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

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Bl 1 4 W' ' 5' lu' u 9 has ng ly? B lam' Q tl .mmm tk Q' N n 1 I .w wil :kg gg pad many efeillwai -fntfrii Pgfggd 3 visa. 'ae-Q9 ihihfii ahfgj pf hd to fe iw swf. but the ru U +5 dumber! Carly in ihg H14 Niweifvr Fuh in dm f in Mmm :gain--this timg v. if .kilns get back up to iff 1 HN The lm rum days if NEWQERM- CAPPS arrived iiiunnua--u Weather like this slowed as down to 9 lqnozs in Norfolk in the afternoon of I9 November. Her average speed for the eastward crossing had been 20.2 knots and for the west- ward crossing 16.6 knots. After spending Thanksgiving day in port the ADMIRAL CAPPS sailed in the afternoon of 23 November, bound for Mar- seille. Rough seas were encountered on this trip, but they were not sufficient to necessitate slowing down. The average speed was 19.9 knots which brought her into Marseille in the morn- ing of 2 December. The embarkation of 4604 passengers was completed in the evening of 3 December and preparations were made to get underway on the morning of the 4th. That was where things stopped though. A high Wind which the French have named miszral started blowing from the north and the pilot said that We would Wait until it died down before we tried getting out of the harbor. Such winds frequently blow for several days, but fortunately for the ADMIRAL CAPPS this one died down during the night and we sailed for Norfolk on the morning of the 5th, On this trip we thought We would fool the weather and take a southern route home. lt would be several miles longer but it was thought that the saving of time due to less rough weather would make up for the difference. We don't know what the weather would have been if we had taken the northern route but it certainly couldn't have been much worse than on the southern route. We slowed down so much that the average speed was a mere 16.6 knots. There was also a little trouble Thanksgiving chow and decorations on the mess deck

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1 tl ll Ellis., Our pier at Le Havre it rather uncomfortable with wind up to 45 knots. She en- countered her first mine in the channel leading to Le Havre harbor. It was a horned type mine which had broken loose from its cable due to the rough water in the bay. It was sighted - about 200 yards dead ahead -in time to turn the ship to star- board and clear it by 25 yards on the port side. A The turn-around in Le Havre was the quickest of all for a full load of troops. 4329 passengers were embarked in less than 24 hours and the ADMIRAL CAPPS was on her way back to Norfolk on the afternoon of Ilth of November. Anyone who thought the weather was rough on the eastward crossing remem- bered it as a very pleasant trip when he finished the westward crossing. This trip from Le Havre to Norfolk can be marked down as the roughest of all for the ADMIRAL CAPPS. Every- thing was well for the first day, but between 2000 of the 12th and 1300 of the 13th the barometer dropped from 30.14 to 28.83 and the wind on the port beam rose from I5 knots to 58 knots. Then the wind hauled across the bow to starboard. Those who know their weather can tell that we passed mighty close to the center of what the weather central termed a vigor- ous depression. As soon as the wind shifted ahead we had to slow down in order to keep the ship in one piece, but the sea calmed down enough to go back up to standard early in the next morning. This didnlt last long however. Early in the morning of the 16th the seas slowed us down again-this time to a mere 9 knots -for several hours. We didnit get back up to cruising speed again for a day and a half. The last two days of the trip were bearable and the ADMIRAL CAPPS arrived The city of Le Havre killed by Allied bombs , 4 51,5-Wt' is - . . 1 was t .. 1 r a-l' 'W wfmfm- like in T orfolk in the afternoon for he eastward crossing li warl crossing 16.6 knots. After spending Thank CAYPS sailed in the afternr seill '. Rough seas were ent not suflicient to necessitat was 19.9 knots which broz ing of 2 December. The completed in the evening t marie to get undervcaff on whe'e things stopped thou E 5

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tx, . il f K ' of ' 9 I' x- xl K isp 3 R t . tr . ya is . X ls lla. Fz'5lzerman's wharf in the old port of Marseille about the location of the Azores Islands and a few ionized clouds in that vicinity which caused a few more gray hairs to be added to the heads of some. Two days out of Norfolk orders were received for our next trip-a return to the Pacific. To the few west coast men left aboard it was good news but to the east coasters, who were in the majority, it was like being exiled to the salt mines of Siberia. i The ADMIRAL CAPPS arrived in Norfolk in the morning of I5 December by making its way through a beautiful but cold snow storm. It was a fitting start of the holiday for the crew. A small percentage rated Christmas leave, and a slightly larger percentage rated 48-hour liberties over Christmas. Those who stayed aboard had Christmas trees, mail, dinner and everyw thing but home and family. The ADMIRAL CAPPS arrived in Panama in the after- noon of 2 Ianuary. That was the night that all of the yeomen were either on liberty or shore patrol and the Marine Corps had to make up the plan of the day. It was much better to see Colon at night than to see her only in the daytime as had been the case when the ADMIRAL CAPPS was last there. The next night all of the yeomen stayed aboard -at least there were no crossed quills seen going down the gangway. In the Copa- cabana, however, one of our yeomen mounted the stage and entertained the crowd C752 from the ADMIRAL CAPPSQ for an hour with his accordion music while a large party of HN' Division cheered him wildly. What happened to our chief en- gineer that night is still a matter for conjecture. At any rate Everybody had a good time at our shz'p's party in Norfolk