Sheliak (AKA 62) - Naval Cruise Book

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Biography of the Old Man The Old Man was born on the eighth of August, 1901, in Clinton, Mississippi. Twenty-four years later he walked out of the U. S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree under one arm and a commission as ensign under the other. From there on in his career was strictly duty afloat. During the last twenty years Comdr. Lowrey has spread his service across the decks of eight ships and distin- guished himself notably in varied capaci- ties. Three years after Annapolis the skipper married and is now the father of two beautiful young daughters. Silver- haired and trim the old man chalked up an enviable record in World War II and the staunch admiration of his crew. I S. J. Lowrey Fon A Jos wsu. non: On December 1, 1944 we came aboard the Sheliak. She was a beautiful ship, a credit to her builders.-Upon your coming aboard, the ship became a personality with character, with the character you gave to her. She became a good ship, a friendly ship, a happy ship, an efficient ship, and a ship with grim determination to contribute her full share toward total defeat of the enemy. When the orders came for her to participate in the battle for Okinawa, she was ready and went into battle with courage and confidence. Her mission in the battle for Okinawa successfully completed, she took up the duty of hauling ammunition, and true to character she performed this duty in a commendable manner. Mariners know that the character built into a ship by her first crew stays with her. So long as the Sheliak sails the seas she will be known as a good ship. You may Well be proud of the Sheliak and of her record of loyal and effective war service. As you go back to civilian life I have full faith that as citizens you will build charac- ter into your own community as you have built it into your own ship. I am proud to have served as your Commanding Officer. I wish you success and happiness. May God bless you all. I . S. J. LOWREY .5.

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Page 1 ..... Z ..... 3. 4. 5. 6 ..... 7. 8. 9. 10 11 . 12 . 13 14 . 15 . 16 . SS Sheliclk Pictorial Log 7a Zfne alllfifq, laqaliq ancf dlamina of fzea caew am! la lfne failfa ami coulzaqe of 'Zfze al' home, 3 we'cleJicoZ'e Mid 1 CONTENTS War! Launching Cetchingj Commissioning Staff The Skipper Odyssey Chronological Map Executive Officers Ship's Officers and Bridge 1st and 2nd Divisions 3rd and R Divisions LCM fetchingj g L Division L Division fcontinuedj S Division Secret Weapon USS Sheliak Page 17 ..... USS Sheliak 18 ..... N Division 19 ..... A and B Divisions 20 ..... F Divisiong 5 inch gun 21 ..... H Division 22 ..... Around Topside Cetchingj 23 ..... 3 Liberty Cetchingj . 24 ..... Boat Repairg Radio Shack ZS ..... Engine Roomg Radar 26 ..... Shining Armorg Below Deck V 27 ..... Twenty mm gung Familiar Scenes 28 ..... The Sports Page - 29 ..... Roster 30 .... Roster 31 ..... Good News! 1 32 .... Q. Aloha Pearl Harbor The five enlisted personnel pictured on the left represent the staff who conceived and formulated this log. Standing, left to right, are Chris Grube, photographerg Bill Williams, assistant editorg Dave Roberts, ship's artistg and Joe Watson, cartoonist. Seated in the foreground is George Downing, editor. Another member of the staff not included here is Jimmy Keck, staff typist. Through the combined efforts of these sixrmen and a bucket full of do-or- die this book of memories finally and miraculously came to see the frightening light of day. Needless to say that the staff was as much astounded by its completion as anyone. .,4

