Washburn (AKA 108) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 46 text:

DECK D- ! BLT Y Standing: Shaffer BM2, Pack, D,W., Heuer, L.H., Meetze, T.F., Meyers, A,G,, Blea, J,A,, ENS Virr. Kneeling: Younger, G.C., Symbol, R.A,, Turner, M.J., Boothe, C,R,, Norwood, T,L,, Schreiber, M,D,, BMC Heck. Sitting: Tellez, A,M,, Franz, R,L,, Felman, J.A., Carmichael, W,L,, Wakefield, J,P, In April, the emphasis shifted from cargo hand- ling to maintenance of rigging and general upkeep. Blocks were in need of repair and the forward decks were in poor shape. Sasebo, Japan was the scene and work was mixed with liberty ashore, the first in two months! Up-keep completed, we returned to Vietnam and found more time to paint and clean during an unexpected lull in our operations as the ship visited several Vietna- mese ports. May, found us in Hong Kong and then the Amphibious Ready Group. The Ready Group operations consisted of being on station, con- stantly ready to land our marines, or support them once they were ashore. There was a good deal of time and emphasis put on training to accom- plish our mission and to insure our prepardness. Our readiness became razor keen and we could 15 T DIVISION First Division, one of the four deck divisions, was responsible for the rigging, main deck and the cargo holds forward of the ship's super- structure. Cleaning and preserva- tion of this large area kept the entire division busy even when not working the boats and booms. How- ever, the cruise was marked by constant loading and off-loading of combat cargo requiring the contin- ual use of the ships boats. The cruise began with the landing of the 27th Marines and their equipment in DaNang and immediately went into high gear. The month of March was one constant operation, day and night, loading men and equipment in DaNang and Qui Nohn, then landing them all on the beach at Thon My Thuy. Holds were filled and fortifi- cation material took the place of Mike boats on the hatches --the material of war stacked on deck became a common sight forward. Z any

Page 45 text:

-.Q V ,. .Wirth C' I N.,--. I DEPARTMENTS

Page 47 text:

off-load the entire Boat Group in record time. But, the pace of really meaningful activity had slowed somewhat. June and July continued with us in the Ready Group, we partici- pated in four major amphibious assaults, with a trip to Subic Bay in the Philippines thrown in for variety. A winch prob- lem on hatch 3 threatened to crimp the divisions ability to perform, but was successfully overcome after twice having the armature in the winch mo- tor replaced. In August Hong aim Hold number three. ri . -- fl' ,MQW i , I W .K nil fl sfgrii . i1.-- Thanks to my spinach Kong and Yokosuka, Japan were visited and provided our last but greatest opportunity to shop. The pace quickened again, as prepa- rations were made for the long voyage home to San Diego. A11 spaces required a thorough clean-up and painting, most of which was ac- complished while underway. The trip from Yokosuka to San Diego added one last change for our busy clean-up schedule. Thus, First Division never lacked of things to be done. In the face of our work load, however, our speed and expertness increased - we just got better and better throu hout the cruise g . We were the BEST when we left, where are we now? We dreamed of Unreps in our maidenform vests. 17 rx . ' f if W' 1 - - - 3 C f' 4 l I 2 x 1' x 2 3 . ' ' ff I N . .al +4 'X