The End of the War

Our ship was the first ship to enter Nakagasuku Wan Bay on the north end of the island. As we came around through the narrow channel, a torpedoe went slipping by. Our officers had seen it in time and made a sharp turn and the fish went full length of our ship and on out to sea. This was quite a thriller and many times we saw big old ugly octopus looking sea mines go by as we were looking over the side. Every night the Japanese sent suicider swimmers and boats out amongst the fleet and it was a pretty sight to see all the guns cut loose and every once in a while a large explosion from a suicide boat that was hit. A suicide swimmer swam out to our ship one night and set off a charge a blew a hold in the stern of the ship. It just flooded one compartment though and didn't put us out of action or even slow us up.

Around the month of May, our fleet was reassembled and we were to escort several transport ships on an invasion of the Japanese Mainland. At this same time we heard that atom bombshad been dropped on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki and that the war was over. Everyone certainly breathed a sigh of relief when this news was heard.

We were ordered to go to Nagasaki with a hospital ship and evacuate many of the prisoners the Japanese had held in the interior of Japan. These engineers were mostly from Wake Island and other places the Japanese had taken over. The trip into Nagasaki was a pretty scary one. The Japanese sent out a guide in a small boat who led us in through the mine fields and every minute I could just feel the ship striking one and all of us going sky high. The channel wound around the high mountains and I thought that if ever we were trapped it was now. We encountered no difficulty and made the trip fine. The water gave us a bad time and we had 800 cases of dysntery aboard. Out in the harbor little Japanese kids were swimming in the same water we were having the trouble from.

We were given a liberty and tour of Nagasaki and then herded into the courtyard of the former American Embassy. Foreign kids catch on so fast. While sitting up on the fence we saw Japanese children going by and they would say Cigaretto Sailor Chocalatto Sailor. One of our wise guys holler down to one boy about 12 and said you little slant eyed so and so and the little Japanese kid looked up and said go to hell you son of a bitch. The wise guy was so taken back he nearly fell off the fence. The army had been in a short time ahead of us and taught them well I guess. The destruction at Nagasaki from the bomb was terrible. All one could find was a mess of twisted steel more like a giant fire had swept the whole area rather than a bomb. The heat there must have really been terrific. Ships were turned bottomside up from previous conventional bombings and the whole city was a mass of ruins.

Our ship was then sent to Sasebo where we saw many ships overturned here including what looked like an aircraft carrier and a battleship. This whole bay was covered with jellyfish and covered the lake like lily pads back home on some of our lakes. We went ashore at Sasebo and were allowed to mingle with the natives. This was quite interesting and enjoyable. After living aboard a noisy ship for so long it was really peaceful on the Japanese countryside. It was so quite it made my ears hurt.

For the next several weeks we made runs from Sasebo to Nagasaki and back with supplies and occupation forces. Finally we were ordered back to the states and were to take the northern route past Tokyo. I saw Mt Fujiama but it was through a porthole because I caught dysntery also and was in sick bay for a week.

One thing I shall never forget about the Okinawa campaign was the typhoon we got caught in. we were taking spray in the stacks which were eight feet high. Not large waves but just spray. they tied ropes all over the ship and if you went anywhere it was by hanging on to a rope. Looking over the side, you could touch the water one minute and the next minute the water was fifty feet down it seemed. Many small ships were washed ashore and several were lost at sea. Our ship was so large that we were told to ride it out which was the best descision.