Marshall_Island

                                         Marshall Islands 2

         Highlights of LST 1126 Movements in the Marshall Islands
        1952-1953, Compiled by Jack Miller from Smooth Log Entries
               With Personal Comments and Additional Information

LST 1126, eventually also named the "Snohomish County," arrived at Eniwetok from Guam on Saturday, December 6, 1952. After riding at anchor in the lagoon of the atoll, she moved and beached alongside a freight pier at Parry Island on Monday December 8. After fueling, taking on fresh water, and loading cargo and several passengers, the ship made her first trip. The notes and times given here are taken from the ship's "smooth log."

Wednesday, December 10, 1952: Sailed from Eniwetok at 12:32 and arrived at Bikini the next morning at 6:52. By 10:11 that morning had weighed anchor and, with the assistance of two "local" LCMs (Landing Craft Medium) had beached alongside the pier on Eninman Island (name and spellings vary from map to map) of the atoll. Later, an LSU (Landing Ship Utility) pulled alongside and was refueled and given fresh water. Three Army and 8 civilian passengers debarked.

Friday, December 12, 1952: Finished loading cargo and 11 passengers by noon. Cleared the pier at 12:59 and went through the pass between Enieman and Enirikku islands into the open Pacific at 13:13.

An unusual event occurred at 23:50. The log reports that Eugene C. Abinante (electronic repairman) was injured. In the words of the log, "Abinante . . . received a severe electrical shock while working on VD-2 radar repeater installed in the conn. Extend of injuries not determined. Power on the equipment was turned off at the time." Fortunately, Abinante made a full recovery. His partner on the ship was Gerry Sneddon. Both were ET3s who had come aboard in 1951).

Saturday, December 13, 1952: Set special sea detail at 8:06. Ship went in, anchored at Q-2 in the Eniwetok lagoon. By 9:19 the passengers had left the ship. Two new steward's mates came aboard. They were Manuel O. Parker, Jr. and Roland M. Brown.

Monday, December 15, 1952: The ship hoisted the anchor, got underway, and by 10:49 was beached alongside the pier on Parry Island. For some reason, the stern anchor was not released on the way in to the pier and, therefore, had to be kedged out 400 feet by a small boat. Also, the starboard engine went out of operation because of water in the fuel oil. All of this was repaired. At 14:15, however, it was necessary to move the ship forward 25 feet to obtain a dry bow ramp.
At 15:30 commenced taking on fresh water from the Parry Island dock. As was usual, there were no other naval vessels at the atoll and Lt. John H. Mehus, Commanding Officer of LST 1126, was listed in the ship's log as SOPA (Senior Officer Present Afloat). Ensigns Hays and Palmer alternated as Officer of the Deck. Palmer, with primary duty as Operations Officer, was listed as Navigator and signed the smooth log for each day, along with Mehus signing as Commanding Officer.

(While Jack Miller is not mentioned in the log, he was much engaged in learning his job as one of the radar operators. At sea, two men were on duty on the search radar scope in the map room between the wheel house and the radio shack.

They alternated on the scope for 30 minutes and being available to plot courses of the 1126 and any other ships underway nearby while at sea. This was quite complicated since each ship was moving. The course of the 1126 was known from the ship's heading and speed. With a series of timed reports on the "target's" compass position in relation to the 1126 and its distance away as measured by the radar signal, the man at the map table could use a protractor and parallel ruler set to calculate the other ship's apparent course, heading and speed. Ultimately, the team laid out the course of each vessel, assuming that neither changed course or speed.

If they were on a collision course, one or the other, or both, would communicate and change course. Actually, in crowded sea lanes or around harbors, all of this had to be done very quickly and correctly. The Captain, Officer on Watch, and various others were nervous, alert, demanding, and sometimes a bit combative. Radarmen, as low men on that particular totem pole had better get it right -- and in a hurry!

Tuesday, December 16, 1952: At pier loading cargo for Bikini.

Wednesday, December 17, 1952: Still loading cargo. At 8:00, John W. Hudson, GM3, transferred for travel to attend Gunner's Mate School in Bainbridge, Maryland. By noon all cargo loaded, Air Force Captain aboard as passenger on trip to Bikini Atoll. Anchor aweigh at 15:55 and ship leaving Eniwetok Atoll about 16:00. Set course almost straight east, engines making 270 RPM, and ship speed of 10.5 knots.

Thursday, December 18, 1952: Ship underway without incident through the night. Muster of crew at 8:00 with no absentees. Inspected magazines and smokeless powder samples. Officers on watch were Hays from midnight to 4:00; Rohleder 4:00-8:00; Palmer 8:00-12:00; and Ensign Walsh 12:00-16:00. Arrived at Bikini Atoll 13:10 "steering various courses and speeds" while proceeding through entrance pass. 13:27, "let go bow anchor in 22 fathoms of water." At 14:50 made preparations to beach on Eninman Island -- and did so with the assistance of two LCMs. By 15:45 the ship was beached, tied to the pier, bow doors opened, bow ramp down, and unloading of tank deck underway.

