Topeka (CL 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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How D0 You Feel Today With Salfves and Pills, and Wondrous Skills . . The Sick Bay . . . ---Q-w--.nqwnq-,--'nr ....:,. W., .,.,,Y ,,,,,',, ,..L. -- . -'...... .A-.fl - -I V.-,.:f,,: Ji Ah . . Cherry, Cakes Ice Cream . . . Never a Dry Moment.

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'V W ,,, 5:3 W.. an W f 5' J Sv Y 7 sw -ZCEGQ llzmmmse .s S They did it in the engineering department and in every other department, the supply department, the gunnery de- partment, the C. and R. department, the navigation, the communications, and the medical departments. Men in the supply department worked day and night ac- cumulating, transporting, taking aboard, and stowing, cata- loging and inventorying, the things the men and the ship would require for months to come. There were materials, tools and parts for the shipfitters, carpenters, electricians, evaporator men, construction and repair men of the hull department, the aviation unit with its three planes, the radio, radar, and telephone specialists, supplies for the laundry, the stores, the soda fountain, the barber shop, cobbler's shop, tailor's shop, the bakery, and the six galleys. Then there were the office supplies and print shop requirements, paper, ink, staples, cutters, typewriters, pens, pencils, clips, erasers, sponges, etc, etc ad infinitim. The supply department is operational as well as acquisi- tive. It is the accounting, pay, and banking department with its depository, trusts, allotments, claims, and foreign exchange divisions. It operated the six galleys in which a mountain of food was cooked three times a day to feed a city of ravenously hungry officers and men. It baked the bread, pies, cakes, rolls, and cookies that the men con- sumed by the tons daily. It mended their shoes in the cob- bler shop, pressed their clothes in the tailor shop, cut their hair in the barber shop, made their ice cream and served them sodas and cokes at the ugedunk standv, washed and ironed their clothes in the laundry, sold them cigarettes, cigars, candy, writing paper, fountain pens, soap, razors and razor blades, jewelery, tooth brushes and paste, in the ships store, and shoes, socks, underwear, caps, suits, hand- kerchiefs, in the small stores. If the Army travels on its stomach, the Navy floats on its. The food supply for thirty days on the Topeka amounted to 90 tons. When Turkey crowned the menu for one meal the cooks prepared half a ton of the holiday birds. With that would be consumed half a ton of potatoes, and '70 gal- lons of ice cream. The food bill for the men of the Topeka was more than a quarter of a million dollars a year. So far as the stores were concerned it was entirely a buy- ers market. In an average month the crew bought 32,000 packs of cigarettes, 19,000 cigars, 25,000 candy bars, and nearly 82,000 worth of ice cream and cokes. The men of the navigation department handled the actual operation of the ship underway, necessitating a high order of proficiency and alertness. The careful use of instruments and new skills had to be mastered by 'continual study and practice. K Men of the deck divisions doubled in gunnery and sea- manship. The ship existed and operated to shoot its guns with deadly accuracy. Not only the life of our ship depend- ed on the accuracy of our gunners, but in this modern air war where we operated primarily as protectors of our great air craft carriers, their safety as well. Long periods of op- erating at sea called for many frequent refueling and re- supplying details at sea which required seamanship of the' highest order. While everything was running quite normally for war time operations men of the C and R department, under the direction of the First Lieutenant, had to be ready for any emergency such as fire, hits by shells, torpedoes, and kama- kazis, or magazine explosions, and a thousand and one things that can happen to a ship in action that would jeopardize its safety, the lives of the men, and its efficient functioning. The medical department operated day and night guard- ing the health of the men, healing their hurts, performing minor and major feats of surgery, and tending the hospital- ized sick. lt had to be ever ready for any emergency, always on the alert to stay the progress of epidemic, and handle and treat the wounded in case of battle casualities. Corpsmen were trained in routine hospital technics such as nursing, surgical assistants, laboratory technicians, dental assistants, etc. . In wartime ships operate in formations. The formations are changed with the conditions the group or fleet encoun- ters. Sometimes they change regularly on a time schedule. Then again conditions arise that were unforseeable and the changes must be made on a split second command from the group commander. All of this calls for accuracy in com- munications involving every device for relaying messages and information ever invented and used by man from hand signals and mirrors reflecting the light of the sun to the most modern and intricate equipment such as radio of every kind and various kinds of radar. There was equipment aboard the Topeka that had only recently come from the scientist's laboratories. But with its installation came officers and men who had already been trained in its use and main- tenance. Many more young men learned under the tutelage of these specialists. , On a cruiser airplanes are an arm of the gunnery depart- ment. Their maintenance and operation called for a large staff of aviators and technicians. You read in one of the chapters of part 1 about Ensign Poindexter's heroic rescue of two British flyers. But he was not alone. With him were three other pilots, brave men everyone, and a host of avia- tion technicians who kept the planes in perfect condition. And speaking of gunnery: it is not just shoving shells into guns and pulling the triggers. That is about how quick- ly the firing is performed, but that is only because there are hundreds of officers and men who do complicated and dan- gerous maneuvers, feats of brain and brawn, with the ut- most care, agility, speed, and precision, as to make it all seem effortless, just like loading a gun and firing it. Many items of information are factors in the problem that must be solved before the gun can be aimed, loaded with fuses properly set, and fired with any assurance of hitting the target. And you must keep in mind that the target is more than likely traveling at a speed of three hundred and more miles an hour. It must be evident to everyone by this time that training and practice are two of the most important functions of a staff aboard a fighting ship. The schools ashore do excel- lent preliminary jobs, but that is only a bare beginning. It took six months of constant teaching and ractice aboard , an P Shlp to make the Topeka capable of going into battle with 72 2

