Hancock (CV 19) - Naval Cruise Book

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Kamikazes Vent Fury on Carriers Off Japan The water of Tokyo Bay was unfit even for washing down decks and ships had to put to sea to take on water for the evaporators. During the period in which the Hannah was anchored in Tokyo Bay, Captain Gallery, an ardent sportsman and baseball fan, designed and put into use, screens, which permitted the playing of regulation softball on the 855-foot flight deck--the first in the history of any navy. The Hancock returned to the United States to celebrate Navy Day, October 27, 1945, at San Pedro, California. Through the months of November,- De- cember and January the Hancock retraced her war-time cruise to retrieve the armies spread through myriads of islands in the vast Pacific . . . troops transported westward through forty-four months of continuous convoy work by especially designed troopships. I In typical American fashion, the United States, once committed to action rushed every available ship, regardless of classification, to the mammoth task which quickly gained the name Magic Carpet . The Hancock trans- ferred all air groups personnel and planes ashore using the vacated hangar deck for the installation of bunks and washroom facilities. Cruisers and

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Ground Support American service men walked amongst the rubble of Tokyo, Yokohama and Yokosuka streets with the aimless gait of tourists rather than the cocky strut of conquerors. They came as victors but did not attempt to claim the spoils. Often they were taken in by Japanese shopkeepers who doubled, trebled, squared and cubed their prices. The men ot Japan, regardless ot age and physical condition, all wore some remnant of army or navy uniform. The short, predominately dirty citizens gave plenty at berth to Americans as they bowed and stepped aside to let them pass. Japanese women were rarely seen in the early days of occupation but put in appearance in increasing numbers as their tears proved groundless. Ameri- cans were tar more interested in taking pictures of them in their peculiar dress and oggling their wooden shoes, which looked like foreshortened park benches, than to lay plans for seduction or to explode popular myths. Disrupted or non-existent sewer systems gave the cities a pungent unpleasant odor midst all the tilth that made a hot shower so inviting, many returned to enjoy it.

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Exit M it Kamikaze destroyers joined the carriers and battleships in making room for every veteran they could crowd aboard for the trip stateside . During the Magic Carpet runs the Hancock herself lost many of the crew that had been with her through the months of toil, labor and success since commissioning On December lO, l945, Captain Horace B. Butterfield, U.S.N., relieved Captain Gallery and took over the helm as the Hannah's fourth commanding officer. Under his guidance the Hannah completed her cruising career and arrived in Seattle Washington, on May 2, l946, to be inactivated and retired to the l9th Fleet The Hannah has been scraped and painted with special preservatives to pre- vent corrosion and prolong her natural life. She has been towed from the Naval Station at Seattle's Pier 9l to the Everett Pacific Shipyards in Everett Washington, for repairs-to the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton for drydocking and overhaul and finally to a pier at Mukilteo, Washington, for berthing as a unit of the inactive l9th Fleet On July l5th, l946, the U.S.S. Hancock was -officially awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for outstanding heroism in action. Two months later