Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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sg... S Scenes of Montevideo. We honored this statue of Uraguay's hero. A street cene in Buenos Aires. for there he was practically under the stern. Maneuvering the ship brought him within reachiand a line was tossed to him. Too weak to hold on to the line, he was able to tie it around himself and be tugged aboard nearly dead from exhaustion. The sea persisted in its violent pound- ing, and our boat was still out there, first in sight on one side of a wave, then gone again from view. Finally, she came along- side and the touchy task of hoisting it in was completed, but only after a narrow escape from disaster. One man was thrown out of the boat between the shipis side and the gunwale of the boat. For a second it seemed as though a fatal blow would crush him as the roll of the ship brought the boat and the ship together with a powerful crash. Butt for the second time within a very short period we witnessed a miracle. A small scupper protruding perhaps a foot from the side of the ship took the blow and did not allow the helpless, dangling man to be killed, as it seemed inevitably he would be. Twenty-two days at sea we spent, before standing in to New York, and the 6,786 miles in one straight run was not to be sneezed at. The Statue of Liberty ,was not the only, welcome we received as we entered the harbor, for a veritable army of policemen met us at the dock. There they stayed until every last gold brick was safely off and enroute to the Federal Re- serve Bank of New York. The Louisville had concluded a most remarkable cruise. For those that were fortunate enough to be aboard, it fur- nished cherished memories, and made spicy conversation throughout the trying years of war ahead. lt was a little difficult to say good-bye to New York as we headed through the Canal, once again for the West Coast and the broad Pacific.

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