Menifee (APA 202) - Naval Cruise Book

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F' IQLAND X 1. x Y 2 JA s J BEKTIES

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xx 1 A -114 be A0 N XX? fb 'KK-X H- J ' f , SX ' s f f 1 To X I 'X 1 , Vffgl 'HST i Y-lg! X-rf V L V me-l fe ,-if 1. :ri 1:- L lg.- If -'W -3.3 ES.? li! ,f C7 Mog Mog was the payoff. The Navy spent much of the . f --2,44 Q war winning advanced bases V 5,--'Z so that its ships could be sup Y-G T plied and repaired quickly and :atm f fgffftffais T Fug.: 5 sent out to fight again. This re- ,k ..fl96'fJ A .p ,J fqg tgflt g moved the necessity for the long if Tm' X ge, O - , haul back to Pearl, Hustralia or 7 the States. j' 'fi Q7 I ' -T --QL y 2 - 'L Mb, Ep a 'rig ' H seldom-mentioned bypro- Z , f- duct of this strategy was the 'qi gf: ,f,Jf '1 W fact that it also cut out the fair XS: .9 J if Q5 liberty of the first place, the X 0 -D XX MDCD VV, good liberty of the second, and 1. , 1 X gy- the wonderful liberty of the C21 if 5 'Rm M-ff third. -9 Q My 1 Therefore, the Navy, doing X I J Z J what it could, set up what it X V K Q . called Fleet Recreation Cen- U gk X f f ters. Sooner or later, any base ls f F f of any importance had one. X Some, in the rear areas, had 4-9 -5- 2 Red Cross girls, beer, cokes, f juke boxes, doughnuts and box- ing rings. Others resembled Mog Mog. But Mog Mog was the payoff. Mog Mog is one of the islets of Ulithi Pltoll in the Carolines, long one of the most advanced and most secret naval anchor- ages. Ulithi is a huge and typi- cal atoll-a necklace of islets and reefs surrounding a huge lagoon. Names of the islets of Ulithi read like a fable: Waseri- meyoruuechiichi, Pugelug, Feit- abul, Lam, Flsor, Pig, Mange- jang and Elipig. Mog Mog had the recreation center and was dedicated to the drinking of beer. Pls your P-Boat skimmed the choDDY waters of Ulithi's ho- rizon reaching lagoon, you could smell two things long be- fore you reached Mog Mog -beer and urine. Hcres of co- coanut trees were interspersed with picnic-type tables set in the mud. We stopped over at Ulithi on our way to the Okinawa opera- tion. Hn entire amphibious task force-soldiers, marines, and ships' crews would be ashore at one time, inhaling tons of beer. Some, by begging, barter- ing or buying, would get enough beer to grow happy. Rnd, in that state, a considerable number 46 became suddenly inspired to climb a cocoanut tree and knock down nuts. Beer just seemed to work that way. Mon- ey meant nothing. The common price for beer was one buck straight. With too many beer just seemed to work that way. It would rain several times in the course of a three hour liber- ty. Liberty parties would come back wet, muddy, tired, but sometimes with enough beer in them to make it worthwhile. It wasn't much. But Okinawa was the next stop and beer was beer, no matter where you drank it.

