Part 9 (1/2)
Commencing: 0000, July 1, 1943, July 1, 1943, at: Baalkpan-formerly Balikpapan and ending: 1943 LIST OF OFFICERS.
Attached to and on board of the USS WALKER (DD-163), commanded by M.P. REDDY, Captain, USNR M.P. REDDY, Captain, USNR, during the period covered by this Logbook, with date of reporting for duty, detachment, transfer, or death, from 1 July 1943, to 31 July 1943 [image]
(This page to be sent to Bureau of Navigation monthly with Log sheets)
UNITED STATES s.h.i.+P WALKER (DD-163) Tuesday, Sept. 2, 1943 00-04 As before. No problems to report. Woke up pumping detail and inspection party so they could begin final preparations. As before. No problems to report. Woke up pumping detail and inspection party so they could begin final preparations.
Sonny Campeti, Lt. Cmdr. USN
04-08 As before. Pump boilers at full steam pressure despite leaks. Detail reports all in readiness. Inspection party discovered and repaired a faulty joint in the #4 main pipe. Split ends were the cause-like we have seen before. Inspection parties will continue to observe all joints throughout the operation. As before. Pump boilers at full steam pressure despite leaks. Detail reports all in readiness. Inspection party discovered and repaired a faulty joint in the #4 main pipe. Split ends were the cause-like we have seen before. Inspection parties will continue to observe all joints throughout the operation.
Bernard L. Sandison, Lt. Cmdr, USNR Sandison, Lt. Cmdr, USNR 08-12 As before. Weather clear. Water smooth on the bay. Slight easterly wind. Conditions optimum. 0800 mustered all hands and fed them at their stations. No absentees. Final visual inspection of all lines and seals. Heard reports from divisions. Lemurian Homes Humfra-Dar and Woor-Naa standing by to a.s.sist with s.h.i.+p-board pumps. Engaged primary pumps 0920. Observed first streams of water being expelled from dry dock basin. Engaged in brief verbal celebration. As before. Weather clear. Water smooth on the bay. Slight easterly wind. Conditions optimum. 0800 mustered all hands and fed them at their stations. No absentees. Final visual inspection of all lines and seals. Heard reports from divisions. Lemurian Homes Humfra-Dar and Woor-Naa standing by to a.s.sist with s.h.i.+p-board pumps. Engaged primary pumps 0920. Observed first streams of water being expelled from dry dock basin. Engaged in brief verbal celebration.
Brad McFarlane, Cmdr, USN
12-16 Not Not as before. 1350 observed slight reduction of water level around exposed superstructure of s.h.i.+p. Having difficulty controlling exuberance of all divisions. Self included. Large numbers of civilians have come down to the dock to observe. Detached Marines from other duties to make sure they did not interfere. No question of deliberate interference, just do not want them underfoot and causing distractions. Water flow is difficult to estimate but best guess is 6000 gpm. as before. 1350 observed slight reduction of water level around exposed superstructure of s.h.i.+p. Having difficulty controlling exuberance of all divisions. Self included. Large numbers of civilians have come down to the dock to observe. Detached Marines from other duties to make sure they did not interfere. No question of deliberate interference, just do not want them underfoot and causing distractions. Water flow is difficult to estimate but best guess is 6000 gpm.
Brad McFarlane, Cmdr, USN
16-20 Pumps steaming as before. (Great relief to use that phrase again.) Two minor casualties in the water pipes repaired. Pump engine running well and within Mr. McFarlane's expectations. Pumps steaming as before. (Great relief to use that phrase again.) Two minor casualties in the water pipes repaired. Pump engine running well and within Mr. McFarlane's expectations. Humfra-Dar Humfra-Dar has added her pumps to the operation. Water level dropping slowly still, but noticeably. His Excellency, Adar, High Chief of Baalkpan, appeared briefly at the dock to inspect the proceedings. Informed Cmdr. McFarlane that a celebration of thanksgiving and appreciation would commence at 1900. Celebration seems general already at 1700. Chief Laney took a banca boat out to the protruding aft mast of the s.h.i.+p and ran a new ensign up. Tattered remnants of the old ensign (there since the Battle of Baalkpan) were removed and carefully brought ash.o.r.e. Letts took them in his charge. has added her pumps to the operation. Water level dropping slowly still, but noticeably. His Excellency, Adar, High Chief of Baalkpan, appeared briefly at the dock to inspect the proceedings. Informed Cmdr. McFarlane that a celebration of thanksgiving and appreciation would commence at 1900. Celebration seems general already at 1700. Chief Laney took a banca boat out to the protruding aft mast of the s.h.i.+p and ran a new ensign up. Tattered remnants of the old ensign (there since the Battle of Baalkpan) were removed and carefully brought ash.o.r.e. Letts took them in his charge.
