observation pilots, cata-
pultad from the cruisers to provide
"spotting" data for the aimers and
trainers OF our guns, have nearly all
been taken back aboard within the
last half-hour, and two or three who
failed to return are heading toward
relatively close American land bases.
One OF the lads dived his lumber
Ing little biplane on a big Jap trans
port in the fog -shrouded harbor and
got shot in the heel by 4 Jap Zero
float plane that dived right after
him. But OUR lad pulled out into q
cloud bank and got back to his ship
to enjoy the distinction of being
our only battle casualty.
Weather Unprecedentedly Good.
Go back, now, to the beginning.
First, the almost unprecedentedly
good weather of the voyage out,
once Or twice, on the way to the
approach front, we actually saw the
sun. And this afternoon it was
practically beautiful. Fine, 1900
foot ceiling of black, unyielding
cloud.
We were maybe 40 miles from
kiska's southern shore when we hit
the fog: same old dirty, disgusting
miserable, obscene fog.
We held our breath as the forma-
tion plunged into the sickly, gaseous
ooze. But what a break to run
through this stuff, secure all the
while from shore batteries and air
craft and come out smack on the
frlng point, a mere or miles
from the beach. 1t didn't lift. It
got thicker.
We were actually within 3 miles
OF the breakers when we turned
back. Almost at once we were back
in the clear. Now everything
seemed to be lifting, everywhere,
except the bank over Kiska, and
at least we had some time left.
Now we had two or three hours
in our favor II Jap planes didn't
come sweeping through the over
cast. 1t seemed incredible they
hadn't picked us up before this.
Sun Comes Through Fog.
But they hadn't and didn't and
our admiral is a dogged sort of
fellow and so, by and by, we turned
and went back into the Kiska Bank