USS SLC...Enlisted Navy...Frank M. "Pod" Podlinsek, MM2c

Frank M. Podlinsek passed away on July 13, 1979 - Info. from Son, Jim

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Information found in the SLC Memorabilia Collection

"My Career In the Navy"
Daily Diary - Nov. 13, 1942 through Aug. 31, 1945

Great Lakes Naval Training Station - Nov. 13, 1942-Jan. 6, 1943
Out Going Unit-Great Lakes, IL.-Jan. 15-28, 1943
Machinist mate Service School-St. Louis, MO. - Jan. 28-June 8, 1943
San Pedro Receiving Station - June 19-Aug. 14, 1943
Transferred - Adak, Alaska - Made trip on USS NEOSHO - Aug. 15-23, 1943
Adak, Alaska - Aug. 23-31, 1943
Went aboard the USS SALT LAKE CITY, Heavy Cruiser- Adak - Aug. 31-Sept. 5, 1943
Pearl Harbor - Sept. 28-30, 1943
San Francisco - Oct. 6-10, 1943
Pearl Harbor - Oct. 14-26, 1943
Pearl Harbor - Oct. 29-Nov. 8, 1943
Crossed the Equator - Nov. 13, 1943 2:30 a.m.
First Air Attack - Nov. 18, 1943
Two Air Attacks - Shot down torpedo planes - Nov. 19, 1943
One Air Attack - Nov. 20, 1943
Invasion of Gilberts - Bombarded Tarawa - Nov. 19, 1943
No Information from Nov. 1943 - to Aug. 1944
Arrived in Pearl Harbor - Aug. 13, 1944
Left Pearl Harbor bound for Wake Island - Aug. 28, 1944
Bombarded Wake Island - Sept. 5, 1944
Left Eniwetok and Heading West - Sept. 24, 1944
Arrived in Saipan, left same day for patrol around Jap Islands - Sept. 26, 1944
Anchored at Saipan for indefinite time - Oct. 2, 1944
Left Saipan for bombardment of Marcus Island - Oct. 6, 1944
Bombarded Marcus Islands 3 times - Made a fake landing & island was set afire - two heavy explosions - Oct. 9, 1944
Anchored at Saipan - Oct. 11, 1944
Left Saipan heading West - Oct. 13, 1944
Joined Task Force 38 - Oct. 16, 1944
Saw one of our planes crash. Pilot was saved. 3rd Fleet bombarded Luzon & Formosa - Oct. 17, 1944
Invasion of the Philippine Islands - Oct. 18, 1944
Battle with the Japanese fleet. Lost 5 ships - sunk 20 of them - Oct. 24-25-26, 1944
Anchored at Uthlitha Island in Carolines. Our planes bombed Jap island the day before - Oct. 29, 1944
Got underway - Oct. 31, 1944
Pulled in port again - Nov. 1, 1944
Left Uthlitha - Nov. 8, 1944
Anchored at Saipan - Nov. 9, 1944
Underway for Volcano Island - Nov. 10, 1944
Bombarded Iwo Jima Island. We were at our battle stations from 5p.m. to 6a.m. the next morning - Nov. 11, 1944
Two years to the day I've been in the Navy. Anchored at Uthlitha in Carolines - Nov. 13, 1944
Left Uthlitha - Nov. 20, 1944
Anchored in Saipan - Nov. 21, 1944
Midnight Nov. 26, 1944 - Island of Saipan was bombed by planes. General Quarters for 1 hour. Fire and smoke were seen from the ship.
