Tortuga (LSD 26) - Naval Cruise Book

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I guess we loaded just about everything the Navy had that would fit in our well deck during those first few months . . . and if you think the boys on the wingwalls weren't just a little dubious when that first LSU came toward them at about five knots you're sadly mistaken. Sure, I griped at the training exercises. Who didn't? But we got the feel of the thing, anyway. 1 - - The first LSU --- as it actually was By Christmas somebody in PhibPac operations' took a big black pin out of a drawer, stuck it on a chart, and decided it was time the mighty T put out to sea. Wesaid goodbye to the States on Decem- ber 29th, with Vice Admiral Kiland paying us a special visit to wish us well on our journey west. Here we go . next stop . . . Pearl! tNew Year's Eve was pretty quiet last year. I had the mid-watch, myselfj. I Page Ten if C 7 fl, . K I C , Lai ,A ,, 6, '31 tunica The first LSU --- as we thought it would be Sick? You've never seen so much misery in one small space in your life as on our second trip to Bremerton to pick up LSU's. As a matter of fact, it was just about the roughest weather we encountered on our whole cruise. By the time we 'got back, though, our SA's had be- come SALT'S, and a couple of them rolled so much as they walked down Broadway that it looked as if the Grant Hotel were underway! , Outward Bound! I fwipm

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7 4 V100 I didn't mind crossing the Pacific much. Kind of hot during the day, but it helped a lot to watch those passengers sweating away as they slapped on paint below decks. Passengers are swell people to have around, you know, particularly for those dirty jobs everybody has been letting go for just one more week. Someone asked the Navigator how he found Eniwetok. Why I just came up on deck one morning and there it was, he said. Just a little pile of sand with three tree-s and no girls . . . remind me not to put in for shore duty there. We only stayed in Eniwetok overnight, and then steamed off again through the balmy . seas and beautiful moonlit nights of the tropics. Hey, wait! It's getting cold as he ..... awfully cold! You say you see snow on those hills, son? Why, boy, that's Japan you're looking at . . . Sasebo, to be exact. Japan's ex-No. 2 Naval base, now very busy working for Uncle Sam. Well, we got here, didn't we? Now what? 000 Wx ,'l GJ f'.,g':5-sm, QQ X505 XIDNQ-J' ---A-iW'N ff K-dbg N59: fn saw CHQ' N - r , -lwkvwn X ' -E Y - W 5:11-1:- T9'E,FlNEHDR rms mucnso aww-. SNK 3 THEY APE Homme. THE mx' Way Down!