Local man spent WWII aboard floating air base

By Harold R. Sargent

May 19, 2008 11:39 pm

— Clayton Drake of Masury joined the Navy in May of 1944 at 18. Little did he realize that he would spend a good part of the rest of his life on the oceans.
After six weeks of training in Hawaii, he was assigned to the USS Hamlin as a signalman, and by that September, he was on his way to Eniwetok as a member of one of the most unusual missions in the history of naval warfare.
With the taking of the Philippines, a unique problem was presented to our military forces preparing for the invasion of Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Japan, which tested our famous ingenuity.
There was no airbase available for the repair of crippled planes and immediate surveillance of invasion sites. What was needed was a virtual air base on the ocean. The entire service of the USS Hamlin lasted 15 months and Drake was there.
At Iwo Jima, the USS Hamlin proved that an airbase could be created and operated in any semi-sheltered water. At Kerama Rhetto, a small island off the south of Okinawa, the most daring base in history was formed to aid damaged planes during the invasion of Okinawa. It was a virtual suicide mission.
The Hamlin was launched on June 26, 1944. It was a steel hulk nearly as large as an aircraft carrier, which had cranes to lift planes onto the flat deck for repair. It could carry 400,000 gallons of fuel and it became an ocean airport close to invasion sites for the islands of the Pacific.
From Eniwetok, the ship went to Saipan, which was the base for the rest of their missions in the Pacific. Arriving shortly after the invasion, it was difficult to moor because bodies of dead Marines and sometimes Japanese floated out from the shore. Bloated from the heat, each was the size of a small cow.
From there the Hamlin went to Ulithi in the Caroline Islands for anti-submarine patrol. A fleet-oiler was torpedoed and went up in flames.
During their absence from Saipan, it had been built up with roads, Quonset huts, and airfields for the flights of super-fortresses’ raids on Japan.
In February 1945, the ship was on course to Iwo Jima and the Fifth Fleet bombarded the small island as the Marines crawled up the slope. For two weeks, the Hamlin lay off shore, operating squadron duty by day and the guns by night.
An incoming shell lodged in the stack of the Hamlin but did not explode. Digging that bomb out of the stack was quite a job. While repairing damaged planes, the Hamlin faced bombardment from Japanese batteries. Shore debris made operations difficult. Mount Suribachi lay off in the distance and the sailors watched as Marines waved flags upon reaching its summit.
A visit to Guam filled the ship with airplane engines, stores, fuel and ammunition, as well as replacements. In March, they were once again on Saipan. Every sailor aboard talked of another invasion. They prepared for weeks.
When the last plane was hoisted aboard, they set sail for Okinawa. The last of March they rounded the southern coast of Okinawa as the Japanese naval bombardment was in process. The Hamlin moored off the island of Kerama Rhetto, 15 miles south of Okinawa, and began to set up their Seaplane Tender operation.
The mission of the squadron was to fly anti-submarine patrols, search for the Third Fleet, and to keep an eye out for a possible attack by the Japanese fleet. The Hamlin arrived four days before the American troop invasion. Damaged planes returning from missions would be hauled to the crane and hoisted aboard for repair.
On April 1, the day of the invasion of Okinawa, the first kamikaze was sighted, and 40-mms came to life. A plane smashed into a nearby LST and those aboard could see sailors diving into the sea.
Soon another kamikazi plane appeared, and when hit by the ship’s guns, the pilot wavered and dived into an ammunition ship that exploded.
The Hamlin hid behind a smoke screen put up by boats at their side. This was effective but one never knew if they had been sighted. Two F4F fighters roared off a nearby carrier, zooming into the direct fire of the Hamlin’s quad 40-mms.
During the heavy siege, U.S ships were ordered to shoot down any plane in the air.
Drake, describing the intensity of the conflict, said, “One of our planes was hit and lost to friendly fire and another leveled off a few feet above the sea and escaped. In addition, suicide boats filled with explosives waited in the inlets for night so they could easily ram the large ships. Two kamikaze suicide planes, torn apart by the ship’s guns, crashed astern the Hamlin. Two ships like the Hamlin went under and another giant seaplane tender went under from suicide kamikazes. The ship’s personnel could see men leaping over the side before she went under.
One of Hamlin’s recon planes found a Japanese Task Force coming south. Carrier torpedo planes were dispatched and every ship of the unit was sunk. During April, May and June, the battle ebbed and flowed with kamikazi attacks a common occurrence. Our anti-aircraft guns increased their accuracy with each attack. When one ship went up in flames and smoke, Tokyo Rose reported a great Japanese victory. The Hamlin listened to Tokyo Rose –– a primary source of information –– each day.
Drake remarked, “One time a kamakazi came so close to hitting our ship that I could have reached out with my arm and touched the wing of the crashing plane. The pilot’s face was easily visible as he tried to ram our ship. At one time we were at General Quarters for 72 hours and then we were so tired that we went two hours on and two hours off. Tokyo Rose said, ‘We are sending you a new package tomorrow.’ ”
The squadron moved to Okinawa and on July 28 the squadron lost its first crew of nine when in a high swell the plane crashed into the ocean. It was from this island chain that the squadron flew hundreds of hours of search, recon, and strikes during the Okinawa campaign. Eventually, one of the most common uses for the ship was to care for the wounded. Its size made it ideal as a hospital ship. This battle activity went on for the most part of five straight months.
When the war ended, the Hamlin steamed north, joining the forest of U.S. and U.K. destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and carriers anchored in Tokyo Bay. Here, for the first time in months, they were free from attacks by the kamakazi and from tropical storms.
The Hamlin stood nearby during ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri. On Sept. 2, the complete squadron winged over Tokyo Bay as the rest of the Allied flying might roared for hours overhead.
Returning to the Okinawa area, the Hamlin rode out 40-foot swells of the worst typhoon that the Navy had ever experienced. The Hamlin returned to San Diego and Drake soon left the service in 1946. In 1956, he re-enlisted in the Navy, seeing combat duty during the Tonkin Incident. He retired after more than 24 years as an EG 1st Class in Interior Communications.
Drake and his wife live in Masury and have five children: Kathy Yobe of Hubbard; Clayton Jr. of Tulsa; Garry of Oklahoma; Jerry of Hubbard; and Leland of Brookfield.
Lawrence Godwin of New Wilmington served on the Hamlin with Drake. The Godwins have two daughters.
The Godwins and the Drakes have been friends for years. When men face the prospect of death together, it bonds them forever, for they participated side by side in the greatest conflict the world has ever known.

Harold R. Sargent, Hermitage, is especially interested in northwest Pennsylvania history. He is concentrating on unusual combat stories of veterans in and around Mercer County.

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