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any degree of certainty that she would perform with pre- scribed efficiency. Training and teaching were not left to chance. It is far too important for that. Training is a function of the Cap- tain and every officer and man aboard. Topping this con- tinuing program was the Captain. Then came the Executive officer who delegated most of the programls administration to an officer who was designated Education Officer. Every division and assistant officer were his instructors. The re- sults of the program aboard the Topeka can be judged from the promotions in rates the men achieved during the year. -Eiucation in the Navy reached beyond the frontiers of training for technical proficiency in any or all of the cog- nate trades and professions. Men studied prescribed courses in almost any subject, for credit toward a high school di- ploma or a college degree, or for no more apparent reason than the evident one that the man wanted to learn. Men and officers with the technical know-how and the theoretical knowledge of whatever subject were always ready to tutor the ambitious students. And for subjects in which many men were interested, regular classes were held. It was through the education office that the men were constantly kept informed of the rights and privileges that were accruing to them with the passage of one and another of the GI legislative bills. There was an earnest effort on our part to direct the minds of the men toward what was best for them as individuals. This, of course, necessitated spending many hours in interviews with the men, for the most part, singly. Nothing of a manis requirements was neglected. Provi- sions were made for his physical and mental welfare and progress. But that was not all, his spiritual life was seri- ously taken into account, while the Navy did all it could to kindle it and keep it bright by providing the services of a Chaplain. It so happened that during the first year of the Topeka's history she had two Chaplains both of whom were Protestants. All groups were ministered to, and every pro- vision for worship according to a man's conscience or train- ing was made regularly and as frequently as circumstances allowed. And that is not all the Chaplain did. For the most part he had his nose in almost everything that might have effected the men in any navy. Their private and domestic troubles were his concern, primarily because of the confi- dence the men usually have in the Chaplain. Then there was the matter of recreation from education, and reading, to sports, sightseeing trips, concerts, sing-songs, shows, picnics, and their own Magazine. It will not be mere digression to get away from the work and training of the men. Sports and fun were never con- sidered minor matters aboard the Topeka. There was al- ways the conception of doing a thing well whether it was a party and ball game on Mog Mog or a formal dance at the Ritz. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. There was no inordinate amount of play aboard the Topeka-there was not time for that. But .lack of the Topeka was any- thing but dull. He was sharp, he looked sharp, and acted sharp. He worked hard and he played hard. He was en- dowed with as many talents for entertainment and play as for work. His tastes in music ran from Waller to Wagner. Every compartment was equipped with an electric record player that was allowed to cool off only at night. The ship was well stocked with all kinds of records, thanks to our many friends in Topeka, Kansas. But the men did not rely on records for all their music. The Admiralis orchestra was an excellent musical outfit and played sweet and swing to the thorough enjoyment of everyone. Besides the profes- sionals there were many amateurs who played well on any and every instrument from electric guitars to sweetpotatoes. Groups naturally formed and performed formally and in- formally whenever the occasion called for the lighter mood. Singers abounded everywhere. Every division and com- partment had its minstrels-that ancient order of men who originate and sing their ditties and parodies as the moods and circumstances dictate. There is very little room aboard a cruiser for the prac- tice of sports. There was room for boxing, and that proved to be the major sport at sea. There were not many oppor- tunities for matches. After all we were fighting a war and we spent long stretches at sea. But when we spentt any time in port we had smokers on our own ship or another when our boxing team would meet others. Our team was good, and though we did not win every match, we were never disgraced. We had a couple of boys who could hold their own in the professional ranks. Whenever the men could go ashore they played football, basketball, and baseball. There were several team matches at ports in the Pacific. The ship was always well equipped with athletic gear of. all kinds. What we did not have the shore bases were prepared to issue. That was just another indication of the Navy's concern for the welfare of the men. The Topeka was a first class party ship. It started in Boston with two magnificent parties that closely followed the commissioning. The great success of the affairs was due to the fact that the Topeka men enjoyed being together. The major entertainment feature was the movies. There was a show almost every night-even when we were in the forward area-. The ship had her share of poor pictures, but the system of distribution was unexcelled. Real live shows were pretty scarce for us. It was not the fault of the entertainment world that provided many and good shows for the men all over the world. The Topeka just missed. But there were-two native shows that thorough- ly entertained the men, a Hula show in Hawaii, and a Phil- ipino troupe at Leyte. Both played aboard the ship to a great crowd of appreciative sailors. III The war is over, and only one man of the Topeka will not return. She has been a fortunate ship, but she is a good ship because she has good men and good leadership. As this is written there are changes everywhere. Many of the old faces are gone. New men have come to take their places. There is much that is not the same aboard the good ship Topeka. But that is the way it should be-so long as the spirit of the old men is not lost, the spirit that made the Topeka a champion. ' 74-