USS Zellars (DD-777) - World War II

World War II

After six weeks of shakedown training out of San Diego, California, Zellars returned north to Bremerton, Washington, for post-shakedown availability. She spent Christmas 1944 in Bremerton but, soon thereafter, got underway for Pearl Harbor and the second phase of training preparatory to her entry into combat. That training lasted until mid-March 1945 at which time she put to sea with a portion of the Okinawa invasion force. She was assigned to Task Group (TG) 54.3, a part of Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo's Gunfire and Covering Force built around the old battleships. Staged through Ulithi in the Western Carolines, Zellars and her consorts arrived in the Ryukyus on 25 March. For the next week, she joined the battleships and cruisers of TF 54, first in supporting the occupation of the roadstead at Kerama Retto and then in subjecting Okinawa itself to a systematic, long-duration, preinvasion bombardment. Because most of the targets on Okinawa were located well inland in accordance with Japan's relatively new strategy of defense in depth, Zellars' 5-inch guns usually deferred to the larger caliber batteries on board the battleships and cruisers while she provided them with antisubmarine and antiaircraft protection.

After the 1 April amphibious assault on Okinawa, she continued to screen the larger ships of TG 54.3 and provided call fire in support of the troops ashore. Her combat service, however, proved extremely short; less than a month, in fact. On the afternoon of 2 April, she was screening Tennessee (BB-43) when three Japanese "Jills" made a coordinated attack on her. They came at the destroyer's port quarter from an altitude of about 15 feet (4.6 m) above water. Zellars rang up 25 knots (46 km/h) to unmask all batteries and opened fire. She splashed the lead attacker at a range of 1,800 yards (1,600 m) and caught the second some 3,000 yards (2,700 m) away. The destroyer then shifted fire to the third intruder and began scoring 40-millimeter hits on him. The Japanese pilot, however, pressed home his attack and crashed into Zellar's port side, forward of the bridge in her number 2 handling room. His 500-kilogram bomb tore through several light bulkheads before exploding on the starboard side of the ship in the scullery. She temporarily lost all power, and the fireroom had to be secured. Meanwhile, the after 20-millimeter guns continued to ward off additional tormentors and assisted in splashing another plane. That evening, she limped into Kerama Retto with extensive damage. After temporary patching, the destroyer headed back toward the United States and arrived at Terminal Island, California, on 1 June. During some two and one-half months in which the ship underwent repairs and overhaul, World War II ended.