USS Santa Fe (CL-60)

Late in the year, the busy cruiser returned to the United States to devote the first weeks of 1944 to amphibious training off San Pedro, California. She sortied on 13 January with the task force which would invade the Marshall Islands. The cruisers moved ahead of the main body on 29 January to neutralize Wotje in advance of the landings. After a morning of bombardment on 30 January, Santa Fe rejoined the main force off Kwajalein and, on 31 January – 1 February, provided gunfire support as American troops fought for that key island. She arrived at Majuro on 7 February.[4]

Five days later, she sailed with a fast carrier force which struck the great enemy base at Truk on 16–17 February and hit Saipan on 22 February. She then proceeded via Majuro to Espiritu Santo. She got underway again on 15 March, escorting Enterprise and Belleau Wood as those aircraft carriers supported landings on Emirau Island on 20 March and struck Palau, Yap, and Woleai on 30 March – 1 April. On 13 April, she sortied with a task group built around the aircraft carrier Hornet, to support the landings at Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura), New Guinea. Air strikes hit the Wakde and Sawar Airfields on 21 April, and the surface ships bombarded the same islands the next day to neutralize them during the Hollandia landings. Released from their covering duties on 28 April, the carriers raided Truk, Satawan, and Ponape from 29 April to 1 May before returning to Kwajalein on 4 May.[4]

Santa Fe sortied from the Marshalls with a group centered around the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill, and guarded her consorts during intense air strikes on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam from 11–16 June in support of landings on Saipan. But the Japanese fleet raced into the area to make a major effort to save the Marianas. On the morning of 19 June, swarms of Japanese carrier aircraft attacked the American 5th Fleet. Santa Fe's guns contributed to the flak cover which protected the US carriers while American naval aviators destroyed Japan's naval air arm. Through the night and into the following day, the 5th Fleet pursued the retiring enemy warships, located them at mid-afternoon, and launched planes for a successful attack. That night, Santa Fe, ignoring possible Japanese submarines, turned on her lights to help guide the American planes back to their carriers. After strikes on Pagan Island on 24 June, Santa Fe's group entered Eniwetok for replenishment on the 27th.[4]

Three days later, the cruiser rejoined Hornet's group; and, after morning air strikes, carried out a surface bombardment of Iwo Jima on 4 July. From 6–21 July, the carrier group alternated strikes between Guam and Rota to prevent enemy use of airfields there; and, from the 25–28 July, while striking Yap and Ulithi, the naval aircraft obtained invaluable photographic intelligence. After six hours at anchor off Saipan on 2 August, the force struck again at Iwo Jima on 4 and 5 August. On 4 August, the cruisers engaged a small Japanese convoy, sinking several vessels including the escort Matsu; and, on 5 August, they bombarded Iwo Jima. The carrier group returned to Eniwetok on 11 August.[4]

From 30 August 1944 to 26 January 1945, Santa Fe operated in carrier groups centered about Essex. Their first mission was a strike on Peleliu in the Palaus from 6–8 September and Mindanao in the Philippines on 9–10 September. On 9 September, the cruisers engaged a second Japanese convoy, sinking a number of small vessels. Further air strikes in the Visayan Sea came between 12 and 14 September, and targets in the Philippines received attention from 21–24 September before the task force retired to Kossol Passage in the Palaus on 27 September.[4]

A new series of strikes to neutralize Japanese air power during the invasion of the Philippines started with attacks on Okinawa and Formosa from 10–13 October. That evening, Friday 13 October, after Canberra and Houston had been damaged by torpedoes, Santa Fe, Birmingham, and Mobile were detached to help tow the damaged cruisers out of danger. On 16 October, a single engine torpedo plane slipped through in an attempt to hit Santa Fe, dropping its torpedo into the wake, where it exploded. Under fire from Santa Fe and damaged, the plane turned in an attempt to hit the bow of Santa Fe. The plane hit the water off the starboard bow, showering flaming gasoline and plane parts on the 20 mm guns. Five Marines, one sailor and two Houston survivors were burned.[5] On 17 October, Santa Fe rejoined the carriers for direct support to the Leyte landings.[4]

