I enlisted on 8 Dec 1941 as a 17 year old, only child. I was assigned to Norfolk Naval Training Station for book camp. On 10 Jan 1942 I was assigned to the USS North Carolina and boarded her about 30 miles off Key West FL. Due to tight sleeping quarters in most of the crews quarters, I was assigned a bunk in the Marine Compartment, so I spent the first 3 or 4 months with the Marines before room opened up for me to move to the regular sleeping compartment for radiomen. My stay there was fine, but I’m sure they looked at me as a “fish out of water”. After about 6 months training and various exercises the ship transited the Canal and passed on to the Pacific. In the meantime, I had been assigned to the radio gang and I was being trained in electronics, morse code, and all those radio “things”. We arrived in the Pacific just in time to join the TF that was going to invade the Solomons. We participated in that on 7 Aug 1942 and the Battle of Eastern Solomons on 24 Aug 1942. On 15 Sep 1942 we were torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-19. I will not go into all of the various actions, but suffice it to say that we participated in almost all from that point on representing 15 battle stars plus a whole gang of air attacks. I stayed with the ship, turning down several opportunities for transfer. I had decided that she was a good ship and a safe ship and if I stayed aboard I might survive the war. I was discharged 23 Oct 1945 as a RM2/c.

I had joined the Navy in December 1941 and, following boot camp, was assigned to the battleship USS NORTH CAROLINA (BB55). My first berth was in the Marine Compartment. The ship participated in almost every island campaign and naval battle in the Pacific, but by mid 1945 it was still not clear how and when we would finally defeat the Japanese. I had chosen to remain on the USS NORTH CAROLINA because I felt it was the safest passage home.

During 1945, the Pacific war had reached an agonizing point for both the Japanese and the Allies. Although we were winning, it was at great cost and an even greater cost for the Japanese. They were now fighting with more desperation than ever before.

We were experiencing Kamikaze air attacks on almost a daily basis. We had seen many of our sister ships hit which caused terrible casualties. We heard many rumors about the forthcoming invasion of the Japanese mainland. We felt that this was going to be a real blood letting for the Marines, the Army and the Navy. The experience of both Iwo Jima and Okinawa was fresh in our minds. The “Bomb” saved us all.

During the afternoon of 15 August, we received an ALNAV message to cease all offensive operations against Japan as the Japanese had accepted our surrender terms. I don’t remember any shouting or celebrating. We just felt “thank GOD its over” and that we as individuals had survived almost four years of war.

As the NORTH CAROLINA and other ships of the Task Force cruised off the coast of Japan, many messages were exchanged with the Japanese to work out the details of the surrender and occupation.

After a few days, volunteers were called for to form “Prize Crews” to man the surrendered Japanese Naval vessels. I became part of Prize Crew #1 which consisted of two USN officers and 33 enlisted people from all divisions of our crew. I was the one radioman, but there were gunners, machinists, electricians, etc.

At 0730, we transferred to the fast transport USS RUNELS (APD85) which was a converted destroyer escort. For those not familiar with a Destroyer Escort, it is an extremely crowded and hot vessel, but her meals were good! This transfer was made underway so we went over by breeches buoy. Not the most pleasant way to transfer from one ship to another. Prior to our transfer, we had been issued a Springfield 1903 with bayonet, field pack, ammunition, 'C'- rations, web belt and leggings. Most of us had not touched a rifle or any firearm since boot camp.

On the 21st, I was assigned a watch detail in Main Radio. The next day, they began giving us shots for everything. The Typhus shot was the worst shot I have ever received. We were now with a group of transports containing the initial occupation forces.

The Japanese mainland was sighted at 1135 on 27 August. At about 1545, we sighted Mount Fujiyama. It was a beautiful sight as the sun set behind it. We dropped anchor at 1830 in Sagami Wan about 2000 yards off shore. The bay was full of Allied Naval vessels at anchor. On the 28th, two British Marines were rescued on the beach by a picket boat from one of the ships. They had been captured at Hong Kong and had been held prisoner nearby for three years.

The Japanese civilians were now beginning to venture out and gaze at us. On the 29th, white flags were visible on land from a number of points around the bay. We assumed these were military installations. During the morning, a Japanese submarine stood in escorted by one of our Destroyer Escorts.

30 August 1945 (local time) we were underway at dawn and proceeded into Tokyo Bay. We passed many forts with white flags flying. Any one of these forts could have played hell with our little transport if they had fired on us. We also passed many small villages and industrial sites before we dropped anchor off Yokosuka Naval Base.

As we disembarked into landing craft, we received word to head for the beach and arrived there at 1200. Our main concern was that there were still diehard Japanese Naval or Marine units in the Naval Base who would seize this opportunity to launch a final suicide attack. A Marine combat unit was the first to go in and landed some minutes ahead of us and deployed along the beach.

The beach was a narrow, pebble strewn beach with a slight rise up to what appeared a parade ground faced by several large uildings. After landing, we gathered our detachment and slowly began our advance inland. It should be noted that although we had ammunition, we had been instructed “not to load until ordered”. Obviously, it was for safety reasons. Since we had not handled a piece in so many years, we might accidentally have shot several of our own including the Marines.

Following a slow and careful crossing of the parade ground, we arrived at a large two or three story building. Up to this oint, we had seen no sign of life. Upon arriving at this building, we noted a number of bicycles racked outside and a lone Japanese Naval sentry standing at the door, unarmed. We walked right past him and entered the building. It was an erie feeling. There were offices that looked like the staff had just been evacuated leaving all desks, paper work etc. There were offices of individual officers who left everything on and in their desks as well as pictures hanging on the wall.

