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PRICEDALE SAILORIN DARINS RAIDJOHN RUSYNIAK4ABOARD THE U. S. S. TOPEKA— The night of- July 18:h will live forever in the memory of Photographers Mate John Rusyniak, 23, USNR. This was his first experience in bombarding ihe very core of ihe Japanese Empire. Nojima Cape, the target, was onh forty-five miles to the south of Tokyo itself His ship, ihe U. S.S. Topeka, commanded by Captain Thomas L. Wattles, USN of Wil-iamsburg, Va., throbbed thru ihe dark dangerous waters of Sagami Sea as part of a light cruiser force under the command of Rear Admiral Carl Holden USN. Every man was alert and tense at his batile station as the Topeka approached fier objective in company with three other Cleveland class cruisers, the U. S. S. Dr^ton, U. S. S. Oklahoma City, U.S. S. Atlanta and screening destroyers including 1he U. S. 5. Ault and U. S.S. Joseph W. Weeks. Suddenly the stillness of this memorable midnight was shattered by the Topeka’s main , bat’cry opening up upon Admiral Holden’s command, Commence Firing.” Our target was the shore installations on Noiima Cape, which is wily a short, Sunday afternoon drive j' frcm the Japanese Capital itself. One 1. large explosion was seen but com- i' plele reports on the effects of our gunfire are not yet available. iRusynia'k’s battle station ttirougii-out the 'bombardment was as a photographer—various places about Ihe ship. The action continued until the ear’y morning of July 19th, ‘when with their mission completed the ; cruisers and destroyers retired.The Topeka and her sister ships of the Cleveland class have a length of six hundred feet, displacement of ten thousand tons, an approximate complement of nine hundred men and carries four aircraft. They mount 12 G inch guns. 12 5 inch 38 calibre dual purpose guns, plus a machine gun battery. AH were ordered in 1940 and each cost more than eighteen million dollars without armor or armament.Photographer’s Mate Rusynialc is the son of Mr. and’ Mrs. Peter Rusyniak, of 110lt;5 Graham Street, Price-dcle, Pennsylvania.Rusjniak by participating in the bombardment of Nojima Cape broke a 730 year precedent; for never since the days of Kubla Khan had an enemy surface warship so closely approached the city of the Sun Emper-ers, Tokyo, as did his ship the Topeka on that most pventful niirht.
Newspaper Details
Charleroi Mail
Charleroi, Pennsylvania, US
Mon, Sep 10, 1945
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Lisbeth C.
CA, USA 25 Jun 2019
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