The Great Circle Route (September 1945)

The Task Force is steaming the great circle route to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. With 421 people aboard about all you can do is ride, sleep and stand in the chow line. It offers a good opportunity to reflect back over the three years and nine months since the war began.


One can not help but think about a few “what ifs” that certainly would have changed the timely conclusion of the war in the Pacific.


What if the U.S. aircraft carriers had not been at sea, but had been in Pearl Harbor and put out of action like the battleships on Battleship Row? The United States would have lost control of the entire Pacific for many crucial months - maybe years. The Japs could have captured the Hawaiian Islands and operated with impunity off the West Coast of the United States. Their only concern would be attack by land-based aircraft until new carriers were constructed on the East Coast.


What if the Japs, quite apart from not finding the carriers at Pearl Harbor, had fully executed their plan and carried out the intended third strike on Oahu? They could have destroyed not only the United States ships and aircraft, but also their bases and petroleum supplies.
What if the American cryptographers had not cracked the Japanese Naval code before the crucial sea battles at Coral Sea and Midway so U.S. Naval commanders knew the Jap plans and intended movements?


What if the American carriers had been sunk by superior Japanese forces in the Coral Sea or in the Central Pacific at battle of Midway?


What if the quite, courageous and unassuming Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance in USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6) had not planned and guessed right at the Battle of Midway - destroying the main Japanese carrier force that had attacked Pearl Harbor.


What if the Japs, instead of spreading their resources too thin, had put all their superior forces into the Solomons campaign?


What if the Japs had employed more suicide tactics early in the war, for instance in the South and Central Pacific?


What if the Japs had been given time to develop their atomic capability? That is the scariest scenario of all.


What if the United States had not developed and dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?


What if we had to invade the Japanese home islands with conventional forces? The resulting cost in human life on both sides staggers the imagination.


For the United States the war in the Pacific was a life or death struggle against an enigmatic enemy - one that approached war with barbaric will to win and a total disregard for the lives of their military.


All this is pretty thoughtful stuff and bears some reflection in more deliberate times, but peace is here, so we must look ahead and plan the rest of our lives.


It is September 12th and Task Force-11 continues steaming en route to Pearl Harbor. The weather has gotten better - the seas are relatively smooth. With 421 people on a ship that accommodates only 331 (max.) it seems that bodies are everywhere - little attempt is made to do any work. We don’t need to fight - all we need to do is keep this old bucket headed home and the “snipes” will see to that. With the weather getting warmer and the seas giving us a dry ride - quite a few of the crew have a topside space staked out for sleeping and generally just planning for the future - and, sharing those plans with anyone who will listen.

We just finished six days of steady, monotones steaming that would be very boring if this old ship wasn’t headed state-side. It seems we spend about half our time standing in the chow line - what a difference 90 extra people makes.



On Saturday, September 15th we heard our first U.S. radio station - Kelly Car Company from Los Angeles. Walter Reuther, of the United Auto Workers CIO, says a strike fund of $4-million has been set aside to make General Motors a test case in demands for a 30% wage increase. The radio newscast reports that General MaxArthur has put tight censorship on Jap news sources and says that Japan can not think of itself as an equal, but as a defeated enemy. Right on Mac.
On September 16th (Sunday) we crossed the 180th meridian - had two Sundays in a row - fried chicken both days - those chickens were half as old as some of the crew. Charlie Zobie, Chief Radioman, had two birthdays and celebrated both of them. Sammy Snead won the Southwest Invitational Golf Tournament and collected $2,000 in War Bonds for his efforts.


Yugoslavia leaders submitted today ( September 18th), in London at the Foreign Ministers Conference, their demands for Trieste, Fiume and other Italian territory. The U.S. Army announced today they expect to release 840,000 troops by Christmas.


All labor unions in the States appear to be “strike happy”. CIO Oil Workers have gone on strike, idling about 200,000 workers. Senator Richard Russell, of Georgia, is demanding that Japanese Emperor Hirohito be tried as a war criminal.


Everyone is up early on September 20th because today we arrive in Pearl Harbor. At 1205 the command ship directs the screen to form a column astern of the main body of larger ships for the entrance into the harbor. The Captain has the conn, the Navigator is on the bridge, and the FOOTE is steering various courses and speeds to maintain a good looking column as we enter the U.S. Naval Anchorage. At 1740 we moored port side to CLAXTON in Berth X-Ray 23. At 1748 KIMBERLEY moored starboard side to CLAXTON.



It is announced that there will be two section liberty while the ship is in Pearl Harbor. At 2230 the FOOTE transferred four MK-15, Mod. 1 and six MK-15, Mod. 3 torpedoes to DesPac Torpedo Shop, Pearl Harbor.


We are getting all the latest news from the local radio stations. Nearly three fourths of Japan’s Army has been demobilized in one half the allotted time. General MacArthur says the war criminal trials will start soon and the Japanese Army will be abolished by October 15th.