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The Odyssey of the Roving Star The USS Sheliak AKA-62 received its commission into the Fifth Fleet as an assault transport vessel toward mid- morning on the first day of December in the year Nineteen Hundred and F orty- four at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City in full view of Bedloe Island and the Statue of Liberty. Since that cold and frosty day enough has happened to the good ship and her crew to supply suffi- cient memories for many long wintry days to come, memories which will forever live as vividly and vibrantly as the events which set them into motion. From Newport, Rhode Island, came the crew which was to function in the duties of caring for the ship and assuring her safe voyage wherever fleet assign- ments might direct. From Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, came the amphibious di- vision with landing crafts and trained personnel whose skill was later to mani- fest itself on Easter Sunday upon the coral-studded approaches to Okinawa. Together these forces were to develop themselves into a working team and merit for the ship and it's silver-haired skipper a commendation and a well done ac- knowledgment from Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of all Pacific forces afloat. But that is getting ahead of the story. Actually the successful landings and subsequent conquest upon Okinawa was the climactic pivot about which all the activities aboard the Sheliak were re- volved, but in the long range view of things the truest character of the ship was and will always be discerned from the multiple happenings which rose to accom- pany the many thousands of miles of sail- ing before and after that memorable invasion. The shakedown and initial amphibious maneuvers in Chesepeake Bay off of Cove's Point completed, the Sheliak started down the East Coast toward the Dutch West Indies on the Fourth day of january, inthe year which saw the triple collapse of the Axis partners. Without any apparent escort the ship made its way down and beyond the turbulent currents of Cape Hatteras lying seaward from the Carolinas until early on the morning of the Seventh, the northernmost Islands of the Indies rose suddenly and quietly like sea-borne dromedaries above the Atlantic swells. Distant and-aloof in the pallor of a fading dawn the signal light off the tip of Haiti blinked like a friendly topaz be- fore the deep blue waters of the Carib- bean Sea. Schools of rolling porpoises and fins of searching sharks darted in and out about the water line until the whole sea seemed suddenly alive with some strange and plentiful life. At dusk and toward early twilight a solemn purple would come to sweep across the waters and touch the decks with an aura of stillness. Later a JL.. -... By GEORGE DowN1NG, Cox moon would come to hang like a lantern low in the southern skies, and the spray across the swells would send tiny particles of phosphorus leaping like starlit jewels against the skin of the ship. Unspectacular though it was, the na- tural beauty of the watery highway to the city of Colon on the Panamanian Isthmus made the six-day voyage memorable and the Sheliak secure in the confidence of her crew. Entering the locks from the Atlantic Ocean the Sheliak raised through several levels drawn by miniature locomotives, which scurried up and down ramps on either side, until the ship was successfully drawn from Colon to Balboa near Panama City. For the first time since the depar- ture from Bayonne, New jersey, it was likely that liberty for the one night stand in Balboa would be granted and Lady Luck gave the nod to Section One. Toward late afternoon the chosen third of the ship's crew passed down the gangway and disappeared up the narrow streets of Latin America. N o other liberty outside of the States could ever match this one. Panama City was just as any American would have imagined it, tiny, compact, confused and noisy. Thirty minutes ashore teaches any visitor that there are three things in Panama City: night clubs, the- l'hotel Internacionale and souvenir shops. The latter two can be covered in an hour but the night clubs require a life- time. There you find the natives Cmostly immigrants from San Salvadorj and start your liberal education in the prerequisite courses of rum and 'Coca-Cola. Details may be considerably dimmed because of time and travel but the general memory rampant among Section One is that Pan- ama shelters more than one bombshell Hattie and offers more profused rhumba exponents than A. Murray ever dreamed. Sailing upward from the equator and toward the northwest the Sheliak reached Pearl Harbor fifteen days after Panama. It was a quick trip and the climate of the Hawaiian Islands in january proved to be just what the doctor ordered. With Pearl Harbor still over the horizon the radar picked up the mountain of Mauna Kea and while all handsv lined the rail Diamond Head and Waikiki passed slow- ly into view. The harbor was nearly brim- ming over with any and all types of ship- ping, and the skies over Oahu shook with the thunder of aircraft set aloft from the historic and ill-fated Hickam Field. Over and beyond a half dozen liberties which sent the crew frolicking from the swim- ming pool at Richardson's Landing to the beer canteen in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel at Waikiki, there came the more serious business of amphibious maneuvers start- ing on the third of February. In conjunc- tion with seven other assault transports .6. ' the Sheliak carried out a complete simula- tion of actual assault according to the T-3 plan of Pacific Doctrine and distinguished itself by ''out-Navying-the-Navy. Dur- ing these same maneuvers the newspaper 'fThe Roving Star became a regular fix- ture in the ship's routine and for weeks thereafter the weekly enjoyed a wide circulation. Once maneuvers were finished the Sheliak returned to Pearl Harbor and accepted a combat load of men and sup- plies, Ca contingent of the Tenth Army Signal Corpsj and without further delay set out for the Solomon Islands and Guad- alcanal. , Always on these long trips the ship proved to be a beehive of activity. Decks and bulkheads were steadily chipped, chromated and painted g multiple tech- nical machines were repaired and ad- justed, cables were slushed and newlines rigged, barges underwent general over- haul, and the engine room maintained a worthy efficiency. All this coupled with the steady grind of yeomen, storekeepers, stewards, mess cooks, radiomen and ra- darmen kept everyone on their toes and the days at sea passed quickly. Shortly after the ship had pulled a quarterback sneak through the Gilbert Island guards of Makin and Tarawa and on the twenty third day of February the unforgettable celebration and initiation of Shellback tradion rose up out of the equator. De- nuded scalps, welts and grease covered the crew like some incurable epidemic un- til all the Polywogs, or fledglings of the sea, passed the test and stood shabby and beaten beneath the torrid sun. Enough curls bit the deck that day to furnish a full platoon of Shirley Temples and enough spankings to cure a dozen prodi- gal sons. The two hundred odd Army per- sonnel aboard ship at the time underwent similar treatment and by sundown Nep- tunus Rex had chalked up a mighty score and enlarged his domain by slightly more than five hundred. Forty-eight hours later the ship dropped anchor in the waters surrounding Florida Island and the rain barrels of Guadalcanal and Tu- lagi, while the heat fell down like blank- ets. The Islands may go well with sarongs but when dungarees are selected apparel then the Solomons would not even qual- ify for a short weekend visit. Any excerpt from a typical letter written home at that time would read something like this: Heat terrific, flies innumerable, rain plentiful. Natives are very slight, some tote bones in their noses and ears, but are nevertheless, quite civilized. Although coconuts and mangoes are abundant, the Americanized Solomon Islanders insist on pedalling them for exorbitant prices. Beer without chits flows for a buck-fifty a can, and three warm beers have no equal among the poisons. The Islands are being -4 Q