Evening star., 1943-11-30
Turner Sent MESSAGE
10 Ali Ships on Eve
.0f GiIberts Attack
BY B. J. McQUAID,
War Correspondent of The Star and
Chicago Daily News.

idycu).-NOCeS OF Ine voyage out:
On the eve of our attack on Maxim
and Tawara, Rear Admiral Rich
4 mond Turner sent the following
message to all ships of the Am
phibious Forces:
Units attached to this force are
honored in having been selected to
strike another hard blow against
the enemy by capturing the Gilbert
Islands. The close cooperation be-
tween all arms and services and the
spirit of loyalty to each other, and
the determination to succeed dis
played by veterans and untried per-
sonnel alike, gives me complete con-
fldence that we will never stop until
we have achieved success.
L lift my hand in salute to the
splendid courage and fighting spirit
of this unified team Of Army, Navy
and Marines, whether attached to-
ships, aircraft or ground units, and
say to you that 1 know God will
bless you and give you strength to
win a glorious victory"
The voyage out to the battle area
consumed thousands of miles and
many days and it was hot, slow and
unenlivened by even so much as a |
report of submarine contacts. Either
1 am getting soft, or these battle
ships are the Navy's worst sweat
shops. They seem to accumulate |
heat steadily both from the sun
beating on decks and on the engine
J
off at night.
But l benefited by a character !
istic act Of naval hospitality and |
generosity. A lieutenant. who still
holds down the job of district at
torney at home though he volun-
teered for active service and has
been on duty nearly two years
found me trying to sleep on the
wardroom transom. When I ex-
planned that the temperature in my
stateroom was we'll over 100 degrees,
he invited me to pitch my cot in his .
room. /
This was a lifesaver because his .
room is located directly above the
ships refrigerator plant and l sus-
pect he has bored holes through the
steel deck into the icebox. Talk |
about airconditioning!
Our formation of dozens of war
ships and transports included many
ships never before worked with such
large groups. Their maneuvers were
ragged and unpredictable during the
first couple of days at sea, but Ad-
mlral Turner, who is one of the
Navy's ablest seamen as we'll as the
worlds leading amphibious expert
made them repeat the patterns
again and again until they began
to work smoothly. BY the time we
approached the combat zone, We
were executing the most intricate
maneuvers with the aplomb and
precision OF well-geared machine.
The mascot of our feet was Jun
lor." Junior is a diminutive auxil-
iary ship OF perhaps 1000 tons
which looks like midget among
all these huge battleships, carriers
+ and cruisers. Juniors real name is
something like "Ferocious," but that
didn't fit at all so everyone took to
calling him Junior. But Junior has
a great deal of pride and dignity
and is real fighting ship like all
the rest of us. One day he sent the
flagship message: Il have a mes
sage for you'll am coming along
side" Admiral Turner got big kick
out of this because most ships deal
very formally with the flagship and
customarily request permission to
come alongside rather than just an
nounce it the way Junior" did.
Pretty soon, sure enough. there
was Junior looking about as big as
dime and almost lost to view be-
meath the giant battleship's counter.
He put his communication over
and then steamed jauntilv off with
the air of one who has delivered the
message to Garcia.
On the morning of the assault on
Maxim We broke out a new battle
flag about 40 feet long. It was q
beautiful sight whipping in the stiff
breeze and cleaning in the reflected
flashes Of our giant muzzle bursts.
A nice touch. thought. Most ships
fly their flags until they get smoke
stained and wind-tattered.
My candidate for the most non
chalant man in the world is the 49,
year-old seaman who after coming
thousands Of miles to challenge the
Jap fleet to battle deep in it's waters.
calmly read book all during our
bombardment Of Maxim. He was a
messenger posted outside the cap
tain's stateroom and he never once
got up from his chair or raised his
eyes from the printed page, though
conclusion frequently lifted the chair
legs clear of the deck The book
L