Topeka (CL 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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For 18 days the ship and crew ran through drill after drill designed to make them ready for actual battle. Day and night, the 6 and 5 guns fired at towed sleds and en- gaged in offset firing battles with the Oklahoma City. And day and night the 5 , 401VIlVI and 20lVIlVl guns fired at towed sleeves and drones. It was simply practice, practice, prac- tice. In between firing, there were damage control prob- lems, fire drills, salvage drills, prize crew drills and aban- don ship drills. At regular intervals there was a complete battle problem which involved gunnery, tactics, damage control and materiel and personnel casualties. Tactical ex- ercises were held nearly every day, and there were two shore bombardment rehearsals by the 5 and 6 guns. As a climax to the training a complete inspection, plus battle problem and damage control, was conducted aboard the Topeka by personnel of the Oklahoma City, and the same was conducted aboard the Oklahoma City by Topeka per- sonnel. This was in preparation for the all-important in- spection in Norfolk which was to come later. Every fourth or fifth day the ship anchored off the Navy base in Trinidad, and liberty within the N.O.B. was granted for enlisted men and at the Macqueripe Officers' Club for ofhcers. This liberty consisted mainly of drinking beer or malted milks and trying to find suitable souvenirs to take home. The one big question on everyone's tongue as the shake- down period was drawing to a close was that of leave in the States when the ship returned. Just before the ship left Trinidad, the Captain announced that, providing the Topeka passed its inspection in Norfolk satisfactorily, 10-day leave for everyone aboard would be given, the first leave to begin the day the ship reached Boston. No greater tonic could have been issued, and on 28 February, the Topeka steamed out of the Gulf of Paria with visions of home in everyoneis mind. En route to the States, off Culebra Island, one of the Virgin Islands, the ship stopped for shore bombardment, then continued directly to Norfolk, again in company with the Oklahoma City. As usual, tactical and general drills were held along the way, and on 4 March the ship moored at Norfolk. The next two days were spent getting the ship ready for the big inspection to be conducted by the Commander Op- erational Training Command, U. S. Atlantic Fleet, and in assisting in the inspection of the Oklahoma City. This in- spection was to be held on 7 and 8 March and would in- clude a Military Inspection, Battle Problem and Damage Control Inspection. Failure to pass would mean additional weeks of training before the Topeka would be considered fit to take her rightful place in the battle line of the United States Fleet. On 7 March, Rear Admiral C. F. Bryant, USN, Com- mander Operational Training Command, U. S. Atlantic Fleet, assisted by his staff and personnel of the Oklahoma City, inspected all parts of the ship and all personnel of the ship. The next day, with Rear Admiral Bryant and his staff aboard, the Topeka went out to sea for the Battle Problem and Damage Control Inspection. With all the background of intensive training, the inspections were not as difficult as had been anticipated. With remarkably few exceptions, everything was more than shipshape, and the Topeka came through with flying colors. Immediately after the inspection, the ship shoved off for Boston and home. En route, there was drone firing off Cape May, New Jersey. Shortly before noon on 10 March, the Topeka tied up in South Boston, and within an hour half the officers and men had left the ship and were off on their leaves, with the other half waiting to go as soon as the first group returned. The shakedown cruise was over, it would not be long now. 99 'FF if if -39 The first leave party was gone until 20 March, and the second party left immediately upon their return. By 31 March all hands were back on the ship. During the leave periods those men present stood watch-on-watch becauseof the shortage of men. There was liberty every second night, however, and when both parties had returned liberty was put on a three-out-of-four basis, time spent, no doubt, im- proving the mind with the aid of the cultural advantages offered by the city of Boston. There was a great deal of work to be done on the ship during this time, and the chippers and riveters were at it again day and night-mostly night. No one knew for cer- tain when the ship would get underway again, but everyone knew that when she did, it would be for points west. The second Topeka dance was held the night of 4 April, again in the Statler ballroom, and again the Topekais finest and their lovely ladies made a memorable night of it. If there was an neat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we go to sea attitude observed, it was wholly understandable- and Boston girls had been contending with that line for over two years anyhow. Early the afternoon of 10 April the ship got underway and steamed slowly out of Boston harbor. For most of the officers and men it was the last sight of the United States for several months, but characteristically, very few of them gave it a second thought. The Topeka was en route to Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal. The end of both the Euro- pean and Pacific wars was in sight, though no one dared hope it would come as soon as it did. Eighteen months in the Pacific looked like a good bet---if the Zhip was lucky. On the way to Panama it was the usual round of general drills, gunnery exercises and tactical exercises. OH' Culebra Island the 6 and 5 batteries had another shore bombard- ment. On 15 April the ship anchored at the U. S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and a fortunate group got ashore for a few hours to drink American beer and Ameri- can malted milks. The next two days were spent in gunnery exercises in the operating areas off Guantanamo Bay. The morning of 19 April the ship was at the eastern entrance to the Panama Canal, and a Hrope yarn Sundayn, which is Navy for holiday, was declared. Only the deck, engine room and communication watches were stood. Everyone else was free to find himself a comfortable spot topside and watch the Canal go by. 18

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Trying The Rudder Showing Off . . .