Napa (APA 157) - Naval Cruise Book

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KKK.-5.1: - Q- -lim! Fm . V fX 1. y 2 APRIL 1945-1100 The following named men were given commendation at Cap- tain,s Mast for their conduct after the collision off Iwo Jima between the Napa and the USS Logan on the morn- ing of 21 February 1945: Leicken, W. M., CBM Bibla, W. A., CGM Nolte, L. W., CMM Talbert, H. F., MM1c Levicke, H. C., WT2'7c McCreavy, M. S., MM3c Ewing, D. T., MM3c Jacobi, L. F., EM3c Price, J. R., Bkr3c Stephenson, J. A., Slc Papetti, S. J., Slc Reeves, C. H., Slc Templet, L. W., F1c 1330 Happy Hour featuring Big Johnny Johnson and his immortal rendition of HThe Road to Mandalay. Chief Sullivan, uBig Stupe and WBarrelgut Krause put the finishing touches on the fes- 'tivities, to say nothing of the chocolate meringue which they inhaled to the dismay of their competitors. It is still a matter of discussion which required the greater effort that or the finals of the All Ship Boxing Tournament 1-af' 14 tl: le tim THE athletic program was one of the factors that helped to bridge the yawning gap between the Navy as it should be and the Napa as it was. By roping off a ring on No. 2 hatch for boxing, browbeating bored fleet recreation directors into the loan of softball fields, and converting No. 5 hold into a volleyball court by sheer imagination-power, Napa sports fans kept the spirit of sport alive throughout the Pacific. High point of the program was a 40-game softball sched- ule made possible by our extended stay at Pearl for repairs. Two crack outfits ran roughshod over the rest of the league, a bunch of fighting engineers who would rather play ball than eat, and a spirited MN division outfit sparked by the star battery of Jerry Hinds and Fred Dietrich. The NNP team won the shining trophy made by the engineers' machine shop in a 4-3 contest at the close of the season. Two boxing tournaments were run off in the spring and another in October. Though not as many men entered as was hoped for, there were some good scraps and Mach. Corn- messer provided a peacetime Navy brand of refereeing. Opportunities for basketball were few but a four team tournament was played off at Pearl with the hospital corps- men downing the officers for the title A Napa team lost a hard fought game to the carrier Hancock by six points The Corpsmen also won a tennis tournament at Pearl and wal- loped the officers at the end of the volleyball league schedule after the bralders had led the league for weeks Many l1ttle memories stand out playing pitch and catch in the sand at Lahaina on Christmas 1944 trolling for deep- Guam and going down for the ball when lt went into the Water the team from Napa winning the handy billy contest at Aela Fire Fighting School sweating through a basketball scrimmage 1n the equatorial sun on beautiful Mog Mog. Each of us no doubt, can supply many more To sum up the sports program of the Napa, it s too bad we were unable to do any more, it s remarkable we were able to do as much as we did V u . s 3 0 n - - W . . . 9 . 7 X sea fish from a P-boat, touch football games on the dock at g, F ' . . . if , - 9 I 1 -- F' if 64

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'mrs avr is APRIL 1945-1245 Pearl Harbor again. Moored at berth B-17. 1335 Commenced debarking prisoners of war. 14100 Completed debarking prisoners of war. 1425 Com- menced debarking prisoner of war casualties. 1500 Com- pleted debarking prisoner of war casualties. 46Woe is me. States out. This is official. 1545 Ambulatory patients and Marine guard detach- ment transferred from ship. 1730 Commenced loading provisions in No. 2 hold. 18415 Completed loading p1'o- visions. APRIL 1945-1145 Cap- tain F. Kent Loomis, USN, reported aboard for duty. Radarmen to Fleet Service School for 3 weeks, Officers to Signal Officers' School, Gun Crews to Waianae AATC. 5 jo ' , 6 V X all Ufficel-A FROM Wardroom to Quarterdeck to Wardroom to the sack to muster to the sack to work to Sick Bay, the unchanging course of life follows its laborious grind. In the true spirit of cooperation, the Shipis Management fights with the Departments and the Departments with the Divisions and out of the tur- moil Lieutenants make Ensign and Ensigns rise to JG. Itis who and what you can do, and for how long that counts. If itfs a Commander-it's an insult, if it's an Ensign-it's a mistake! g From pillar to post or from more barsto less,the work of the day drops in somebody's lap. So, MChip paint, Heaven save me,'7 and back to my rack to complete the twelve hours muster broke up. Itfs a solace and joy to know what work is and to master that function with all possible ease. Three hours a day and ten out for lunch and then Club 0110 is open for business. Our club is like that in the stories you read, where brains are relaxed and tensions eased. Fours, Queens, One-Eyed Jacks and a King with an axe will do more for tinsel than that brass cleaner. You can win, if you're lucky and thereis plenty of spirit even if the color is missing and the flavor is rough. The Mess bill arrives and so aptly termed, uIt's robbery 179 uIt's brutal and more than that, it's a lie ll, The laundry comes back with collarless shirts and the buttons are missing and the pants seams are split. The decks are all rusting, weire too sleepy to see and the liberty s canceled and thereis no stock for the trip Oh' the misery we carry and nobody knows, all steaks and no bacon, all sack and no zest. In volleyball, tennis, softball and craps we lose all our skivvies and tarnish our culis. We, proud through it all for dammit, weive impressions to make and a code to keep up. It's a hare. life that calls us, WI'he Thus we stand first on the list, first at the gang- way and first in the eyes of the advertisements of the nation Who ever saw a Lux, Ponds or an Inter- national Sterling ad without a ubarw? t Q' 1 1 . I X? ! , l Q 9 J ' Call of the Sea.