Chapter 30 - 1944 - 1945 Stanley in the Philippine and Borneo Assaults

Chapter 30 Version 1

1944 -1945

“When they hit the Philippines, I was in the invasion of Leyte and Luzon” wrote Stanley.

On September 19^th, 1944 Stanley was approved for a rate change from Fireman Second Class (F2c) to Electrician’s Mate Third Class (EM3c) signed by Radar Electrician H.R.Berent and approved by the Rocky Mount’s Captain S.R.Patten. On October 1^st Stanley signed the appointment to Petty Officer.

The next day on October 2^nd, Stanley was “Initiated into the Solemn Mysteries of the deep by Neptune Rex, Ruler of the Raging Main, and members of the Royal High Court, thereby qualifying under the title “SHELLBACK” while on a secret mission of war.” as the ship crossed the equator. He had previously entered “The Imperial Main Of The Golden Dragon” when he had crossed the 180^th meridian during the assault on Kwajalein.

His service record includes the following page including combat days January 9, 10 and 12 in 1945. 

  

                                                                                                                                                           After the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the USS Rocky Mount became locked into General Douglas MacArthur’s goal to liberate all of the Philippines. Admiral Nimitz had a different goal going into 1945. Nimitz wanted to carry the fight toward the Japanese homeland as quickly as possible with a naval blockade and extensive bombing campaign. His first objectives were to be two islands closer to Japan – Iwo Jima and Okinawa - to be used as staging areas for the bombing of the major Japanese islands using the new B-29 four engine bombers. With the Rocky Mount supporting MacArthur, a newer amphibious flagship would be used at both Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The AGC-12, the USS Estes, was a new amphibious flagship named after Estes Park in the Colorado Rockies.

Following the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf and the December 11th sinking of the USS Reid, the Philippine island of Mindoro was invaded on December 13^th in order to provide a base for aircraft to cover for the upcoming Battle of Luzon. The major Japanese defenses for Luzon were near the capital city of Manila. On the western coast of Manila Bay was the Bataan Peninsula that separates Manila Bay from Subic Bay. At the mouth of Manila Bay, was the small island fortress of Corregidor. A few days after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, the Japanese invaded the Philippines pushing the American and Philippino army forces to the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor. MacArthur himself withdrew to Australia in April 1942 and vowed to return to liberate the Philippines. He ordered his troops to surrender to the Japanese as they were low on both food and ammunition.

The United States had a stormy relationship from the start with the Philippines. Admiral George Dewey defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 in the Spanish-American War. The Philippinos wanted to become an independent nation but the US wanted to annex the islands so the Philippine American War was fought over the next three years with the deaths of over 4,200 American and 20,000 Phillipino combat deaths and an estimated 200,000 in civilian collateral deaths. In 1933 the US Congress passed a law over President Hoover’s veto to grant independence to the Philippines after 10 years of Commonwealth status. This plan was put into effect in 1935 with independence to be granted in 1945.

MacArthur returned to recapture Luzon Island and Manila in early 1945 with nearly the same amphibious flagships used at Leyte Gulf. Instead of attacking Manila directly by sea, the Allied forces landed at Lingayen Gulf north of Manila as the Japanese had done in 1941. The Rocky Mount transported Major General Rapp Brush landing on shore on January 9, 1945. The landings were not opposed on the beaches but the Japanese again used the tactic of fortifying the mountains inland and relying on its kamikazes to inflict damage to ships. Meeting the troops landing at Lingayen Gulf was US army Captain Russell Volckmann.

The Philippine resistance movement on Luzon was headed by Volckmann since 1942 when MacArthur left Corregidor. Volckmann had ignored MacArthur’s order to surrender to the Japanese and escaped from the Bataan peninsula with other Philippino troops. He quickly provided intelligence on the Japanese positions to General Krueger who told Volckmann to resupply his Phillipino insurgent troops from ships controlled by Admiral Royal on the Rocky Mount. But before Volckmann could go, General MacArthur wanted to see him. When Volckmann met MacArthur he didn’t know if he was going to get a reprimand for not following orders to surrender in 1942 but MacArthur congratulated him on his initiative and made him a colonel. MacArthur also provided a PT boat to take Volckmann out to see Admiral Royal on the Rocky Mount. Volckmann would rise to the rank of brigadier general and later literally wrote the book on insurgency and guerilla tactics for the US army. He went on to found the US Special Forces which came to be known as the Green Berets.

The Rocky Mount acted as MacArthur’s communication ship for the next five weeks during the Battle of Luzon as army troops fought their way south toward Manila. Before leaving for Leyte on February 20^th, the Rocky Mount visited recently captured Subic Bay and Mindoro Island. Accompanying the Rocky Mount to Leyte were two US destroyers and two Australian men-of-war.

On March 8^th, the Rocky Mount set sail for the next landing at Zamboanga on the southern island of Mindanao with Generals Eichelberger , White and Doe on board. The Rocky Mount stayed for two weeks at Zamboanga before departing for Subic Bay. There Brigadier General Barham of the Australian Army came aboard on April 4^th for transport to Morotai Island. Morotai is the northern most island in what became Indonesia. It was captured in 1944 in preparation for the assaults on the Philippines. While at Morotai word was received that President Roosevelt had died and memorial services for the commander in chief were observed.

On April 23^rd, Australia’s Brigadier General Whitehead came on board for the assault landings on Tarakan Island in Borneo. The shore bombardment at Tarakan hit an ammunition dump and blew up with such force that all the ships in the transport area were severely shaken.

On May 3^rd the Rocky Mount headed back to Morotai Island to prepare for the next assault. Major General Wooten, Royal Australian Army boarded for the Brunei Bay Operation in Borneo. The assault was on June 10^th. The Rocky Mount stayed in the assault area for a week before heading back to Leyte.

The stress of these successive operations took its toll on Admiral Royal. On June 18^th Rear Admiral Forrest B. Royal died in his cabin from a heart attack. A funeral was scheduled for two days later at Tacloban, the capital of Leyte Island. The sailors on the Rocky Mount avoided the main course during meals as they headed into Leyte when they learned that Admiral Royal’s body was being stored in the meat locker. On June 20^th the crew along with Admirals Kincaid, Halsey, Kauffman and other senior officers paid their last respects to Admiral Royal.

On June 23^rd, the Rocky Mount started an extensive overhaul and conversion along side the USS Vulcan at Leyte. Plans were now being drawn up for the invasion of the Japanese main islands. Operation Downfall would consist of two successive assaults with Operation Olympic, the landings on Kyushu, scheduled for November 1, 1945. But Okinawa still needed to be secured and its airfields readied for the bombing and final huge assaults on Japan.