Napa (APA 157) - Naval Cruise Book

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i x I Z V 1 4 JANUARY 1946. 1322 Commenced receiving mail aboard. 1445 Commenced embarking troops. 1635 Sta- tioned special sea and an- chor detail. 1700 Cast off all lines and underway from Pier 38 South, in accordance with CTC 16.12 despatch of 12 December 1945, to Shang- hai, China, on various courses and speeds to con- form wlth safe navigation. 5 JANUARY 1946. 0800 Mustered crew at quarters, no absentees. 1000 Made daily inspection of maga- zines and smokeless powder samples, conditions normal. 1140 Changed course to 070 T and PCC. Returning 'to San Francisco, California, USA, in accordance with or- ders from ComWesSeaFron 051912-1946. 6 JANUARY 1946. 2000 Changed course to 245 T and PCC, back to Shanghai. 7 JANUARY 1946. 0000 Steaming independently on boilers No. 1 and No. 2, en- route San Francisco, Cali- fornia, to Shanghai, China. 2129 Exchanged signals with SS OREGON EXPRESS, ship of Norwegian Registry. Changed speed to 43 RPM, 10 knots. Standing by to give medical assistance to wife of Laree BLOM, who is Master of SS ORECON EXPRESS. Symptom of patient is dia- betic coma 2141 Changed course to 300 T and PCC 2158 Commenced maneuver- ing to glve ald to ORFGON EXPRESS 2214 Lowered boat to take ship s doctor to OREGON EXPRESS JANUARY 1946 0930 All hands at quarters for presentation of awards for meritorious action during the assault phases of the in vaslon of lwo Jima .,, ,M ra 5,5310 . .,....,., ...,,Mmw --H------UM-'--H '--' ' ' ARE Island, the Napa was home for a Mbreatheri' and Ceorgia Street, Main Street and Nob Hill resounded with the well known battle cry, 66Napa, Napa. When the hang- over fog from a gay New Year's Eve party parted and began to blow away, the managers of the Casa deivallejo and St. Francis Hotel looked around and surveyed the wreckage. Hardly had the eyes of the crew lost their bloodshot look when they found 883 Naval personnel passengers boarding at San Francisco and three fourths of them ured, hot bootsf, The trip out was going to be very interesting to say the least and then THE MESSACE was received 18 hours out of port and the laundry was swamped in a wild rush to get adress canvasi' ready. The excitement had just died down whenpon the third night we passed the Norwegian ship, S. S. HOregon Expressw and received a call for medical assistance. The HRY boat was lowered and Dr. Morris and Dr. Robertson fa passengerj went over to assist HW'illie Webber on the case. Rumors flew fast and furious and at the time of this writing there are some false impressions, let it be known that the lady in distress was the Captain's wife and she did not have a baby. ,lust for everyoneis personal satisfaction, does anyone know if that passenger found Charlie Noble to get the key to wind the Anchor Watch from him. There were several other people who were looking for such articles as cared kerosenewifor the port running light, the locker with the Heagle poles, the valve for the ublue steamw and the Nde- rusting compound? to put in the pail of water that little fellow carried all over the ship. Not to be outdone in such spectacular performances by the passengers, the Ship's Company 'cfell in on the for- ward boat deck to witness the presentation of awards by the Captain E J Robichaux received the Bronze Star Medal and its twin was sent to R E Temple for their exemplary service at Iwo Jima Letters of commendation were pre- sented to the entire R boat crew of the lwo Jima Opera- tion for their exceptionally meritorious service in that oper- ation Not a bad display to exhibit to the passengers of the efficiency of this crew Shrimp Eater Robichaux blushed when he got his award but that s because begs bashful. Back to a regular steaming watch what a life!! Nothing ever happens at sea Holi' Humlll 1 X . . . . . 1 ' ' . ' 1 - ' an 79 I . , , L L I 2 ' 0 1 66 e 97 K . . U . , A 0 I O U . 7 T 0 - 7

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