Mount Vernon (AP 22) - Naval Cruise Book

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' ■ - do something about it. They tried! One morning Lassltar, the phar- macist ' s mate with the salesman ' s soul sneaked around the corner with a new hair cut. One half of his hair was cut scalp high. He reported that dental technician Bunting and himself had spent the night in the brig. Other polywogs looked over their shoulders more often as they wandered through the darkened passageways. The librarian Ravahel had published statistics proving that Crossing the Line had been fatal to some. Watch standers appeared in uniforms with subtle changes. The First Lieutenant, Commander Wilcox wore diving shoes, raincoat, and fire helmet and carried fire axes as accessories. Some of the other officers reported to the bridge to test the visual qualities of nozzles in place of binoculars. At 1300 the next day. King Neptune came aboard and held court. Salt water flowed freely. Arms, as well as rumps, ached from the swing- ing of paddles. Lieut, (jg) Wilder caught the back sweep of a paddle and spent several days in sick bay. Stitches closed the wound in a sailor ' s scalp. Initiates begged the Immediate Installation of the extra high mess hall tables (without benches). The crew sobered a few days later when the Captain told them they were in dangerous waters. All hands were ordered to carry life jackets.

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group. As the weather became warmer and the novelty of passengers began to wear, rope yarn Sundays were started — on Wednesday afternoons. Boxing matches, arranged by Chaplain Martin took part of the time and amateur shows finished the day. Once the English put on a skit for the show. The American evaluation of the British brand of humor is well known. The course drew the ship through the passage called the Dragon ' s Mouth into the harbor of Port au Prince, Trinidad. Ship ' s company was intrigued by their first close up of a tropical island. They discussed the mysteries teyond the mountains, the pitch lake, and the liquor. Ten percent of the crew was allowed ashore. Those left aboard tried swim- ming off the fan tail. Divers made all manner of attempts at diving. Pulling themselves up the boat falls proved too strenuous in the tropical heat. Mail came aboard. Top priority of morale boosters is mail. Whether after a six months ' trip around the world or a week ' s crossing of the At- lantic, nothing gives the uplift of news or the sugar report. Carl Mut- schler CMaM has been getting the mail through to the ship ' s company with the least possible strain for quite some time. Helping, have been Hyland, Hoyer, Shields, and half the Marine detachment. Dire threats of impending happenings were casually dropped about the ship as the convoy steamed south. The ship was approaching the Equator. A small group walked the decks with lordly airs. All the loyal shellbacks prepared to pay homage to His Majesty, King Neptune. The polywogs discovered that they were greater in number and decided to

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The tense feeling didn ' t last long. Even wearing a life jacket can be fun. Ward came from the medical storeroom wearing the bustle type. Piast tied the top and bottom fasteners of each side, turned it wrong side out, and wore it looking a visitor from Mars. Someone discovered that the kapok linings made excellent pillows. The canvas cover was much easier to carry without the insides, especially since the insides felt so comfort- able under the mattress. News came from the radio shack that the British ship Dorchester had sunk the German submarine supply ship, the Python . The victim had been refueling and supplying subs in the vicinity of St. Helena. That is- land was near! Halfway around the world, Hell broke loose that day, 7 December 1941. The kapok returned to the life jackets, and the life jackets returned to the men ' s backs. The Master at arms went about keeping all hands away from the rail. The sight of land had drawn everyone topside. The ship ' s policy was to keep the rails clear of draped men. McKibben never understood why he couldn ' t sit on the fence . Cape Town reminded many of California. Closer inspection, how- ever, revealed the lack of rain. The modern city disappointed those who had expected naked savages and mud huts. High above the city stood