About the Natoma Bay Logbook Project
This site attempts to recreate, in electronic form, the original LOGBOOK of the Natoma Bay Association compiled by John Sassano, Historian and Bob Wall, Editor. As I complete the scanning and formatting of each section listed in the Table of Contents, the link will be highlighted. PDF versions of the completed sections are also available.
Lucinda DeWitt (daughter of John W. DeWitt, Jr.)
October 2007, last updated September 2016
Comments, corrections, and additional information should be
sent to:
Lucinda DeWitt
109 Chelsea Drive
Whiting, NJ
08759
or use our contact form
Table of Contents
History
History (from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships) History pp. 1-4
[History pp. 5-10 missing--can anyone tell me what goes here?]
Descriptions, combining historical and personal accounts, of the battles at Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa are listed below under Recollections.
U.S.S. Natoma Bay Decommissioning (May 20, 1946 Norfolk, VA) History pp. 11-16
Rear Admiral Albert K. Morehouse
Squadrons
Divisions
Recollections
Noteworthy Bits of History (that we made) (p. 1)
"Doug McArthur's Navy" (pp. 2-3)
"The Admirals Lament" (p. 3)
Record of VC-81, Seventh and Third Fleets, South and West Pacific Areas, WWII (p. 4)
The Day The Mount Hood Blew Up (pp. 5-6 plus insert)
Presidential Unit Citation (p. 7)
Did You Know That . . .? (p. 8)
The Day The Battleship West Virginia (BB 48) was "Captured" by the Natoma Bay (p. 9)
Another Mount Hood Note (from John Keenan) (p. 10)
A "Hanging Bomb" (p. 11)
Naval Surgeon Operates While Ship is Tossed
by Tropic Typhoon
(Stockton Record—Saturday, Dec. 2, 1944) (p. 13-14)
Ulithi (p. 15)
Suicide Hit at Miayko Jima (Sakishima Group) by Al Alcorn (pp. 17-18)
Some More "Did You Knows?" (p. 19)
Attack on America by Balloon (by Raymond Schuessler)
- Lt. Robb White, USNR, Public Relations, CinCPac
- NEWS LETTER (May be enclosed in letters sent home)
- GALLANT FIGHT OF ESCORT CARRIERS WON SAN
BERNARDINO
STRAIT BATTLE (excerpts from Associated Press article in Honolulu papers) - Historian's Note
- excerpt from Naval Academy Illustrated History of the United States Navy, by E.B. Potter
- account from Hamilton Lokey, Commander, USNR (Retired), USS Natoma Bay Air Combat Intelligence Officer (Las Vegas, Nevada, 21 September 1968)
- Appendix
- War Diary 25 October 1944
- Japanese Heavy Cruiser Atago
Remembering Iwo Jima (Family Weekly, February 17, 1986)
- The Okinawa Campaign—Introduction and page from Natoma Bay War Diary, 1 April 1945
- from Action Report - Okinawa Gunto - Part III - Chronology of Operation, 1 April 1945
- Additional reports
- Natoma Bay War Diary 7 June 1945
- Photos (from Logbook - Okinawa-Miyako Shima pp. 17-26)
U.S.S. Natoma Bay Decommissioning, May 20 1946, Norfolk VA (also listed above under History)
Pictures
For more Natoma Bay photos please see the Natoma Bay Photogallery.
