Transcription

salts (Bill included) said it was

not rough at all.

Thursday Sept. 30th    Temp. max 94°F. min 79°F.

Had always heard of the blue ocean

but no description imaginable could have

made me believe anything could be

as beautiful as the marvelous blue

of the sea we are in here to-day. When

I first stepped out on deck in the

morning, a beautiful day, very little motion

to the ship -- not nearly as much as the

night before during the movies. The

food is wonderful and we have movies

every night after dinner. We got the

first row seats for the movies. (by "me" I

mean Bill, Mrs Val Davis, and Mrs Davis' roommate

a Mrs Rafferty (wife [Lt. ?]). There is a fine

Filipino jazz orchestra that plays at noon

time and at the movies. Preceding the

movie show they flash the words of

popular songs on the screen, the orchestra

plays the tune and all hands sing. All

day is has been warm -- not hot -- and

all officers and men are in white uniforms

The ship seems to be a very happy one

and is so clean everywhere that you

lean on the rail or sit down anywhere

and not soil ones white clothes.

Just after the movie show was over the

dope flashed around the ship that there

was a merchant ship not far away, that was

on fire. We changed our course -- see

map on first page -- to go to her assistance

Bill had the mid (12-4) watch and at

4:30 A.M. he woke me up to see the

ship which we had been standing by all

night. There it was a few hundred yards

ahead of us but could see no fire coming

out of it. Bill says the fire is under

control and soon a Coast Guard came

to escort her into Savannah, Georgia.

Daylight came about 5:00 and we watched her

until about 7:00 She was the Steamer

"New Britain" loaded with explosives

so we didn't go close to her at any