Napa (APA 157) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 63 text:

5 I E i X i E i I E

Page 62 text:

54 ' rims '., '. K NN p G U WVWNW 7, ......,.,, ..x... .,,,,,,,.. . ,...i.-.,,.h.... , ..,,.,......4 . ,..,,......,,...A.f,. Th e vley 0 im ea SPECIAL CITY EDITION EXTRA. EXTRA. ATTACK TRANSPURT NAPA SUNK AS RUINED ENEMY FLEET PANIGS Napa Napa Destroyed at Iwo Jima Island By TOKYO ROSE Once again the persistent fools of the United States Navy have seen the error of their ways, the error that had its beginnings when this same navy of the United States attacked Imperial Forces without warning on December 7, 1941. Last night a group of American transports was hastily evacuating surviving members of the U. S. Marine Corps from Iwo ,lima when a squadron of our glorious bomber aircraft, while on a routine mission, chanced upon these helpless ships. Gasoline was low, but our Flyers of the Divine Winds cared not, they swooped in for the kill. The enemy did not fire a single shot and were pounded mercilessly by our superior men in our superior planes. As Squadron Leader Itchy Nomora says, H. . the slaughter was complete. Not a ship of the once great U. S. Navy is still afloat. Confusion seemed to be the greatest on a ship of the Victory type which bore the numbers 157 on its bow. However, once the ship was definitely on its way down, the confusion seemed to dissi- pate, and members of the bomber squadron say that they could hear, very faintly, men on this transport number 157 actually singing. And the words seemed to be these, 6' .... it was sad, it was sad when that great ship went down . . . Death to the Yankees. Death to the Dodgers. Dai Nippon!! Survivors of Napa Napa Tell Tale of Horror By BONNIE SMILEY Tales of raw heroism, raw courage, raw sea- manship, and raw SPAM were told today when the transport Napa, a gaping hole in her side, brought 2341 wounded from the Iwo Jima fight to Guam hospitals. uTraveling in the black of night off Two Jima at the height of the bloody, blaring battle, the Napa was rammed by another ship of the United Sta'tes Fleetf' 64I'didn't know what had hit us, Lt. Maitland Baldwin, Concord, Mass., in charge of hospital corpsmen, said: 44We got word from the bridge-or pinochle, if you prefer-to prepare to abandon ship, and in ten minutes our corpsmen had every case of brandy safely on deck. Our lifeboats were gone, but our spirits were up, and we prepared to drop the patients over the 'side and 'turn to' on the brandyf' A Tragedy was averted, however, by quick work of the Napa's yeomen, who mimeographed the Plan of the Day in the nick of time. The skipper of the ship that had done the ramming then pulled his vessel alongside the badly listing, happily helpless Napa, in a vain effort to salvage the few remaining bottles of Spiritus Fermentus. '4Our hospital corpsmen were just too, too divine, ' Lieutenant Baldwin said. L5They forgot all about their own pinochle games, and even gave their best Bicycle Playing Cards to the patients.

Page 64 text:

8 5 MARCH 1945 - 1510 Bow of ship crossed sill of floating drydock. 1542 Ship in position. 1552 Main en- gines secured. Dock com- menced pumping out water. 1640 Ship resting on keel blocks. 1655 Cast off' all lines to dock. Asthe water level falls, the extent of the col- lision damage is revealed. The gash in the Napa's side extends well below the turn of the bilges and it is clear that only the lucky presence of the king post prevented the intruder's bow from shearing clean into the keel of the Napa, which would have inevitably cut her into two pieces. 6 MARCH 1945 - 1400 Ship's company commenced scraping hull preparatory to painting. Bos'n Chicka grins cheerfully as he sees his Hfeather merchants, now veteran sailors, literally starting at the bottom again. Dock crew, meanwhile, is bracing and shoring, welding and cutting, temporarily patching the wound, so that the Napa can return to sea. .I 2 MARCH 1945 - 1400 Commenced flooding dock. The Napa, partially re- paired, prepares to go along- side dock for final touches. 1540 Napa water borne. 1847 Bow crosses sill leaving dock, all lines clear. 1904 Anchored in Apra Harbor and celebrated by making smoke during red alert. ll MARCH 1945 -- 0620 Commenced making prepar- ations for shifting berth. 0730 Underway from anchor- age, proceeding to new berth. 0828 Docked port side to berth No 1, Inner APRA Harbor Work begun lmmed lately to finish patch. Ball games beside ship on dock MARCH 1945 2030 Whlle supervising repairs to port side of ship Chl s for treatment 9--1 A LITTLE gem in the blue Pacific, uncut, un- polished, and unfortunately-unforgetableI Be- cause of an acute attack of collisionitis, the reeking Napa floundered into this emerald patch and con- sented to Dry Dock surgery. Guam is the only place in the world that meas- ures its rainfall by the mile. When it rains, it pours and when it shines, it's a lie. ln such a perfect cli- mate the crew was debarked for recreation. Upon a beautiful strip of coral amid clusters of rusting tanks and jagged rock, we were granted the august privilege of contracting lock-jaw or too-hot-beer- itis. The palms there resembled broken umbrellas and the sand was half dirt and half beer cans. There was swimming, to be sure, and that bot- tom, which some folks marvel at, holds the true charm of shattered whiskey bottles. Sunburns were easily acquired as were the tons of sand and granu- lated coral. These soothing nature cures cling to your hair, eyes, back and teeth. The over-all sensa- tion of liberty was nauseating. We had little choice --our ice boxes were demolished and beef doesnit have that tempting aroma when exposed to tropical climates as it appears in the ads and on Mom's plat- ters. ln a word the Napa stunk, and for miles. The crowning experience of our stay at Guam was embarking a load of Jap prisoners! They looked delightfully emaciated. It rained . . . still, and we finally took leave of this garden spot of tropical tangle with high hopes for walking the gilded streets of the fabled U.S.A. MARCH 1945-0845 Repair work finished Em- barked Japanese prisoners of war and Marine guards 1100 Embarked ambulatory and stretcher patients for trans fer to Pearl Harbor or the States 1533 Underway en harbor to deballast 1814 An chored ln Bei th No 701 2010 Commenced fueling ship MARCH 1945 0811 Underway from anchorage enroute Pearl Harbor T H w1th prisoners of war and casualties The big question or not 9 Ti -A., . max. ig R it at ,L 1 4 .Q I t 3 1 1 f . . . 1 . 25 ' - 3 ' . . - ' v . . . . i ' ' Q . ' - 26 - 1 - - ca ea 1 - , , 1 , . 9 ' , , injured in a fall. In sick hay . A route to position outside of A 1 iSJ6DO We go to the States p , ' Q , . 99 X