PERRY BRISTER, CMDR, USN.
20-24 Lights rigged. Water flow uninterrupted. No stoppages. Cmdr. McFarlane has allowed the hands to join the celebration by divisions. Inspection details to remain in place by rotation. A d.a.m.n good day. Lights rigged. Water flow uninterrupted. No stoppages. Cmdr. McFarlane has allowed the hands to join the celebration by divisions. Inspection details to remain in place by rotation. A d.a.m.n good day.
Steven P. Riggs, Cmdr., USN Approved: Examined: [image]
Riggs held a lighted Zippo so he could see, and Spanky signed his name by ”Approved” at the bottom of the page. Then he handed the log to Letts, who signed beside ”Examined.” Before he closed the log on the previous day, Letts glanced up at the date and shook his head.
”Five days late for the 'year and a third,' but close enough, I guess.”
”That's one of the reasons I pushed so hard to pull the plug yesterday. Give the guys something to celebrate so they wouldn't dwell on what we left behind. What we lost,” Spanky replied.
Letts returned the log to Spanky, who handed it to Campeti, who had the watch again. They were all tired, but n.o.body n.o.body was going to oversee this operation but was going to oversee this operation but Walker Walker. Sandra Tucker had arrived, looking disheveled, but as anxious as they were for her first glimpse of the s.h.i.+p. Now she stood beside them, peering intently into the predawn gloom of the dry-dock basin at the still only vaguely defined shape.
They stood on what had once been the old fitting-out pier, but was now merely a walkway between ma.s.sive wooden cranes and equipment sheds. The skeletons of still more new wars.h.i.+ps rose on the other side of the basin, silhouetted against the new dawn. Until recently, when the dry dock neared completion, the new s.h.i.+ps had remained the priority projects. Now, for just a few days, work on them would slow while a large percentage of the laborers concentrated on another task. Steam and smoke jetted from crude, noisy engines while 'Cat ”snipes in training” crawled all over them, oiling every conceivable point of friction. Some spun the huge, amazingly efficient Lemurian-designed pumps, and others powered generators that ran electric pumps of human design. The jury was still out on which were better, but Spanky was pretty sure the 'Cat machines would last longer. Hoses pulsed and brown water coursed into the sea beyond the dry-dock wall.
Together, Sandra, Spanky, Alan, Campeti, and Bernie, a growing crowd of human and Lemurian sailors and Marines, sleepy civilian revelers, and finally, to no one's real surprise, Adar himself, watched the dawn gradually reveal what the ravages of seawater and battle had done to USS Walker Walker. Throughout the night, while most of her crew and the people of the city celebrated her raising, the water level in the dry dock had steadily dropped. Now she lay, with a slight list to port, where she'd settled after her fight with Amagi Amagi. Almost half of her upper hull was now exposed and every heart sank as they looked upon her.
A clear demarcation showed how much of the s.h.i.+p had remained above the surface when she sank. It was plain to see, about three-fourths of the way up her four slender funnels and about halfway up her aft mast. The forward mast was gone. Automatic weapons had riddled her bridge, but the line glared dark and glistening below her empty pilothouse windows like an angry, oily slash. Above it, the paint was blackened by fire and dark with rust. Below the line she looked . . . even worse.
