The good word has come. We're off for Humboldt Bay, Hollandia, New Guinea. Goodbye San Pedro Bay.
Read more1-7 November 1944
Much the same as before with Japs becoming scarcer each day but still making nightly appearances one at a time. This was more or less just nuisance raids to keep us up at night.
Read more30 October 1944
The barometer dropped drastically and the wind rose to 71 knots. Quite an experience for I was on watch (12AM - 4AM) when it came up and what a time we had. Some ships broke from their anchorages and drifted about the bay. With the congestion of the bay, this was bad. Thanks to the..
Read more28-29 October 1944
More GQs but caught some sleep on top of an ammunition box. Devil may care.
Read more27 October 1944
Just another day of GQs and again we were lucky, as a crippled Jap missed us and hit the ship on our starboard beam exploding several times on her deck.
Read more26 October 1944
Started at 4:40AM today and worked through until 11:30PM. Had a close one when a plane made a run on us off our bow. Every gun in range fired and didn't stop until he disappeared in the water just even with us.
Read more25 October 1944
Same thing as yesterday with little variation. Things started at 5:05AM and continued on and off all day, up till midnight. To say we were tired, would be putting it mildly for we had a couple of GQs during the night and early morning, one of which lasted 3 hours but didn't fire on one..
Read more24 October 1944
A day to remember for the storm broke. The Jap air force really came out of hiding. From 5:30AM up until 11:PM it was one GQ after another. Many planes were hit and fell all over the transport area. It was a sight I'll never forget and to try to put into words the certain..
Read more20 October 1944
Another memorable day in the life of the great Ritchie. At midnight we passed Dinogat [Dinagat] Island and entered Surigao Strait and Leyte Gulf. Tight squeeze for a convoy of this size with little or no maneuvering space. 5:30AM went to our first GQ. At this time we had a steering casualty and by losing..
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