On September 22nd 47 enlisted passengers were transferred to the Staging Center, Pearl Harbor, for further transportation to the West Coast for discharge from the Naval Service.
It is reported on the local radio stations that contrary to popular belief, Kamikaze Pilots could turn back if it wasn’t possible to cause substantial damage to a target. They would then be sent on another suicide mission. All Kamikaze Pilots who did not come back were promoted two grades. Big deal. General MacArthur says Japan is doomed, never again to be a world power, militarily or commercially. (Shows how much he knew.) Today, former P.O.W., General Jonathan Wainwright called the Japanese savages. He should know. Emperor Hirohito says he is now for peace and blames his War Minister, Tojo, for the war - sounds to me like he is trying to save his hide.


The FOOTE received on board five officers passengers and forty enlisted passengers from Receiving Station, Pearl Harbor, for further transportation to the East Coast for discharge - ending up with just two less than when we left Okinawa.


At 0700 the word is passed to make all preparations for getting underway. At 0825 we cast off all lines and got underway for Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, in company with Task Group Eleven Point Six. The Commander of Task Group, (CTG-11.6) is Vice Admiral F. C. Sherman, USN, USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6), flagship; in accordance Commander of Task Force restricted Movement Order #232042. Ships of this Task Group are designated for forward routing to the Atlantic Coast for disembarkation of passengers and for deployment to various ports for Navy Day celebration. Ships in company are: USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6), USS MONTEREY (CVL-26), USS BATAAN (CVL-29), USS IDAHO (BB-42), (CTU-11.6.2), USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41), USS NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55), USS NEW MEXICO (BB-40), USS PORTLAND (CA-33), (CTU-11.6.3), USS KENDRICK (DD-612), USS STERETT (DD-407), USS GRAYSON (DD-435), USS MULLANY (DD-528), USS MURRY (DD-576), USS HARRISON (DD-573), USS JOHN RODGERS (DD-574), (CDS-25 and CTU-11.6.4), Screen Commander; USS McKEE (DD-575), USS YOUNG (DD-580), USS AULICK (DD-569), USS CONVERSE (DD-509), (CDD-46); USS CHARLES AUSBURNE (DD-570), (CDS-23); USS CLAXTON (DD-571), USS DYSON (DD-572), and USS FOOTE (DD-511). The ships were formed in cruising disposition 5RS. Speed of advance is 16-knots - steaming on the Great Circle Route from Hawaii to Panama Canal Zone. The estimated time of arrival at Balboa, Panama is 0700 Monday, October 8, 1945.

The FOOTE is steaming toward the country of her birth. Her crew is living in a kind of golden aura of happiness, suffused with joyous awareness that the war is actually over and they are on their way home. Navy Reserve sailors most, civilians before the war and shortly to be civilians again and looking forward to meeting ashore to eat, drink and enjoy the homecoming together. Some are even talking about a reunion sometime in the future.


We got out of Okinawa at the right time. We are getting more detailed reports on the damage by the typhoon that hit Okinawa on September 16th. It was big in area and fierce in force with winds of 130-knots (about 150-miles per hour). The destruction caused by the storm was awesome. Around the rim of Buckner Bay scores of vessels of all sorts and sizes have been blown onto the beach. Masts have been sheared off and superstructures of all the ships have been damaged. The surface of the bay is littered with logs, trees and the ruins of buildings. Ashore, structures were leveled and military vehicles lay in grotesque positions. Word from the command ashore is the island is completely paralyzed. The FOOTE’s luck is still holding - we got out just in time.

The hardest thing for everyone to get accustomed to is how brightly lit all the ships are
at night. John Gallagher, Chief Fire Controlman, remarked that he hoped all the Japanese submarine commanders got the word the war is over. Don’t even think about it.
An unprecedented meeting took place yesterday in Tokyo when Emperor Hirohito, with his top hat on, called on General Douglas MacArthur for a 40-minute visit.

Looking back over the entire war - worldwide - it was a tragic waste of human and national resources for every country involved. It was fought with the cost of four trillion dollars and 40-million lives. The global war that ended with Japan signing the surrender instrument aboard the USS MISSOURI (BB-63) on Sunday morning September 2, 1945 was without doubt the greatest tragedy in human history. Never in the past had civilian populaces been scourged by such cruel punishment as was inflicted upon them in this conflict by invasion, starvation and genocide. Never in history had armed forces waged campaigns of such scope or fought battle as furious with weapons as devastating.


The United States losses were relatively light compared with those suffered by Allied powers and enemy powers. Although the United States battle deaths did not approach the millions lost by Russia, Germany, China and Japan, the American death toll of 293,000 was sufficiently grievous.


