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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-I 2 i.v.,fW4-seg.-.213 f 'vf A ' .,z',iz-'a.xxm1'N'ff'A 1 -'WL ' ' ' - JANUARY 1946. 0001 Anchored in the outer es- tuary to the Yangtze River, China with 45 fathoms of chain to the starboard an- chor. 0750 Commenced heaving in remainder of an- chor. 0813. Anchors aweigh. Underway from outer estu- ary of Yangtze River steer- ing on various courses and speeds. 1257 Passed quaran- tine buoy abeam to port, dis- tance 400 yards. 1258 Let go starboard anchor. 1417 Sta- tioned special sea and an- chor detail. 1421 Veered starboard anchor to 75 fath- oms in seven fathonis of wa- ter. 1425 Secured special sea and anchor detail. 24.lANUARY 1946. 0714 Set special sea and anchor detail. 0731 Underway from Quarantine Area. Steering on various courses and speeds 'to and in Whangpoo River to Shanghai. 1120 Se- cured special sea and anchor detail. Set a regular port watch. Moored to buoys No. 1 and No. 2. A good anchor- age for the Napa-just a few minutes ride to the Customs .letty. ' '-' 'Q'Y-r E X CHANG E 1U-6 Foncucf i Fi O 0' N EAR Percy, Well, we have at last reached Shanghai, 'the city of Orien- tal mystery and Occidental infiltration and inflation. We arrived yesterday to find the Napa written up by the Shang- hai press in connection with the sinking of the Enoshima Maru, a Japanese ship which was returning to Japan with approximately 4200 repatriates aboard. She struck a mine at the mouth of the Yangtse and asked for help. The skipper kicked up the speed and when we arrived we found the U.S.S. Brevard had taken the survivors aboard. The Napa was mentioned as offering assistance. The Yangtse is a dirty brown color and has quite a cur- rent and to get to Shanghai you go up the Yangtse with one pilot to the Wangno, where you trade pilots and then up the winding river Wangpo. The ships in the river are lined up at buoys in the middle of the river in a chain-like fashion and from the air it must look like a snake in the middle of the river. The ships run for miles and are criss-crossed by the hundreds of junks and sampans that carry everything from one or two people to a couple of hundred fstacked two and three deep over the gunwalesj and tractors, trucks and barrels of oil. We pulled right up the river to tie up at Buoy No. 1 right in the center of activity and about 5 min- utes ride in a UP boat to the liberty landing. The liberty landing is the Customs Jetty and is situated right on the lnternational Bund with its contrasting modern buildings and throngs of beggars and scores of rickshaws and something new we have never seen before in the form of a bicycle propelled rickshaw which are called upedal- cabs. Nanking Road is the main thoroughfare through the shopping district and you can buy everything there but fresh milk, even the kitchen sink fin a primitive forml is sold in stores there. Jade, ivory, silk, camphorwood, sandal- wood, bronze porcelain, silver, filet mignon, beer, wines, scotches and furs, all are found in shops along this famous street and further out when the name changes to Bubbling Well Road you will find a whole series of night clubs. Seat- tle had its beer, Manila its snake juice but you should taste the Vodka in Shanghai. The merchants were allowed to come up and display their wares on the forward boat deck and we had our own de- partment store right out on deck. Of course, everyone is running around now with dragons embroidered on the in- side of their cuffs and half length Russian boots. What a bunch of Asiatic Mswabbiesn this crew is. Well., if 1 want to go over on liberty again 1 had better ushove off and meet the gang at the Paramount or the Park Hotel. Smooth sailing Y Q- 92 l 1 I I 'I o ,,, Wy, 0 l 1