John Q Roberts (APD 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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small and numerous, rising abruptly from small sandy beaches to great heights. When we reached Hiro Wan, we found a small fishing village whose only importance was its proximity to the great naval base at Kure, and to Hiroshima. Our control post was at the entrance to Bungo Suido, where we anchored this time rather than patrolled. While anchored here we had numerous steak fries and mine hunts on one of the small rocky islands which dotted the chan- nel. In this way we added four more mines to our list. When we returned it was to Kure, where we found the ruins of the lm- perial Iapgnese fleet. One large battleship of the Nagato class had run aground just off shore and had been riddled by our aircraft and by direct bomb hits. Few of the ships there were in operating condition, and probably none of them will ever be underway again. The shipyards at Kure were leveled, as was most of the city itself. A few days later, a sightseeing trip to Hiroshima was arranged. We made the two hour trip in LCVP'S, and crossed the harbor to the village of Ugine, a suburb of the city. In trucks which carried us around the ruined city, we were able to see the vast 'damage done by the now famous atomic bomb. The bomb exploded in the center of the city, near the City Hall, and the surrounding area of about five ,square miles was wiped completely clean, except for the skeletons of a few sturdier buildings, and the scarred, blackened trunks of trees rising grotesquely from the ruins. At this time we went alongside the repair ship Vulcan for more boiler repairs. But after five days, we were on our way out to Bungo Suido to re- sume our entrance control post. ' ' ' 'id'- - - ' A ---W M- '-' --M 'U' ' i ' ' ' '-

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llllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIlIlII..m..II..IIm.. m..m ..:!!:.. .....: IIu..lII 4 ' i'II ''lI ''Ill''II'' ''IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 2 2, l 3 w I 'a I-ICMEWARD When we returned to Kure, we received the news for which we had been waiting for many weeks. We were to load up with as many passen- gers as we could take and proceed to Uncle Sugar. After receiving most of our passengers and many provisions, we began the first lap of the journey. On the way out of the harbor, we struck a submerged log, damaging both propellers and one rudder. Though the damage caused a great deal of vi- bration, it was decided that we could complete the trip safely. So, after' picking up the remainder of the passengers at Nagoya, we and our compan- ion ship, the Brock, headed southward for Eniwetok. Before reaching the atoll, however, we had to reckon with an angry Iapan Sea. High winds and great swells that often hid the Brock from view left many of the less veteran sea-farers with a good case of seasickness. But after several sleep- less nights, the sea was calm once more, and it was on smooth and sultry seas that we reached Eniwetok. Stopping on December twenty-third only long enough to refuel, we left the same afternoon for Pearl Harbor. The sea remained calm and the sky cloudless. Two days at sea we celebrated Christmas, with the usual sing- ing, presents, and of course, eating. On the twenty-sixth we crossed the International Dateline, and for a few hours it was Christmas once more. At Pearl Harbor we made our first civilized liberties in seven months. We stayed for two days, so that everyone had a chance to go ashore. After some civilian chow and sun baths on Waikiki Beach, we were ready for the last leg of our journey home. The thirty-first saw us underway for San Pedro, California. On this same day, our commanding officer received an appointment to,the rank of lieu- tenant commander. Though our new year was not celebrated in the tradi- itonal way, many of us had already made up for it in the Hawaiian's and were pretty well satisfied anyway. on the sixth of Ianuary, the United States of America came up over the horizon, and to the tune of a Navy Band we were welcomed home at Port Hueneme, where the passengers disembarked and started for their separate places of discharge. Here we had our first taste of fresh milk in many months. Later that day, we went on down to San Pedro, and were soon ashore . . . our first liberty in the United States since Charleston, seven months before. Fortunately our entry into Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Pasadena had no noticeable effect on these fair cities. But that wasn't because we didn't try. We were hilariously happy to be home, and we celebrated the fact to varying dgrees. We went everywhere, saw everything, and left behind us a trail of hard-earned sea pay. The time went all too quickly, and before we knew it, we had been drydocked, our screws and rudder repaired, and the bottom sand blasted and painted. lust before we were ready to go, Mr. O'Don- nell left for civilian life. and Lieutenant Ggl Katz became our new executive officer. ' A Ianuary twenty-fifth we left drydock, and after an afternoon of sea trials to determine the extent of repairs, we were on our way to the east coast by way of the Panama Canal. After a calm, eight day trip, we reached Balboa on February first and went on through the canal. On the Atlantic side we f MS'ffKlm zmg.mgA1mf,un-mmm-Qfg.,a-W,1.:x-:QRA. :.-.ix- .:....,,.,,. , .. , ,..,,-.-,.- ,,,,, , f -----M --- .e ..-:. ., .,., ,.. - ..... -,. .ng-4. ....4, .., ,,. , pn, ,U MMM