Menifee (APA 202) - Naval Cruise Book

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TJ-J !• r OjVJjVJJ JOjNJ jN We ' d been getting pretty well tired of that dead and fog- bound town of simple fisherfolk — Astoria. We ' d been getting even more tired of being shoved around from one flPfl to an- other, dodging working parties and living out of a seabag. When, bigger than life and streaked bow to stern with razzle- dazzle camouflage, in steams our own baby, the 202. find, for some strange reason, she looked just a little better than a dozen others poured of the same mold. Invitations were broken out. The date set. November 4. Wives, sweethearts, buddy-buddys mustered. Ceremonies were scheduled for topside. But the good old Oregon weather fixed that. Ceremonies in the crew ' s messhall. So we mustered in the messhall, port side. Carrier sailors, battlewagon sailors, yippee sailors, stateside sailors, Pacific rock sailors — but mostly boots, 70 or 80 percent in their first real duty assignment. Guests, starboard side. It was brief. That ' s the way we wanted it. The skipper of the base turned the ship over to Captain Spaulding with a few terse statements. He alluded to the job ahead of us (we expected it to be Japan) and enjoined us to carry out the will of the people of the United States. Captain Spaulding, then a three-striper, read his orders and won our hearts with one statement: None of us is here because he wants to be. But we ' d do the job. find, by God, we did. find if there ' s a plankowner aboard who can remember the commissioning and the year since without some pride, why, we say he doesn ' t rate the trust the hard-working people of the United States placed in him.

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PRE-SHIP TRAINING Long before the men of the Menifee reported for duty in Astoria the first part of November, 1944, they were in training for their work aboard at naval stations from Coronado, Calif., to Whidbey Is- land, Wash. The largest group of those making up ship ' s company formed at Barracks 11, APA Pre-Commis- sioning school, Seattle, on September 29. Men of this group had been gathering at the school since its formation in July. Organizing the school, though just a part of the tremendous task the Navy had in putting to sea a fleet of APA ' s, was an impressive job by itself. Well before the school ' s construction was complete, instruction in radio, signalling, damage control, navigation, engineering and deck watch standing, gas warfare, swimming, and other subjects had started. Some men had had specialized training for their work as attack transport sailors even before their arrival in Seattle. Thirty-seven hands of the deck force had spent two weeks in August at the cargo handling school, Port Hueneme, Calif. The vital cargo handling part of an APA ' s work was to depend on them and the men they taught. Six Radarmen had six weeks at Point Loma, Calif., another six trained at Bremerton for a week, and then the whole group went to Whidbey Island, Wash., for a week ' s work as a C.I.C. team. After the crew was formed, attendance by divisions started in two weeks ' courses given by the school. Deck force men and few others concluded their training ashore with a week at Pacific Beach Anti-Aircraft school. Meanwhile, in southern California, the Boat Group and Beach Party members were in training for their shipboard tasks. Officers of the Boat Group reported for duty at the Amphibious Training Base, Coronado, in mid- July, but it was two more months before the bulk of the enlisted men arrived and the present Boat Group began training together as a ' P ' unit. All hands assigned the ' P ' unit were drilled in boat handling— beaching, retracting and coming along- side—boat salvage, signalling, use of machine guns, and the rigors of physical training. While prospec- tive boat crews continued practicing boat handling, other groups learned salvage, maintenance and re- pair of boats and arms. One crew had a month ' s experience salvaging boats in Coronado ' s heavy surf. Motor Machinist Mates learned every detail of the Gray marine diesel engine, and men with Carpenter ' s Mate or Ship Fitter rates learned their work by repairing hulls of damaged assault boats. Machine guns and small arms were studied by the Boat Group ' s Gunner ' s Mates. The Menifee ' s Beach Party went into training at the Amphibious Training Base, Oceanside, August 3. Men at the base learned to run an LCVP, take soundings, rig buoys, salvage boats, and on the dry land side learned to hit a beach, dig a foxhole, shoot a rifle and throw a hand grenade. The Beach Party came aboard 5 November. Thus ready to assume their responsibilities aboard before they had seen their ship were many of the men who have since sailed the Menifee all over the Pacific.

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RIGGING FOR SEA Just two months from the day the U.S.S. Menifee ' s first crew came aboard her 4 November 1944, the Mighty M headed west from San Diego to assume an active part in the Pacific war. In that first 61 days, the ship was outfitted and underwent minor alterations, and the crew members, estimated as 70 percent land- lubbers by flPfl school, learned their parts in the com- plex organization of an assault transport — as well as the miseries of sea sickness. The pace that was to be maintained throughout this trying period was set immediately after Wegge, CBM, piped the first watch that rainy commissioning day. The deck force rigged for quick loading of the tons of pro- visions that were to be taken aboard. So fast were Kaiser ' s yards in Portland and Van- couver sending flPfl ' s down the Columbia river to As- toria, that dock space for outfitting was precious and speed essential, fill hands turned to with a will, as they were to do many times since in loading or unloading their ship, and earned a Well Done for a speedy job. On 15 November, the Menifee got underway for Seattle. That afternoon General Quarters was held for test firing. Rounds expended: 4 rounds 5 38 cal., 104 rounds 40mm, 180 rounds 20 mm. Next day, the ship was depermed and all hands turned to again to load ammunition. The purpose of the Menifee ' s trip north was accom- plished 18 November when Captain Bartram and staff of the training command made a personnel and material inspection, the first of three suffered by the Menifee during this two month period. Meanwhile, Menifee sail- ors were renewing auld acquaintances or making new ones ashore. Next day, Sunday afternoon, the ship was underway again. ( Underway again, in fact, is the short short story of the Menifee to date.) Three days later the hook went down in San Francisco Bay for an overnight stop, during which the boat group picked up boats and some other hands tried Frisco liberty. 23