Admiral W S Benson (AP 120) - Naval Cruise Book

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CROSSING THE EQUATQR By K. A. SPAULDING, QM3fC 1uu4Lu1u The Greeks, as usual, had a word for i+. To lhe ancienl salfs who girded lhemselves io sail around 1'he Mediferranean lhe wa+er jusl oufside 1'he Sfraif of Gibraliar was a river encircling a disc-shaped earlh, an ominous sea ruled by +he dread Oceanus. To 'rhis fearful deify fhe sailors of ancienl' Greece made cos+ly sacrifices, buf if was noi un+il Roman +imes +ha'r any- one dared sail lhe wafers beyond 1'he Pillars of Hercules. And even 'rhe Romans paid +ribu+e fo 'rhe god-now named Nepfune-who ruled The grey A'rlan+ic. During 'rhe cenfuries fhal followed,i+he abode of Nep+une was shiffed 'From 'rhe S+rai+ of Gibralfar +0 +he Equa+or, al+hough he re+ained 'rhe old Greek symbols of fish spear, dolphin, and sea horses. Why 1'he change was made is a mysfery, buf for several hundred years seamen have been forced lo pay 'rribule +o Neplunus Rex on firsf crossing fhe Line. ln modern limes 'rhe ceremony consisls of ga+hering 'rhe Pollywogs and bringing Them one a'I' a lime before 'rhe Royal Cour'I'. Nepfunus Rex and aH'endanl's 'rhen +ry 'rhe neophyfes for crimes commiH'ed againsl' 'lhe King, 'rhe Cour+, and 'rhe Royal Domain, and 1'es+ fheir wor'rhi- ness 'ro consorl' wilh cilizens of rhe Deep. Affer +hey have been clubbed, shocked, soaked, and frigh+ened for an appropriafe period of 'rime +he Pollywogs are 'rossed in+o a salfwafer ba+h 'ro delermine wheiher l'hey are s+ill alive. Those who sink are dredged up and 'l'ossed over 'rhe side. Bum' 'rhose who floal are skimmed off and proclaimed iii' company for dolphins, mermaids, eels, and all oiher denizens of 'lhe Mighfy Deep. ln o+her words, lhey are Shellbacks. cn-3-.BI aaa? 5.095 -i--i-. in :s-:Z 0:5053 3'h'U+ To-Q.-a '41C2 h 'Ps-n TCCCD fD3mQ.. 'fi U'cu775'l -u'aCD 8 'S Q,,5.'mvo Nifpsl Q. Q'4 .302 Om I-910+ vw ::r -I-:lm OU' ' 325'-QL m72- 5930-3 3' Q3 23-02. 0913 1 -4 2971-L3 Zmo- co3R49' 'UCLQU' -1--.-mo S2042 0-mon.. 1114-41 o2 '2 img!!! 52. -.Ari 4:29. 1301? fbwmas V U -.n 521: CDE' 'UO CD 'l'-I-'l' 5102 Esgmo wiir 0:43-1- CD x:,,,5' sam 0-3? gm-4 mil '1.1f1f!l f .Nil , QQ? 25 X , , ....... J ds 5 o Q. 'PALWS ,,u' ,l,11ff1f,,,,' If 'ag ,n Q59 I '96 E l Y' Qlllf X 'I' i ok 6 QQ? 2 S Q 133- -R 313595-4 5 ar 5 f if .s W 4. X! 41 , 1 vt , fl, 'ffffffflf