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Wf J81J11X!lf' Di,-XR! JF 1flf1llFf:.:. Af-W..La Nr' r' , X fs r'r' H'-fn, F Q' Ianuary 4-Ht 1305 completely loaded with cargo and carrying 1676 troops of the sixth HCFT, warning division, the Menifee stood out from the Bdwy. pier, San Diego to, destination . . . Pearl Harbor. fanuary 10-Hrrived in Pearl Harbor. Distance covered 2310 miles. anuary ll-Underwayfor Port Hllen, Kauai, T. H. 254 passengers aboard. ,anuary 12-Hrrived in Port Hllen, T. H. fanuary 13-Commenced loading Hrmy Ordnance equipment, and 83 Hrmy passengers. 'anuary 14-Underway from Port Hllen to Honolulu. anuary 15-Moored to pier in Honolulu, T. H., disem- barked passengers and commenced loading car- go-completed loading this date. lanuary 16-Underway for Pearl Harbor. Plrrived this same date. Ianuary 25-Underway for Honolulu-commenced load- ing Hrmy and Navy cargo. . ' Ianuary 29-Completed loading cargo at 1719 stood out of Honolulu Harbor with 838 troops on board -destination Guadalcanal, Solomon ls. Steam- ing singly and escorted by one PC. A A February 1-Crossed international date linefadvanced all clocks 24 hours. ' 7 February 5-lllnchored near west Kukum Beach, Guad- alcanal. Discharged troops and cargo. . February 8-Underway for Port Purvis, Florida Island, Solomon ls. Hrrived this same date. February ll-Moored alongside USS Vulcan, for six days availability. February 22-Underway for West Kukum Beach, Guad- alcanal. Hrrived this same date. . February 23-31-During these days the USS Menifee held debarkation drills, General Quarters, Fire Drills, and other exercises in preparation for her first invasion. Hnchored several times in White Rock Cove, Guadalcanal, while on maneuvers. March 21-31-Hnchored in Ulithi, Caroline ls. 5 Hpril l-Plnchored off Okinawa Shima, Nansei Shoto. Hpril 3-Hnchored in inner Transport Hrea-commeno ed discharging troops and cargo. ' Hpril 5-Underway in convoy from Okinawa to Saipan, Marianas ls. Hpril 9-Hnchored at Saipan. Plpril 10-Underway from Saipan to Pearl Harbor. Flpril 20-Hrrived in Pearl Harbor. Flpril 23-30-Ship was given ten days availability at Pearl Harbor. May 5--Underway from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. May ll-Hrrived in San Francisco. May 12-15,-Loaded cargo and troops. May 16-Underway from San Francisco fully loaded and 1387 troops on board. Destination, Manila, to stop off at Pearl for further orders. May 23-Stopped off at Pearl for further orders. May 24-31-Underway to Manila. fune 1-Stopped off to fuel at Eniwetok, Marshall ls. fune 6-Hnchored in Ulithi Htoll, Caroline ls. fune 7-Underway to San Pedro Bay, Leyte. ,une 10-Qnchored in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, ls., Philip- pines. june 19-Underway for Milne Bay, New Guinea. une 25-Hrrived at GOPI Point, New Guinea-com- menced loading cargo. uly 2-Underway for Hollandia Bay. fuly 4-Hnchored in Hollandia Bay, New Guinea. ,uly 6-Underway for Manila Bay. fuly 11-Hnchored in Manila Bay. fuly 1-4-Underway for Ulithi, Caroline ls. ,uly 19-Hnchored in Ulithi-Underway for San Fran- cisco. 1 Hugust 2-Hrrived in San Pedro, California. Hugust 4-USS Menifee went into drydock. Hugust 6-Underway from drydock, San Pedro, to'San Diego, California. Hugust 7-Hrrived in San Diego, Calif. Hugust 21-Underway from San Diego, Calif., to Guam, Marianas, carrying 1558 troops, and fully loaded. September.5-Hrrived in Guam, Marianas. September, 8-Underway from Guam to Saipan. September ll-Moved to Tanapag Harbor to load ' . troops and cargo. September 18-Underway from Saipan Harbor to Nag- asaki, lapan. 1237 troops and their cargo. September 23-Landed in Nagasaki-Debarked troops and cargo. September 26-Underway from Nagasaki to Manila. October 1-lllrrivedl in Manila Bay. October 4-Underway from Manila Bay to Mangarin Bay, Mindoro, Philippines. October 5-Hrrived in Mangarin Bay. October 10-Underway for Manila Bay. October 14-Hrrived Manila Bay. October 16-Underway for Saipan. October 21-Hnchored in Saipan Harbor, underway from anchorage to dock in Tanapag Harbor. Com- menced loading troops. October 22-Underway from Saipan to San Francisco, California. November 3-Plrrived in San Francisco!