General Quarters at Noon. Planes bombed Island again. Damaged two B-29 fortresses. GQ for 3 hours - Nov. 27, 1944
Under way heading for Volcano Islands to bombard Iwo Jima - Dec. 6, 1944
Bombarded Iwo Jima in volcanoes. B29s & 24s bombed it the same day. GQ for 3 hours - Dec. 8, 1944
Anchored in Uthlitha - Dec. 10, 1944
Left Uthlitha for Saipan Dec. 16, 1944
Anchored in Saipan - GQ two times - Dec. 18, 1944
Left Saipan to bombard Iwo Jima - Dec. 22, 1944
Bombarded Iwo Jima - assisted by planes from Saipan. Sunk one destroyer escort & on landing barge - Dec. 24, 1944
Routine Holiday. What a Christmas - Dec. 25, 1944
Submarine alert - Dec. 26, 1944
Bombarded Iwo Jima. Sunk two destroyers. GQ from 11:30 to 3:30 - Now heading back. Dec. 27, 1944
Anchored at Saipan - Dec. 28, 1944
Left Saipan patrolling in Bonin Island for enemy shipping - Jan. 1, 1945
Bombarded Iwo Jima in the Volcano Island, ChiChi Jima and HaHa, Jima in the Bonin Islands. We sand 5 medium size ships, damaged three and probably two more. - Jan. 5, 1945
Anchored in Uthlitha in Carolinas - Jan. 7, 1945
Took on Ammunition, fuel oil and supplies - Jan. 8-9, 1945
Left Uthlitha and patrolled between Luzon and Saipan for 6 days - Jan. 11, 1945
Anchored at Saipan - Jan. 17, 1945
Left Saipan for Iwo Jima. Battleship INDIANA is with us. - Jan. 22, 1945
Fueled two cans - 365 - 385 - Jan. 23, 1945
Bombarded Iwo Jima - Jan. 25, 1945
Anchored at Uthlitha - Jan. 27, 1945
Left Uthlitha for Saipan to practice? invasion of island Tininas. We left with 4 Battleships: [1 unreadable], IDAHO, NEVADA, & ARKANSAS; 4 cruisers; SLC, TUSCOHMA?, PENSACOLA & CHESTER with Communication ship No.12 and Destroyers.- Feb. 10, 1945
Arrived in Saipan - practiced invasion tactic on Tinian - Feb. 12, 1945
Practiced invasion tactics on Tinian - left at noon for Iwo Jima - Feb. 13, 1945
Bombarded Iwo Jima with Battleships & Destroyers. NEW YORK & [unreadable] joined our force. Minesweepers cleaned harbor of mines. We fired slow but steady all day. Weather was misty. I saw bombardment. Feb. 16, 1945
Bombarded again. PENSACOLA hit 3 times by our own shells. LCI? was sunk by Jap fire. I saw 3 waves of B24s hit the island. 42 planes in all. Beautiful sight. Feb. 17, 1945
Bombarded again. Planes bombed and strafed the island. Followed same routine of the last two days. At night we patrolled. Almost hit by our own ships firing on the island. Feb. 18, 1945
I saw the invasion of Iwo Jima from a distance as we bombarded a few thousand yards off. I saw one of our planes shot down. They landed [unreadable word] of Marine 4th & 5th division. Out of ammunition. Pulled alongside a KA and took on ammunition. Marines making good headway. They landed at 9 o'clock. Feb. 19, 1945
Took on ammunition. Patrolled at night. Ship continued to bombard. Feb. 20-21-22, 1945
Marines raised American Flag on the volcano on the island at 10:35 Causalities so far about [not sure...numbers marked over] 3372 or 5372? Bombarded about all day - bad shooting - rough sea.- Feb. 23, 1945
Fueled all morning - bombarded in the afternoon and part of the night - Feb. 24, 1945
Bombarded all day and part of the night. Ran aground on a reef and hit a LST. patrolled at night. Feb. 25, 1945
Took on ammunition. Bombarded all afternoon and all night until 6:30 a.m. - Feb. 26, 1945
Took on ammunition. Patrolled at night. Feb. 27, 1945
Bombarded all day. Patrolled at night. Feb. 28, 1945
Took on 5" and 8" ammunition. Patrolled at night - Mar. 1, 1945
Bombarded. Patrolled at night - Mar. 2, 1945
Fired 5" a few hours. Fired 5"star shells at night - Mar. 3, 1945
Fired in the morning - took on ammunition - Mar. 4, 1945
Stayed in the harbor all day. Fired star shells at night - Mar. 5, 1945
Bombarded all morning and in the afternoon. Lost one plane. Pilot killed and also the spotter who was a Lt. - Mar. 6, 1945
Took on ammunition and fired star shells at night - Mar. 7, 1945
Fired part of the day - Mar. 8, 1945
Took on ammunition and fired star shells at night - Mar. 9, 1945
Stayed in the harbor. Had air alert at night - Mar. 12, 1945
Fired all day. Underway for Ulithia - Mar. 13-14, 1945
Anchored at Ulithia. Took on fuel - Mar. 15, 1945
Repair work - Mar. 16-20, 1945
Underway for ? Island Mar. 21, 1945
Sub and air alerts - Mar. 25, 1945
Sub and air alerts. Part of the ship bombarded a small island - Mar. 26, 1945
Air attack - shot down 5 planes in morning. 3 ships damaged - one sunk [MS?], light cruiser & BB NEVADA. Bombarded Okinawa - Acting as a minesweeper - Mar. 27, 1945
Sub and air alert. Bombarded. Acted as minesweeper - Mar. 28, 1945