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and gave us a chill fo know fhaf fhis was whaf our homes would have been if fhey had been sub- iecfed fo fhe horrors of invasion. 0 Almosf a week was spenf here, unloading, fhen reloading soldiers and sailors for fransporfa- fion fo fhe Sfafes. Finally we gof underway for San Francisco, refracing our course fhrough Surigao sfraifs fo Homonhom, where we joined a convoy fo Ulifhi, and from 'rhere on our own a am. Thegmorning of I4 Sepfember dawned clear of fhe usual dense fog, and 'l'he Golden Gafe bridge loomed info view ahead. Our passengers had been eagerly searching for fhls famous landmark since before daylighf, and many of fhem were crying unashamedly. Before noon, we were safely moored af Pier I5, and discharging our load. Then, Iiberfy In Frisco! We had been looking forward 'ro fhis for almosf 70 days. TRIP NO. 5 On 28fh Sepfember we sfarfed on our fiffh frip. This fime we were loaded enfirely wifh sailors bound for fhe Receiving Ship af Okinawa fo relieve high poinf men due for discharge. We sailed 'rhe Greaf Circle roufe fo fhe norfh and soon ran info nasfy weafher which per- sisfed a day beyond fhe I80fh meridian. As we proceeded down fhe soufhern arc of fhe circle, a new menace fhreafened us - a monsfrous fyphoon, forming near Saipan and headed in a nor'I'herIy direcfion, cerfaln fo blsecf our pafh. Close fabs by radio was kepf on 'rhis sform which developed a confrary affrlude and consfanfly changed course, causing us 'I'o do 'I'he same in a sorf of a game of fag played on a grand scale. Meanwhile, our course fook us fhrough fhe islands of Haha Jima and Chichi Jima in 'I'he Bonin Group, and lwo Jima, wifh ifs famous Suribachi Hill which inspired fhe fheme picfure for fhe 7fh War Loan Drive. Some of fhese islands were sheer cones rising from fhe sea like aquafic Fuiiyamas and were acfive volcanoes as recenf as I9I9. AI' Iwo Jima we learned fhaf our fyphoon had changed course again, and insfead of head- ing for China as indicafed in fhe lasf reporf, was now blowing sfraighf for Okinawa! We had n-ofhing fo fear from i'I' now, as if was ahead of us, so we rode ifs fail info Buckner Bay, Okin- awa, arriving fhere fwo days behind if. Words cannof apfly describe fhe devasfafion we found fhere. The desfrucfive force of a wind of I40 knofs is hard fo conceive, buf if simply flaffened everyfhing, damaging or de- sfroying 82 ships. Insfead of being able fo unload, we had fo play Good Samarifan and fake aboard over a hundred survivors off some of fhe reefbound ships, and since no quarfers were available now ashore, we could nof unload, and were sfuck wifh over 4600 sailors, which no- body seemed fo wanf! For eleven days we swung af anchor fhere, in fhe course of which we were able fo debark some 800 SeaBees, fhen were ordered 'ro Japan fo dispose of fhe resf. We did noi' relish fhis new assignmenf, for we were advised fhaf fhe wafers adiacenf fo Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu had been heavily mined by our B29's, along wifh all porfs on fhe Inland Sea, and con- sfifufed a grave hazard fo all shipping. So, wifh orders fo passengers fo wear life belfs af all fimes, and fraining fhem consfanfly in abandon ship procedure, we proceeded fo Sasebo, one of 'I'he major cifies on fhe Island of Kyushu. Our firsf glimpse of Japan while approaching Sasebo was a fascinafing one. The counfry is exfremely mounfainous. The lower hills are precipifousg dropping abrupfly info 'I'he sea. Dof- fing fhese hills are picfure-book farm houses and villages, and fhe mounfainous ferrain is made fo produce by a series of ferraces, each so painsfakingly builf and reinforced wifh sfone, as fo appear in fhe disfance like many carefully fended formal gardens. Sasebo is sifuafed on a complefely landlocked bay, and was one of Japan's mosf imporfanf naval bases. The base and fhe adiacenf cify now exis'I's only in fhe imaginafion, for a good fhree-fourfhs of if lies in.compIe+e ruin. Here was our firsf confacf wifh fhe Japs, and we found fhem fo be docile and resigned, and seemed even eager 'Io please us. This affifude was prevalenf everywhere we visifed. Ivlosf of I-he men were sfill wearing remnanfs of army uni- orms. Affer we had managed fo dispose of a few more passengers af Sasebo, we proceeded 'Io our second porf-Mafsuyama, on fhe Island of Shikoku. To arrive here, we had fo fake fhe ' fConfinued on Page 712 , 1 I - df! QNT OF 7-6' 1 Q- 6 Oil Ev- bww, 9 :Z r I Q sf I -4 R 0 6940 of I W S 6 ,II I 0111! ll, I ,1fff1z,,,, 1' 1. 1 QI, - . X I I Xa 1 Q 1155 B ggi X 24 gg 3 R Us ' 4'1fmx -'I ffl z I . N gp I 14 uv- ffl O I X 'Y N 4 v...- .JJ Q Eu 41 , I 2 ' riff

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