Comet (AP 166) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 70 text:

v-J The news of theisurrender of Japan, came on 14 August at 1600 amid blowing of whistles and shouts of joy from the sailors and shipyard workers. Seattle, like all U. S. cities, celebrated the victory for several days, and .general repair work on the ship was at a standstill for this time. However, urgent repairs were effected and she was made ready for sea again. Celebration in Seattle was relatively inild compared to the wild timer had in some of the other big cities on the coast. Then there were the poor nnfortuna-ter aboard the ship who had duty that night and were forced to limit their celebrating to joyonr Jhoutrand, ar .fcuttlebutt had it, mnnggled Jpirity. While at Seattle, Lt. K. Adams, Jr. was detached from the COMET for release to inactive duty, and Lt. F. R. Berry succeeded him as Executive Officer. I ' H On 26 August, .even before the final signing of the surrender terms by the Japs in Tokyo Bay, the COMET was loaded and underway again, this time carrying ground crews of the Army Air Force to Guam as replacements. A fewlminutes after leaving the dock, an engineering casualty to the main shaft caused the ship to stop. The trouble was remedied in about two hours, and the ship was again on her way to Guam, where she arrived safely on 12 September after a brief stopover at Eniwetok on the 9th, All pas- sengers except the ship's platoon debarked the next day, and un- loading of cargo was completed on 15 September..1376 enlisted men, 72 oflicers, and one American Red Cross representative made this trip. V A V THE MAGIC CARPET Orders to return were received on 19' September, and the next .day a total of 110 officers and 1700 enlisted men Qincluding 61 Navy 72

Page 69 text:

Shipfxtter Machine Shop Welcome Home Committee

Page 71 text:

5 Welcoming Band San Francisco :M EMM, -W, ,c mf 4 Q Almost Home 91 coo ' C00 99 Elin. X , sf XO QQ , ,,11,,,,,A,,. A i f 'fig A A ii X X Debarking Stateside