The Santa Fe

The Navy told a story of another brave ship. The light cruiser Santa Fe had not been hit at all, but she had been in the thick of almost every fight since the Aleutians. Before she finally was sent back for an overhaul, the Santa Fe spent 25 months in the Pacific. "I'd hate to see us get hit," said a junior officer after 16 months aboard, "but a lot of us sure would like to get home."

When she arrived off Attu in the spring of 1943 the Santa Fe, sister of the ill-fated Atlanta and Juneau, was new, but her men already considered her a fine ship. The chow was good, the historical library (donated by the State of New Mexico) was excellent, and the skipper was popular Captain Russell Berkey, who gave humorous, fatherly lectures over the ship's loudspeaker system. Typical Berkey advice to his men after a long spell at sea: "Don't try to drink all the whiskey in Honolulu the first day . . . your stomach has forgotten what it's like."

The Santa Fe was at Wake Island, Bougainville, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Truk, Palau, Yap, Hollandia, Wakde, Samar, Ponape, Pagan, Guam, the Philippines, Okinawa, Formosa. She sank a destroyer in the Bonins last August, and got four cargo ships off Mindanao, 2,000 miles to the southwest, in September.

In the Battle for Leyte Gulf she polished off two Jap cripples, an escort carrier and a light cruiser. In 25 months she fired 174,350 rounds of antiaircraft, plus 33,323 rounds of 5-and 6-inch shells at enemy shores.

On the way Berkey and his successor, Captain Jerauld Wright, made Admiral, and Captain Harold C. Fitz took command. Last March, under Fitz, the Santa Fe with Fitz at the wheel bravely succored the stricken carrier Franklin. Defying exploding ammunition, Fitz laid her alongside, grappled her to the Franklin while he took off wounded and sent fire fighters aboard. After that they sent the Santa Fe home for overhaul. Since March 1943 she had steamed 221,000 miles.

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