USS Wilkes-Barre (CL-103)

Wilkes-Barre reached Pearl Harbor on 17 November 1944, and conducted exercises in the Hawaiian operating area from 19–24 November and 2–3 December, before she left Oahu on 14 December, bound for the Carolines. Upon her arrival at Ulithi, Wilkes-Barre joined Cruiser Division 17 (CruDiv 17), which was part of Task Group 38.2 (TG 38.2) in Vice Admiral John S. McCain's Fast Carrier Task Force, designated TF 38 while attached to the United States Third Fleet.[1]

TF 38 sortied on 30 December, for what would evolve into the South China Sea raid (designated Operation Gratitude). Cruising in the seas south of Formosa and north of Luzon, Philippines, Wilkes-Barre contributed to screening cover of the carriers while the carrier planes hit targets on Formosa and Luzon during 3–9 January, to neutralize the danger of air attack on the invasion of Luzon. On 12 January, Wilkes-Barre and CruDiv 17 were reassigned as TG 34.5, to deal with enemy warships reported off Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina. However, search planes from the cruisers found no trace of the enemy and CruDiv 17 rejoined TF 38.[1]

Wilkes-Barre continued its screening duties while the TF 38 carrier planes completed bombing raids on 15–16 January on Hainan Island, Indochina, and Hong Kong. Strikes against Formosa continued on 21 January, but Japanese attacks damaged Langley and Ticonderoga. On 26 January, TF 38 arrived at Ulithi for replenishment and repairs.[1]

At Ulithi, TF 38 became TF 58 when command of the Fast Carrier Task Force passed to Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher in the United States Fifth Fleet (rotating two admirals and their staff allowed the massive TF 38/58 to perform at a higher operational tempo). Wilkes-Barre and CruDiv 17 were attached to TG 58.3, Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman commanding aboard Essex. Arriving off the coast of Honshū, Japan, Wilkes-Barre screened the carriers as their planes bombed Tokyo on 16–17 February, – the first bombings of their kind since the Doolittle Raid in April 1942.[1]

TF 58 departed toward Iwo Jima, arriving overnight on 19 February, to provide naval bombardment and air cover when the invasion of Iwo Jima commenced in the morning.[1] On 21 February, as Wilkes-Barre provided shore bombardment, the cruiser destroyed numerous emplacements and turned back a Japanese counterattack against the Marines.[1]

TG 58.3 broke off from TF 58 on 23 February, and Wilkes-Barre screened the group's carriers as their planes hit targets in and near Tokyo on 25 February and on Okinawa on 1 March. Four days after the latter strikes, TG 58.3 put into Ulithi to replenish, refuel and participate in exercises with TF 59.[1]

On 14 March, Wilkes-Barre and TG 58.3 departed Ulithi. Operating from east of Okinawa, the TG's carriers launched air strikes against airfields on Kyushu on 18–19 March. The raids drew retaliatory strikes, and on 19 March, Wilkes-Barre shot down her first aircraft: a Yokosuka D4Y "Judy".[1] Wilkes-Barre provided screening coverage as planes from TG 58.3 continued the strikes in the Okinawa area. On 24 March, one of 'Wilkes-Barre's OS2U Kingfisher seaplanes rescued two downed pilots from Bataan off Minami Daito Shima, Okinawa. Three days later, Wilkes-Barre returned to waters near Minami Daito and, in company with a destroyer group and the rest of CruDiv 17, shelled the airfield there.[1]

On 29 March, when TG 58.3 carrier planes hit points along the coasts of Kyushu and the Inland Sea, one of Wilkes-Barre's Kingfishers rescued two fliers from Bunker Hill from the waters off Yakushima.[1]

On 1 April, TF 58 and Wilkes-Barre provided bombardment in support of the amphibious landings commencing the invasion of Okinawa. As the Japanese air arm had been decimated by this point in the war, the lack of trained and experienced pilots led to its most extensive deployment of kamikaze attacks during this battle. On 11 April, Wilkes-Barre's guns brought down three A6M "Zekes" and an Aichi D3A "Val", and also scored assists with two more "Zekes".[1] When TF 58 moved north to launch strikes against the airfields on southern Kyushu, thought to be the source of the ongoing Japanese air raids against ground forces on Okinawa, Wilkes-Barre shot down a bomber on 16 April and a "Zeke" on 17 April.[1] On 26 April, Wilkes-Barre's Kingfishers rescued two downed Navy fliers some 30 miles (48 km) east of Okinawa.

