Sheliak (AKA 62) - Naval Cruise Book

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E. B. Sawtelle Eggerton B. Sawtelle, Executive Officer aboard the Sheliak since 3 August, 1945, was born- 1 May, 1904 in Boston, Mass. After some preliminary education at Haverford, Pa., Mr. Saw- telle went on to Drexel and a B.S. in civil engineering. In 1932 he entered the Army reserve as an officer and 9 years later trans- ferred his commission to the Coast Guard. Immediately before the war the Lt. Comdr. served as Navigational engineer aboard ship and in 1944 reported aboard the Sheliak as its first naviga- tor. He lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, is married and the father of four children. I i J J. P. White Cfaww- ' Justus P. White will probably be longest remembered as the Sheliaklvexecutive officer since he held that important position for well over eight months. A former student and football star at Alabama University, Commander White is also a graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy at New London, Conn. Before re- porting. aboard ship Commander White served as pilot in the Coast Guard Air Force, and distinguished himself creditably in that capacity. The Commander is married and the father of two children. A more OF THANKS From the raw cold of Brooklyn's December to the bright spring of Okinawa's April is a short time in this span of life but one that most of us will never forget. Our ship had been welded into the precise working outfit required for this combat operation in this very short time-she had found herself completely and proved it. This achievement is the work of no one man or small group of men. The intelligent, whole hearted cooperation of a hard driving crew at Work did the trick. The satisfaction that comes from that innerknowledge of having done an important job well should warm your hearts and carry you courageously through the future -come what may. V The battle tension is now a thing of the past-a memory. f Q- - ., . Changes have taken place and many more will follow. The entire shipls company can be justly proud of the manner in which they have conducted themselves during times often more trying than battle. You have passed the final test for a line military organiza- tion and passed it with flying colors. You went out knowing you did not have to come back. You have always been ready-and willing. You came back and in so doing kept your heads through- out and kept your ship on an even keel. You have upheld the finest ideals of the United States Coast Guard and the Naval Service-a double duty blended into one. God bless you and God speed to you-one and all. May the future hold good health and success-and time to enjoy both. ' E. B. SAWTELLE 4 Executive Officer -

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stripped of their personnel, leaving only skeleton crews to bargain with the tough- skinned loin-clothers. However, nature has done well by these Islands, tempering them with a moon more beautiful than any other and a sunrise which glows out of the dawn like a quiet smile from God.'7 Late February and early March substan- tiated the claim that winter is as potent a force in the Solomons as an ice cube in Death Valley. There was no refuge from the heat, no screen fine enough for the flies, no umbrella wide enough for the rain. And then came the third and 'final plans of amphibious maneuvers against the shores of a bejungled and bedraggled Tulagi. It was here that the 'curtain slowly began to rise on the nearness of in- vasion and New York and Bayonne for the first time became part of another and distant world. Toward mid-month the Sheliak started northwest and, within one week's travel dropped anchor in the newly created Pacific hub of Ulithi Atoll amidst nearly one thousand vessels of the battle- seasoned Fifth Fleet. This was the rendezvous area lying midway between Guadalcanal and the ul- timate target of Okinawa. This was where finer details were set securely into place and last minute adjustments ironed out to satisfy the pattern of attack. On the morning of the twenty-seventh the S heliak moved out to sea in a transport division convoy flanked by destroyers on either side and later by the fast carrier task force of Admiral Mitscher. Far out on the rim of the horizon great Allied major ves- sels plowed steadily through the swell- ridden ocean until very early on Easter Sunday the armada quietly stopped and dropped anchor in the East China Sea in full view of the jagged cliffs and irregular slopes of western Okinawa. This was L- day and thereafter for nineteen consecu- tive days under fire the Sheliak main- tained her position and discharged her duties before the almost continual raids of enemy bombers and kamikaze attacks. During the hours of dawn and early twi- light the skies were streaked with anti- aircraft bullets while searing flames from rocket guns and shore batteries kept the heavens warm and red. Over and above all other combined operations undertaken by Allied forces against Japan the attack, invasion and subsequent eighty-two day conquest of Okinawa became the greatest and last Allied thrust into the Pacific. Naval losses were greater during this single operation than in any other and the fact that the-Sheliak and her crew evolved themselves as well as they did be- came a lasting credit to their knowledge, efficiency and stamina for battle. Just be- fore evening chow on the nineteenth day in the East China Sea, the Sheliale weighed anchor and took her tired, battle- seasoned crew back to Ulithi. It was on this return trip that the first breath of tragedy wafted fatally across the decks claiming for its victim a young man who had crashed the beach on L-day in a small landing craft and who had steadfastly manned his battle station throughout the seventy-odd calls to General Quarters. Through some peculiar and pernicious malady, Walter F. Pruski, Seaman First Class succumbed to eternal rest while the ship was still one day's journey from Uli- thi Atoll. It was a misfortune felt keenly by his shipmates and his absence will not be a thing easily forgotten. After the funeral services there was not much laughing aboard the Sheliak. The long, pent-up tension of invasion was be- ginning to ebb and breathing became a little easier as the ship started back to Pearl Harbor with a passenger contingent of survivors who had run amuck of suicide planes off of Keramo Retto. The enemy had been duped by strategy, the landings .7. had been successful, the battle of Okin- awa was well underway, and the Sheliak was going back. It was a good feeling, and you could sense it everywhere. The Hawaiian Islands and Pearl Har- bor had not changed. The beer still came in cans at the Hotel,'the debris still fol- lowed the tide into Waikiki, the natives were still selling pillow slips and pineap- ple juice and 'fAloha still meant anyone of a thousand different things. But for all this, the Islands took on a newer and deeper meaning. This time Oahu was to springboard the Sixty-Two-Dee into the States on the first of a long series of milk-runs between San Francisco and the N .A.D. tucked up the West Loch Chan- nel. Going home was like a shot in the arm and Liberty jumped back into the family of words like a long, lost son. For the majority: Ha book of verse beneath the bough, a jug of wine and thou be- came biography and it continued to be a playboy ritual for the ensuing four months. It was strictly a have one on me routine, and in the bargain the ship caught up on a new paint job and some necessary repairs. But then, as in the case of most things too good, there came the Achilles heel and in this instance monotony and routine filled the dual bill of bow and arrow. Mid-August caught the Sheliak in Pearl Harbor discharging ammunition and bubbling over with heavy time when news came that japan was throwing in the towel. The long awaited surrender had finally become reality, the end was more than in sight, it was now within reach and, when the ship arrived at California later that same month, the first group of qualified men left the ship for the enterprise of civilian life. The war was over. The crew was be- ginning to break up. The Sheliak had won her colors. '

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Officers Aboo rd Front Row: left to right: D. R. Whittier, St. J. A. Bargas, F. B. Schoneman O L Mathews C B Dovslen I.. B. Sentman, M. F. Wright, R. J. Pittman, G. A. Steinman, W. C. Boecker C A Izzo Second Row E P Eiche R. E. Daniel, S. T. Boltz, J. Murphy, L. D. Smith, T. Brinson, W. V. Cortez I V Holt T G Gill E M Kirchner. Third Row: M. T. Duncan, H, E. Hein, R. S. Riegel M Kabaczy R Bill The two ofhcers and quartermaster pic- tured on the right are standing on the wing of the navigation bridge. The com- bined duty of these men is to keep con- stant ehecks upon distances and direc- tions and to insure the overall safety and progress of the ship. Alert on The Bridge W. E. Hoover, J. J. Long, C. Dunn