Admiral W L Capps (AP 121) - Naval Cruise Book

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E 1 1-9-Q.. . -- .- A ., 3, W .nv fs -f Pr-rw. if 3, .... ' 2, Q 'Cf V ., . - . ,ss . . Y, ,' 'ln M, ,-,,, EQ? , A f 1 if? law' f Q - - - . 'f f .agp a ,, S ,aft 4 Q ., ,-' 1, t . ,. ,.x K t . Wa. . ,, .1 . I , t - , Qu? 'wk V D , f- gr-. gg, V T' 5' 'ff' af, it , f. . tt ,X ,nf ,Q , . ft ,,.f, A lap Transport under obsc'rvazz'0n on Guadalcanal We arrived at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, in the evening of 20 December and stayed there for three days unloading most of the mail. This was our first good contact fand the bestj with the Pacific Island natives. The Solomon Islanders were too lazy and unintelligent to work as stevedores so ia labor battalion had been imported from the Gilbert-Ellice Islands to work the cargo on the ships. They had learned to operate Winches and lifts but their greatest accomplishment was their skill at their version of foot- ball and their singing. Football to them was like volley ball to us, except that they played it with their feet with a ball of paper wrap- ped with twine to hold it together. Only their Sargent wore shoes and the rest of them had feet big enough to give them perfect control, of the ball. Their singing and dancing always drew a crowd at noontime. They sang their native Polynesian songs which had harmony, solos, counter-melodies and a lot of other musical qualities which this writer is not qualified to explain. At least, it wasn't the drum beating war chant that some of us ex- pected. It was at Guadalcanal that the ADMIRAL CAPPS began to feel that she really had a part in this war. As soon as the cargo was unloaded, the loading of passengers began. 353 of the pas- sengers were casualties- unable to walk. Another 358 were ambulatory casualties, who were quartered in regular troop spaces. Those who saw the number of missing legs and arms and band- aged eyes will never forget it. If we could take these men home quickly and safely we felt that we at least would have helped a little. Marine Cemetery on Guadalcanal it eff Loading Caszf We sailed for Esperito rah of December and arri' Uiloading of mail and en' th it night and the next mo or the afternoon of the nit th.: 23rd and arrived there hzd sailed on Thanksgivii afier Christmas. All of tl gtrs were unloaded at Sai wire on our way to San .l We arrived in San Pr ol December, 1944, comp covered in the inspections tlat at some time or ot

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L E'- Y.. YUPP0 It was easier gettzn g into the pool than it was getting out wasn't that the Pollywogs fought back to any great extent, but it just wore the Shellbacks out by the end of the day. The Polly- wogs had all the fun and the Shellbacks did all the work. We arrived in Noumea in the morning of 7 December. This was our hrst foreign port of the first voyage and everyone was anxious to get ashore and have a look around. The Iapanese had never been to Noumea but the Americans had taken over. Traffic on the streets was as heavy, considering the number of lanes, as it is on Broadway or Market Street- all with army trucks, jeeps, com- mand cars, ambulances, staff cars and bicycles. Only one-half of the crew got liberty but their four hours ashore stands out as the most riotous liberty of them all. The cargo nets carried strange cargo aboard that night. The next morning we departed from Noumea and set our 5. A Noumea Scene with a touch of the CAPPS the Zig-Zag pattern were usually visible. 'WW its-a.i.6b Smit course for Guadal- canal. lt was on this leg of the voyage that we passed through the Coral Sea and saw what a Uzero seal, looks like. The water was so calm that the big- gest ripples Caside from our wakej were made by the flying hsh. Our wake was visible all the way back to the horizon and since we were zig-zag- ging, three legs of hnlip In Noumea harbor the passengers bring their pier with them

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Mil il-BNWT P0-lVhf1gj3n fnwklbfi jfh' 3 if twhcr we nm qinaluhfwl In explain. Ar si! t-lygng shin an-nt, nf ug CY' H milk U l Wits bf!-an to W f' V 'ii as the targo W at sg eff the pas. A 4 5 Vttfltftf QRS were Y ' LV Vt' Vilfll spaces. k 4 W Nfvu .xml llifhl- 3 ' -if fha. if mm home A have helped il , mania.-sand K W - ,M 4 . rss..- LL- -- - - N- u Loading Casualties in Espirita Santo We sailed for Esperito Santos, New Hebrides Islands, on the 14th of December and arrived there in the afternoon of the 15th. Unloading of mail and embarking of passengers Was completed that night and the next morning, and We sailed for San Francisco on the afternoon of the 16th. We were diverted to San Diego on the 23rd and arrived there in the evening of the 26th. Thus we had sailed on Thanksgiving Day and arrived back on the day after Christmas. All of the casualties and most of the passen- gers Were unloaded at San Diego and in less than 24 hours we were on our Way to San Francisco again. We arrived in San Francisco late in the evening of the 28th of December, 1944, completing the maiden voyage. lt was dis- covered in the inspections of the ship during the following Week that at some time or other, Qprobably in the crash stop tests Navy Barracks on ESPIRITU SANTO 1 Tlze casualties get tlzeir first loolq at the states - San Diego, Cali