General Mann (TAP 112) - Naval Cruise Book

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■. • ' - - !• I- , • PART 1 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. TO NEW ORLEANS. LOUISIANA Our skipper. Captain Charles H. Walker, U.S. Navy, and Executive Officer, Commander Robert C. Huston, U.S. Navy, were on the bridge. The pilot had the Conn and was maneuvering our trim seagoing home slowly out of the San Francisco Bay Harbor. The quartermaster of the watch neatly printed in the quartermaster ' s notebook for the day of June 16, 1951, 0809 Passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. The (J. S. S. General William A. Maun, a commissioned Mihtary Sea Transportation Service dependent and troop transport was once again underway. The regular run-of-the-mill voyage to the Orient in support of the year-old Korean skirmish which we had become quite accustomed to making was out this lime. Now we had orders to pro- ceed to the other side of the world — the European theatre, with short visits scheduled for Balboa, Canal Zone; New Orleans, Louisiana, and two and three visits scheduled for New York City and Bremerhaven, Germany, respectively. Late September, 1951, was our estimated date of return to San Francisco, our home port, but old man fate had dealt us a mixed hand as usual with our operation schedules, and our second visit to New York and third visit to Bremerhaven were scratched and the completion of the world cruise was substituted. To those with roots deeply planted in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area, it was going to be a long and figuratively speaking, lonesome trip. But since the majority of us had never viewed the other side of the world we all came to the conclusion that a little change of scenery would not be too bad. Jumping ahead of ourselves and recollecting our happy thoughts of the liberties in Bremerhaven, we must all nod our heads in unison and agree that the change of scenery wasn ' t bad . . . wasn ' t bad at all. We arrived in Balboa, Canal Zone, shortly after lunch on June 23, 1951. Liberty was the order of the day for two-thirds of the crew and the bargain counters, exhibitions, etc., which only the inimitable Panama City can offer, were patronized in a landslide manner. The next afternoon we were again underway for transit through the 51-mile-long canal. The passage through the three locks, Miraflores, Pedro Miguel and Gatun proved to be interesting and educational and the results of one of man ' s great engineering feats shall long be remembered. W ' ith excellent weather prevailing, the entire trip from the ditch to the picturesque port of New Orleans, with its ninety-odd miles of winding Mississippi River and inland waters, was most pleasant. New Orleans liberties were tremendously ?njoycd, especially the gay night life in the French Quarters. The Parisian-type entertainment offered by the reputable (?) establishments on Bourbon Street left a deep impression and many empty wallets — (dollar a beer) — with a large number of us. Departure from the Mardi Gras capital was with deep regret and with the excep ion of the unusual humid weather, the fine praises so often expressed about New Orleans will be confirmed b the members of the IK S. S. (icucral M . A, Afatitt.

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SHIP ' S HISTORY The v. S. S. General William A. Mann is a 623 foot, 20,000 ton gray beauty, belonging to the young two-year-old Military Sea Transportation Service family. She is classed as a dependent transport and has been doubling since the outbreak of the Korean situation as a troop carrier. The Mann and her five sisters, the U. S. S. General A. E. Anderson (T-APlll); V. S. S. General H. W. Butner IT-APll}); U. S. S. Gen- eral W. M. Mitchell (T-AP114): U. S. S. General G. M. Randall (T.AP115). and the U. S. S. General J. C. Breckenridge ( T-AP176 ) — all easy to recognize by their two towering black and gray stacks and graceful cruiser-type bow — are capable of transporting better than 3,000 passengers and crew half-way around the world at a cruising speed of approximately 20 knots, without refueling or rcprovisioning. The Mann was built by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey, and was introduced to the world at an impressive launching ceremony on July 18, 1943. She was christened by Mrs. Robert P. Patterson, wife of the then .Acting Secretary of War, in honor of General William Abraham Mann, organizer and first commander of the famous 42nd Rainbow Division of the first ' orld War. On November 16, 1943, the U. S. S. General H ' . A. Mann was placed in full commission and joined Uncle Sam ' s mighty expanding fleet which was soon to be the World ' s largest and fightingest navy. Christmas Eve 1943 the Mann reported to the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commander in Chief of the U. S. Fleet for duty in the Naval Transportation Service (now MSTS). During the period from December 29, 1943, to Octo- ber 8, 1945, the Mann established an excellent reput.ntion for herself and steamed a n incredible total of more than 641,000,000 passenger miles. Unofficially it has often been stated that the Mann was the first U.S. transport to traverse the Suez Canal. This occurred on another round-the-world cruise in 1944 when the vessel carried a full load of combat troops from Norfolk, Virginia, to Bombay, India, returning to the United States by the way of Australia. During her World War II journeys the Mann never had to defend herself against an enemy plane or an enemy ship, although she traveled widely in dangerous waters where enemy activity was always anticipated. After the Japs cried Uncle the Mann became oni of the important cogs in the wheel of the famous magic carpet which returned thousands and thousands of GIs home for demobilization. Completing its assignment with the magic carpet the Mann was reassigned and drew the San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, and Guam run. During this run she carr ied so many infants that she was appropriately nicknamed the Diaper Run Mann. The day of 25 June, 1950, when the Russia-supported North Koreans struck across the 38th Parallel, found the Mann in the last stage of her regular Navy yard overhaul at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. Immediately upon completion of her yard work she was dispatched to the war-torn country of South Korea with combat loaded troops from Hawaii. It is said that our ship was the first U.S.S. transport to land United Nation troops in Korea to fight the Communists. How well we remember the warm reception we received from the courageous Korean people who lined the docks to welcome our big ship when she nosed into Pusan! Seoul, the South Korean capital, had been captured by the Reds and Pusan was being seriously threatened on our first visit to the large Korean seaport. It was then that the Mann had the distinct honor of being selected to receive the South Korean ' s financial assets (gold and silver) and valuable Government and historical documents for delivery to the U.S. Government for safekeeping. Since our initial visit to Korea in July, 1950, the Mann has made Korea a port of call on several occa- sions, visiting Pusan, Wonsan, and Inchon. The Mann was a member of the units which participated in the amphibious landings at Inchon and Wonsan. At Inchon the ship was required to man her battle stations during a couple of nuisance air raids which resulted with two or three 500-pound bombs being dropped on Kimpo Airfield which is located on the outskirts of Seoul. Although these raids were negligible, the fur- nished the crew with an immeasurable amount of confidence and experience which is required to make up a well-knitted fighting team. The recent round-the-world cruise commenced on June 16, 1951, and was completed on September 22, 1951, requiring a total of 99 days. Although the global trip was somewhat disappointing due to the fact that liberty could not be granted in the ports of call, especially in Oran, .Mgeria; Port Said, Egypt, and Colombo, Ceylon, it was a memorable experience which shall remain with us forever.

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VII 2 QII Goodbye Frisco