Mount Vernon (AP 22) - Naval Cruise Book

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building, Radio city, and Times Square, but they saw thenn alone or in groups of two or three, not in the large parties which grew In smaller and stranger ports. Legitimate theatres augmented the movie programs; music and mu- seum tours were available. To the sea-weary men of the ship, however, It was countless small bars, the dinner In scattered restaurants, the bawdy floor shows of the night clubs, the horse-drawn buggys in Central Park that at last formed their memories of New York. One steward ' s mate shifted his weight uneasily from one foot to the other as he stood before the captain at mast. The captain briefly scanned the charge sheet, rubbed his chin, and looked threateningly at the man. You ' re charged with being absent over leave. What have you to say for yourself? I missed the subway, suh. When the man further explained that his home was In Harlem the cap- tain gasped, and re-examined the charge sheet. He must have misread it, but no, there it was in clear, black print. . . . Absent over leave for a period of ' three days, 17 hours, and 45 minutes ' .

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Glazed with Ice and cutting through the freezing winds of the North Atlantic, the Mount Vernon at last found her course plotted for New York and honne. But the trip was to be interrupted. Through the fog came the distress signals of a burning Norwegian tanker. The homeward course was altered as preparations for rescue began. Blow torches were needed to melt the ice holding the lifeboats to the davits. Fire and Rescue crews assembled their equipment. Fog was hugging the surface of the water and sleet was driving against the decks as the burning vessel came into view. For two hours the Mount Vernon stood by, leaving only after assistance was on the way in the form of Coast Guard rescue ships. Entry into New York harbor was made in the early morning; special sea details were set at 0200 and for four hours the crew shivered while ice-covered tugs maneuvered the ship up the ice-jammed harbor and alongside Pier 51. New York became a city of Individual memories for the men of the ' Mount Vernon . Its size swallowed them up in the afternoon and sep- arated them until morning. Here at last they found liberties suitable to every taste. Of course they saw the sights of the city — the Empire State

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More than four years had passed since that day In San Francisco when Navy crews first came aboard the Mount Vernon — years spent in con- stant sailing, as a connecting link between ports throughout the world. Through the sub-infested waters of a world at war she logged the amaz- ing total of 363,000 miles of travel. On her decks and through her pas- sageways have teemed more than 315,000 troops, casualties, prisoners, and refugees — bound for the fighting fronts or returning home from the realities of war. The end of hostilities did not complete the task of the Mount Vernon . Her duty as one of the Navy ' s largest transports became the returning of millions of victorious troops home — a fitting task to close her Naval career. Coming years will change her appearance and de-commissioning will begin the metamorphosis that will cover the dull Navy gray with white and black brilliance. New thousands of passengers in the future will en- joy the pleasures of peace time voyages. But they will not know the real Mount Vernon . It will be the sweating, milling soldiers whom she carried to the ex- tremities of the earth, the grim veterans whom she returned home, the men who tended her boilers in the heat of the Pacific, the men who manned her guns in the gray chill of the Atlantic dawn, men whose com- radeship and indomitable spirit found in her intangible personality which shaped their existence —