The Essex group launched strikes on Visayan airfields on 21 October; refueled the next day; and, on 23–24 October, carried out searches for Japanese naval forces reported approaching the Philippines. On 24 October, a heavy Japanese air attack was repulsed; but a single, undetected Japanese plane followed the American planes back to their carriers and put a bomb into the aircraft carrier Princeton, which later had to be sunk. Later in the afternoon, a Japanese carrier force was located to the north of Luzon, and the American carriers raced north to intercept. Early on 25 October, six battleships and seven cruisers, including Santa Fe, were sent ahead of the carriers to be ready for a gun action; and, at daybreak, the carriers began launching strikes. Late in the morning, one carrier group, with most of the battleships and cruisers, was rushed back south to intercept the Japanese Center Force, which had swept through San Bernardino Strait. But the remaining four cruisers, under the Commander of CruDiv 13 in Santa Fe, continued north and in mid-afternoon opened fire on damaged Japanese ships, sinking the carrier Chiyoda, and destroyer Hatsuzuki in the Battle off Cape Engaño, before retiring that night. Santa Fe rejoined the carriers for the next day and arrived at Ulithi on 30 October after strikes on Japanese stragglers in the Visayan Sea on 27 October.[4]

The Essex group, with Santa Fe, started for Manus for upkeep on 1 November, but was diverted to the Philippines because of a report that Japanese surface units were approaching Leyte. Although the rumor proved false, the carrier planes were nevertheless needed to cope with heavy enemy air attacks on the troops and shipping around Leyte. Friendly airfields were not yet fully ready. Santa Fe's group struck at Manila on 5–6 November and experienced its first kamikaze attack on 5 November. After additional strikes on the Philippines from 11–14 November, the cruisers arrived at Ulithi on 17 November. Three days later, while the cruiser was replenishing in the lagoon, Japanese midget submarines got into the anchorage and torpedoed Mississinewa. Santa Fe's floatplanes rescued some of the tanker's survivors.[4]

Santa Fe during Typhoon Cobra, December 1944

The Essex group, with Santa Fe, got underway again on 22 November, carried out strikes on the Philippines on 25 November, and remained on station until 1 December. After another stop at Ulithi, the carrier group was again at sea supporting the Mindoro landings when Typhoon Cobra sank three destroyers on 18–19 December. After searching for survivors, the ships returned to Ulithi on 24 December.[4]

Back at sea on 30 December 1944, the Essex force struck Formosa and Okinawa on 3–4 January 1945, Luzon on 6–7 January, and Formosa again on 9 January, to neutralize Japanese air fields during landings on Luzon from Lingayen Gulf. The ships then entered the South China Sea, raided shipping along the Indochina coast on 12 January, and along the China coast on 15–16 January. Leaving the South China Sea on 20 January, the carriers struck Formosa on 21 January and Okinawa on 22 January before returning to Ulithi on 26 January.[4]

Santa Fe sailed with Yorktown and other units on 10 February; and, on 16–17 February, her group launched strikes on air fields around Tokyo to destroy aircraft that might interfere with landings on Iwo Jima. Santa Fe was detached from the carriers on 18 February, and bombarded Iwo Jima between 19 and 21 February, silencing Japanese gun batteries on Mount Suribachi and firing illumination missions at night. She rejoined the carriers for another raid on Tokyo on 25 February and then retired to Ulithi on 1 March.[4]

On 14 March, the cruiser joined the Hancock group, which launched strikes on Kyūshū on 18 March and on Japanese fleet units at Kure and Kobe on 19 March. Just as the first strikes were being launched on 19 March, a single Japanese plane dropped two bombs into a cluster of planes on Franklin's deck, setting off immense explosions and fires. Santa Fe and her sister ships Mobile and Biloxi maneuvered alongside the carrier, and despite a hail of exploding ammunition, rescued survivors and fought fires. After the cruiser had been alongside for nearly three hours, 833 survivors had been rescued, the major fires were under control, and cruiser Pittsburgh was ready to tow the carrier. Santa Fe escorted the carrier to Ulithi; and, needing repairs herself, left Ulithi on 27 March for a trip back to the United States, escorting Franklin as far as Pearl Harbor. She received a Navy Unit Commendation for her part in the salvage of Franklin,[4] her commander Captain Harold C. Fitz was awarded the Navy Cross[6] and three of her sailors were awarded Silver Stars for risking their own lives to rescue Franklin crewmen from the water.[7]

Overhaul at San Pedro lasted from 10 April to 14 July. The cruiser returned to Pearl Harbor on 1 August and sailed from there on 12 August with carrier Antietam and cruiser Birmingham to attack Wake Island. The raid was canceled when Japan capitulated on 15 August, and the ships were diverted, first to Eniwetok and then to Okinawa, anchoring in Buckner Bay on 26 August, Santa Fe arrived in Sasebo on 20 September and, from 17 October to 10 November, assisted in the occupation of northern Honshū and Hokkaidō. She reported for "Magic Carpet" duty on 10 November and made two trips bringing troops home from Saipan, Guam, and Truk before arriving on 25 January 1946 at Bremerton, Washington.[4]

Santa Fe was decommissioned on 29 October 1946 and attached to the Bremerton Group, US Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959 and sold on 9 November to Zidell Explorations, Inc., for scrapping.[4]