Edisto (AGB 2) - Naval Cruise Book

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in their sockets and hands were shaken loose from their precarious holds on bulkheads. Continuously the OOD was forced tio use his engines as well as his rudder to keep the ship headed into the wind. Once however she did slip off course and plunged broadside to the swells. At this time with the violent the forestay, already covered rolling with over a foot of ice, snapped and was whipped by the wind over the air search radar antenna demolishing one side and tearing loose the stabilizing fins. The ship had just recovered her head when a forty foot section of the starboard railing covered with three feet of ice went over the side followed by the BfT winch boom. More radio antennas were carried away than could be counted leaving the ship with only the SSB radio for commu- nications. After three -days the storm abated somewhat and EDISTO continued on her mission. A day later however the star- board screw snapped her pin and spun off, practically incapicating us in the event of another blow. RADM TYREE ordered the ship back to Lyttelton at once but it was necessary to wait for bad weather north of us to recede before proceeding home. At last McMurdo and Hallett stations reported the gauntlet safe to traverse and we turned northward. 'yfnt 5 ,,ewmfzvYfw.1 Q fc fx 1.1 in if f f i AA . ,MW Hfk, . ,... , .n. ,121 ...ff , , A 1' f4i,?vg.1v-4-4 1: I V f s , ,QAM 1 fa 1, f, 7, . - , V. .M.w-we-4,1 , 1 ,V I -I 1, Q , v,gA,a.4 . 9q5'z,54j!,,1ff - .1 1 1, f ., ,, f - -V f Mfw .-WS' 1:a.2n.wse,fVWfv'f12' iv- - -i:'2i1 2+ 1, A mm sf Jaw,-7 -f f f , V az, --V V 1 -z , ' 1 0 -ff? f I9 ' - gpify-I W. V gem In X 4 S f fx fa kk gy! , ff! f C, 0 if fa W Q. f I '1 Q ff X f f W 4 M R, rigid! A . 1 ,, ,, .., 1 XX I f f . A G s 1 . f -1 X1 .,., 1 .f 111 1. fini I if ' ' X 7-ff 1. ' 1 if f wxvwiw. Sz Wsvf 'QE ' 1' 1-ff: f4W4Ls'W3W GQKQS A, s 1 A 1 G' .r..-M iam?-if 1-Zswai -we mms fa,yasaf2f1.fyS1zs ivpf-p..w.Q-Q-as :mm-'-Vi , -gf? as , My ww, ,W-f fqfyy, f ,.-,s4,5,jg5ays--X, , . , , C 0 6X .Q M Av f, Q .1 4 ,MMM 4.k.wfff A5 -::' f V' f X fs 'if'3i'Zi1 9. eds! Y, - 2 sys f. f q435G?'??S?. As we steamed toward New Zealand On One screw all hands went topside t0 clear away the ice with pickaxes. The topside spaces resembled some wierd Alpine scene with the crew in full fOl11 weather clothing scaling the mountain0uS ice. EDISTO dodged bad weather all the way home with various storms threatening our safety at every turn. It was easy tO think of Lyttelton as home and we re' ceived word that the ship would be granted one full week's liberty there.

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In-G 'll n I v 5 A l , I i E - i 1 W N A l gh 1 IN! I w 1 i v Hx? 55' 'ntl 4 S ' z . 5 7 FH-I 2... 1 l :QS r I 1 'Fi i lik L 'S 5 N r f nag rig o il l 1 i .. I I' L Iii? l H, x 1 . i . E L w ling H his rift . , .. c- 5 5-J E' It was known by all aboard that at this time of year we could expect the worst weather the Antarctic could offer and yet as we steamed ever southward the days and nights continued to be calm and clear. This was not mentioned much aboard ship, however, with the same mixture of common sense and superstition which decrees that one does not mention a no-hit ball game in the last of the ninth. That inning arrived. at 7O'S. and the ball game went into overtime. Winds and seas picked up with the fury that a tiger unleashes when his prey has wandered too far into his territory. This time, however, he had a new gambit to offer: ice. It came in such quantities and with such suddenness that it caught the ship off guard. It formed as the spray fell in huge murderous sheets over the topside areas and continued to freeze, layer upon layer, until the ship staggered under the weight of it. Mean- while winds had reached 90 knots and seas towered over the superstructure to a height of sixty-feet. EDISTO wallowed in the swells, climbed slowly to their crests then slid suicidally down again. The ship crashed and shuddered with such violence that lightbulbs shattered

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u ' x mx: 5 4 N NE? Fug: kk .Y xl5W 5-. xx P BQQ ilk! this N -If .M n Nlgg Qs lgls N -v w 11 1 ,ls rf, J li L5 '. . A' fl' H' Il Jn! nf' :JI re' I N, I A , P' 0. vw , D ,I Y, ,uv ' f 4' '7 ,O ,ff ' 1 QQ! rf' ,, if pearl harbor: . . the seezrs ef ez brush with disaster eire repezireei -...M