Sierra (AD 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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of fresh bread and ice cream during fueling, which was sent across on a messenger line. The helmsmen of all three ships did a superb job, and the entire procedure was effected without threat of mishap. Crossing the line . At l000 September l3th we crossed the equator, at which time the ap- propriate ceremonies were held on all four vessels, although greatly modi- fied in comparison to the peacetime equivalent. The shellbacks , men who had previously crossed the line, initiated the pollywogs , those who hadn't. A close check revealed only a few accidental cuts and unintentional bruises when the festivities ceased, and all hands were full-fledged members of-the f'Ancient Order of the Deep. . At l500 September l4th the task unit passed the nets of Seeadler l-larbor, Manus lsland, and each ship proceeded to carry out its basic assignment. lt was here that we had our first glimpse of what was to be our most per- manent stopping place of the Pacific campaign. During the next few days several hundred officers and enlisted men, passengers on the 4,500 mile journey, were transferred to their respective ships and stations. A Cn September l5th the Sierra commenced to shoulder her share of the tremendous task of keeping our fighting ships on the firing line when the USS Lamons CDE-7435 moored alongside for availability. She was the first in the big parade of destroyers and destroyer escorts to receive repairs and other services from the Sierra during our stay in the Admiralties. At one time in Seeadler Harbor we had thirteen ships moored alongside for re- pairs, eight to port and five to starboard. Assignments were made by rep- resentatives of Commander Service Squadron Ten and Commander Destroy- ers, Pacific Fleet. The latter representative, commonly referred to as Rep- ComDesPacSoPac and with 7th Fleet, came aboard with his staff, making the Sierra a flagship as well as a tender. Work continued as usual, and on October 27th the ship and the crew were commended by Commander De- stroyers, Pacific Fleet, in recognition of the volume and quality of work per- formed by all departments of the ship in our initial period of operation in the forward area. A copy of this commendation was placed in the record of each officer and man on board at that time. lapanese bombers made an appearance November 9th and made sev- eral runs on the air strip at Momote Field, approximately eight miles from the fleet anchorage. Although no attempt was made to molest the ships at anchor, we felt sure that the large number of ships in the harbor would bring the Nips back. The following day at 0855 a terrific explosion occurred, and all hands manned their battle stations in record time. lt turned out that the laps had not returned, but a more tragic event had taken place. The ammunition ship USS Mount l-lood CAE-ll? had exploded, killing all hands. ln addition considerable damage and casualties were suffered by numerous ships in adjacent berths, the worst was sustained by the 'USS Mindanao CABG-SD, which suffered approximately two hundred casualties in dead and injured and had several gaping holes torn in her hull. Although our ship was not materially damaged, the explosion spelled taps for .four members of our ships company, the crew of an LCM which was unloading bombs alongside the Mount l-lood. ,

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Panama Canal. l-lalf the crew had liberty that night, and the other hagfl malscfile a liberty in Balboa at the Pacific end of the canal the follOW111Q fllgcl-H 9 proceeded up the west coast of Mexico and arrived in San D1eQOa da 1 Of' nia, tying up at the foot of Broadway. Whilelsome of the men atten e anti- aircraft gunnery school, others turned to as we loaded our magazines, storerooms, and cold boxes- to capacity. Cn lune 7, l944, the Sierra departed from San Diego and from the United States-we commenced our overseas duty. Outside the continental limits . . .' - On Tune l3th Diamond l-lead made its appearance, and we steamed slowly into Pearl l-larbor. Among the other repair ships present were the USS lason and our sister ship the USS Piedmont. We soon made our first liberty in Honolulu, and many of us were enrolled in fleet schools offering instruction in welding, radio maintenance, salvage diving, fire fighting, and the operation of power velocity tools. A week after our arrival the Sierra entered a new episode in her service. Up to that time we had been prepar- ing the ship and the crew to fulfill our mission of service to the fleet, and on the 22nd of Iune the destroyer USS Farenholt moored alongside to port, the first of over 700 ships to be repaired and serviced by our tender. I But our stay in l-lawaii was not all work. Some of us made overnight lib- erties at the swanky Boyal Hawaiian l-lotel overlooking Waikiki Beach. We held our first happy hour featuring the dancing of radioman striker F rank lorgenson, and some of us were lucky enough to see Bob l-lope and Frances Langford at Nimitz Bowl. Don Swan, Slc, pitched the 4th division softball team to the ship's championship, and it was alsowhispered about that the chiefs trimmed the officers. One day during the end of Iuly President Boose- veltarrived, and we manned the rail in our whites to watch his barge pass close aboard. Late in August the Sierra went into drydock for three days to have her hull scraped and painted. The following day the USS Yosemite, our other sister ship from the Tampa shipyard, steamed into Pearl l-larbor as our re- lief. We knew then that we would soon be on our trip westward. ln the early morning of September 3, l944, the Sierra departed from her berth at Pearl l-larbor for her first assignment in the forward area. The Sierra had already attracted attention as an efficient repair unit in the Ha- waiian area, but her capacity for front-line work was still an unknown quan- tity. ln company with our ship, which bore the designation of Commander Task Unit l2.5.2, were the USS Killen CDD-5935 and the USS McCoy Beynolds CDE-4405, acting as escort vessels and anti-submarine protection. lust prior to sundown the first day out the USS Mauna Loa CAB-83 was sighted and took a position in the column of the task unit, where she remained fm- the balance of the journey. Standard speed was fifteen knots. Qn the morning of September 7th we performed one of our most unique services when both escort vessels were refueled while the task unit was traveling at a speed of ten knots. First the USS Killen moved slowly 031011 - side to starboard and received 57,742 gallons of fuel oil. When fhig WGS Cori pleted, the USS. McCoy Reynolds took her place, was connected to the fu li ing lines, and given 37,312 gallons of fuel oil. Both ships also were recipiejts

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