LST (925) - Naval Cruise Book

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deep, instead of four fathomsl Either the ship hiccoughed or the bottom ducked, or perhaps it was that shal- low spot we IUST missed at flank. Some fun! December 25 Christmas day, a day of thanks- giving, prayer and loy! For us it was a Christmas with no presents but plenty to eat. Almost every light in the harbor was shining that night, and the whole place looked like one big Christmas tree. We heard carols over the radio and speeches from the U. S., but somehow the atmosphere and spirit just were not there. Ashton was no longer counted AWCL as somebody found him behind a beard which was eating turkey at the table. Day after tomorrow we would leave for the Big Show. Ianuary 4 After eight uneventful days we fi- nally sighted the Philippines. Need- less to say, we were all a little on edge for this was lap held territory, and the laps were now within easy bombing range of our convoy. We didn't have to worry about the look- outs staying on the job. Icmuary 7 The sun was beginning to sink-be- hind the horizon and the clouds were a dripping blood-red. We were all at our battle stations when we got our first good look at a lap plane as it dove in out of the glare, dropped a couple of daisy cutters near a little PC, missed, and then tried to climb away. No sooner had the bombs ex- ploded than one less lap was left to account for. l-le had been instantly bracketed by a heavy barrage of anti-aircraft fire. McPhall fired about five rounds at him. Guess that was all he figured was necessary at a range of only five miles. Marbles is still a good game, though! Ianuary 9 , As we entered Lingayen Gulf, Lu- zon, in the Philippines this morning, we were but one small ship in the On Orange Beach at Lingayen Gulf

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November 5 Tension ran a little high as we launched our LCT, and Captain Mc- Quire could not be persuaded to ride her over. Made quite a splash. Cne look at our main deck sent every deck hand to sick bay. We had been told it would rain out here, but some- how we didn't expect it to rain all of the time! November 11 . ' Left the Russels three days ago and the war was beginning to get a little dull until seven unidentified planes livened things up a bit. The record for manning battle stations was just about cut in half. They were ours! Tomorrow would be the Chief's first busman's holiday. He would have to raise and drop the anchor only eleven times before we would finally get settled in Hamburg Bay, Emirau lsland. November 15 Weighed anchor for a three day trip to Hollandia, but when we got there our orders had been changed so we turned down the coast of New Guinea toward Milne Bay. We tied up to the SS George Taylor on the twenty-fourth. The hospital ship Be- nevolence, which was a stone's throw away, did not prove very benevolent. lt turned down our invitation for thirty nurses to come over and see a bas- ketball game???, We forgot to men- tion our etchings. November 30 Today we loaded our side-carry pontoons and the Gamadodo pon- toon handling part from Gaba Ga- buna Bay Cwhat lu-lus to spellll came- aboard. Gale took that boy-scout- good-deed stuff too literally and the Captain requested him to keep Frei- tas company for ,ten days. December 3 The old girl seemed a little slug- gish with her new bustle, but after a two day trip we arrived in Borgen Bay, New Britain, where the army had been camping for some nine months. That afternoon we beached on Yellow Beach and were able to lower our ramp on dry ground. Prest- wood claimed it was no yellower than any other beach.. Tifme he caught on, isn't it? Miller discovered we were moored to two dead men on the beach and immediately put in for a transfer. December 7 lust as it was a few years ago, this was an eventful day. The army came aboard with their artillery and mobile anti-aircraft equipment, and the lO28 got stuck on the beach. We had just dropped the hook and secured the special sea detail when we got the word that we were going in and tow them off. Cn the third attempt we managed to pass them our stern an- chor cable, but somehow it got en- tangled in our own stern anchor. When we took a strain-Carnivale requisitioned a new stern anchor. December 9 ' A two day trip saw us safely at anchor in Seaddler Harbor, Manus, in the Admiralties. We were loaded for business now, and we sure had plenty of company. lt looked like the whole Pacific Fleet was there in the harbor with us. Cn the fifteenth we shoved off for a big rehearsal down at Markham Bay. lt was rather ob- vious what we were rehearsing for, for Markham Bay is an exact copy of Lingayen Gulf, and Tokyo Rose seemed to have her information straight from the feed bag. December 19 After a few days of rather inactive practice, McPhail decided that mar- bles in the back yard was far more exciting than war. We would go back to Manus tomorrow. December 24 After running around the bay this afternoon, Mr. Ullrich and Cunning- ham found that one of the spots we had gone over was only four feet

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greatest armada of fighting ships ever assmebled. The air was tense as we strained our ears to hear the first sound of approaching planes, and every lookout was staring into the darkness ahead looking for mines which we were sure we would en- counter. At 0733 we anchored in berth Xray 25, and our two boats shoved off with a group of half sick, half exuberant, green army lads. 0801: We had ben waiting and wait- ing for those Nips and now the first ones were starting to put in an ap- pearance, but they were driven off before they got very close to us. By 1114 all of our pontoon barges had been, launched and were pulling away. Because of the high surf they were destined to make only one trip each. Both of our small boats returned and reported no opposition and no laps anywhere. We changed an- chorage to Xray 1. By 2049 we had .gone to GQ five times with only one exciting moment all day. One lap almost came down the Charlie No- ble, but at the last minute he chang- ed his mind and high-tailed it over the hills. We have a hunch he car- ried a little of our shrapnel away as a memento. Condition One-Easy was set and, those who could, slept a deep exhausted sleep. Ianucny 10 lt was 0330 in the morning when we were rudely awakened by the roar of a mighty explosion, and by being bounced around like ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. The men on watch had found out that we were in danger, but too late to avert the dan- ger ,and it all happened so fast that they were unable 'to arouse those who were sleeping. Moyer put on an- other life jacket while Chief Davis and Furst held field day on those fZf5cS!QQ little SQSITWVS!! According to the log, all SIX OCCUPANTS of the THIBTY-FIVE foot boat which had depth charged us were shot up in the water. We did get all of them, even if there were only two. The ship took a heavy list to starboard but quick thinking on the part of the black gang began to right her, and at 0340 Sedlitz and Hacker breathed enough life into the emergency radio to get a warning out to all ships in the harbor. At 0410, the 1028, which had gen- erously offered assistance, fell victim to a second lap boat, which was cut to pieces by our cross fire as it darted between the two ships. After a diffi- cult hour, the tug, Grapple, took us in tow and anchored us in a safer spot in the middle of the transport group. We now had a chance to look things over, and all were agreed that the situation was sickening. Preliminary damage reports revealed that we were missing our starboard shaft and shaft alley. We had a hole of unde- termined size in our starboard quar- ter, and were messed up so badly that we would be cleaning, reinstall- ing and restowing for a long time. At 1350, with our port engine doing her best, we beached beside the 1028 on Orange beach. Because of the heavy surf and our inability to get far enough up on the beach, we be- gan smashing into her, and, after loosing our second stern anchor, we retracted. V ,Berkeley reported forty-nine men injured. Mr. White would make the purple heart as he suffered a con- tusion of the third toe on the right foot. Miller, 1-loover, Shumake, Chief Davis, Gradisher, Iustis, Alm and Crestol were transferred for hospital care to the USS Pinkney. That night was a sleepless one as we all waited for a reappearance of the laps. Plen- ty of small arms ammunition was peppered around in the water, but no lap boats or swimmers turned up. Ianuary 11 We received some fresht?l water from the 631 this morning,.began to .make emergency repairs, and started work on our recommendations: forty-