Napa (APA 157) - Naval Cruise Book

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K-A, 1 HMM---Y eeeee 4, P 1 1 1 r 1 4 1 1 1 iy s I F 1 1 V I l 0 Q , V if E. 4 1 2 1 V L, Y .5 ,V 12 AUGUST 1944-- Sponsored by Mrs. Cranston Williams, the Napa, in an impressive ceremony, slipped down the ways to en- ter her element - 'temporar- ily the Columbia Biver, fresh water instead of salt. X .251 VY' 4 u 2 5 1 f 9 I 1 Q' W F9 +9 M 1 7 fs! is ,I A isg fffs. QL' 1 M 4 Uv 3 '--iw -Wag-4 -,.,:g-.v.,,m, , 4 ,,,.,, m,.,.wv,v Zaunclaing 7,1 UNE, 1944, saw the Napa a roll of blueprints and a keel No. 1107. She was just a steel spine in the Oregon Shipbuilding ways at Portland, Oregon. The ull' beam No. 1107 slowly moved into place and then a ship, our ship, became a tangible reality. Bivets, welding arcs, steel plates and electric cables strengthened and fashioned her so that on 12 Au- gust, 1944, hull No. 1107 bore her prow before the christening platform to be dubbed uNapa,' and slide down the ways. In the yard, among other hulls and other num- bers, our National Anthem opened the ceremonies which would soon give a name to one number, our name. The Portland Oregonianis Mr. Hoyt intro- duced Mr. Cranston Williams as the first speaker. Mr. Williams, the General Manager of the Ameri- can Newspaper Publishers Association, addressed the audience of workers and friends of the ship to be called 44Napa. His timely speech was both con- cise and stimulating. Attorney General Francis J. Biddle followed Mr. Williams as the second speaker of the day. It was with the same vigor and magnitude which has permanently marked him as an orator that he addressed the Napa on the day of her launch- ing. Then minds turned to God as Bishop Benjamin D. Dagwell of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon in- voked His protection on the Napa and all the men who sail her. As the prayer concluded, the metal plates binding the Napa to earth were being severed. Then, with the momentous words: MI christen thee, the U.S.S. Napaf' Mrs. Cran- ston Williams launched another ship to save the fate of another generation. To a dock to be fitted for herytask of war and to receive a part of the men who would man her, our new ship was towed away from her land cradle. On the 27th of September the Napa made her first performance run down the Columbia River. Three days later she left her birthplace for Astoria, Ore- gon, to become an integral part of a fighting force of the United States Navy. I2

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18 AUGUST 1944- 6'H division assembled as a group - began organized activity after receiving train- ing in corpsman technique. I Gpfs Q J cf l .. rp . X Gp Q S is A .A ' 5429 j h 9 Q-Q, j Q P ,g F bialidivn E, the members of the MPil1 Brigade, verify the humanitarian notion of the Red Cross. The first of our merciful acts is to stab each man on the ship with a slight dose of lead poisoning. ln this way we acquire patients. Lately, uLife, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness of the crew are all we can handle. It is common knowledge that if you are sick, the last place in the world you want to go is Sick Bay because you wouldn't want to force us corpsmen to sleep in our own sacks, would you? If you do turn in, a corpsman may look at you once at day, but youill go below and get your own chow. Weill give you all the shots you want and if the present policy goes through, there will be a G.I. can of A.P.C. pills available to all who report to sick call. You mustnit disturb the corpsmanis nap, his volleyball or his pinochle. Thanks be to all, there was only one operation! The memory of actual work still exhausts us. How- ever, with an injection of plasma in the left ear and a ucut-downi' shot of Scotch, we managed to get them all to Guam where they could get some medi- cal care. I In the form of diagnoses, if you have the ulVlog Mog gong gongf' the G4Chinese Rotf' or just plain 4'Spick ltchfi we have a variety of paints for you to choose from. If you are the Purple Type, or the Red-purple, or if there is a flair in you for crimson feet, we have all three colors. Then if you are the bashful type, we have a colorless variety, but donit blame us if you upeel offw up to your arm pits. We have to stand by for the fights and watch the diving contests into MP boats, but if you happen to get banged up, with luck, the Duty Corpsman may be found in an hour or so, just before you bleed to death. uPatients, stay away from our doorlw I4