Manchester (CL 83) - Naval Cruise Book

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Thailand sailor is bundled into ■ i .Inh ln-i In I It M vf.nl I )M ' , Enclicott. Man at iur left tried to help, but was so frozen he could hardly move. I saw two of them killed by 40 millimeter fire from the destroyers. All eight of the Americans aboard slept in the Captain ' s cabin of the Prasae. The temperature was near zero. One night we tried to use a char- coal brazier to keep warm, but the fumes were unbearable and the rest of the time we just gritted our teeth and endured the cold. U. S. Navy personnel who tried to save the ship did an excellent job, but conditions made it impossible. Although the Siamese sailors were completely out of their element, with ice on the bulkheads and many of them fainting because of the char- coal smoke and freezing weather, they elected to stay with their ship in the hope that it might be salvaged. As the seas became rougher, the Prasae was pushed further up on the beach. During the next three days the weather made flying impossible. Lieutenant Taylor stood by to supervise the salvage attempts. He said, We went in an LCVP and it looked like a one way trip. The Prasae was about 75 yards from dry beach, and the surf was extremely heavy. Radioman Kelly Havard stood guard alongside the Siamese crewmen during the operation. Two bursts in sky are anti-per- sonnel salvos directed at Com- munist troops.

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J Lieutenant Tuvlnr. right, from the Bolster, guarded the helicopter from Communist troops lurking in the distance Meanwhile, the Manchester had been detached from nearby TF 77. The Philippine Sea had provided her with a helicopter and Chief Avia tion Pilot D. W. Thorin. Winn the Manchester reached the area, Thorin began his pet shuttle service between the ship and the ; to bring the freezing men ab While the evacuation was in progress. Lieutenant (jg) M. D. Taylor, the Repair Officei oi the Bolster, had board ' isae and was ducting salvage operations. The followm. count is from the statements of Lieutenant Taylor and from Pilot Thornton -ered minor injuries from the crasl Said the latter: During th aboard the ground I ab nit 200 enemj I triers. Although th : . within t the shij I lit 1 V tile were m dark vhich blended with the tiees and brush. Otl illy invisible against th background-

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A they waited their turn to be picked up. the remaining Prasae sailors lived on hot soup brought from the Manchester in the milk cannister at right. We managed to get Lieutenant Harding. Lieu- tenant Thornton and the latter ' s crewman, Marci- ano, in the boat and to the beach. I made another trip to get Thailand sailors for a beach guard. We established a nice little beachhead. The next day the helicopter from the Manchester evacuated Lieutenant Harding, Marciano, and the exposure and shock cases from among the Thailand sailors. Lieutenant Thornton insisted on staying with me to maintain the beach guard. That evening we managed to get a line from the Bolster to the Prasae, but it broke the fol- lowing morning. We tried to get lines between the ships with buoy floats, sail rafts and even helium balloons. Finally we got some clear weather, and the Manchester ' s helicopter suc- cessfully got a line rigged. It, too, broke on the morning of January 12th. In the afternoon we began to send all personnel to the Manchester by helicopter. At dawn today we could step from the Prasae to dry ground. All remaining personnel were evacuated. Under the whirring rotors the last survivors are hurried aboard tor the shuttle to the Man- chester.