USS Missouri seen from USS MAYO in Tokyo Bay, 2 Sept., 1945.

I ditched my F6F Hellcat in the Pacific about a days cruise east of Leyte Gulf. This was on June 26, 1945. I was fished out by the crew of your ship and I will always remember that experience! I have often wondered if I could meet the sailor (Joseph Hull, GM2/c ?) who dived over the side and fished me out! Also, would like to meet the other members of the officers and crew. Norman R. Loesing, F6F Hellcat USN fighter pilot.

Onto the Pacific and Tokyo Bay
The European situation was only a matter of time by April 1945 and MAYO received orders to the Pacific. She was at sea painted gray on V-E day headed for the Panama Canal and all points in the Far East. MAYO and her sister ships of Squadron 7 regrouped in San Diego, CA and headed to Pearl Harbor, HI. Here these ships would undergo extensive two week gunnery training.

Now in the Pacific, the ship quickly got a new nickname.. MAYO MARU. MAYO set out from Pearl Harbor with a Fast Carrier Task Force and headed to the forward area. This trip included a air strike on Japanese held Wake Island while MAYO provided anti-sub screen and plane guard protection for the carriers. Two weeks after leaving Pearl, the task force arrived in Leyte Gulf, Philippine Islands to find a huge strike force at anchor.

Late June 1945, MAYO departed for Ulithi in the Caroline Islands to pick up a convoy to the Nansei Islands. July 14, 1945 was MAYO's first "Red Alert" in the Pacific revealing that Japanese aircraft were in the area. The convoy of troops and supplies safely arrived at Okinawa after a few more "Red Alerts" and MAYO headed back to Ulithi where she anchored on the 19th of July. The crew didn't know it then but the purpose of the convoys to Okinawa was to build up materials and manpower for the final Invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.

View from MAYO as she covers the initial landings of the First Calvary Division as they land at Yokosuka, Japan on 2 Sept. These are the same troops MAYO just escorted into Japanese waters from Manila.

We once again pick up the story from the MAYO's cruise book:

"On August 15th East Longitude date we received word from the Secretary of the Navy that cessation of hostilities between the United States and Japan had been declared in preperation for Peace. No one can describe the feeling that ran from man to man around the ship that day. We were on radar picket duty between Ulithi and Japanese held Yap Island, and the feeling of relief was immense."

Tokyo Bay, Sept. 2, 1945 Dear Joe: It is a great day for us and a real thrill to be here. The lines quoted below were written by my roommate, Charley Yates, a former champion golfer and a grand fellow. They seem to express the feeling that prevails out here today. "With reverence to the memory of those men including our own shipmates lost at Anzio, who down the long road to victory, contributed their all." "And with the fervent prayer that all persons everywhere will strive for and obtain the means by which we can forever live together in peace, happiness, and freedom." "We the ship's company of the United States destroyer MAYO in Tokyo Bay, Japan, on this the historic day of the Japanese surrender, September 2, 1945, thank God for the victory that is now ours". Lt. Carl Seiberlich This letter was sent from Lt. Carl Sieberlich to Joe McMahon, editor of the Times Chronicle Newspapers, on VJ Day.

"We left Ulithi for the last time in August, effected a rendevous with a convoy of occupation troops (First Calvary Division of the US Army) from Manila, and on the second day of September 1945 sailed triumphantly into Tokyo Bay. Historic events were taken place aboard USS Missouri at this time, and there was no more fitting a climax for the hundreds of United States warships, which although outnumbered at the start, had finally swept thru to an overwhelming finish and now lay anchored here practically under the shadow of the emperor's palace in the spot where they had fought so long to be."

During the surrender ceremonies, MAYO provide cover for the First Cavalry Division as they landed at Yokosuka, Japan and began occupation of that area. The following months provided more troop and convoy escort missions from Okinawa to Japan. However, by the 5th of November, rumor turned to fact as MAYO, BENSON, MADISON, CHARLES F. HUGHES, and HILARY P. JONES headed to Pearl Harbor and then to the USA.

December 7, 1945, found the MAYO at Charleston, SC, being readied for decommissioning. The Official decommissioning ceremony for the vessel took place on 18 March, 1946 and MAYO entered the reserve fleet. Besides a short stint in SC and FL, Mayo would be mothballed in Orange, TX until stricken in Dec. 1970.

We finish with this reflection from the Mayo cruise book. "Moored alongside Pier D at the US Navy Yard, Charleston was where this vessel welcomed the new year 1946, the most glorious and thankful of her five long years of pitching and rolling. Those guns, which once protected her against the deadliest of enemies are quiet now, depth charge racks and torpedo tubes are empty; her giant screws that drove her in a twisting turning track have stopped; the living compartments, once alive with healthy humans are silent empty spaces, and as she lay here resting quietly all secured, viewed by outsiders as a symbol of the beginning of Peace, let those who have been on her, who sweated and shivered, spent sleepless nights and traveled thousands of lonely miles, never forget what they went through and the thoughts that they had at the time, in order that no one will ever have to go through it all again."

I made every trip aboard the MAYO, and when the war was over, we headed back to the USA. After leaving Panama, we made a high speed run to Gitmo, Cuba, to check out her engineering capabilities. The MAYO was in tip-top condition..A+. It sure seemed like a shame to decommission such a fine ship. The last several days aboard were a sad time. Most all of the crew had been transferred or discharged. I hated to leave with all the memories of my five years and six months on this ship, which I will forever remember fondly." Orlando "Ange" Angelini, MMC, 1940-1946

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