Macomb (DD 458 DMS 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE BATTLE OF DAKAR There are innumerable battles listed in the history of World War ll, but in the minds of the lVlacomb's crew there remains the memory of one which will never appear on any official battle list. Nevertheless there was such a battle, and it was unique in the annals of warfare in that there was no objective, either moral or geo- graphical, there were no weapons used other than the ones with which all mankind is born, and each and everyone of the belligerents was terrifically intoxicated. It was at the port of Dakar where the scene of this great battle was set, the first liberty party had gone over in the morning, and had found plenty to amuse them-shops, cafes, theatres, and other places of amusement. With so many divcrsihcd forms of recreation, the boys were kept too busy to succumb to demon alcohol, and consequently arrived back at the ship in rela- tively good shape, and with glowing accounts of the delights of liberty in Dakar. These descrip- tions whetted the appetites of the men in the second liberty party. and they set off into town like a hunt-h of wolves in sailoris clothing, which is just what they were. The afternoon wore on. and the three de- stroyers basked in the warm Dakar sun, bliss- fully unaware of what was transpiring in town. The first indication of the state of affairs came when the U.D. happened to glance up along the dork. only lo do a swift double take as a strange sight met his eyes. Meandering along the dock came an ancient donkey, pulling an equally ancient two-wheeled cart, and perched atop this veliiele. singing an obscene ditty at the top of his obviously drunken lungs. was our coxswain, Williams. The O.D. looked farther. Running madly after the cart was a swearing Arab, clad in a regulation mattress cover, yelling unin- telligihle but unmistakable curses at the unper- turhed Williams. Whoa, girl, spoke Williams, ignoring the animals obvious sex. The animal came to an abrupt Slvp. precipitating the driver to the ground. Picking himself up. Coxswain Williams made his unsteady way to the back of the Cart. in a blissfully unconsicous state, lay Ray ,Sig- nalman lfc. The Arab, obviously the owner of the e age, took this moment to arrive puffing on the scene, and between his French-Arabic swearing, and Coxswain Williams, alcoholic babbling, it was some time before the O.D. could elicit the facts. It seems that Williams had come upon Ray lying in a Dakar gutter, about to drown in its contents. You know what runs in the gutters of Dakar. To save a shipmate from this horrible fate, he had commandeered the only vehicle at hand and brought Ray back to the ship. With an air of smug righteousness, Williams completed his report and staggered aboard ship, leaving the whole affair in the hands of the O.D. Now while this scene was taking place, several other imbibers had arrived, among them Big John Walsh, gigantic brother signalman of the unconscious Ray. Seeing his shipmate lying in the cart, Wialsh sat down on the tailgate to shoot the breeze, utterly ignoring the fact that llay was out like a light. But lohnis great weight C230 lbs.l was too much for the undersized don- key, and it rose majestically in the air, sliding both John and the unconscious Ray to the ground. This bothered Ray not a bit, for llc slumbered peacefully on, but Walsh rose from the ground with wrath burning in both his cognac-inflamed eyes. Confronting' the donkey, which had now regained its normal earthbound condition, he accused the animal of malice aforc- thought. ln great rage, he cursed the p00f equine, casting slurring remarks upon its ances- tors, and dropping broad hints that its mothers husband should have stayed home and waiCl'lCd the billygoat next door. Working himself UP into a frenzy, he challenged the animal to fight like a man, obviously an impossible feat. FUT' ther enraged by the animal's stubborn sileItCC, he raised his great fist, and drove a terrific right squarely between the animalis eyes. The poor beastas legs buckled, its eyes crossed, and it quivered throughout its body as it sank slowly to the ground, a perfect K.O. ear The screams of the Arab owner were nog Ish . . , . . 3 piercing, but, with a magnificent g6StUlC, wa ' flung a roll of francs at the man, and S 5 CU1'i0U5: the O.D. followed. There in the cart, gered ayyay. The A1-ab pounced upon the long 54 3 e l p ,,,,, all c Sk' . W , i 4 s quiv-

