Colahan (DD 658) - Naval Cruise Book

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- Q i The OIe Man getting his tray loaded up with a Christmas dinner. The Captain and Mr. Crook pose for one more shot before diggin' in. On December 26th, in the midst of a blinding snow- storm, the task force was contacted by the crew of a T Navy patrol plane being forced down at sea about 20 miles south of the formationQ The Twining, Er- ben and Colahan were temporarily detached to 'search for, and rescue them. Arriving at the last known location of the plane, we had no sooner gone into a search formation when one of our lookouts spotted a flare on the horizon. Moving in the direction of the flare, all three ships began sweeping the water with their huge searchlights. However, the dense snow held visibility to a minimum. We were all getting ready to turn and try searching back when a flare burst about 1,000 yards off the Erben's bow, Since all three ships had their running lights, plus their searchlights and signal lights on, it was easy to watch the Erben edge forward thru the dark, choppy sea- with both hands in front of her as it were, so as not to miss anything in the dark. On our bridge, as we i watched, the silence was thick with hope. Finally, over the radio, came the message, We have the raft in sight. We are proceeding alongside to effect the YESCLIG. lt was l:30 in the morning when we went alongside the Antietam for fuel. However, after that sleepy re-introduction to Task Force 77, the daily routine settled down to a normal round of plane guard details, watches, turn to chow and sleep. Resigned to spend- ing the holidays at sea, crew members turned out Christmas decorations for the mess hall and other parts of the ship. Mail bags were laden with packages so that replenishment day, and mail call, posed a problem in stow- age as lockers began to overflow with cook- ies and the other things that the folks had sent. Several days before Christmas, the trees, which had been received by highline, were set up in the berthing compartments. Since decorations aren't normally stocked on a can , ornaments were devised from sal- vaged Christmas cards and wrappings, wash- ers, wrapped in the silver paper from cigar- ette packages, were strung to replace the tra- idtional cranberriesg tinsel was cut fom the larger sheets of silver paper that comes with pipe tobacco, cotton, begged or borrowed, from sick bay, turned up as snow at the base of trees. Christmas morning we were occupied with replenishment, but we were finished in plenty of time so the Captain and Exec could join us in the mess hall for turkey dinner with all the fixin's. After dinner, they toured the ship to determine which division had done the best job of tree decorating. I The Exec, Mr. Pettit, the Captain, the Bull -and a possible winner in the Christmas tree contest. Page Thirty-five

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V-1 12:3iqiggggigjgg,-55,53-jg,gig Just a little of the tremendous traffic in the straits. Page Thirty-four After being detached from the ASW group we proceeded to cut thru the Inland Sea and Shimonoseki Straits ra- ther than go around the southern tip of Japan. The Straits are like a very busy, wide river, so for just about everyone but the Navigator, who was busier than hell keeping us cut in, it was a good chance to get some close range pictures of those odd little Japa- nese boats, or the terraced countryside and row after row of tiny rice paper and wood houses jammed into as little space as possible. And on the left-houses. Mr. Jones and a pelorus.

