General W A Mann (AP 112) - Naval Cruise Book

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On December 24, 1943 the U.S.S. General W. A. Mann re- ported to the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commander-in- Chief of the U.S. Fleet for duty in the Naval Transportation Serv- ice. On December 29 she sailed on her first mission from Newport News, Virginia, to Casablanca, French Morocco. She had 5,281 troops aboard. Since then, except for necessary periods of over- haul and repair, she has been in continual service as a Navy Transport. During the period from December 29, 1943 to October 8, 1945 she compiled a total of 641,000,000 passenger miles. The Mann was primarily designed as a troop carrier and during the war was operated in accordance with the needs of the Army. Due to this fact, a permanent Army staff was attached to the ship, consisting of an Army Troop Commander and his staff of approximately ll officers and men. This organization handled passenger berthing and messing assignments details of embarka tion and debarkation and the many administrative duties involved in handling transient personnel The travels of the Mann closely parallel the progress of the war During most of 1944 she operated in the Atlantic carrying troops to Africa then to Europe In the fall of 44 as the campaign against Iapan gathered momentum she moved on to India via the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal returning to the West Coast via Australia and New Guinea After a second trip to Aus heels of the advancing American forces Finally she returned to the Atlantic by way of the Panama Canal to load troops at Mar seilles for redeployment to the Pacific With these troops aboard she was on her way to Okinawa when the war ended Although the Mann has been primarily a troop carrier she has at times doubled as a hospital ship a prison ship and a pas senger hner From Milne Bay New Guinea she brought back a shipload of ambulatory and litter patients and on every return voyage to the States her sick bay has been filled with the sick and the wounded. She carried Italian prisoners of War from Mers-el-Kebir, Africa, to Liverpool, England, and the crews of several captured German submarines from Casablanca to the States. She carried Australian war brides Cand babiesl from Brisbane to Los Angeles. In addition to army personnel the Mann has carried a varied assortment of military and civilian passengers. There have been refugees from almost every conquered European country, and representatives from practically all allied governments in exile. There have been Free French and Polish fliers and Chinese Army and Navy cadets. There have been war correspondents, U.S.O. troupes, Red Cross girls, Army and Navy nurses, Indian scientists, internees from Santo Tomas prison in Manila, prison- ers from Bataan, Australian diggers, British Tommies, Scotch Highlanders Possibly the Mann s proudest moment was when she carried the first echelon of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force from Rio de Ianeiro to Naples Italy Besides being of military importance, this mission was highly significant from a diplomatic point of view Our government was anxious to show concrete evidence of her friendship for her South American ally, and the Mann likes to think that she was specially selected to do the job. The ship was carefully groomed inside and out, and all signs and posted instructions were duplicated in Portuguese, the Bra- zilian national language For liaison purposes the Brazilian gov- ernment assigned to the ship three English-speaking officers of the Brazilian Navy who stood watch and watch with our own Offi- cers ofthe Deck The Brazilian troops were accompanied by a number of American Army officers who had lived and trained with them for many months Despite German assurances that the Brazilian Force would never reach Italy, this voyage and a subse- quent one in company with the U.S.S. General M. C. Meigs tralia and India she carried troops to the Philippines close on the - - -

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were carried out pleasantly and without incident. As an added precaution against enemy action the ships were escorted by an American cruiser and several destroyers. In the record of every man who served on the Mann during those voyages is a Commendation from the Commanding Officer on a job well done. Subsequently, Captain Maguire and the Executive Officer, Lieut. Commander F. C. Snow, were awarded the Order of Military Merit by the Brazilian Government, and a handsome silver plate hangs in the ship's wardrobe as a gift from our grateful and gracious neighbor. It is of historical interest to mention that Pres- ident Vargas of Brazil came aboard the Mann at the beginning of both trips to inspect the ship and address the departing troops. It has been said that the Mann was the first U. S. transport to use the Suez Canal in World War II. This occurred on a round- the-world voyage in late '44 when the transport carried a capacity load of troops from Norfolk, Virginia, to Bombay, India, returning by way of Australia to the West Coast of the United States. On three separate occasions the Mann has functioned as a mercy ship, each time to render aid to a navy man suffering from acute appendicitis. The first incident occurred in convoy en route from Liverpool to New York. An armed-guard crewman was transferred by means of a breeches buoy from the S. S. Wolf Mountain to a destroyer escort and thence to the Mann. Again, while en route from Pearl Harbor to Balboa, the Mann rendez- voused with the U. S. Submarine Seal to take aboard another victim. Finally, while en route from Balboa to Eniwetok she rendezvoused with the S. S. Ioseph P. Bradley and picked up a third patient. In each instance successful appendectomies were performed by the ship's doctors. Paradoxically enough the Mann's toughest trip was her last of the war. When the Iapanese surrendered, she was heading for Ulithi with a load of troops she had embarked in Marseilles, France, and had brought through the Panama Canal for redeploy- ment in the Pacific. Ordinarily the Mann would have waited in Ulithi only long enough to be assigned to a convoy for Okinawa, her ultimate destination. Apparently, however, the Iapanese surrender caught us almost as unprepared as Pearl Harbor, and the Mann and her troops sweated it out in Ulithi for over three weeks. And sweated it out is literally true, 5,700 men will swear to that. When the ship finally arrived at Okinawa, in a 9 knot convoy, the troops had been on board for 65 days, which in itself is something of a record. And before debarkation was completed it was necessary to sortie into the East China Sea to avoid a typhoon. In all her wartime travels, the Mann never had to defend herself against an enemy plane or an enemy ship, although she traveled widely in waters where enemy activity was to be ex- pected. Against conceivable attack all possible precautions were taken. Almost every one of the 186,000 miles covered was accomplished by zig-zagging, and not once while traveling in combatant waters was an unnecessary light shown topside. For almost two years while under way there were always five or more lookouts on watch-the sky and surface radar search was always in operation-and at least one quarter of the guns were manned. General Quarters drills were held every day. In twenty-two months of operation the ammunition expended in practice firing amounted to almost 1,000 rounds of 5 ,f38, over 20,000 rounds of 1.10 , and over 30,000 rounds of 20MM am- munition. Men who have served on the Mann can look back on two years of hard work carried on under trying conditions. They have not battle stars or unit citations to wear with their campaign bars, nor can they boast of participation in combatant action. But these men know that theirs has been an essential job and they can be proud of the part that they and the Mann have played in winning the war.