Next, we went up one deck and found the base telephone exchange. We also found two or three enlisted Japanese navy personnel manning several of these switchboards, but there must have been 30 places unmanned. The operators were talking to someone and when we came in, one turned and asked in some sort of English, “would we like to talk to the girls?”. Obviously, this was an offer too good to pass up. He passed the mouthpiece and headset to one of our guys who said something and listened for a few seconds. The “girls” were speaking Japanese and we could not understand a word. We learned later that the operator was talking to commercial telephone operators in Tokyo.

We spent several more minutes going through the building, and collecting souvenirs. We were now ordered to assemble outside. Upon arriving there, we found that several of our guys had liberated some bicycles and were wheeling around the parade ground. After a few minutes of that, we were ordered to fall in and we marched over to Barracks #42 which would be our home for the remainder of our stay.

It was now 1500 and our officers instructed us to scrub the barracks from one end to the other. This was a two story building and some of us were assigned to the first deck and some to the second. I was on the second deck with about 15 others when a shot rang out and a bullet came up through the deck, very close to one of our men. It turned out that it was fired by one of our own guys who had loaded his rifle and was fiddling with it.

As night approached, our orders were to stay in the barracks. No roaming around looking for souvenirs. Marine sentries had been posted around the base with orders to shoot anything suspicious and we heard several shots during the night. We never learned the results of those shots. That evening, we had “K” rations which was somewhat of a different fare from what we experienced aboard ship.

The next day, we were given a little freedom to move around the base and discovered that our barracks were right next to a steep hill which was honeycombed with tunnels. Several of us poked into one of these tunnels and found it contained large caliber projectiles in great quantities. On the 30th, we were given the privilege of exploring the base to the limits and found many interesting scenes. One was a huge dry-dock filled with midget submarines in various stages of construction. Also noted was a number of Japanese naval vessels sunk or damaged, but there was very little damage to the buildings on the administration side of the base.

The supply situation was very bad and we were not permitted to eat any Japanese food, canned or otherwise. On 1 September, we ran out of food and crackers leaving us with nothing but stew beef to eat for all three meals. By this time, several other prize crew units had landed. They were from the USS BATAAN (CVL29) and the USS MONTEREY (CVL26). Those guys found a Ford passenger car and rode around the base in it. On 2 September, we saw a number of Japanese Captains and Commanders at the headquarters building.

On 5 September, Lt. Modle, one of our officers, offered us a Japanese souvenir rifle or pistol from a huge stack on the ground. We then loaded up in trucks and headed out the main gate to the “fleet landing”. In doing so, we passed through the city of Yokosuka and got our first view of Japanese civilians and the town. Of course, we passed a number of attractive Japanese girls and the guys hooted and whistled as we went by. When we reached the fleet landing, we were greeted by several motor launches from the NORTH CAROLINA. It was wonderful to see those boats and some familiar crew members manning them. After pulling away from the dock, we looked out into the bay and there, among hundreds of Allied ships at anchor, was our home, the USS NORTH CAROLINA. She was a beautiful sight.

On 6 September 1945, we were underway at 1500 for our return to Boston, USA. It was over and we had survived.

In October 1961, the “Showboat” came “home” to Wilmington, N.C. She is open to the public and serves as a living Memorial to all who served in World War II. The USS NORTH CAROLINA BATTLESHIP ASSOCIATION holds an annual reunion in Wilmington. Other Veterans Associations have held events there including our sistership, the USS WASHINGTON (BB56).

Footnote; I would be most interested to hear from any Marine who has first hand knowledge of this event. I understand that a unit of the 4th Regiment, Sixth Division Marines participated. I would also like confirmation about the date of the landing.

The following, in support of the above story, was submitted by Dan Marsh, Former Marine Raider in WWII.

Subject: Occupation of Yokosuka-1945

Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 11:05:02 -0700

Hello Charles, I am a former Marine Raider and was with K Company, 4th marines during the Landing and occupation of the Yokosuka Naval base 30 Aug., 1945.

The 4th Marines reinforced were the main combat force employed in the initial landing and occupation of the Yokosuka area. As a part of the Fleet Landing Force they were under the command of Brig. Gen. William T. Clement the ADC of the 6th Marine Division. The Landing Force in turn was an integral part of Task Force 31 commanded by Rear Admiral Oscar C. Badger of Battleship Division 7.

He ordered the formation of landing Battalions consisting of sailors and marine detachments of the fleet. In addition, Base maintenance units were formed, naval air organizations to operate Yokosuka airfield and nucleus groups to secure captured Japanese ships.

The 4th Marines joined the Task Force at sea on 20 Aug. General Clement's command included, 5400 men of the 4th Marines Reinforced, a three battalion Regiment of 2000 Marines from 33 ships detachments, a Naval Regiment of 956 men organized into a Reg. Hq. landing battalions and 8 nucleus units to handle captured shipping. A British Battalion of 200 Sailors and Royal Marines would function as a floating reserve for the Landing Force.

The combat ships of the Task Force entered Tokyo Bay 28 Aug. and dropped anchor off Yokosuka. On L Day 30 Aug. 2/4 landed on Futtsu Saki Peninsula at 0558 hours. By 0845 they had secured the coastal guns and mortars and re-embarked to serve as reserve for the main landing scheduled for 0930. Nucleus crews of the Landing Force boarded the Battleship agato at 0805, while the British troops secured the Island Forts.

The main landing of the 4th Marines was initiated on schedule at 0930. The 1st Bn. moved over Red beach southeast of the airfield while, the 3rd Bn. secured Green beach at the Navy Yard. The two Battalions moved forward rapidly posting security where needed quickly reaching the designated initial Occupation Line. Since I was with K CO. I know of these operations first hand. The activities of Naval, Marine and British units of which I am not familiar are well documented in Volume V, History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in WW II.

I hope this information will be helpful and----

Semper Fidelis!

Dan Marsh

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