Cascade (AD 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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All Essay on Wadiiig Ashore On Lil)ertv at Advanced Base E Kl{ shall it f a rherished memory lo the men of the CASCADE — going: asihore on a certain South Seas atoll. lime sped bv. despite our efTorts to stay it in its flight and linger there forever. (). jovous recollection I The silvery moon spilling its beauteous firandeur across the shimmering lagoon while the beckoning palms • ' oned and subtle maiden voices put care to (light and soft maiden touch caressed away all woe of war. Ikiy! Those Bob Ho])e movies were really good. Then there were the liberties ashore. There we gaily hunted for shells and swam and hunted for shells. Iv was all that a man could ask for. How well I recall our carefree Acme beer parties. What a jolly - ' •■IK «.• made with our cargo of frozen beverage. The nice part of it was that the chill could be counted on .V. oe oH the blessed stuff when we got ashore. Where else could we have had boiled beer? Yes. it was warmish mere. But recall the dainty shower that so often gently cooled the exuberant merry-makers. How consoling it vas to know that though quickly wet you would be quickly dry — if ever that blamed substance stopped cascading down. Ah, rapturous Coconut Isles. In no other place would joy. if not pursued, pursue. If we didn ' t go after pleasure, pleasure came to us. It is to be recalled how on one occasion the entire ship ' s company was spent with w, ' of merry-making. On this day not one man liad dcparlcd fioni the ship, so surfeited were we with merri- ment. However, that was not the South Seas way. When shortly after dawn the natives saw that we rollicking fellows ' lie Cascade were not coming ashore to spend the day in song and feast and dance from sun-up to down as w..s our wont, they were disconsolate. But their disappointment was short-lived and native ingenuity found a way. They came to us. In T-boats and F-boats. in I ' -boats and X-boats they came lo us. Fore and aft, port and stai ' board, up the gangway, up the rigging, through the ports, they clambered aboard. It was a day! Dancing » d singing, singing and dancing, we were a happy throng. Sadly in the setting sun we waved goodbye as our fr ' ' « merged into the dusk, their enchanting songs floating back dreamily in farewell. rill able natives were a people apart. What dear and simple lnlk lUc were. What a nai e custom they had of b rtering their wares. Boy! Did we ever take them over. Imagine, a real shell necklace for only four d ..ven though vou could get the same thing at Woolworth ' s for fifteen cents plus tax. still this was the real !1 liin. I fimiic I | iil over the best deal of anvone. although (.lomniander Barden did seem V ' ' ,i while. Oil wont iiclieve it, but I got a genuine ofT-nf-a-bird feather fan. And all it cost .lie was Motor 1. ■ nch No. 1. Zounds! Did we take them o cr! ' - ' ibject, in writing whereof I have put pen to paper, was is Liberty. 1 do feel strongly about this: Had ,. F.Sc, been one of our stalwart crew, never never would he have given tongue to ■( .imme Liberty .;nme death. No. friend. His dilemma would ha f been completely std cd fur hiiii. TIliI ininioilal -pce li . have begun, (), death, where is thy stingy Pa e Till

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Section W I k ' ttiA . i M

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The Cruise of the Nancy Lee J WE LEFT the ship in an F-boat at about six bells. We numbered some seventy souls in the Nancy Lee all told, with every man jack of us looking fit and ready for any kind of salt water adventuring. We were at least twice as rugged as we appeared to be, and what we appeared to be was plenty. There was a cutlass in every belt. We put off in a freshening breeze, foaming along with all the canvas we could crowd on — mizzen, foregallant, topgallant, main- sail, with just a tiny tuck in the jib. At the helm was Mr. Nord, salty as they come, his great mop of hair flying back like a mane from under his sou ' wester. For supercargo on the main deck we had a cream can full of drinking water, and the Ninth Division was in the bilges. Running before the wind we set our course northwest by west across the lagoon. Lookouts were posted c the top of the ramp to keep an eye peeled for the first land and to watch for privateers. For these last we had our smoothbore muzzle-loaders filled with rusty nails and a couple of buckets of gravel. In about an hour wl took a sunsight and I computed our location on the back of an old envelope. As nearly as I could puzzle it o ' we were spang in the middle of the lagoon. Distrusting these newfangled navigating contraptions I then figu it out again by dead reckoning. And just to make sure I double-checked by peering at the reef which coulr ' plainly seen all around. My computations appeared to be correct. I never have had a mite of trouble w ' .lavigating as long as I can see a few palm trees here and there. About 1430 we made a landfall off the port quarter, and the lusty cry of land ho! sounded through i.i rigging. It was our island. Immediately the lads fell to on the capstan, pulling in the scuppers and unfurling the spud locker. We quickly ran down the jib, and reefed in the foretopgallant. And then I directed the crew to lay aft on the fantail, just on general principles. We set the watch — mine had been wound regularly L.jv still kept losing time. Then the larboard helmsman heaved the lead for a sounding. We were in mighty near a fathom of water. So we dropped the hook, hove to. and put down the ramp. Our crew at once went ashore and scattered on their several bloodthirsty errands. For my part, I carefully unfolded the map the pirate had given me, and taking my collapsible self-spading spade I went off to find the black forked tree. Just as soon as I found it I walked fifty paces in a certain • xon, wet my left forefinger, held it up to the wind, and began to dig like one possessed. Meanwhile, and throughout the afternoon, the laws of nature were operating inexorably. The tides. I mean. I calculate as how it isn ' t fitting to argufy with running water. If the tide has got to go out ther ' t has got to go, and no backtalk. Well, it went. I should judge the Nancy Lee to weigh about 19 tons stripped. There came a time when aboui 18 of her 19 tons were up all comfy on the sand. What the coxswain was doing who stayed with her to see that such eventualities did not eventualize I don ' t rightly know. But I think he was busy hoisting the sjinnaker and belaying the last word. In any event, bust my binnacle and reef my mainsail, if when I arrived back the boat not bringing the box of solid gold guineas ( apparently it wasn ' t a map the pirate had given me ..ut an old oleomargarine wrapper) I didn ' t find the Nancy Lee high and dry on the beach sunning herself - a pink umbrella. After my blood pressure had gone down, I found by mv chronometer that it was time to go, -o we hallooed the lads and we went aboard, putting up all the sail we could manage. Tlie Nancy Lee did not move an inch. Then Skipper Nord and the Padre were seen to hold a very hurried conference. And immediately ai • word came loud and clear, All hands over the side, bear a hand and push. With that all hands ■• ■ i ■,. - ..le side, we waited for the precise moment until a small wave came along to help, and then we ; ' • The Nancy Lee did not budge. This so disheartened some of the heavers that they went up higher on the beach and sat do ' — a jumper tree. Upon the rest of us who were heaving ho darkness and weariness came to rest like twin doves. ' • until 2000 hours that the tide decided it had played squat tag with us long enough and came in i. eventually got back to the ship, and somebodv there had some victuals for us which we ate with reli-n peanut butter. Well, that was the cruise of the F-boat Nancy Lee. We made it there. We made it back. 1 calculate as now Captain Bligh himself couldn ' t have done any better. We used a special kind of reckoning both ways. We used dead reckoning to get there, and when we got back we were about dead, I reckon. I am very glad to say that the F-boat from another ship which had likewise chosen the same sandy beach to let down its ramp upon did not get off that night, nor for three days afterward. And all of us old salts know why: they just don ' t put the stuff in these young fellows nowadays like they used to. Now when was a lad, I mind the time when. . . .