Sierra (AD 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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5 1 I 1 1 1 1 l W1 f 1d,i?.,.,-...:.4.., 11 Q . TI-IE MT, HOOD GOES UP A GI SHOW ON THE FQRECASTLE SOFTBALL AT MAN US

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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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We tended battleships November 26th marked the start of our two most notable repair jobs. The USS Claxton CDD-5715 moved alongside and went into drydock. There a large portion of her port quarter was completely rebuilt by the Sierra repair force. This damage had been sustained as the result of a direct hit by a lap suicide plane in the battle of Leyte Gulf. The same afternoon we reversed the usual procedure -of taking ships alongside and went alongside the bat- tleship USS California CBB-445. While moored to the battleship the repair force and the 'deck gang of the Sierra performed a navy yard job in com- pletely replacing a twin-mount 5 gun on the port side of the California. The stay at Manus, although consisting mainly of heavy work sched- ules, intense heat, and a great deal of fungus and heat rash, was not with- out its lighter moments. There were three recreation islands where daily a portion of the crew played softball, went swimming, and had their beer or soft drinks. Each division on the ship had a softball team, and the interdivi- sional games were bitterly contested. The 3rd division won the ship's cham- pionship and also placed the most men on the ship's team, which in turn won the harbor championship. Many of the men combed the waters sur- rounding the recreation beaches gathering the plentiful coral shells and cat-eyes , from which we made necklaces, rings, and bracelets for the folks back home. 'Stars and Gripes , an Army show, had a one night stand on thefore- castle, and late in December lrving Berlin and the original cast of his mu- sical comedy success, This ls The Army , played four nights in the amphi- theater on Manus lsland, which permitted all of us to attend one perform- ance. Mr. Berlin also came aboard the Sierra at the invitation of our com- manding officer and gave a highly entertaining impromptu show. About a month later Commander Eddie Peabody, the celebrated banjo perfectionist, brought his gang of entertainers aboard for a show which was received with enthusiasm by the entire crew. On February l8, l945, in company with the USS Briareus CAB-125 and the USS Whitehurst CDE-634D, we steamed out of Seeadler l-larbor bound for the Solomons. We passed between the mountainous profiles of New Britain and New Guinea, where our soldiers were still hard at work rounding up the Nips. ln the early morning of the Zlst we steamed between Guadalcanal and Savo lsland, crossed historic lron Bottom Bay, and dropped anchor off Lyons Point, just inside the nets of Port Purvis, Florida lsland, lron Bottom Bay was the burial ground for more lapanese and U. S. ships than any oth- er combat area of the South Pacific. Within our sight was l-lenderson Field where the battle of the South Pacific was turned against the laps and our forces started on the long road to Tokyo. We tend landing craft too For slightly more than three weeks our repair gangs labored on the vast job of patching up LST's, which later participated in the invasion of Okin- awa. The weather at Port Purvis was a slight relief from Manus. lt was much cloudier with frequent rains which cooled things off and ruined eighty per- cent of our forecastle movies. u Enlisted personnel had recreation at the Marker Fox recreation area