Shaft Alley
The "A" division had to help out in a number of areas
while we were at sea. The ice machine crew had to give
a hand as needed in what were known as "fill in positions". One day while we were at sea,
there was a need for a "fill in" for a
location known as "Shaft Alley". I thought I'd
volunteer for the job to get a new experience. If you ever
had
claustrophobia, you had better not work down in the
alley.
The location was accessed by a tube like ladder that
was about three decks deep. Once
down there, the big drive shaft from the turbine
turned with a constant roar. There was just barley enough
head room to move onto the catwalk to the shaft bearings. Your
job was to monitor for excessive heat with your
constant companion, a big oil can. What a job! Later while we were in Japan, we had an "old" fellow come
aboard who was the last man off the Yorktown. He was
stuck in the shaft alley and only escaped when the
Destroyers torpedoed the carrier.
Who Gave the Captain's Dog a Haircut?
One time, when we were at sea doing our usual routine,
the orders sounded for quarters. We had
been told that the Captain had a little dog that had the run of the
ship in certain areas. To make a long story short,
someone had taken the dog and given it a haircut. We
were told we would have to stand at quarters on the
deck till "Hell Freezes Over" unless the barber who
gave the trim to the dog came forward. This was all a
mystery to us. We also heard if this didn't work, we
might have to get our pea coats from their storage
locker and wear them till the culprit surrendered.
After several hours of monotony, we were dismissed.
We never heard how the dog trimming story ended.Clear The Deck For
Gunnery Practice
One noon, while we were at sea, I decided to stretch
out under one of the motor launches to take five winks
before going below for duty. As it so happened, an
announcement came over the PA to clear the deck
because
there would be 5" gunnery practice. Unaware of what
was about to happen, I snoozed on until I awoke to a
terrific explosion which was the "five-incher" firing right near my
resting place. I bounced up off the deck hitting the
keel of the motor launch, cordite dust appeared
everywhere. My first thoughts were that we had been
hit. I crept away trying not to draw attention to my
predicament; I couldn't hear anything, I thought I was
deaf. The last thing I recall was seeing another salvo of
star shells head for the horizon. It took weeks to get
all my hearing back, but I did survive.
Arrival at Leyte, Philippine Islands
Finally we made it up to the wide channel between the
islands of Leyte and Samar
(map). There were a number of
ships in the harbor. MacArthur had landed here on
Easter Sunday, near the village of Tacloban. We had
change of command. Captain Gibbs relieved Captain
Towner and we had a full dress inspection for the
occasion. One of our "A" division fireman
had a tailor made suit of blues from Pearl and he put
them on by mistake. As the inspection party passed,
they noticed that something was unusual with the uniform.
Rolling back the cuffs, they saw beautiful
embossed dragons. He was ordered to take off his
uniform and heave it overboard into the sea. Standing
in his underwear, the inspection party left to see if
everything else was ship-shape on the "Y".
Another one of the little extras the ice machine crew had to
"fill in" was being a Motor Mac (Motor
Machinist Mate). We were
given about 20 minutes of instruction on how to run
the diesel, acknowledge the whistle and learn the commands.
As it was, my number was called to take a liberty
party ashore in the motor launch. You sit down in your
station and all the liberty bound sailors chatter all around
you. Officers were usually in the bow. We filled in a
full load and headed for the dock full speed. I
couldn't see where we were going and my hearing was
still not 100% from "gunnery practice". As we
approached the dock, I didn't hear the slow down or
reverse commands, we just went up on the sand beach—
people went flying all over. I got sent to sick bay to have my hearing
checked. My excuse was all of the noise and confusion.
Luckily, nobody got hurt.
On my first liberty ashore at Tacloban, I couldn't miss the
sight of the remains of
a burnt out
PBY* near the landing. Then
we
followed a well worn trail into the jungle, through
little villages where naked kids played and people in
the huts just stared at us.
We had our beer ration with us and the local native guerrillas, popped
out from behind the trees' buying anything with gold on it; pens as a good example, cigarettes and especially
beer. A can of beer would get us $10.00 in US cash. There wasn't much
in Tacloban. I went to the post office to find stamps
for my Dad at home. I bought the stamps, had them machine stamped
with the word "Victory" on them and mailed them home from the ship.
They had hand stamped the covers that they said they would mail
home for $5.00 US. I thought it might be a scam but
some of these covers were delivered in the US and
today are worth thousands of dollars each. Mine are
worth about $10.00 now.
Stay tuned... this Saga will be continued... |
