Page Twenty, Scrapbook, 1942-1945
Dublin Core
Title
Page Twenty, Scrapbook, 1942-1945
Subject
World War, 1939-1945 - Naval operations, American
Warships - American
Description
Page twenty, narrative, “Thanksgiving, 1944 was the roughest day I ever experienced. We headed down the Columbia River in a howling Nor'wester that made the Gage pitch like a cork. When we left the mouth of the river and turned north in the Pacific we were broadside to the waves and the rolling was terrific. In an hour 99% of the crew were seasick. Turkey, cranberry sauce and gravy were all over the decks of the mess hall, the passageways and the heads. Tables and benches were sliding back and forth and banging against the bulkheads. Men were slipping and falling over each other until some gave up and lay where they fell. I never saw a ship so foul.
How we got to Seattle I will never know. They made it without any help from me. It was a blessed relief when we sailed into Puget Sound the next morning and things calmed down.
At Seattle and Bremerton we were degaussed, depermed and loaded with ammunition. In a few days we started out again and headed for San Pedro which was to be our home pot. The trip was very smooth and by this time most everyone had gotten his sea legs.
Our shake down was over and at San Pedro we started our training exercises. Every day we would sail out beyond Catalina Island, shoot at sleeves towed by planes, lower our boats, have fire drills, abandon ship drills and handle simulated casualities. The deck divisions became so proficient they could get all our landing craft (28) into the water inside of a half hour at night without showing a light.
Christmas was spent at San Diego where we put in for minor repairs. While there I looked up my future son-in-law Ed Stephen Lt. (j.g.) U.S. N.R. who was in the Naval Hospital convalescing from injuries received during his training period on an LSM.
In January, 1945 we sailed north to San Francisco where we loaded up with an Army Civil Government Group and then headed out to the South Pacific and the Solomon Islands."
How we got to Seattle I will never know. They made it without any help from me. It was a blessed relief when we sailed into Puget Sound the next morning and things calmed down.
At Seattle and Bremerton we were degaussed, depermed and loaded with ammunition. In a few days we started out again and headed for San Pedro which was to be our home pot. The trip was very smooth and by this time most everyone had gotten his sea legs.
Our shake down was over and at San Pedro we started our training exercises. Every day we would sail out beyond Catalina Island, shoot at sleeves towed by planes, lower our boats, have fire drills, abandon ship drills and handle simulated casualities. The deck divisions became so proficient they could get all our landing craft (28) into the water inside of a half hour at night without showing a light.
Christmas was spent at San Diego where we put in for minor repairs. While there I looked up my future son-in-law Ed Stephen Lt. (j.g.) U.S. N.R. who was in the Naval Hospital convalescing from injuries received during his training period on an LSM.
In January, 1945 we sailed north to San Francisco where we loaded up with an Army Civil Government Group and then headed out to the South Pacific and the Solomon Islands."
Creator
Fisher, James Lee
Date
1942-1945
Is Part Of
The James Lee and Ethel M. Fisher Family Archives, AV2021.4
Format
jpeg
Extent
1 scrapbook page
Type
image
Identifier
D2021-COPY-0805-0022
Rights Holder
Special Collections, John D Rockefeller, Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Scrapbook
Physical Dimensions
10 x 12 inches
Citation
Fisher, James Lee, “Page Twenty, Scrapbook, 1942-1945,” John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, accessed April 19, 2024, https://rocklib.omeka.net/items/show/5412.