Mount Vernon (AP 22) - Naval Cruise Book

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with a cool drink of South African brandy or gin. The drink was very different In taste from the usual American beer or bourbon, but it had much the same effect. People In Bombay were strange In appearance and customs. On the streets women could be seen wearing a small jewel In the side of the nose just as In the States women wore earrings. Women also wore saris which they gracefully draped around them. Some of the saris were embroid- ered in a fine gold thread and cost hundreds of dollars. In contrast to the expensive garments were the multitudes of penniless beggars. Everyone walked around the sacred cows, and the killing of them was considered a sin. Such men as enjoyed playing the horses found that Bombay had a beautiful racetrack, but the ponies were not in the same class with those on tracks of Santa Anita. There were many temples, rich In gold, silver, and jewels, for the sailors to admire. Crawford Market, where one could buy anything from flowers to monkeys was an unusual sight. The bazaar consisted of peddlers on the street, shops which were mere stalls, and elaborate silver shops. The ship sailed from the land of the hobba hobba and bum boats in company with the Mariposa . Less than twelve hours after depar- ture, an ammunition ship, near which the ship had been moored, blew up, sinking and damaging several ships and starting large fires on the shoreline. Had the Mount Vernon been there she would probably have suffered serious damage. Among the passengers embarked at Bombay were a group of Indian Hindus, whose customs and mode of life offered an Interesting sight on shipboard. Since it was necessary for them to cook their own food, they set about it at once. Only prompt action prevented their building an open fire on the deck forward on B deck. They were then taken to the galley where they prepared their own dishes, while the ship ' s cooks looked on in amazement. Few of the crew envied the passengers their meals. Their staple diet consisted of curry and rice cooked with fish-heads. Steaming away from Bombay was not without its tense feeling of ex- pectation, for at that time there existed a serious submarine menace in the Indian ocean and the Gulf of Aden. Several ships had been recently torpedoed. The trip from Bombay to the States was bound to be long. That, no one doubted. When the ship, almost home, made a wide sweeping turn and headed southeast, all hope of an early arrival was doomed. Where was the ship going? Hadn ' t the cruise, already a month at sea, been long enough? Why was the ship diverting? Diverting, that was it! , the scuttlebutt streamed forth. Right it was. On May 14, the Mount Vernon entered the Panama Canal, ending her Pacific travels.

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During the long weeks of the Pacific voyage, the athletic program of the ship was utilized to its maximum extent. War had emptied the swim- ming pool and brought the space and equipment devoted to recreation to a minimum, but due to ample deck space, ahletic competition proved practical and popular. Interest of the ship ' s commanding officers had always been reflected in shipboard athletics. One had been extremely interested in the tradi- tional Navy sport of boxing. Another, whose interest followed volleyball, had notified officers of any such games by sending an orderly with the message: Captain ' s compliments. Volleyball will begin on the arena in five minutes. During the Pacific cruise, however, basketball caught the interest of the crew and passangers, and, with the active support of the commanding officer, became the center of the most far-reaching athletic program the ship had seen. Such athletic pursuits were in addition to an extensive program of calisthenics each morning which kept the officers and men in top physical condition. The Pacific cruise saw the first of the basketball tournaments, consist- ing of competition between divisions. Corpsmen of the H division and deck hands of the Second division rated as the top teams in the initial round of play. With the development of scores of expert players, an All-Ship team was organized for competition with passengers as well as teams from other ships. Although many strong Army teams were de- veloped aboard, only three times were the passengers successful in de- feating the ship ' s enlisted squads. In the years to follow approximately thirty of these Army-Navy games were played aboard. When the vessel steamed into the Atlantic, weather conditions, although often unfavor- able, seldom caused cancellation of the program, and games were played many times In almost freezing temperatures.