An entirely new color had been created. Dark brown mixed with tan, with malignant yellow streaks for contrast. A fair amount of blackened green dangled here and there, where rotting vegetation festooned her. Angry red globs and smears were everywhere and of every different hue, as the rust that caused them dried. Slimy gray-black tar pooled and oozed, and covering all was a translucent rainbow slick of oil that had leaked from her ruptured bunkers. Hatches stood agape, revealing dank interiors. Tangled cables drooped down her side, and brackish water gushed from countless holes as the water level in the basin receded below that still inside the s.h.i.+p. Eel-like chopper fish squirmed like maggots on her deck, their vicious jaws gaping and snapping as their gills labored in the morning air. As primitive as they were, it might take them hours to die.
Walker was a corpse, Sandra thought, and they'd been nothing more than ghoulish grave robbers to expose her to the sun. Hot tears ran down her cheeks. Thank G.o.d Matthew wasn't there to see it. was a corpse, Sandra thought, and they'd been nothing more than ghoulish grave robbers to expose her to the sun. Hot tears ran down her cheeks. Thank G.o.d Matthew wasn't there to see it.
”Lord,” Sandison murmured, ”what are we going to do?”
Spanky patted his arm and sighed. ”We're gonna fix her, Bernie.”
The way Walker Walker rested looked almost normal by the time the first boats went across: listing slightly and a little low by the stern, but the water wasn't much higher than the greasy black boot topping. She was still full of water, however, and jets of varying intensity coursed from her many wounds. As a result, the volume of water the pumps displaced was reduced as the day wore on. If they emptied the basin more quickly than the s.h.i.+p could drain, they ran the risk of causing even more damage. But her crew was restless to get to work, and by early that afternoon, the first repair parties clamored up her slippery side and stood once more on her leaning deck. rested looked almost normal by the time the first boats went across: listing slightly and a little low by the stern, but the water wasn't much higher than the greasy black boot topping. She was still full of water, however, and jets of varying intensity coursed from her many wounds. As a result, the volume of water the pumps displaced was reduced as the day wore on. If they emptied the basin more quickly than the s.h.i.+p could drain, they ran the risk of causing even more damage. But her crew was restless to get to work, and by early that afternoon, the first repair parties clamored up her slippery side and stood once more on her leaning deck.
Spanky McFarlane put his hands on his skinny hips and stared hard in all directions, his lips grimly set. A short while before, he'd been Minister of Naval Engineering for an infant nation. Right now, for a time, he was Walker Walker's engineering officer again and nothing else. ”All right, ladies,” he said at last, as men and Lemurians squelched through the ooze, ”we got work to do. Mr. Riggs? Take your party to the bridge. Charts, manuals, anything like that we might've missed before are the first priority. Easy does it. If there's anything left of that stuff, it'll go to pieces if you're not careful.” He looked quickly around. ”Campeti! Where's Mr. Sandison?”
Campeti gestured over his shoulder. ”Went tearing a.s.s up to the bridge. We removed the gun director a long time ago 'cause we could get to the platform, but he wanted to see the torpedo directors. He was like a cat havin' kittens!” Campeti caught himself and looked quickly around. Some of the Lemurians were looking at him strangely. ”Uh, no offense. Different kinda cats . . . Little b.u.g.g.e.rs . . .” He held his hands close together, but then his face clouded with embarra.s.sment. ”Oh, just get to work, d.a.m.n it.”
Spanky shook his head. ”Well, until he gets back, or sends for you to help him, I want you to check the four-inch fifties and see if there's anything left of the machine guns on the amids.h.i.+ps deckhouse. When you get through with that, put together a detail to salvage as many fire hoses as you can. We'll start rinsing the old girl off.” He couldn't stop a grin. ”Just think what the Bosun would say if he saw his decks in such a state.”
Campeti almost giggled. In spite of the herculean task ahead of them, the spirits of those who'd come aboard were rising. Finally, after the long months of antic.i.p.ation and helplessness, of toil and labor on other projects, they could get to work on what mattered most to them them. It almost seemed as if they could sense something within the s.h.i.+p itself begin to stir as well. A renewed sense of purpose. A new lease on life.
