North Carolina class battleship USS North Carolina (BB-55) underway with Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayer USS Lindsey (DM-32) alongside, on October 8, 1944.
After shakedown off southern
California, the new destroyer minelayer sailed from
San Francisco on 25 November 1944 via
Pearl Harbor for
Ulithi, arriving on 3 February 1945. Underway from Ulithi on the morning of 8 February,
Lindsey steamed toward
Iwo Jima. Operating off Iwo Jima from 17 to 19 February,
Lindsey knocked out six guns ashore and provided covering fire as
minesweepers cleared the harbor. On 23 February, she returned to Ulithi to prepare for landings on
Okinawa.
Underway 19 March,
Lindsey arrived off Okinawa on 24 March and swept the harbor for the inbound transports. Then, as the
Marines gained a foothold, the ship bombarded Japanese gun installations and transferred wounded soldiers to
hospital ships. On the afternoon of 12 April,
Lindsey experienced a mass
kamikaze attack. Her gunners scored repeated hits on seven onrushing
dive bombers, but two
Aichi D3A "Val" bombers, damaged and out of control, crashed into
Lindsey killing 57 sailors and wounding 57 more. The explosion from the second "Val" ripped some 60 feet (18 m) off her
bow. Only the “all back full” ordered by Commander Chambers prevented the pressure of inrushing water from collapsing the fireroom bulkhead and sinking the ship
Towed to
Kerama Retto the same night,
Lindsey remained in the lagoon for two weeks repairing battle damage. On 28 April she departed under tow for
Guam, where, after arrival 6 May, she received a temporary bow. She sailed under her own power 8 July for the east coast via Pearl Harbor and the
Panama Canal, arriving in
Norfolk, Virginia on 19 August 1945.