Sierra (AD 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE SIERRA BAND MAIL CALL YANOWITCI-I AND SUZIE CDN TI-IE I-'CDRECASTLE

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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

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where there were mediocre swimming and ball playing facilities. The main interests -were in the beer, occasional doughnut service, and games of chance. The souvenir hunters paid fantastic prices for grass skirts, bananas, and pineapples. On one occasion Hollywood starlet Martha O'Driscoll and a small troupe put on several shows for the entertainment of all hands. We left the Solomons area unescorted on March l5th. Our ultimate des- tination was Ulithi Atoll, but we stopped off at Manus to pick up some cargo that was consigned to the ship. However, when we reached Seeadler Har- bor, extremely heavy seas prevented us from sending our boats in to pick up the cargo, and the next day we left for Ulithi, Most of the cargo that we left on the docks at Manus never came aboard the ship until months after- ward. As we left Seeadler Harbor for the second time, we fell into forma- tion with the old battleship USS New York CBB-34D and the British carrier HMS Reaper. Our escorts were the destroyers USS Leutze CDD-4815 and USS Cassin Young CDD-7935. On March 20th, as we recrossed the equator, the commissary department went all out with a big turkey dinner to celebrate our first anniversary. Two days later we arrived at Ulithi, the headquarters of Service Squad- ron Ten. Under the able leadership of Commodore W. R. Carter, USN, this huge unit of the Pacific Service Force was working night and day to re- turn our damaged vessels to the front, and Serlilon lO had even been referred to as one of America's secret weapons. As we steamed down through the north and middle anchorages to our own berth in the south an- chorage, we passed a major portion of the U. S. Pacific Fleet preparing for the invasion of Okinawa. When we left the atoll two months later, the south and middle anchorage were bare, and only a few station ships remained in the north. The first month produced some very wet weather with sweeping winds of typhoon proportions and much rain. Everywhere ships maintained an- chor chain watches with steam up, while the smaller craft tossed about dragging their anchors. Relief from this came, and the second month turned into nearly unbearable tropical heat with few breezes. ln the south anchorage we took our place in tender row with the de- stroyer tenders USS Prairie, Cascade, Piedmont, Yosemite, and Hamul. Work continued on a 24-hour basis with occasional recreation on a hot, sandy, fly-infested island, which would be most suitable for the atomic bomb tests. Our work was frequently interrupted by the sound of the general alarm, as Iap snoopers from nearby Yap tried to slip into the anchorage. However our flyers were on the job, and no enemy plane ever put in a personal appear- ance except on the radar screen. On to the Philippines Cn the 25th of May we joined a convoy with five other repair ships and seven ammunition ships and proceeded westward toward the Philippines. Three days of steaming brought us into San Pedro Bay, which is part of Leyte Gulf between the islands of Leyte and Samar, and we dropped the anchor near another famous destroyer tender, the USS Dixie. Our work load remained about the same, as numerous landing craft came alongside