WILLIAM
E. LEARY
PHILADELPHIA, PA 1987
Rate/Rank
S1
SIGNIFICANT DUTY STATIONS
USS MACAW ASR-11
USS HOUSTON CL-81
USS SALT LAKE CITY CA-25
SERVICE MEMORIES
748
William E. Leary
I enlisted in the US Navy in 1937, in Springfield, MA. Boot Camp at Newport, RL I went aboard the USS Houston, in Charleston, SC. At that time it was assigned to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.President Roosevelt came aboard. We cruised to Guatemala Bay, Cuba. The US Fleet was assembled for Fleet maneuvers. In 1939,1 was transferred to the USS Salt Lake City, Cruiser Division Four. We traveled to South America, Cartagena and Columbia. Returned to Long Beach, CA.
In October of 1939, our cruiser division was detached from the Fleet with the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, destroyers and destroyer tender the USS Dobbins. We were called the Hawaiian Detachment. The following Spring the entire Fleet moved to Hawaii. We did enjoy our new home. Pearl Harbor day, we Task Force 7, including the USS Enterprise were out at sea. We were returning to Pearl Harbor the morning of the December 7th attack. We were 200 miles West at Oahu, when we received word of the attack. We entered Pearl Harbor the next morning. It was a very sad and sickening sight that we saw. Our Task Force was Commanded by Admiral Halsey. We were one of
the first to fire on enemy held islands.
On February 1, 1942, we bombed Wotje Atoll at the Marshall Islands. On February 24th we bombarded Japanese held Wake Island. March 4Ih we bombarded Marcus Island. On April 18th we were one of many ships escorting the USS Hornet with the Doolittle Bombers. We were dispatched from our group to Australia. We operated with their Fleet. We went to Wellington, New Zealand, to convoy the landing force for the Guadalcanal Landings, which we helped to cover. We operated with the Aircraft Carrier USS Wasp until she was sunk by torpedoes. We trained for night time action. We intercepted a Japanese group called the Tokyo Express at Cape Esperance. We did not lose any ships in the night battle, but several took hits, including the USS Salt Lake City. We returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs. I was assigned to new construction. I hated to leave a great ship.
