General Leroy Eltinge (AP 154) - Naval Cruise Book

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Karachi, Inafia A lt was good liberty though, the sidewalk cafes along La Cannebiere, Chaplain Alling's guided tour, the White Elephant and the Pink Elephant, and the CEE LIMITS signs. We left Marseilles on August llth with a load of troops, organized units, bound for the Philippines. They were an unhappy lot until August 15th when we received word that the war was over and we were to change course and head for Norfolk. Everyone felt a lot better after that. The 8-4 army nurses we carried that trip were a welcome relief from the thousands of troops--ship's company found plenty of work to do on the superstructure deck whenever the nurses were sunning themselves on Hatch 5. The nights were warm and the stars were out almost every night on that crossing .... The resistor room .... While we were still six hundred miles out of Norfolk, one of the doggies yelled Landl and three thousand G. l.'s fell for it and rushed to the rail for a look. They were really happy when we actually sighted land and, on August 20th, tied up at Hampton Roads. We had expected to stay Stateside for awhile but after four days spent loading stores, We sailed back to Marseilles. just before we sailed Captain Blau was relieved by Commander Cox, who took us across. The trip was much like the one we had just completed. However this time we passed Gibraltar during the daytime on September lst. Although we arrived at Marseilles on the 3rd and sailed on the 4th we were able to get some more of that good Marseilles liberty . . . Spanish cham' pagne .... This time the men we took home were high point men returning for discharge rather than organized units being redeployed., We carried 180 nurses this time but things were quieter than on the previous trip. We had acquired a twelve piece shipls company band at Norfolk and they gave out with music for our entertainment. . We pulled into Hampton Roads on the 14th--our band was playing, the band on the dock was playing, the troops were yelling, and the people on the dock were yelling back. The troops knew they'd be civilians in av few days and were happy about it. After we unloaded, we went into the yards at Portsmouth again for repairs Qand for leavej. - '

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Manhattan Skyline could be seen silhouetted against the lights of Spain. Approaching Marseilles We entered the Gulf of Lions and, nearing the harbor, We passed close by Chateau d'If, the island castle Where the Count of Monte Cristo Was imprisoned and Where, many years later, Dumas Wrote his Wellflcnovvn story of the prisoner. The harbor at'Marseilles Was cluttered With sunken hullcs, reminders of the invasion of southern France. And the pier at Which We tied up the afternoon of August 9th had been bombed. There Were signs of destruction everywhere throughout the city--bombed buildings, wrecked tanks, a line of holes on the Wall of the Church of Notre Dame de la Garde Where a machine gun had raked across. New York Skyline Through Gwfzsig If

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When we sailed for Karachi on September 29th our commanding officer was Commander Alexanf derson who, as things turned out, remained aboard for the remainder of the time the ship was in commission. This trip was much like our trips to Marseilles until after we passed Gibraltar when, instead of turning northward, we continued on down the Mediterranean close by the coast of North Africa. Past Oran, Algiers, Bizerte, along the Barbary Coast, past Tripoli, Bengasi, and Tobruch we went, arriving at Port Said on October 12th. Port Said was hot and dirty, although the waterfront was kept clean, possibly to impress passing ships. The surrounding land was flat, stretching out to the mountains in the distance. While we were taking on oil the bumboats clustered around us to sell suitcases, purses, scarves and all the other things which they had found Americans would buy. Cther ships were there and Royal Air Force speedboats were roaring by. Late in the afternoon we began the transit of that long, narrow ditch, the Suez Canal. The night was cool but with morning came the heat of the desert. Slowly we moved southward, occasionally passing small groups of buildings with damels tied in nearby parking lots. On the ferry landings were a few natives and soldiers but it was the women from the British Army camp in the distance that attracted our attention. We reached Suez, at the southern end of the canal shortly before noon of the thirteenth and, after anchoring for a few hours to take on our mail, which had been sent down from Cairo, we put out into the Red Sea. As we travelled down the coast we could see Mount Sinai in the distance and farther down the Arabian Peninsula we passed Mecca, the sacred Mohammedan city. The heat was intense and remained so even after we passed through the Gulf of Aden out into the smooth waters of the Arabian Sea. We landed at Karachi on the 20th. The CEN. CALLEN, which we had not seen since we left the Pacific, was there and even before we tied up our signalmen found out from her that liberty wasn't anything special. There was the heat, the smell, the camels and sacred cows in the streets, the curio shops, the Marina Hotel with its own brand of muddy gin, and running around were dozens of little gooks yelling, Hey, joe, are you from Brooklyn? And there was the big beer party Barga1'n Counter . . . Karac 1 at the Red Cross club on Elphinstone Road. We sailed on Cctober 22nd, returning the same way we had come, seeing the same biunboats that had gathered around us before at Port Said. We took on oil and sailed from there on the 29th. Back through the Mediterranean we went and on November 3rd we passed Gibralter. When we hit the Atlantic the going really got rough. What a storm! For days We staggered against the heavy seas. The if waves grew higher and higher and we rolled and pitched like a mad thing. Our bow would plunge down into the trough of a wave and the breaking seas would send a solid sheet of water up over the flying bridge. Not many , of the troops went to chow during that storm -they were in their bunks, or rather, were trying to stay in them which was a tough job since we were rolling 35 degrees. Cur at , Q X a 5 4 Q A 5 Y' at Q X g