Menifee (APA 202) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 53 text:

SECTION

Page 52 text:

WAJVfJjVJ DJARY r- Uf iVJ£ JJf££ TR W£ 5 January 4 — At 1305 completely loaded with cargo and carrying 1676 troops of the sixth ACFT, warning division, the Menifee stood out from the Bdwy. pier, San Diego to destination . . . Pearl Harbor. January 10 — Arrived in Pearl Harbor. Distance covered 2310 miles. January 11— Underway for Port Allen, Kauai, T. H. 254 passengers aboard. January 12— Arrived in Port Allen, T. H. January 13 — Commenced loading Army Ordnance equipment, and 83 Army passengers. January 14 — Underway from Port Allen to Honolulu. January 15 — Moored to pier in Honolulu, T. H., disem- barked passengers and commenced loading car- go — completed loading this date. January 16 — Underway for Pearl Harbor. Arrived this same date. January 25 — Underway for Honolulu — commenced load- ing Army and Navy cargo. January 29 — Completed loading cargo at 1719 stood out of Honolulu Harbor with 638 troops on board — destination Guadalcanal, Solomon Is. Steam- ing singly and escorted by one PC. February 1 — Crossed international date line — advanced all clocks 24 hours. February 5 — Anchored near west Kukum Beach, Guad- alcanal. Discharged troops and cargo. February 8 — Underway for Port Purvis, Florida Island, Solomon Is. Arrived this same date. February 11 — Moored alongside USS Vulcan, for six days availability. February 22 — Underway for West Kukum Beach, Guad- alcanal. Arrived 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. Anchored several times in White Rock Cove, Guadalcanal, while on maneuvers. March 21-31 — Anchored in Ulithi, Caroline Is. April 1 — Anchored off Okinawa Shima, Nansei Shoto. April 3 — Anchored in inner Transport Area — commenc- ed discharging troops and cargo. April 5 — Underway in convoy from Okinawa to Saipan, Marianas Is. April 9 — Anchored at Saipan. April 10 — Underway from Saipan to Pearl Harbor. April 20 — Arrived in Pearl Harbor. April 23-30 — Ship was given ten days availability at Pearl Harbor. May 5 — Underway from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. May 1 1 — Arrived 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. June 1 — Stopped off to fuel at Eniwetok, Marshall Is. June 6 — Anchored in Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Is. June 7 — Underway to San Pedro Bay, Leyte. June 10 — Anchored in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Is., Philip- pines. June 19 — Underway for Milne Bay, New Guinea. June 25 — Arrived at GOPI Point, New Guinea — com- menced loading cargo. July 2 — Underway for Hollandia Bay. July 4 — Anchored in Hollandia Bay, New Guinea. July 6 — Underway for Manila Bay. July 11 — Anchored in Manila Bay. July 14 — Underway for Ulithi, Caroline Is. July 19 — Anchored in Ulithi — Underway for San Fran- cisco. August 2 — Arrived in San Pedro, California. August 4 — USS Menifee went into drydock. August 6 — Underway from drydock, San Pedro, to San Diego, California. August 7 — Arrived in San Diego, Calif. August 21 — Underway from San Diego, Calif., to Guam, Marianas, carrying 1558 troops, and fully loaded. September 5 — Arrived in Guam, Marianas. September 8 — Underway from Guam to Saipan. September 11 — Moved to Tanapag Harbor to load troops and cargo. September 18 — Underway from Saipan Harbor to Nag- asaki, Japan. 1237 troops and their cargo. September 23 — Landed in Naga ' saki — Debarked troops and cargo. September 26 — Underway from Nagasaki to Manila. October 1 — Arrived in Manila Bay. October 4 — Underway from Manila Bay to Mangarin Bay, Mindoro, Philippines. October 5 — Arrived in Mangarin Bay. October 10 — Underway for Manila Bay. October 14 — Arrived Manila Bay. October 16 — Underway for Saipan. October 21 — Anchored 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 — Arrived in San Francisco! 4.-

Page 54 text:

N DIVISION The N division consists of that gang of guys running up and down the superstructure doing a score of strange and varied jobs, concerned mostly with finding out where we ' re going, what we ' re going to do when we get there, what we ' re running across on the way there, and finding our way there. Included in the gang are yeomen, radarmen, quartermasters, radiomen, signalmen and mail- men. Their jobs range from detecting enemy planes to delivering sugar reports. N division has and has had its share of characters whose eccentricities are too num- erous to mention. It has its gang of liberty hounds, those guys who start drooling three days from Frisco. In charge of the various sections of the di- vision, under Lt. Drannen, navigator, and Lt. (jg) Erdman, division officer, were the Chiefs : Cross, Chief Signalman, who always wanted to know, Who ' s got the watch? ; Bartholomew, Chief Radioman, that liberty-loving lad from Dayton, Ohio, whom we lost so suddenly and tragically in Manila Bay; Toft, Chief Quarter- master, who could have written a book on How to Make Chief in Three Years ; and Gray, Chief Yeoman, that softball playing little chief who was always eager to get the latest on the world news. The outfit ranged in age from Recker and McCann, who were veterans of married life before the birth of Goldberg and Buckner, who were just learning the words to What Is This Thing Called Love? Now that the war is over, N division ' s pri- mary occupation is counting its discharge points on its fingers and toes. SO