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

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.if:,.,,1 ,,, .y, ., i .wy- L V ,,,.4. ew. 'asf 3. .r .sr-1 fs Kan Francisco. 3...-at it-if -wmv Nffflh .4 iff Nhrth me anchored in . i,,,,.mL, ,gn the lltlfll I0 Of' an Yihiiw -are were still wall- tgr-rgsigfml ffl' 'hf iiffiw to go in-ei is-ia Em z little relaxation If 3 cmlplc ws llftkniiii f Q Liberty party on their way to Olqihawa of cans. There was no souvenir hunting though. Souvenirs on Okinawa were still classed as booby traps and sucker bait. The loading of 4738 passengers was completed just after noon of 24 March and we were underway for San Francisco in less than an hour. The indications were that this would be our last trip so the Captain put the speed up as high as he dared and set his eye on a record crossing. Whether or not a record was set for the Okinawa-San Francisco run we don't know, but we did set a record for the ADMIRAL CAPPS. 21.01 knots was the average speed, including one night when we were slowed down by rough weather. The indications about this being our last trip were confirmed before we reached San Y ,sc .. A--sw-se-H- .f'.J,.gQ . - is ct., 7 3.5 , I . Ny: . x i i, is si, X' 2- 1 -M ' . . , so , vc ?'s5N' if s .W N ' fiff 5'-ff ii ' . xx - 'V . 't N. .Missa s .s ,x Jsskxig x .- -X s . - s ...fu t X s - t.. .. - X' '-A , ' . to at - - s .ff . G t S riff xg . M ts.: .Y 1 -1 -. i tf '.t NQQQX'-5'-vis +.t31- ' . .Ot -X 'tt :jig X' -... ' . ' ef,w,,.?Xf?i SQif'-iuijb-'K' X H L -.ak -L V .fs 'Ksvfs P' Ns QV' s Q ' ' ' s rs 'f sxgswf . il V , X s , ww- Q' sm., fs X Ss. , X ,, . -sS'?'kff' . ,. Ny . - .s. : X ...N,,.. .. s S There is a lot of empty space on this island mwah? 'rin V : 5 Xfs...Qw-gain .- V .Q TTS' aa, A lap Bull Gang waiting by the roadside ,, iv ' '

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time-and-a-half for their work. When no one would sign their papers for the extra pay they went on strike and refused to show up for work. When they were called on the P. A. system they refused to answer. When the Marines went to their com- partment and called for them no one knew them, no one had seen them, no one knew where they were, and no one expected ever to see them again. Filtering the mess line caught a few but more ingenious methods had to be devised to bring the entire lot to justice, Qtwo days in the brig on bread and waterj. After looking up the home town of one of the seamen, a Marine went to their compartment and called out, HI-Iey, I hear there,s a guy down here from Canton, Ohioln Immediately the culprit jumped up to meet someone from his home town but instead he met one of the Sheriff,s,' deputies. Another seaman's nick- name became known to the Marines so one of them went to the compartment, stood behind a stanchion and yelled, Hey, Mikeln Mike answered and was taken into custody. The even- ing of the day we arrived in San Francisco there were head- lines, TWELVE IAILED ON S. F. TRANSPORTQ, and a glowing account of the whole affair. It even got nationwide coverage through the press agencies. The ADMIRAL CAPPS remained in San Francisco for 28 days during which time herwboilers were cleaned with wire brush for the first time. They averaged almost 9,000 steaming hours since the ship started operations while the Manual of Engineer- ing Instructions say that they should be cleaned every 2,000 hours at the very most. Most of the West Coasters were granted leave enough to visit their homes-which they hadn't seen for at least ten months. The East Coasters enjoyed their liberty in San Francisco as much as could be expected-more so than the 'West Coasters had enjoyed liberty in Norfolk. In the morning of 8 March the ADMIRAL CAPPS sailed The Golden Gate says Welcome back on her next voyage to Okinawa and return to San Francisco. We took the southern route in order to avoid the stormy North Pacihc weather. In the morning of 21 March we anchored in Buckner Bay and waited for our friends on the beach to or- ganize and send us some passengers. While we were still wait- ing the next day, the Chaplain arranged for the crew to go ashore and use the Navy's recreation area for a little relaxation and exercise - and also their beer garden to quaff a couple I - 3 Libcrtjf parij' of tans. There was no sc Okinawa were still classei The loading of 473.8 nocn of 24 March and ' in jess than an hour. Th our last trip so the Cap darzd and set his eye on record was set for the ' kncw, but we did set a rr kntts was the average wefe slowed down by i thi: being our last trip i

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A lap temple near Nolqa Francisco: orders were received to go from San Francisco to New York for decommissioning as soon as ready for sea. lt was in the morning of Wednesday, 3 April that we arrived in San Francisco, and the Captain decided that we would be ready for sea the following Tuesday. The Californians who were able, rushed home to take one last look at their loved ones while the New Yorkers walked around with grins from ear to ear. We sailed as scheduled in the morning of 9 April at an agonizingly slow 16 knots, in order to conserve fuelf' We ar- rived in Balboa in the morning of I7 April and moored to a pier there for two days to refuel, take on supplies, and have a look at the Pacific side of Panama and the Canal Zone. lf you were to ask us now, we would tell you that there is a dif- ference between the north and the south sides of the country but we d0n't know exactly what it is. The people are no dif- ferent. They all have something to sell and every sailor is their No. I prospect. We were the first ship through the canal in the morning of IQ April and made it through in record time. We entered the first lock at 0700 and departed from the last lock at 1230. If there weren't a speed limit in the canal, we could have done better. We let off the pilot on the Atlantic side and then set our course for New York. We arrived there in the morning of 24 April and after unloading the Army and civilian pas- sengers we set out on the task of decommissioning. . The CAPPS makes her last trip through the Canal f 1 -itr 5 . 7 . u to st rp here in order comr xissioning has bee? K if hat brings this histe .. UG on llc fmt' CAP DS will be transit, operz ted by civilians. -ilthough we called Mad Capps , or any or 'T Q of hir and enjoyed beief' the pleasures were was - everything CAPPS has served K Althaugh we are a civil ans and some 5 X. P R.