Cliff SCHMIDT
USS RALEIGH
Cliff entered the US Navy in February 1941 and his first ship was the USS Raleigh (CL 7). He met his lovely wife, Betty, at the Garden of Allah in Seattle and they married in 1948.
After Pearl Harbor Cliff served on the 2100 class Destroyers, His first one was the USS Havford (DD480) and he commissioned her in April 1943.
During the Philippine Campaign the Japanese attempted to run the Surigao and San Bernardino Straights with a large Naval Force, including Battleships, to attack the Beachhead on Leyte. It raised havoc with our light Carrier Force guarding and supporting the landings, sinking one Carrier, the USS Gambrier Bay (CV 73), and damaging seven others.
The Destroyer Force, less than 32 knot Arleigh Burke proceeded to attack the Japanese Battleships at flank speed and Cliff's Destroyer was credited with scoring two torpedo hits on the Yamishiro. Cliff now has a model of the Yamishiro, which he is very proud of.
During the Okinawa campaign his ship was on the advance picket lines and when the Japanese surrendered they went into Northern Honshu and occupied the Japanese Naval Base.
Cliff sailed to San Diego Naval Base in 1946 and decommissioned his ship he loved so much.
Four ships were lost out of Cliff's Destroyer Squadron; this adds up to a lot of combat.