Samuel Gompers (AD 37) - Naval Cruise Book

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23 June 1975 Our Day 0fDeparIure lt was a foggy, drizzly morning that Gompers left San Diego on her seventh voyage to the Western Pacific. With a minimum of fanfare, the families stood on the quaywall at North Island, and the sailors looked back, hoping for an early return. Everybodiy was being very self- concious y brave, perhaps . Two hours out of the harbor, there was an abandon ship drill. A week after San Diego, Gompers pulled into Hawaii for the first time this year, though not the last. Engineering problems made sure Gompers would see Pearl Harbor a- gain. Everything was fixed in record time, however, and we began crossing the placid mid-Pacific re- gions enroute to Buckner Bay, Okinawa. At Buckner Bay, the ship moored to a pier and refueled. Six hours after mooring, Gompers set to sea again for typhoon evasion. Typhoon evasion took us to Sasebo, Japan. Gompers' arrival in Sasebo doubled the base's repair ca abilities and brought crewmen a lot ofj work but somehow, with everyone pulling together, the jobs got done . After three weeks in Sasebo, Gompers steamed for Yokosukap typhoons were troublesome in Southern Japan and only a little less so in the North. il 2 - - -3- -'sy-4--re if QS! , .x -z s 'r '.r-1'-1-vu-iq-4-f fvgiw . e eg ng-e,-i'r Lpg,'1e:a,,f,. UQ, sc lr-2 -r-25,5 -i , QI I , 4 , F 4, L' H I I 1 ' .1-ur ai' H. fl'

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After Yokosuka, Gompers went to Hong Kong for a few short days. Hong Kong is.. .well, Hong Kong is like no other city on earth . It was a shame to leave but we did have work to do. Subic Bay brought a change of pace. Gompersmen worked on subs, tugs, cruisers, and aircraft carriers. There was a course change six days into the homeward transit. Gompers diverted for Yokosuka, Japan to lVledevac a crewman for an appendectomy. The seas became rougher as we steamed North. The appendectomy was performed underway and the crewman medevacked for re- covery at the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, The operation was a com - plete success . Then followed three weeks of heavy seas in a storm-tossed North Pacific transit and finally, arrival in San Diego six months and one day after departure, on the morning of Christmas Eve . 'Fw v' f- . ,,- . it-s Q fm fu' ?.fP. 3 A -4 ? I .,2'.tT,,a1 fig? -H A' .zijn ., N-,A ig 3 1 , ,V G, . '04 ft. v-uau':v- ...Y ,