”We wanna go down,” grouched a reedy voice behind Spanky, and he turned to look at the pair standing there. It was Gilbert Yeager and the silken, gray-furred 'Cat named Tabby. He had to concentrate for an instant, because without Isak Rueben, the scene just didn't add up. Then he remembered Isak was the one they'd decided would accompany the AEF. Understanding complete, Spanky glared at Tabby when he saw she'd stripped almost completely, in the Lemurian way, to the point that all she wore was what looked like a skimpy little skirt. Despite her fine fur, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s appeared very human. It was distracting and annoying and she knew it. Sometimes Spanky harbored a secret, superst.i.tious sense that the presence of women (the nurses' first) aboard his s.h.i.+p was what had caused all their problems to start with. He'd finally allowed Tabby to stay in the firerooms at the captain's orders and because she was a d.a.m.n fine snipe. He'd broken one of his own cardinal rules, however: if something someone is doing bugs you, either make them stop, or pretend it doesn't bug you. In Tabby's case, he'd failed miserably in both respects. He couldn't-wouldn't now-make her go away, and there was no way he could pretend she didn't bug him.
”You're out of uniform, sailor!” he said harshly, almost plaintively. ”Again!”
”Dirty work ahead, Chief,” she replied with a creditable drawl. ”We ain't got enough new uniforms yet to get 'em all scruffed up.”
She even sounds like them now, Spanky thought uncomfortably. She was also the only creature alive that the Mice were actually nice to, in their way. As a result of their a.s.sociation, she'd begun to take on many of their less agreeable attributes. But she looked looked like a pinup in a catsuit. like a pinup in a catsuit.
”I don't give a good G.o.dd.a.m.n! You will will put on some clothes or I'll have you on report!” he bellowed. ”We'll see if you can remember to . . .” He stopped and watched her slowly unroll a T-s.h.i.+rt she'd been holding behind her back. put on some clothes or I'll have you on report!” he bellowed. ”We'll see if you can remember to . . .” He stopped and watched her slowly unroll a T-s.h.i.+rt she'd been holding behind her back.
”Aye-aye, Mr. McFaar-lane Mr. McFaar-lane. I'll throw somethin' on if it make you happy.”
”You . . . !” He stopped. She'd done it to him again again! He whirled and pointed at the very deck access she'd pulled her companions from months before. ”Down there. Let me know if the water's draining out of the aft fireroom! I want you to describe every single piece of equipment as it becomes visible!” He ignored them then, and began delegating other tasks to different details. The Mice shuffled away and ducked down the hatch. Once inside, out of earshot, Gilbert began to chuckle.
”I swear, Tabby, you keep waggin' yer b.o.o.bs at Spanky like that, one o' these days he's gonna bust a vessel-or grab hold of 'em! You know it drives him nuts. Just havin' wimmin aboard s.h.i.+p is enough to cause him fits-then you keep doin' that!”
”He still needs to laugh,” Tabby replied. ”I like to make him laugh and he will, later. He always does.” Her eyes grew unfocused and she continued softly: ”And maybe someday he will will grab 'em.” She looked away, but Gilbert could tell she was blinking embarra.s.sment. grab 'em.” She looked away, but Gilbert could tell she was blinking embarra.s.sment.
Jeez! Gilbert thought, stunned. Gilbert thought, stunned. Tabby's sweet on Spanky! Tabby's sweet on Spanky! ”Yeah, well,” he said, his chuckle now gone as he peered into the darkness below. The stench was unbearable and the water was still over the top of his beloved boilers. ”Ain't much to laugh about right now. Look at this mess!” ”Yeah, well,” he said, his chuckle now gone as he peered into the darkness below. The stench was unbearable and the water was still over the top of his beloved boilers. ”Ain't much to laugh about right now. Look at this mess!”
The oily water receded slowly, and purplish brown foam swirled and clung to everything as its support drained away. At some point, one of Walker Walker's own hoses snaked down through the trunk with a bellowed, ”Slide it in!” and moments later, it began to pulse and throb. The drainage picked up. Another hose, new made, joined the first and was soon jolting and juddering alongside it. Gilbert no longer noticed the smell, and as the water went down, he carefully descended to the upper catwalk, creeping slowly so he wouldn't slip in the oily slurry. His beloved fireroom was a dreary sight in the gloom. He didn't dare make a light.