Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE LONG VOYAGE HOME 208 To HAVE been assigned to C'lVlagic Carpet duty came asa great boon when our ship was stationed at Taku Bar, China, but when she was tied to a dock at Terminal Island, such an assignment had no magic in it whatever. The Lou was scheduled to leave San Pedro on December 8, 194-5 and to proceed by great circle course to Guam, there to gather together a few hun- dred 'fseparateesf' and to return them to the States. After sampling stateside liber- ties over a period of six days, these orders were hard to carry out, especially when they meant not being home! over Christmas. Saturday, the eighth of December, was therefore an exceedingly blue morning, as we singled up, cast off lines, and com- menced the long two weeks' journey west- ward. And, as it turned out, the trip re- quired not fourteen but seventeen days to complete, due to certain intervening cir- cumstances contrived by man and nature. During the Hrst weekiwe were besieged by an angry and implacable ocean that had cast away all pride in its name Pacific. Day after day our progress through the latitudes just south of the 'gfioaring For- ties was blocked by a stupendous show of strength put up by roistering elements. The Lady Lou, pitched and rolled with un- ladylike abandon, taking at one point two rolls of over thirty-five degrees that did much to ruffle the calm of some members of her crew, even if the old girl herself did not seem worsted by the teetering experience. . When the weather was abating, we picked up an SOS during the .mid-watch of a Saturday night that sent us scurrying off our course to the assistance of a vessel apparently in distress, whose position was unfortunately either 173 West Longitude or 173 East Longitude. We were close to the West Longitude location, and there we searched for a whole day, fruitlessly, and with growing bad temper. lt soon became obvious that the ship in distress was not in our locality. We were ordered to pro- ceed on duty assigned. Watching the dis- patches during the next few days, we un- covered a miserable denouement to the tale. The SOS was a fake. And who was responsible for the fakery, so far as we know,-has never been established. We later celebrated Christmas amid ninety-degree temperatures at Saipan, to which we had been diverted, Mess Halls and Wardroom were resplendent with be- decked Christmas trees, and here and there throughout the ship a few carolers tried their best to give traditional color to the season. The day after Christmas we de- parted, and set course for San Pedro, this time by the southern route. We had beautiful sailing all the way. Two weeks in San Pedro gave the West Coasters a chance to see their friends and families, and the rest of us an opportunity to learnhmore about fabulous HL. A. and Hollywood. When January twenty-second arrived, it was the turn of the East Coast- ers to be happy, for we then heaved anchor, and steamed for Philadelphia via the Panama Canal. The Lou had pre- viously been designated for the Inactive Reserve Fleet, Atlantic, with permanent

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alum nose D H21 :nun Humane W ME EICU HUM Over go the first lines, and the band strikes up a lively tune while lines are being secured. Some lucky fellows have friends to meet them, but one, not so lucky, is met by an ambulance. Over they go at last with bag and baggage to the Waiting trucks for the next leg of the along road backf' 207

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All hands are ordered clear of weather decks as the Lou noses through heavy seas Westward to Saipan. Flying salt spray frequently envelops the ship like a fog. As calmer seas are reached at last, damage to ship is found to be light. 209