Sierra (AD 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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A OFFICERS CLUB AT SAMAR AFTER A SMOKER ON THE BOAT DECK. VOLFE, BELL, MR. PATTON, LENTZ, VICTORIA AND FITZIVIAURICE TI-IE CREW OF TI-IE GIG AT LEYTE

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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

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for repairs and alterations, in addition to the regular destroyers, destroyer escorts, DMS', and APD's. On Iune 26th Captain E. B. Bunguist, USN, became our commanding of- ficer, relieving Captain P. B. Koonce, USN, who was ordered to Guam for duty involving courts martial. Captain Bunguist had formerly been com- manding officer of the repair ship USS Luzon. Another memorable event which occurred while the Sierra was at Leyte was the mysterious crash- dive of a P-38 into the fantail of the aircraft carrier USS Bandolph. When the fleet was in, we spent our recreation periods at our own rec- reation center, a small clearing in the jungle. The main attractions were the native villages a mile or two down the shore. When the fleet left, we shifted our recreation to the Osmena Beach Fleet Recreation Center, where the Seabees had constructed softball diamonds and basketball courts. The more fortunate got over to Tacloban for a real look at Eilipino life on Leyte, tgrhile the officers spent their free afternoons at the DesPac Officers' Club on amar. The most momentous news of the entire Pacific war came to our ears on the night of August lUth, when the laps sent out their first l'feelers for peace. lt was such thrilling news that we didn't even wait for confirmation. Every ship in the bay cut loose with whistles, sirens, searchlights, and py- rotechnics. The band played, and all hands paraded around the boat deck in a victory snake dance. Our minds turned to thoughts of going home, but for many of us that day was still six months away. On the first of September Commodore E. E. Duvall, USN, Commander Service Division lOl, and his staff came aboard. Eive days later we left the Philippines for Okinawa and linsen, Korea. Our stay at Buckner Bay, Okin- awa, was limited to an overnight visit, so we didn't even get ashore. Sol- diers we've met since have convinced us that we didn't miss muchl Our trip to linsen was prolonged by a detour to pass clear of mined areas, and we arrived in that political hot-spot on September l5th. The Commodore became Senior Officer- Present CAdministrativeD mak- ing the Sierra gangways look like Grand Central Station. We continued our repair activities under the direction of ComServDiv lOl, but the work load had definitely slacked off. Our white uniforms made their appear- ance for liberty-the first we'd had in over a year. Ashore we bough Kor- ean money at the rate of l5 yen to the dollar and spent it freely on silk and swords. As we finally steamed out of linsen, our new chaplain, who had been chasing the ship for months, signalled from a seaplane tender, HPLEASE SEND WHALEBOAT EOB Cl-lAPLAlN GLASS. Our reply: HOUB NEXT POBT OE CALL lS Sl-lANGl-lAl, Cl-llNA. l-le caught us there. Chin-cr The trip to Shanghai was high-lighted by the sighting of numerous floating mines, several of which were exploded by the gunfire of our es- cort, the USS Spencer. We anchored overnight in the delta of the Yangtze Biver awaiting a pilot to guide us up the treacherous waterway to Shang- hai. The following day we caught our first glimpse of metropolitan China. Even before we'd made our mooring in the Whangpoo Biver, a horde of sampans had come alongside peddling their wares to the eager sailors, and