Acted as minesweepers. Two sub alerts - Mar. 29, 1945
Took on ammunition in morning - Mar. 30, 1945
Bombarded all day - Mar. 31, 1945
Invasion of Okinawa in Ruyuku Island. Fired all morning. Stood by in the afternoon. Shot down 10 planes. Our ship got one. Frequent air alerts and attacks. Ships INDIANNAPOLIS, NEW MEXICO & WEST VIRGINIA were hit, either by suicide planes or our own shell fire. Apr. 1, 1945
Stood by for fire support - air attack - shot down five planes - we were given credit for one. Frequent sub alerts - Apr. 2, 1945
Took on ammunition - Apr. 3, 1945
Anchored in harbor & fueled - Apr. 4, 1945
Bombarded all day. Shot star shells all night - Apr. 5, 1945
Bombarded all day. GQ 3-7 a.m. Task force shot down 10 planes. Sub alert. GQ 3:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Carrier planes and ships shot down 75? planes. SLC didn't fire a shot. Shot star shells at night - Apr. 6, 1945
Took on ammunition and bombarded. Fired star shells all night. Apr. 7, 1945
Stood by all day and night. A few more air attacks - Apr. 8, 1945
Bombarded all day - Apr. 9, 1945
Stood by all day - patrolled at night - Apr. 10, 1945
Took on ammunition & patrolled all night. Apr. 11, 1945
Key? alert. Shot down 89 planes and they damaged 10 ships. Sunk one. 5 destroyers, 3 ?, 1 LST, 1 transport. They sank 1 DD - Apr. 12, 1945
Patrolled day and night - Apr. 13, 1945
Bombarded part of the day. Fired star shells all night. 4 air alerts - Apr. 14, 1945
Bombarded part of the day & fired star shells at night. Apr. 15, 1945
Bombarded & shot star shells all night. Averaged about 4 GQs each day for the last 3 days -Apr. 16, 1945
Bombarded all day, star shells at night - Apr. 17, 1945
Took on ammunition & fuel - Apr. 18, 1945
Bombarded Okinawa - 1 air alert - Apr. 19, 1945
Bombarded Okinawa - 2 air alerts - Apr. 20, 1945
Bombarded Okinawa - Apr. 21-23, 1945
Took on ammunition & stood by - Apr. 24-25-26, 1945
Took on ammunition and supplies. GQ just about all night - Apr. 27, 1945
Bombarded day and night. GQ 7a.m. - 1 p.m. 2-2:30 p.m. Fired star shells at night. Apr. 28, 1945
Took on ammunition. Fired star shells at night. GQ 7am - 1:15 p.m. - Apr. 19, 1945
Took on ammunition and supplies - Apr. 30, 1945
Bombarded - May 1-12, 1945
Took on ammunition at Kama Retta? May 13, 1945
Fire support & fired star shells - May 14-17, 1945
Fire support - fired star shells - I saw the destroyer USS LONGSHAW return fire after being hit by shore batteries off Okinawa. Our own cans sunk it with 5" shells after four attempts with torpedoes. She went aground on a reef when she was hit by the Japs and sunk by our cans. May 18, 1945
Kama Retta? - Took on supplies & ammunition - May 19-20, 1945
Bombarded - May 21-24, 1945
Rest - May 25-27, 1945
Underway for Leyte - May 28-30, 1945
Arrived in Leyte. Stayed in Leyte from May 31 - July 6, 1945. Went along side repair ship AJAX. Got new 5" guns, new radar and a few other repairs. Crew overhauled the ship and repainted it. Saw R. Yates a couple of times. Made a few liberties on Island of Seman. Saw the movies every night.
Underway to patrol between Okinawa & China coast. had firing practice just about everyday. "Gunners couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a mop stick." The weather is pretty hot. We have four [unable to read] CVE, three battleships [unable to read], cruisers are CHESTER, WICHITA & SLC. Light cruisers [unable to read]. July. 6, 1945
Anchored in Buckner Bay in Okinawa. Fueled - ammunitions & stores - Jul. 15, 1945
Underway on patrol - Jul. 17-20, 1945
Anchored Buckner Bay - Jul. 21, 1945
Underway to patrol in China Sea. Planes combed Shanghi a few times. 3 cruisers, 1 light, 3 battlewagons, 4 CVE & 12 destroyers - Jul. 22, 1945
Anchored in Buckner Bay, Okinawa - Jul. 31, 1945
Underway - heading for Saipan - Heavy Storm - Aug. 1, 1945
Calmer sea & cooler weather - Aug. 3, 1945
Anchored in Saipan. Winter clothes - fuel - ammunition - stores & spare parts - Aug. 5, 1945
Charles Ruggles & his USO show came aboard and gave a show for us. Pretty good. Aug. 7, 1945
Left Saipan - Headed NE for Adak, Alaska - Aug. 8, 1945
Crossed the International Date Line. Moved the date back one day - Aug. 13, 1945 Twice
Anchored in Attu. News the war was unofficially over. Aug. 14, 1945
Got underway for fueling dock. Fueled half the night. Aug. 15, 1945
No liberty - Anchored in Adak Harbor - Aug. 16, 1945
Liberty on the beach - pretty good - Aug. 17, 1945
USO show on the well deck - pretty good - Aug. 26, 1945
Underway for Japan - 12 minesweepers, 2 light cruisers, 15 cans, tankers & cargo ship - Aug. 31, 1945