Shore Fire from Damortis
At Lingayen Gulf off Luzon, the USS Warren lost the first members of her crew to enemy action. ... The first boat to leave the ship during the landings carried half of WARREN's beach party, along with several members of the Army shore party embarked. Due to the heavy smoke screen and a faulty boat compass, the landing craft landed on a Japanese held beach near the town of Damortis. It was a fatal mistake. Before it could get underway, the boat came under artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire, wrecking the vessel, killing several men, and wounding others. The remaining men abandoned the craft and began to swim away from the beach, but the Japanese automatic weapons opened up on them as they struggled to get out of range. ... Only 17 men out of 28 survived the deadly hail of fire. It was two hours before the survivors, many of them badly wounded were picked up. ... By their firing on Warren's boat, the Japanese gave away positions that pre-attack bombardments and bombings had not reached. Accordingly, destroyer Russell (DD-414) and two fast transports moved in close and joined Army heavy artillery in bombarding the area until all opposition was silenced completely.
