Evening star., 1945-08-27
Kamikaze Hif Blows
Enterprise Elevator
400 Feet in Air
BY WILLIAM J. WHEATLEY,

The carrier Enterprise, dubbed BY
Admiral William F. Halsey, jr., "th.
Galloping Ghost of the Oahl
Coast" after the Tokyo radio hac
sunk" her six times, kept coming
back from that grave" to build ur
the most enviable carrier record ir
the Pacific. But last May IA jar
Kamikaze crashed onto her flight
deck, blasted her forward plane
elevator 400 feet into the air, started
numerous fires, killed 13 members OF
her crew and wounded 67.
Aboard the Enterprise at the time
was Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher
then commanding Task Force So
Less than week earlier the admiral
had been forced to transfer his flag
from the carrier Bunker Hill when
she suffered serious damage from a
Kamikaze attack. From the Enter
prise he moved again to the Ran
dolph.
Protected Landing Force.
The attack occurred as the En-
terprise was helping protect troops
on the beach at Okinawa from Jap
anese air attack. Twice before, dur
ing the two months she spent on
that mission, the carrier had been
forced to withdraw briefly for tenn
porary repairs at a nearby base.
The May IA attack put her out of
action.
Her crew extinguished the fires
In 80 minutes, and even then, her
commanding officer, Capt. G.. B. H.
Hall, Annapolis, Md, said she could
have remained and operated at 80
per cent efficiency.
But" he added, I'VE were due for
overhaul and the fleet didn't need
us. So we came back"
Bringing those fires under control
IN II minutes and putting them out
In half an hour was an outstanding
accomplishment" said Comdr. w. L.
kabler, executive officer, whose wife
lives here at 2231 California street
NV. Il never saw such spirit
in a crew. They even wanted to
go back, for they had confidence
in themselves and the ship"
Once Bore Brunt of Action.
Conditions then were quite diff
ferent from the early days when
at one time the Enterprise was
the only carrier afloat to bear the
brunt of the early fighting in the
South Pacific. She had walloped
her way up and down and across
the Pacific for 275,O00 miles to
gather on her bulkhead 18 of %
possible combat stars for carriers,
Her planes and shipboard guns shot
down Gil Jap planes, her pilots
sent II enemy ships to the bottom
and damaged and probably sank 1872
others.
She was Admiral Halsey's flagship
December 7, 1941. At the time the
Enterprise was returning from Wake
Island to which she had taken
planes for the Marines. She was
due in Pearl Harbor December 6,
but a storm delayed the force.
She launched her planes early on
that Sunday morning, to land them
on Pearl Harbor airfields, and they
flew right into the japanese attack.
The reports they radioed back were
the first the ship had that the Ma
ton was at war.
Fought Battle of Midway.
Commanded at the time by Vice
Admiral (then captain) George D.
Murray, 3402 @ street NV, Wash
lngton, she spent the next year in
the thick of the fighting, missing
only the battle of the Coral Sea
She fought the battle Of Midway
With the carriers Hornet and York
town, later sunk, and escorted the
Hornet when the latter carried 1t
Gen. James H. Doolittles Tokyo
raiders. After having stood the lone
carrier vigil in the South Pacific
Tor months, in the early summer of
l943, when the first of the Essex
class carriers were arriving, she
came home for overhaul.
The Navy said it was her nieht-
nylng torpedo planes which sparked
the success of the first carrier strike
on Truk in February, 1914, by max
ing highly successful night radar
bombing attack and thereby setting
the pace for the second DAVIS
memorable achievements by the
other air groups.
Planes Found Jap Fleet.
Inc search planes of the Enter
prise, then commanded by Capt.
Cato D. Glover, jr., Camden, S. C.,
were the first to locate the jap
fleet which set OF the battle of
the Philippine Sea. She later
achieved the distinction of being the
only carrier in action against all
three OF the widely scattered jap
forces used In the battle for Leyte
Gulf.
Her bombers hit the new battle
snip Musashi in the Sibuyan Sea
The ship later sank and became the
hrst modern battleship, according
TO the Navy. to go down under air.
craft attack alone. The following
day. the Enterprise participated in|
an an-day battle against a Jap|
carrier force, assisting in the sink
ing OF four enemy carriers, two
cruisers and several destroyers and
ia ms o pino fuo ,,,1r. l-II11.