Staten Island (AGB 5) - Naval Cruise Book

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4-I-sdaiiik-tw Above: A stranger in town! at her berth in Wellingtorfs rurbov P Center: The STATEN ISLAND ll ssengers ot W r 5, loading a truckload of corneal mutton rd rt for the Niue Islanders. Bottom right: Under the watchful eye of Boatswaun s Mate UTAH HAMILTON the New Zealand delncacles are brought aboard for further transfer to the strscken Island

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P in V L I 4 W by .Qi gy ' - .f sf-.iw -A f V A I v '- l ,, b 1 Cl' ' 5' ' E' ,,i.,,.. AA, -- -M.r,r,g fi, 'TJ N f -v ' ,frm TQ limfb: . y 'S' X l The Honorable F. H. RUSSELL, United States Ambassador to New Zealand is welcomed aboard the STATEN ISLAND bythe captain with full honors. NEW ZEALAND, HERE WE COME ST ATEN ISLAND arrived at Hallett on 5 March, only XVellington was perhaps the most pleasant liberty pOff encountered on this cruise. It is a most cosmopolitan city, quaint and modern at the same time, and altogether to find that the LCVP landings were clogged with ice and inaccessible. lt was necessary to offload cargo bv helicopter using cargo slings, but the men were in a hurry to leave the Antarctic and we were finished and off the same day. New pancake ice was forming fast as we headed north, and we knew that in a few weeks that part of the Ant- arctic would begin to seal itself off for another winter. The voyage to Lyttelton was rough as usual, and the fog hung low for several days. But we were heading home-- eventually-and it didn't seem to matter as much. VVe arrived at Lyttelton on March 11th and spent the next few days there, taking in the sights of nearby Christchurch. Scheduled to return to New Plymouth, we were informed that they had no berth available for us after we had already gotten underway, so a neat diver- sion was made to the capital city of Wellington. enjoyable. It was here too that the American AmbaS- sador to New Zealand paid a visit to STATEN ISLAND fsee photol. lust prior to departing Wfellington, the American EIU- bassy got wind of an urgent situation developing fm Niue Island, a tiny isolated New Zealand dept-3I1d811CY in the South Pacific. It seems the islanders had been struck by a brutal hurricane some time earlier, and beside doing a great deal of damage, the storm hilt-l depleted the food supply to an emergency level- Niue had no airstrip and the next ship was not chile ill for some time. So the services of STATEN were volunteered to transport some much meat to the island on her way home. A L

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A ,gg . . .1 W 253, :i,aQ,,, mggylgf' 'x:.7j- , 5. '7' 3 1 t F ,,.A .fff Q 1 '- -...,, r ' v fffi' ff 4 eff ' ce NIUE ISLAND This proved to be a most diverting stopover, which broke up the long cruise to the States very opportunely. The natives and New Zealand commissioners were un- doubtedly gratified to welcome the sailors of the mercy icebreaker, and much entertainment was provided. The boys and girls of the island put on dancing exhibitions, ending with an invitation for the sailors to dance with Niuean maidens which was accepted in fine spirit-and resulted in the most fantastic combination of hula, fox trot and rock-and-roll. Finally we were off once more, and this time-at long last-our destination was actually the continental United Bottom, left and right: The landing party, like the emer- gency supplies was carried ashore by the versatile lighter. 'x ' z Z ----aan States. San Diego looked awfully good as we entered the harbor April 7th to oitload our helicopters. Com- mander Service Squadron Une, CAPTAIN B. M. DOD- SON, USN, came aboard at Ballant Point to ride STAT- EN ISLAND into North Island-and offer his congratu- lations on a job well done. After a short stay, we began the last leg of our journey, running into heavy seas off Northern California and Oregon, which delayed our arrival in Seattle until April 1-ith. But what a happy day that was as the icebreaker rounded XVest Point and stood into Pier 91. The biggest thrill for the Niue Islanders was watching and, tor the lucky ones, riding in the big iron birds.