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From the bridge of the Macomb, the situation appeared definitely foolhardy, and the Captain ordered the boat recall signal made in all avail- able manners .... Meanwhile, the whaleboat, braving the ele- ments in true navy fashion still strove to gain on the unflagging New Jersey. The coxswain noticed an urgent blinking light coming front the Mac, and brought it to Drill's attention. Mr, Drillf' he said, HI think theyire trying to recall usfi Wlihat canit be coming from the Xlacontbf' Drill declared, alive got to get to that confer- 17 CDCC. The Macomb finally gut underway and tht- strangost chase in history clcveloptftl in th-- stroyer chasing a whzilfrhoat chasing a battleship. lnevitalrly the uneven race was ttf-tfitlml against the vuliztnt 26-foot craft. untl the tlisln-arte-nt-rl llrill. tlretu'lu'fl in hotly and spirit. lrourth-fl tht- Xlm' atntitl tht- not-so-gracious tiller-rs ul' his Hlliplllilit'S. Wl'II.l.MAN A NU IHNLA RT Wlwn tht- Ntighty Nlzu' urrivctl in llztkur. l rt'nt'h Wa-st Africa. tht- flnu-rivztn :Xtlniirul pt't's- ent thought that czutse enough for at party. 'l'lu-rv were lllso tht- f'hlllt'l'lt'ilIl tlcstroyers llztll mul lhtllignn its wt-II as at l5U troupe- lu-auh-tl by lltlIllltlll't'N llogztrt und his wife. Nluto Nlvllttrt rt-rtuinlx enough :Xnu-rit'uns to warrant at gala: ttllatir. So tht- ollivers ol tht- tltrm' runs untl tht- liogurt group. local tlignitztries. anal .Xriny nurses were invitvtl. Cognac' atntl lvruntly lloxwtl. ln- evituhlv during tht- evening the Xlaafs lfnsign Zeke Wellntznt. lllllylliltl rt'cling from tht- potent punch. t't-rtninly no less i'tttlcly-clit-ekt-tl than usual. inet haul-nutn liogt'tu and entered ltttu at now-luntous conversation. Claritameetcha. Bogey' Good to know you. Zeke. Suv, Bogey. whois that pig youirc out with tonight '? Why thatis no pig. thatis my wifeli' And that was when Zeke bade Bogey aclieuf And might this not be the reason why had mall Bogey is now Mr. Lauren Bacall? NDYNAM ITE Black flashing light. bearing tt3tl'. came the report from the starboard sky lookout. hatlu ejaculateil the otlicer-of-tlte-dec Wllefef l'luts'fl ilillvtl nwiltulttil reportu that? ' llynaunite is statrboartl skx. sir.. Uv iiuntiti-'fi' N vs lluuserf' t ll I '.. .Xml thus another rvtttmkitlvli- rt-port hint comm ltont tht- fertile nnu-'tnattton of the most st-ns -N t tional of all Xian-otnb lookouts. llvnnnutt llaittser. tht- num who .mtv unxtlting und. pt-rltatps ns at rt-sult. rt-portt-tl luttth-sltips. sulnnatrints ent-nn atitvtxtlit. aunl all ntaunn-r ul' lt.u1tr1ls ol lltt' tlmtp, Xt unotln-i tune. .ts st-ntrv on tht- lxotlinnn llxnnnntt- shot it st-tt :ull with tn tntrx rilh s5' lk ltt'tt !t'tllt'1l tts lu txltt ltt' lttttl tluttt' lltl-. ltt' tt F phwl th.tt ht' hit-I shot tht- ltntt in st-ll-th-lt-It tl XX hen lltlhtlltllt' it-pottvtl .tlto.tttl his his . .1 NWS. lu' .iskt-tl lot gttultt-nw with tht- rnptaun llts git-cling tml'-. llilllHt'l s nn natnu what tours! Xrtstu-it-tl hx nn vxpn-ssion ol punhtl tnrrt-tlulttx. ht- ltowt-tl out with. 1-ull on nu .toxttntv will not-tl on-. anptattn. llmt wus llxnt ut. 'im tnttv. ptwpvtttttl se-ttnmn pe ttntnw-nt lot-to ,. , 1 :atnttmn vttnsnnu-i ol tht- gootl :mtl lvanl It -I 'stills nl -full.-t t-llott, Inttik-sl,tppa'l .intl liivntl tl ztll. l wontlvr whx wt- me-r truth-al into oll to ilu is llotlnmuf x is Q N gm, LUJMWI to . 1.-.-.- Q lsltlp