Transfer of wounded from USS Bunker Hill to Wilkes-Barre

On 10 May, CruDiv 17, with escorting destroyers, was temporarily detached from TG 58.3 for another night shelling of Minami Daito Shima, returning to TG by 11 May. That morning, two kamikazes crashed into the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill. Captain Porter brought Wilkes-Barre alongside Bunker Hill, placing her bow hard against the carrier's starboard quarter. Wilkes-Barre, along with three destroyers, aimed multiple fire hoses on the persistent fires, while 40 men, trapped astern in Bunker Hill scrambled to safety. Wilkes-Barre then transferred fire-fighting gear, rescue breathing apparatus and handy-billies to Bunker Hill, while taking the carrier's injured and dying. At 1534, after four hours of effort, Wilkes-Barre finally cleared the blackened flattop.[1]

On 12 May, Wilkes-Barre held burial services on board for the 13 men from the carrier who had succumbed to their wounds and transferred their surviving shipmates to Bountiful. That day, TF 58 traveled to Kyushu to launch strikes on 13 May against the network of airfields there. On 14 May, falling shell fragments, possibly from "friendly" guns, hit Wilkes-Barre, wounding nine men on the after signal bridge. That same day, the cruiser claimed an assist in shooting down a "Zeke".[1]

May On 28 May, fleet and task force designations were changed to reflect the switch in command when Vice Admiral John S. McCain relieved Vice Admiral Mitscher. Wilkes-Barre, her tour off Okinawa and the Japanese home islands completed, left the renamed TG 38.3 on 29 May and headed for San Pedro Bay in the Philippines. She received repairs, upkeep, and replenishment at San Pedro Bay from 1–20 June, then conducted gunnery and tactical exercises off Samar from 20–23 June, returning to anchorage for the remainder of the month.[1]

For the final attack administered against Japan's main islands, TF 38 sortied from Leyte Gulf on 1 July. Wilkes-Barre and CruDiv 17, as part of TG 38.3, spent the first week of July, the ships engaged in intensive aircraft patrol and firing practice. On 10 July, TG 38.3 provided screening and rescue services while the carrier planes struck Hokkaido and Honshū on 10 July. Four days later, Wilkes-Barre and CruDiv 17 were dispatched to conduct antishipping sweeps off northern Honshū and across Kii Suido. On the night of 24–25 July, Wilkes-Barre and other bombardment ships departed the task group and, at 1210, opened fire with their main batteries on the Kushimoto seaplane base and on the Shionomisaki landing field on the south coast of Honshū. The fleet remained off Japan until the end of the war, in mid-August.[1]

CruDiv 17 was detached from TG 38.3 on 23 August and, on 27 August, after 59 days at sea, formed part of the 3rd Fleet that anchored at the entrance to Tokyo Bay. On 3 September, the day after the official surrender of Japan, Wilkes-Barre moved into Tokyo Bay proper, over 103,000 miles after her commissioning.[1]

Wilkes-Barre was flagship for Task Unit (TU) 35.7.2, a demilitarization group, leaving Tokyo Bay on 9 September for Tateyama Wan, anchoring there that same day. On 10 September, she covered the seizure of the former midget submarine and suicide boat base there, before she returned to Tokyo Bay.[1]

Subsequent operations in connection with the occupation of Japan kept Wilkes-Barre busy. She anchored off Koajiro Ko, Sagami Wan, 12–14 September, to demilitarize the Aburatsubo and Kurihama midget submarine bases on the Sagami peninsula. She took on fuel and provisions in Tokyo Bay on 14 September before shifting to Onagawa Wan between 15–17 September. She then covered the occupation at Katsuura Wan before turning to Tokyo on 24 September.[1]

From 24 September to 4 October, Wilkes-Barre anchored within sight of Mount Fuji, and held gunnery and tactical exercises from 24–28 October. Detached from the 5th Fleet on 5 November, Wilkes-Barre set out on 9 November for Korea, reaching Jinsen on 13 November.[1]

On 16 November, Wilkes-Barre, in company with the destroyers Hart and Bell, shifted to Tsingtao, China. Further occupation duties kept her at that port until 19 November; but, over the ensuing weeks, she steamed twice to Taku and Chinwangtao, China, before returning to Tsingtao where she spent the remainder of the year 1945.[1]

Finally sailing for the United States on 13 January 1946, Wilkes-Barre proceeded, via Pearl Harbor, and reached San Pedro, California, on the last day of January. Wilkes-Barre got underway on 4 March, bound for the east coast of the United States. Transiting the Panama Canal from 12–14 March, the light cruiser put into Philadelphia on 18 March and remained there through the spring and summer of 1946. She got underway for the Gulf of Mexico on 20 October and reached New Orleans in time to celebrate Navy Day on 27 October.[1]

From New Orleans, Wilkes-Barre sailed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and a period of refresher training in company with Dayton and Providence. After returning to Norfolk, Virginia, on 13 December, Wilkes-Barre made a goodwill cruise to England and Norway; underway on 17 February 1947, she reached Plymouth, England, on 27 February. She then operated in the waters of the British Isles throughout March and April and made one trip to Bergen, Norway, before returning to the United States for eventual assignment to the United States Reserve Fleet.[1]

Decommissioned on 9 October 1947, Wilkes-Barre was simultaneously placed in reserve at Philadelphia. She remained in "mothballs" at Philadelphia until struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 January 1971, the last light cruiser on the Register list.

Wilkes-Barre provided one last service to the US Navy, when she was subjected to underwater explosive tests off the Florida Keys on 12 May 1972. Her battered hulk broke in two, with the after section sinking of its own accord, while the forward section sank on 13 May, as a result of a scuttling charge.[1]