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

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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.

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