LST (491) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE CREW FORMS On Saturday, October 23 we were to report to Great Lakes. As we passed through the huge gates at the main entrance, we were impressed by the beauty and size of this station, one of our greatest Naval Insti- tutions. We lost no time in getting started to work. An Aircraft recognition class was held that afternoon. We reported for duty to the Anti-Aircraft Training Center and had two weeks of intensive training in small arms, the twenty and forty milimeter, the thirty and fifty caliber machine guns and the 1.1 pom-poms. Certainly the man in the most unforgettable character class was Chief Gunner's Mate jim Helwig. We all were impressed with his fiery pep talks and his efficient management of the range. On November 3 we all were invited to the little Chapel on the base to see Lt. Bob Dickinson get married, and after the wedding to the reception at Building :lil l. 'WVasy and Bob Dick- inson's sister were really cuttin' the rug with their jitter- buggin. They danced so fast that the evening gown gave way, up the side. While at Great Lakes we saw several good movies and enjoyed the happy hour programs which were under the direction of Eddie Peabody. Our gunnery training was completed on November 3, and so for the next few days while awaiting orders we had some in- struction in rough and tumble by one of the Chief Specialists. On Saturday, November 6, a dispatch was received stating that our ship was not yet ready and that all hands were to be detached and ordered to delay reporting to the shipyard in Evansville, Indiana until 3

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i '5 3'Qi' I 4 l 2 S gi 4 L T If l e l l l 3 l t l 5 5 :A THE OL, DOUBLE TROUBLE T it LST 177, in the Chesapeake Bay. Here many of us saw, for the first time, an LST and also the ocean. We were naturally amazed to find a ship that looked so peculiar, as we knew very little about landing opera- tions and of the proposed use of the LST. We were trained in gunnery, battle problems, and general drills, and stood sea watches with the men from the ship's company. It was early in October when we sailed up the Bay expecting to disembark at Solomons, Maryland and leave shortly thereafter for the shipyard and our new ship. Upon arrival however we were told we would not disembark at Solomons, but wouldnreturn to Nor- folk that evening. The following morning about eleven o'clock we proceeded to Lambert Point, and docked at United Nations Pier. It was raining so hard the rain drops felt like little pebbles beating on our faces, and it was difhcult to berth the ship. 011 the pier was a huge empty warehouse, and not a soul was in sight. All of our gear was stacked ready to be shipped to Great Lakes Naval Tlallllllg Station our next report mg station before going to the shipyard Few of us knew that the Captain Executlve Officer and Others stayed and sau to it that all gear was p1 operly tagged and dispatched a task which took practically the whole after noon to complete All hands received a delay of seven days in reporting to Great Lakes and thus all were quite happy Wie had a nucleus crew known at 4204 A in training with us, and they too were given orders to pro , 5 , J! ,J G ? Q ceed to Great Lakes Lt Qgj R C Gerfen was the pros pectxve Executive Oflicer and he was in charge of the group f -25 A ?:A Q 'A A- O I 0 1 9 r 9 l ' O U 1 so ' -4 ' r I' Q 'Q Q , s 1 4 . A P- U ' I D . 'C C O I . 1 so ' so I we 0 0 . ' I 0 vo I o U I so r C vo 0 l I I I I ,, 1, - , .,f,. A ,ll-ssl.. .2 A , A: 5 w .L - A .4 x L'i'f::4'j- V 1-xl , W V af? P A a H-'tl 4 as ii sz-1 W

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THE OL' DOUBLE TROUBLE November 22. When the Executive officer read this dispatch to the crew everybody just. about went wild with joy. This meant 16 more days at home before the long voyage was to begin. 4