John Q Roberts (APD 94) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 24 text:

I I!! I I A ' I ''II I II ' ''IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..m..II..II:::..IIIIl..IIIII..!!!!.. ..I.: lI..II moored at the Coco Solo Naval Reservation for a night of liberty in the wild and rugged town of Cristobal. The next day we fueled and started for Nor- folk by way of the Yucatan Channel. As we left the balmy Central American climate, the cold Atlantic soon froze our tropical blood, and we were glad to tie up alongside the Convoy Escort Piers in Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virf ginia, on the eighth of February. Glad, because half the crew started on thirty days leave that day. Those who stayed behind maneuvered the ship into the Norfolk Shipyard. where the task of getting the ship ready for decom- missioning was begun. Those who made the first leave returned in time to take the Roberts to her final destination, 'Green Cove Springs, Florida, there to -complete the decommissioning process. Along with hundreds of other veterans of World War II, the Roberts traveling days are over for awhile. But we who served aboard have not forgotten her, nor the way she carried us through many tight and dangerous spots. For those long and weary months, she was the symbol of what we were fighting for, our homes, our loved ones, and our country. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I .I -1 I I I I I I I I I I I I 'I I I I I I I I I I I 9 . ll I I.,

Page 23 text:

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

Page 25 text:

.SQ S Q QQ.