Posted on 03/11/2015 12:56:36 PM PDT by redreno
In March 1945, 15 battleships, 29 carriers, 23 cruisers, 106 destroyers, and a train of oilers and supply ships sailed from "a Pacific base." What was this base? The mightiest force of naval Power ever assembled must have required a tremendous supporting establishment. Ulithi, the biggest and most active naval base in the world was indeed tremendous but it was unknown. Few civilians had heard of it at all. By the time security released the name, the remarkable base of Ulithi was a ghost. The war had moved on to the Japanese homeland, and the press was not printing ancient history about Ulithi.
Ulithi is 360 miles southwest of Guam, 850 miles east of the Philippines, 1300 miles South of Tokyo. It is a typical volcanic atoll with coral, white sand, and palm trees. The reef runs roughly twenty miles north and south by ten miles across enclosing a vast anchorage with an average depth of 80 to 100 feet - the only suitable anchorage within 800 miles. Three dozen little islands rise slightly above the sea, the largest only half a square mile in area.
The U.S. Navy arrived in September 1944 and found resident about 400 natives, and three Japanese soldiers. The natives on the four largest islands were moved to smaller Fassarai, and every inch of these four was quickly put to use. Asor had room for a headquarters: port director, radio station, evaporator (rain is the only freshwater supply), tents, small boat pier, cemetery. Sorlen was set up as a shop for maintaining and repairing the 105 LCVPs and 45 LCMs that became beasts of all work in the absence of small boats.
(Excerpt) Read more at warbirdinformationexchange.org ...
Thanks for the post.
Very cool.
I love this stuff. When America was America.
Great post.
“Give me Operations, Out on some lonely atoll . . .”
Was the PT73 ever stationed there?
Just ... WOW !
Seems the Japanese knew what was there - they hit it with suicide subs, according to the website.
I read an oral history by a Marine who spent a fair amount of time at Mog-Mog.
He wasn't very complimentary. :-)
BTW, book was "Semper Fi, Mac" by Henry Berry. Good Read.
The big I400 class aircraft-carrying submarines with their Seiran fold up planes were on their way to attack Ulithi kamikaze style when the war ended.
They launched their Seirans, unmanned, into the ocean before proceeding to the surrender point. There’s only one Seiran left: magnificently restored by the Smithsonian NASM (funded by the Tamiya model company) it sits underneath the Enola Gay at their Udvar Hazy annex at Dulles Airport.
The subs were inspected, then scuttled off Oahu following the war to keep them from being turned over to the Soviets.
The pics reminded me of the movie “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison”.
I know my Dad came through Ulithi on the Carrier Ticonderoga because I have seen a picture where it was coming in. Can’t say it is him, but there is a picture of a baseball game from behind the batter. The picture is a spitting image of my Dad. I enlarged it when I noticed . . . same face shape, same features, looks about six feet tall like my Dad, and same build. And he did like to play baseball. Would be interesting if I could somehow find out for sure.
Thanks for posting
For later
Somewhere in all that an Officer of the Deck is trying to find his assigned berth and peeing his pants. BTT
History bookmark.
“I know my Dad came through Ulithi on the Carrier Ticonderoga...”
There might be a forum online of former Ticonderoga sailors somewhere on the net who could tell you. You might ask some of the military guys on here where you could look.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.