Herald of the Morning (AP 173) - Naval Cruise Book

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SUME FACTS ABUUT THE CLIPPER SHIP The Herald nl the Morning The famous sailing vessel which gave the AP-l73 its distinctive name land didn't we all get smiles and laughs when telling the name of our ship?l was a medium clipper de- signed by POOK for HAYDEN and CUD- WORTH of Medford, Mass. The HERALD was launched in l853, was 203 feet long, 38 feet abeam, 24 feet from deck to keel, about l,300 tons. Her lines were sharp, approaching those of an actual clipper, yet she carried a dead weight of l,600 tons, a heavy cargo for a ship of her type. Her three masts were well sparred and ca rried three skysail yards. Aurora, the goddess of dawn, was her figure- head. The ship was described as a perfect gem in hull and rigging with a saucy and fighting appearance. During her twenty years as an American ship the HERALD made eighteen passages to westward around Cape Horn, two homeward runs around the Cape of Good Hope and established an enviable record as a fast sailing ship. ln l854, with Captain Otis BAKER Jr., in command, she m-ade the fastest passage of the year from New York to California, 99 days. The record for the run was held by the clipper FLYING CLOUD, 89 days, 8 hours. The HERALD'S slowest time for the California run was I47 days. Her best day's run under sail was 340 miles lcompare with our daily average of 360 miles under steaml. ln l859, while off Cape Horn, she was rammed by an immense sperm whale and lost part of her stern but made port safely with her pumps going. ln l865, during a bad series of Atlantic storms, she lost five men overboard in the heavy weather. Her records include the rescue of the crew of the APERION, which was wrecked on Baker's Island in l863. When the HERALD arrived at the island in answer to a distress signal, its crew learned that the APERION survivors had dragged out a miser- able existence for over two months, their prin- cipal food being snakes which they dug from holes in the ground, and sea birds which they caught. ln l875, the HERALD OF THE MORNING was sold for ?'p25,000, after which she sailed under the Norwegian flag. ln l890, when almost 40 years old, she was still sailing the seas under British registry. References: American Clipper Ships by Howe and .Mathews and Greyhounds of the Sea by Carl Cutler.

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as 'I' ' XX X , A Q - 9 Q Q i i ' f fe! ' 'c 43-ii 'Q 3 X X. X f' f 2771 ix X-. The first time we crossed the line, the pollywog haircuts and the sore butts. Oh, my achin' backl Manning the rails in whites for President Roosevelt at Pearl Harbor in August of '44, Battle Memories: The G-Q's morning, eve- ning, night and day with ,general drills in between. . .The l3 hour and 30 minute special sea details . . .The only time we fired our guns in combat, in Lingayen Gulf, at a Jap Zero at 39,000 feet . . . The dog fights over Leyte with the P-38's . . . The night our No. 9 gun crew got hit by a Liberty ship's gunfire . . . Riding in the coffin corner of almost every convoy . . . The four accidents in one day at Iwo Jima with the Pickaway, the LCI, the buoy, and the submarine net . . . That night landing under fire at Saipan, where we lost one of our land- ing craft, Coxswain Billy Tennison earning his Purple Heart . . . The Eighty-first Division and the victorious bloodless invasion of Ulithi . . . The time we couldn't get the anchor up at Maui . . . The picket boats in Lingayen Gulf shooting at J.aps in the water with empty boxes over their heads. . Bos'n Smith and his nautical lingo, Now, boys, coil up that rope, carry it downstairs and hang it up on ,the wall. The gismo craze . . . Those bracelets, earrings, wristwatch bands, rings, pendants, ashtrays, and stuff. Liberty 'Memories: Those wonderful l?l times on the beach at Hollandia, Sansapor, Mog-Mog and points west . . . The beer parties at Rizal Stadium in Manila. . .The ship's dances at Oakland . '. . The 1 snakepits in Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego et al . . . The .night Shorty Howell was pushed l?l or jumped l?l off the Bremerton Ferry . . . Lunsford wondering why those tin funnels were stuck in the sand at Ulithi . . . The trips to and from the X-ray anchorage at Pearl . . . The Sl00,000 pay day just before we hit the States April '45 after I2 months at sea . . . The beauty of Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, the Olympics and the Cascades. Sending boots for buckets of steam, sky hooks, chain-stretchers, left-handed monkey wrenches, etc. The trip with the eight nurses on board, wowl . . . and Chief Tokaz' girl-friend, Saipan Annie. Personalities: Mr. Lopes and his l00-man provision working parties . . . Comdr. McCul- loch and hs pipe, baggy trousers, and dirty hat . . . Mr. Lees and Doc Siefert having coffee and sugar cookies in the Ship's Office . . . Famous tellers of sea stories: Gramps Hulbert, CGM, .Mr. Lees, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Shamberger . . . Mr. Learned's battle equip- ment and the time Huntey sank his helmet down over his ears in the dark . . . Mr. Mc- Grath and his violin. . . Billy Pierson l95 poundsl struggling up the Jacobs ladder with l50 pounds of movie reels . . . Ziggy O'Don- nell and his trumpet . . . Rocky Castillo and his hot skins . . . Ensign Miller sleeping with a loaded .45 under his pillow and a lifebelt across his sack. We wonder why? The night we lost .our LCVP on the break- water in Yokosuka Bay. Mr. Hachadourian, bag and baggage, climb- ing aboard for duty from a harbor tug at San Diego. Nature's wonders in the Pacific: The por- poises in the San Bernardino Straits . . . The schools ofwhales and the flying fish . . . The albatross convoys across 5,000 miles of ocean . . . The marvelous sunsets . . . The moonlit movie shows on Hatch 4 . . . The sunbaths . . . The,l3eat, wow!! . . . The fire hoses flushing starboard side of No. 4 to keep sick bay cool. The time a mine was sighted one point off our port'bow. during those Christmas week storms . . . The other times we sighted mines, layed to and sank same. ' The confusion mustering those passengers from the Sea Bass because some of the guys wouldn't give their right names . . . Poor Mr. Christiansen. Happy Hour Memories: Mr. Gardner's famous show at Sansapor on Hatch 3 . . . Kelsey, Y3!c, as M.C .... Mr. Rasimas talking one and one-half hours about nothing at all . . . Mr. McBane impersonating F.D.R. . . . Pierson, Britt and Tulk as the Andrews sisters . . .AndyiBisaccia's folk songs. . . -:ii

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