The United States Navy’s losses were proportionately high. Ship losses, for the U.S., from all causes during WW-II included 2 Battleships, 5 Aircraft Carriers, 6 Escort Carriers, 7 Heavy Cruisers, 3 Light Cruisers, 71 Destroyers, 11 Destroyer Escorts, 52 Submarines and several hundred other vessels of various types. The Pacific War cost the Japanese 11 Battleships, 15 Aircraft Carriers, 5 Escort Carriers, 36 Heavy & Light Cruisers, 126 Destroyers, approximately 130 Submarines and innumerable vessels of various types. The Japanese started the war with the world’s third largest Navy. When they sued for peace, the entire Imperial Navy was strewn across the bottom of the Pacific from the Aleutians to Australia, from Australia to the Philippines and from the Philippines to Tokyo Bay.


By September 28th we are getting a steady flow of news from the states and it is posted on the bulletin board several times a day. That is a popular place for all the crew and passengers. In China, a victory bonus has been declared for all soldiers equal to $1.50 in American money. Stateside, the Director of Economic Stabilization says the legal minimum wage of 40-cents per hour should be raised to 65-cents and up to 75-cents in two years. The New York Giants have signed Manager/Player Mel Ott to a five year contract.


The ship’s radio picked up a report that 62-year old Admiral “Bull” Halsey will retire soon. And, Irving Berlin has been honored for “God Bless America” as the best wartime song. Hank Greenberg hit a “Grand Slam” homer giving the Tigers a win over the St. Louis Browns and the American League title. They will meet the National League champs, Chicago Cubs coached by Charlie Grimm, in the World Series. Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, has recommended Vancouver Island as the United Nations headquarters. Tonight’s radio shows include Amos and Andy, Jo Stafford and The Bob Hope Show.


The end of September comes and the weather is getting a little warmer every day as we get closer to the Canal Zone.


There is considerable “gaming” going on aboard ship - I figure by the time the ship arrives in New York five guys will have all the money aboard.

Maybe there will be mail waiting for the ship in Balboa, Panama. Sailor’s letters seem to arrive in bunches, or not at all. The ship sometimes goes weeks without mail then hits port where several sacks are waiting - then at “mail call” you will hear your name called several times.

You hurry away to your own little secluded place on the ship and arrange the envelopes in a stack, by cancellation date - reading the oldest letter first. Letters with pictures were a special treat. Most people don’t realize how much the sailor aches for pictures from home. I guess snapshots were their assurance that the things and the people so dear to them are still there and just the way they remember them. All those things that seem so far away in letters will be real in our lives in the near future.

On October 2nd about mid-morning the FOOTE left her screening position and moved up to the starboard quarter of the battleship USS MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) to take on fuel. The MISSISSIPPI was with the Atlantic Fleet on Neutrality Patrol through 1941 and missed the Pearl Harbor attack. After the FOOTE topped off her tanks she returned to her position in the screen.


There is just monotones steaming with the speed of advance maintained at 16-knots for the next three days. The soft coal strike in the states is spreading. A longshoreman strike has paralyzed the port of New York. Phone service in all 48 states was interrupted today. Just returned veterans trying to call home resent the 100,000 communication workers involved. Over 2,700 west coast drivers for Greyhound Bus walked off their jobs stranding some returning veterans. These people are not endearing themselves to the returning service man trying to get home. There are now over 200 strikes in the U.S. involving well over a half million workers nationwide.

General MacArthur has abolished the Japanese secret police and eliminated all restrictions on freedom of speech and religion. Admiral Chester Nimitz who led the Pacific Fleet to victory received a thunderous welcome in Washingtom, D.C. He was honored with a huge parade - 1,000 planes flying overhead. He spoke at the Washington Monument and was greeted by a joint session of Congress.


Emerson Radio has a $25 portable radio ready for market with no outside wires or antenna and equipped with new tube development. Maytag is coming out with a new product line including an automatic clothes washer, automatic clothes dryer and an electric food freezer. The U.S. government has goals for 40% to 50% increase in civilian goods in the next twelve months.
Thirteen Civil War Veterans have met in Columbus, Ohio this week. Their ages ranged from 96 to 102.

At 1548 on October 6th the USS WASHINGTON (BB-56), USS DOUGLAS H. FOX (DD-779) and USS ZELLERS (DD-777) joined this Task Force.

Survivors of six U.S. Submarines lost in the war have been found in Japanese prison camps. Fred Allen is back on the radio after a year and Maureen O’Hara has been signed for a 1946 production of “Sinbad the Sailor” with Douglas Fairbanks.

The crew is up very early today (October 8th) for the arrival at the Canal Zone. At 0300 all ships in the Task Force formed in column astern of flagship ENTERPRISE in preparation to enter the harbor at Balboa, Canal Zone. Bona Light was sighted at 0410 and the Task Force entered Panama Bay and anchored at 0657 awaiting orders to transit the Canal.
( USS FOOTE Deck Log, USS FOOTE War Diary and Gene Schnaubelt’s cartoons.)
(Written by: Wilbur V. Rogers)