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

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rv! that r 8 H he Q-.l.in,j wlnlld ht xiii' lf' Aff lhcwt sl' F S t m '+V alml . .A Q. .,,,.N,mj lf'l.1'ft,'tgj,,HiUf l A rlwv Q Hlr ' 'veil on .1 'Mtg and lit drinks. l Ratt Alerts -r 1' alone QF :ht fda. fs, Heart -ft shoot at them. Three of the tive alerts were the re- sult of our own planes approaching the atoll with their recognition appara- tus out of order. The other two were K probably of lapan- ese origin because Yap Island was only about 60 miles away and they had b 0 m b e d G u a m while we were at Ulithi, Cindicating that they still had some planesj Balcony seats az the Hot Air Theatre Finally, hfty-five days after leaving Seattle, the ADMIRAL CAPPS joined a convoy on 28 Iune and sailed for Okinawa. This was an 11.5 knot convoy and didn't arrive there until the afternoon of 2 Iuly. The disembarking of troops and unloading of cargo commenced immediately. QA brigadier general of the Army Med- ical Corps came aboard to take the nurses ashore.j All of the passengers were off early the next morning but the cargo took four days, in which the crew worked day and night operating Winches. Uurs was the largest auxiliary vessel to enter the Okinawa area up to that time, and it was greatly desired to get us out before the Kamikaze Corps spotted us. There had been suicide attacks in the area just before we arrived and there were some just after we left, but while we were there, only one enemy plane entered fbut did not leavej the area. There were three Flash Red alerts in the six days but no action resulted for the ADMIRAL CAPPS. We loaded about 3000 Marines on the 7th of Iuly and sailed in convoy on the 8th for Saipan. This convoy made I5 knots and we ar- rived there in the morning of the 12th. It was in en- tering Saipan har- bor that the AD- MIRAL CAPPS had her closest ap- proach to tragedy. We stopped to pick up the pilot in the channel with the wind blowing on our starboard beam. Un our port side were anchored a number of destroy- ers and destroyer es- Tfze skipper gives Mag-Mog ez brief tour corts in a line parallel with the channel. While the pilot was coming aboard, we began to drift down on a destroyer escort and in order to avoid it we had to come ahead quickly with left rudder while the DE veered her anchor chain. This maneuver brought us directly between the destroyer escort we had just missed and the destroyer next in the line - with quite a bit of headway on and

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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

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K. X . , 4' Q XX gg Q . t X X-Q t X X A A Quiet Day on the way to Olqinawa headed directly for the destroyer's midsection. The destroyer called all hands to 'cprepare to abandon ship. However, by letting go both anchors and backing down full, we were able to stop about twenty feet short of disaster. There may have been another solution to this situation which would have caused less grey hairs but since this one was successful, we will be satisfied with it. We tied up to a floating pier at Saipan, disembarked the passengers, fwho took along with them everything they could find of value which was not welded down,j and after partially refueling, cast off again and sailed with no passengers at all, for Panama and the Atlantic. This new routing was not a surprise. It had been known for quite some time that troops were being transported directly from Europe to the Pacific areas. The ADMIRAL CAPPS probably would have been in the Atlantic earlier if the third trip hadn't stretched out so long a time. X s N. R ,X A ff t ff, ,f 'uf ,ff ' P , jill? Part of our convoy on the way to Haguch Bay Oar ,riff X Nalza after the B-24,5 had passed The only interruption div rsion on IQ Iulfi to 31-U ed guard crew of the S. oui orders to rendezvous Ha vaiian Sea Frontier anc to Barn the details about th fer him to our ship using tl rally assuming that theiris we met them they had tro' hat trouble lowering the s twf, other men for bout pa' ach: and the other with ' GH, when their boat came