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

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A . i A it . -,,... one 'fe-1. t Q .g at 1 N 'U We - ' ws and aceummo- A , 9-'wi -:H lodging from f ...I f wi ,wg was not going ,L s if is fksf Jffwll 0fUI'lif5 is ,Hs '-1A -pxfratc from ihf Q Q, tagewh. gn! thi! fhf Q-Hg: more n-mer the day ,......i 'het ...rea-are nf the Nabil and me z1lixfiYf'?'2ftg in tht sun yt P .sf ii 3 ta, if E Troops enjoy the sun on Eniwetolq enjoying a liberty,' or two on Perry Island, a fleet recreation CPD center. Perry Island was one of the Eniwetok group which was given the worksn by naval bombardment when we took that atoll. As a result there were no trees left and nothing else to give shade. The beach was very nice, though, and as long as one didn't have to stay there too long, he could enjoy himself. The ADMIRAL CAPPS had carried women passengers be- fore but never women passengers like it had this time. There were 50 Army nurses and two Red Cross girls who were a never ending source of pride and trouble. The Marines had to chase them off the superstructure deck after taps at night, and later, when their hours were extended to 2300 and the O. D. would sing out a soft, melodious, lt's twenty-three hundred , on the public address sys- tem, the marines would still have to chase them below. They went ashore to the Officers' club on Eniwetok Island, the senior officers, club, that is, and got acquainted with officers from other ships. Then the ofiicers from the other ships started coming around to visit every night. Their boats would be tied up at the boat boom three deep. One of the nurses even rated a salute from a division of destroyer escorts when they pulled out. Six ships steamed by with crews at division parades in dress whites. Each ship saluted as it passed. Someone thought up a new name - U. S. O. AD- MIRAL CAPPS. From Eniwetok we went to Ulithi Atoll in the western Caro- lines, arriving there on 8 Iune and expecting to join a convoy almost immediately to go to Okinawa. But instead, we dropped .eff The nurses exhihit their acting ability

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departed 24 hours later with orders to proceed to Eniwetok, Mar- shall Islands for further onward routing. We arrived at Eniwetok in the morning of 20 May and upon entering the harbor were ordered to go alongside the tanker S. S. MARICOSA for fueling. The MARICOSA was quite a bit smaller than the ADMIRAL CAPPS and with a strong wind blowing on the first attempt to tie up, the tankeris anchor dragged and we had to cast off and try again. On the second attempt the anchor dragged again but in addition, some damage was inflicted on the tanker's boat davit, liferafts, and running light so that it was decided not to make a third try. In the afternoon the tanker, S. S. SPARROWS POINT came alongside the ADMIRAL CAPPS. This time the damage Sharpening our eye before leaving Peagiblarbor SA' 9' - , ii. Sm 5 44- nk ' 4 N v if , +V . - A AQ , ' , 4 Ac, f fgfatlg . ,ff!.,,5,,,gjH.vp mid., -,A ,kiln 7, ' f , M M ,ri is y ,- . , I ss..aa.s.., .. W . --1. ..,.e,... ,.,,, -,,....,,, ,..,., A . , , . . , . .,, 4: , , - , , ,V ,I ,,,,,,,,,,,,M,,,,,,,, . , A . , , , ...S A , 3 , I r f . I - ,f , -f 1-.f'. s f- Y .mt - MM' X V l?lS'?'f 'S .. ., 0-'Ziff as 6, i X V V-f :iff ,IM , Eniwetolq on the starboard bow was inflicted on the ADMIRAL CAPPS' life rafts and accommo- dation ladders but the fueling was Hnally completed. We lay at anchor in Eniwetok until Iune 5th. Iudging from the news reports at that time, the battle for Okinawa was not going as it had been planned-necessitating a delay in the arrival of units such as the bombardment groups which were to operate from the island rather than over it. It was also signihcant that the AD- MIRAL CAPPS sailed on one and one-half hours' notice the day following the first good news indicating the capture of the Naha airdrome. In the meantime we were sweltering in the sun and ee e t P' gli-ii Q - A K r i, 1' A T L U. ,W - a .fr 9'-in ' ' vt , is was as A W gif gs Troops en enjoying QFD a ulibertvw or QFD cent: r. Perry Island vw was giver the works by nr atoll. A. a result there wer shade. 'lhe beach was very have to s ay there too long, The ADMIRAL CAPl fore but never women passei 50 Army nurses and two Re source o pride and trouble the superstructure deck aft

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rv- Sage The Flying Circus holds class on Zhe fanlizil the hook and let it stay for 21 days. I should say that we let it stay the second time we' dropped it. The hrst time we dropped it so close in front of a fleet tanker that her anchor buoy was floating by our gangway. Ulithi, being slightly closer to the equator than Eniwetok, was just as hot, but it had a better recreational island to provide relief and relaxation. Mog-Mog was the name of this little piece of coral. Even the troops were allowed to go ashore there. lt was once thought wise to have them stay over night - and' bring their laundry with them. Sleeping out on the island wasnlt any differ- ent than sleeping out on deck except that the island would be softer. Ulithi was the setting for the CAPPS' Hot Air Theater and its one day stand of two performances. Its success can be measured by the remark of Corporal for was it Ist Sergeantj Harrington Cof the garbage detailj when asked what he thought of the show - It should be thrown overboard with the rest of the garbage? Ulithi was also the place where the nurses were invited on a picnic by an officer with enough rank to get them to go along and then Cafter they got ashorej were charged 35c each for the drinks. During our stay at Ulithi there were five Flash Red alerts but the Iaps never came in close enough for us to see them let alone lm A production in progress in the H ot Air Theatre shoot atthem. Three rf the five alerts wzre the re- sult of our own planes anproaching the atoli with their recognit on appara- tus out of order. The oth probabl r ese ori Yap lsia about tw, and born r,- whzle Ulithi, that this some pl r two were of Iapanf in because sid was only miles away 1 e y h a d d G u a m e were at Cindicating J still had nes.j 5 Pin tlly, fifty-fn e da CAPPS joined a cons ox o was an 1.5 knot convoy gf 2 Iii y. The disembarkii comme iced immediately. 5 ical Co ps came aboard to passengirs were off early the days, in which the crew vcor Ours wis the largest auxiiiag to that time, and it was gr Kamik tze Corps spotted area ju t before we arrived i