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gl-een, snapped a perfect regulation salute. and dashed madly away, no doubt in search of a gin- mill. His unconscious donkey he abandoned to its unhappy fate. As Walsh turned to stagger up the gangway. 3 peculiar sight met his eyes. Bill Tschercll. ex- iceman, and Sweeney. midget quartermaster. friends of long standing. were engaged in a drunken argument about Uawd knows what. .-'ts Walsh watched this scene with bleary eyes. liotll men raised their dukes and prepared for a round of fisticufls. That devils brew. cognac. was get- ting in its licks. llut up stepped Ytialsh. and spoke as follows: Whynt-ha pick on shonu-body your shize. llill'!i' As 'l'scherch turned to confront this new menace. Walsh swung a mighty right hand. the same one that had just dropped the donkey. 'l'sclu-rch prudently ducked. lint Sweeney was not so fortunate. and Walshis piledrixer list t'iltIgl'll him smack on his right optic. lfxit Sweeney. lgnoring his mistake. Walsh stepped ou-r Swcene-y's prostrate liotly lo liollow 'list-ln-rt-li aboard. lit now' he was really worked up to a lighting fury. and was swinging at eu-ry thing he saw. or thought he saw. .Xt the quarterdl-ck. luckilv. he stumbled and fell. and lu-lore he could regain his feet. llr. tilark was upon him. With sonic fancy judo. hc soon rcntcred this mad hattlcr unconsicous. and ten men carted the great lmlk below' to his sack. lixit Walsh. 'lihc lvattlc ol llakar was now in lull swing. :ks we latcr discoxercd. all the places ol amuse- ment had closed in thc afternoon. no doubt for a siesta. and all that was available was bottled cognac. So all the boys had spent the afternoon Swigging the potent stutl. and each and exeryone was rip-roaring. fighting drunk. Un the lantail. liallaus. hlhl lp ff c. suddenly ran amok, and commenced to swing his arms scythe- like among his comrades. felling them like ten- pins. Owens. FC Zfc. happened to be in the way. With great presence of mind. he dropped beneath Kallaus' murderous fist. and grasped him around the ribs in a terrific bear hug. Kallaus made a noise like a main gasket blowing. and collapsed. He recovered quickly. however. and would have resumed hostilities except for the fact that Ur. Clark arrixed on the scene with his little old needle. and it was exit Kallaus. Thus commenced a night ol continual excite- ment. in which each member of the crew. return- ing from llln-rty loaded with tighting juice. saw in t'Lll.'ll erstwhile shipinatc a menace tu ltir life and happiness. and forthwith attacked with xigor and fury. the lloctor and his pharmacist mates were kept busy. racing from thc lucislt' to fantail. from lvritlgc to cttgitn' ltousc. witll ln po and jlttlo rendering these wine-crazed men liannless. linallx. the last ol-strcperous imlnlver had come aboard. the last tight had l-een qucllcd. and the gladiators were all nestled snug in their beds. sleeping the deep. dleamless sleep ull tired nu-n. llnly sputktellt' outlvlcaks ol xiolt-nee lvrokc the l '4u'elul night. lln- l-attle ull llakar was oxcr. IXISSHS NNI! NIISSICS 'lhouuh ol tutll ' the ISF. Xldrolltll is a stlltvtllvl -llll' 'ltr' -ltll ltd- ll.t1l llc! slltttt' all Vul' ltsltllls and .tltllwsl-. lln' t-.oln--t one oe'4'tlllce in tht- Xolllt Xtlanti- .is we were eiuisinp along preparing lu ln--l ond.-iw.o. ks we slanted nttl' glpploavlt, tln- punt lv.lI:w' wa' Nt'll'tjlllllQ,1illUllQ' side tontl-sled out snpcliotitx ln l4'lll'-llttl to nioxc. When llnallx wc ggol -lcal. out lovsle' ltnnlxrtl lilo- .in .n'1ouli.in with ltolvs. lull toll slllllllll lptxa' sawn lllo' nlllrt gtlt. lt ulllt llllllx IIS IT JM. in I1.,.l..,, Xmtl In it-pair our ulaniapc. I. xx ,-:ff -pai. fs I: Wifi? s I -tt,-Ar,A-.....- V-X,Q X 1. ffh 'V' fa. ff,-F' . W -- -, ' -xx ',1'!' All f if -ef, ' it -'Zh i 1 f ' ' X . , . . 2 1 ,If X I N .. f-I in ff' I-IAQNAZ Wx x I, MN-I '-4: -' v,,'m'- --f ff, f' s - rx 6,5 1 ,z . f X :I s.-X ,Y ,,..N! ,.,, , .,,. .117 WIIINI. Ll 1 IIIUKIY 55 .o.4t-4-1an- mms---.-.-1 ,...-f,w-- ,,,-.... sp.. ,. -as l i l l rl l 1 E a s l