Bairoko (CVE 115) - Naval Cruise Book

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Typhoon Our ship sailed from the Bay of Tokyo. Distantl F ' - Qhostly arm: waving bon voyage. Y' ullyomo S Snow plume Wmhed 0 To port, the harbor waters corduroyed: star-sa hire to e ' - fingers in the crests of small waves, firing their ppopm-pomspllwiflh -s-l:1cEriSUrllcC:lshFFrid f:CoTmIC Starboard, the ancient cliffs of Japan drowsed: Sentinels weary from centuriesgof dgfsl High above the flight deck our radar whirled, inquisitively seeking. The curved rid rhythmic, beating turns, added to the hypnotic backdrop of the bay. lt was weavingg fret- fully, relaying to the quartermaster on the open bridge below myriad quivering lines of detection: A mosaic of awareness to danger. I OUI' Ship drove 'fl'lV0UQl'l blUe'bl0Ck, Cl 0PI3Y Seas: The pivot point of an horizon battle- mented by faery forests of clouds, beyond which lay our destination-unknown. Flying fish emerged flippantly from tops of rollers, contorted through limited flight then butterflied a landing into an advancing curler. Hummingbirds of the sea. The ship's bow pushed doggedly through the black water, spearheading the surging blackness turn- ing it aside in a curling grimace. A metamorphosis of dark monotone to white-frlothed translucent green in a magic color show. The green then returned, through a swiftly darki ening spectrum, to the abysmal darkness from which it came. Groping, reaching: Mouthing the ship. Yet it all seemed still: Quietness of vast movement. Looking down from the port bow catwalk,- the waters menaced: Black-cold. Nightfall. The stillness whispered of latent power. Tattoo. Five minutes later, the farewell of Taps faded. Sleep was uneasy. Dreams weighed heavily . . . indigestible. . . . . . . Ships with tumorous, festering sails, moved insanely over an undulating sea of black lava . . . the lava softened to green ice. Flying fish smashing into the green ice ex- ploded it into a spray of white, foaming champagne. The champagne melted the green ice . . . the ships with scabrous sails sailed, one by one, each into a separate snow-bank wave: They did not appear again on the other side .... Awakening was rude: Tossed out of rac ks to slide, helplessly, under other racks across the deck, as the ship rolled deep into port water. Bodies shivered in the pit of pre-dawn, while the force of the storm pressed in. Overhead, glass medicine containers crashed to splinters as they hit the steel deck of Sick Bay, above. The return roll to starboard neared the ship's maximum. Planes, broken loose from their moorings on the hangar deck, smashed together in wild carousal. Snarling hills of water blasted an enfilade of fury against the agonizing breasts of our carrier. lt grew. A thing of blackness and fury. The ship, a toy balloon tossed into the air by the hands of a child at play. Tossed, then dropping was caught and held close for a .lit- tle moment-then tossed high again. Lightning graphed the elemental problem. Plunging bow deep down into a welter of smoking, twisting madness, the fantail rises to the shudder of free screws wracking the sobbing ship. The night, long and filled with questioning, broke to a hybrid dawn. ln. the filtered light of morning, grayness held the ship as in an opaque block of dirty ice. Irish pennants flew in crazy parade the length of the flight deck. Wallowing cumbersomely, idioticallyg how much green water can she take? The flotilla of screening destroyers is lost in the frenzy of infuriated combers. The starboard athwartship catwalk, forward, swayed In twisted arabesque, clinging to a weakened superstructure with a slim grip of faulty welding bead. The wind massed in a crushing stream. Whale-boats and life-rafts carried away. A starboard mount of 2OMM's no longer had life with which to sing their staccato chant of defiance. A racing' green mOUl'1'f0m Of water had swept them outward and over with a gesture of casual, invincible -power: They died there in primordial chaos. Rain and sleet, rocketing in arrow-straight lines aheadhof GH elQl'1'fY-knot gale, beat a pagan requiem against the gray steel of a gallant ship. T eg the cacophony stilled. Thess are the waters where the Seas of lapan and China meet on hold converse. This is what they are, this their gentle conversation .... We scudded lonkg, running before the hurricane. The harbor came out of the sea to welcome us . . .ht E sun danced again . . . the drowsing palisades opened one eye IH Q ee'f 'lQ - - - OU' O0 ClI'Opped, reassuringly, in placid anchorage. We are sailors home from the sea: Benedicite. . ...J, Q. Counsil