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The ringing ot the ship's bell at midnight on New Year's Eve also signaled the start of the March ot Dimes Campaign conducted by Task Force 77. When the cam- paign smoke had cleared away, and the final returns were all in, the Colahan's contribution ot Sl,O50.00, topped the list ot small boys , i.e., destroyers, etc., while the USS Wisconsin topped the list ot heavies -battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers. A small part of Sasebo's shopping district. A rickshaw boy trying to get some business. l95.33-2:5:I:2:l:2:1:1:1.2:11:122E25'r.2E2:2:-:I:IE1519-:4:1:2:is:1Ev12:2:V:2212z1:2:2:25:1:-12:2:S:1::2:2:2:':112:21:1u:1:1:1:f.2:2:1:1:f f:1:1.1 2.2,-: 53:11':2.r:-1-.az-1-,2:t:2:2 mini.-Asfztzgr:-1211:I:sur51132:-za:-mv,-.: -,. ,135,5,5g5,5g3g5g555555555,3gg:,1:as:1sf:A::::-111:11,:4:t:zzza14:1:zz51a2315:51ggz,:ggi1513:1:5155355:1g:,:z:5j:51g:51,1g-1::,51:--:.:,::::':,,.:::my-r::1:f::'f:::::::rrrszg2rss1':-1:11:5:5:5:5sg5ggf:5'sz5g3 .:: :,5::,:,: 15::,:1:55,,,:1:,:::,:,:1:,:,:,.ggg: .,:: ,z-.wi 44-.W-'.::f6:1v,:el '3123535'ilfi-lfiiikikiiiti. 52:22:e.a:::51ixs1e:s:2:azz:21512:. .... . Wizv355:r:55.?:2.f?ZP2:2.I:PfI'I'5 f-. .-.v.-,f,,::.,1. .,:q.,.f,.:.1. 2r1iErEi1:'E:1'rE'2..r2f :,:.:::,1,:,a,:,,:::a:a:.:1e:::':1:::::-ms':::a:.:.-e:s:a ':1:::fs:re-nga 1.isiwis1.3.2at15get::af::,:.:f:1:::.:::1: if:-M. is:-1-315,45 rf: f' , ' , fl: :f11 - ' -'f?1f?:f:?z22 ' ' ' .rgggpf ' 1- .,:,:g5:g:3:3:j:5:5::s:5:5:5:5:3:5151: ,fzz21:1:z42wPwa42:rz zzz: 2:2 ,li 5?2'?:,:Q. , 'lf'2.'?'l5'I1 IIIIIEE'-22271Ziff-212123::-:2?5?235E5:z: f ., .... , . . ....... 7. . . . .Y 1 I 'Mft'-1-' , ' .-15:-1-17 .-'?:l'4'5: '5:l.-,- ..':::f:3:7, ' .i,f,,,1,f:.,,,.1.,,1.:-.,.:.,.,.:,.1,....,.,,,,,.,,...,.,.A.-::.::--1-:-'--1-:- .f-1-H-V 1, Mis:-i1::1:.:.., V -4:-:ru a.::::f:f:::-il.: il .112ns::.::1s::1:1::::-:1:1:::::1:1:r.- :i2:i:1:::3:2 z:e:5:ss:::as:z:5:2:a:z:2:5:5:5:f:3:5z -- ----, fi Lim.::55'F1':if-2'1'222zE:Ef:Emiifsfziaf-Safe? ff M f W, -.-.fha-.-.4 A 14,:,:W.-5W5:.z.:.:.g,11.51135 5: 51,- 23212. 'M35:5Ei3E55532Z3E-1'5'-E3E5.E55i5I3Er ,sr 4 ii!f:li2:55112'Q1.3fiQ512:Qflflfirr-1-:-:-1-1-in-1.1-:+mf.sg.2L.:.:r:z:fls::f:5:,:i:iZE5351323iEli553E5?l55?ilQr2e 5- 1 Wa li fa w fi-jg , , , , .: 1 ir9E2 'tf'i'i'i'ii'f'E:Et2:9E:E :.,i:sis:af 1 f 1 -1.e4' - - .1 m0w,v1msW.W,yW,. -- p.4w:v::v:-:-zv:-w'-' saasfa ,.aaa,f',,-15.3 ---- ' -'--xmmiiiwfffwwf f I f f 1 Page Thirty-six x 1 . Holloway, Cooper and Lang casing Sasebo from the fence. It was January ll, that the Colahan, Twining and Shields arrived in Sasebo for upkeep, after 46 days at sea. Sasebo, like Yokosuka, was a collec- tion ot rickshaw drivers lined up outside the gate . . . streets halt mud and halt asphalt. . . little two by tour shops selling everything from c u l t u r e d pearls to an oil painting of your wife . . . restaurants ca- tering to the Japanese with their window displays of fancy pastries and bottled beer . . . and hundreds of kids selling peanuts. lt was sailors hag- gling over some article with the Japanese salesman in sign language and pidgin English -it was walking in and out of hundreds of shops stretching tor block after block, just looking. lt was rainy-it was cold. But we rated the liberty, SO... 1:.1.,.:.t.1.1.,.p-.:.-.-.-.-.sf.-:: gr'-:3-,-gfz,-5:::5q: 45:3-gg.: If you don't know exactly where to go-iust look at the map.