Columbus (CA 74) - Naval Cruise Book

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■ HAWAII

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Go West, young man, Horace Greeley had said. CNO concurred; so West we went . . . (Doctor, pass me the dramamine)

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Even after only a week at sea, the lush tropical island of Oahu rising out of the Pacific was a welcome sight. Just seven short days before the Columbus had sailed from Long Beach, leaving wives, families and sweethearts behind, to plunge into the midst of high pressure fleet operations while steaming to the explosive area of the Far East. Oahu, the main island of the Hawaiian group, with Diamond Head looming clear and sharp over Waikiki Beach, with Hono- lulu and Pearl Harbor, was the big break in a long trip across the winter Pacific. And a most welcome stop it was, in spite of the rain and lack of Hula girls to greet us on the pier. Although pay day had been long gone and the next one not close enough to be of benefit in Hawaii, no one could stop the East Coast sailors of the Columbus from seeing the sights of the semi-tropical island. Although our stay was brief, only two days, it was the the refresher needed to start us out on the l-o-n-g trek to Japan. But as Diamond Head dropped astern, Hawaii was gone but not forgotten. In six months ' time we would stop in again, this time for a brief reindoctrination prior to our return to the States. The throne room, Imperial Palace The beach at Waikiki teimmt . :5j