Friday, December 19, 1952: Ship beached, as before. Morning routine of muster and inspection of magazines, plus weekly inspection of magazine sprinkler systems. By mid-afternoon the ship was unloaded and any return cargo in place. 15:40 -- ramp and bow doors secured for sea and lines to pier being cast off. Engine room reports trouble with reduction gear but retraction from beach completed by 15:46 and stern anchor aweigh at 15:50.

The ship anchored in lagoon temporarily until 18:33 when the anchor was raised and ship gotten underway from Bikini Atoll to Kwajalein Atoll, south-southeast of Bikini on a course of 140-145 degrees true.

Saturday, December 20, 1952: Ship underway all of Friday night and Saturday morning. Arrived in Kwajalein Atoll area and set special sea detail at 16:00. Came through Gea pass into lagoon. At 17:11, a Navy tugboat came along side with Pilot Lancaster to guide the ship into port. By 17:30 the ship was moored starboard side to Berth Easy of the U. S. Naval Base on Kwajalein Island of the atoll.

Sunday, December 21, 1952: Began refueling ship, taking on fresh water, and loading cargo. Log reports draft forward was 6.5 feet and aft 13 feet.

Monday, December 22, 1952: Same general routine of stocking up on supplies and preparing for return trip to Eniwetok. Jack Miller's personal memories include a short break with friends ashore that included visiting the ruins of a Japanese blockhouse what was shelled and overrun in some of the most intense fighting during the invasion only eight years earlier, seeing some other wreckage, and observed the masts of several sunken ships in the lagoon. Some of these had been fully loaded with tanks, munitions, and other cargo that still remained aboard. No one on the ship was allowed time to go to the wrecks to look or dive.

On either this visit to Kwajalein or a subsequent one, Jack went to an on-shore dentist to have his impacted wisdom teeth removed. This involved sitting in a dental chair, cold sober and with only minimal pain control while all four were removed. Returned to the clinic in the middle of the night for additional narcotic pain killers, but managed a recovery over the next week or two and was forever free of chronic swelling and infection from the four impacted teeth.

By 16:45 on Monday afternoon, the ship was ready for departure and by 18:08, with the assistance of Pilot Lancaster, was clear of Gea pass and underway toward Eniwetok Atoll at 10.50 knots.

Tuesday, December 23, 1952: Underway all of Monday night, Tuesday, and Tuesday night.

Wednesday, December 24, 1952: about 7:00 am, arrived at Eniwetok Atoll and began maneuvering through the channel between Japtan and Parry Islands on the east side, passing to the south of the wreck of the USS Nickajack Trail (named for a frontier trail in northeastern Tennessee). This "Victory" cargo ship is reputed to have been on her way into the Eniwetok lagoon (just as we were now were entering) sometime in late 1944 or early 1945.

The lagoon had been transformed into a huge protected anchorage after capture of the Atoll from the Japanese earlier in 1944. A hundred or more ships were at anchor or moored to buoys there, ready for the next invasion or engagement with the Japanese Fleet, still a potent force of battleships, cruisers, and other warships. Word came through that the Japanese had been sighted -- on the way to Eniwetok.

The American fleet would be sitting ducks if it was caught at anchor in the shallow waters of the lagoon, surrounded by a chain of small islands and an outer reef with only a few open spots wide and deep enough for large ships to pass through. Anchors chains and cables to mooring buoys were cut, and the warships began to move.

A large "Victory Class" cargo ship was just outside the deep but narrow passage between Japtan and Parry Islands. It was on the verge of blocking the channel. The command went to her to "give way!" She turned to starboard, in what looked like open water well clear of the Japtan island shoreline. The turning radius of a ship this size is substantial. Nor can such a ship stop, back up, and pivot to make a sharp turn.

Unfortunately for the Nickajack Trail, the reef at Eniwetok (actually the rim of an enormous extinct volcano rising as a mountain thousands of feet from the floor of the Pacific Ocean) extends well beyond the dry land of Japtan, and the ship ran aground. She was intact, with all of her cargo, fuel, and equipment -- but impossible to refloat or even salvage. But, the passage was not blocked and the fleet sailed out into the open, ready to do battle.

However, the alarm was mistaken. There was no Japanese fleet ready to attack. That came later in the Philippines. When the LST 1126 passed the Nickajack Trail in 1952 and 1953, she sat looking serene but perhaps lonely. A few "raids" had been made on her over the previous eight years to get paint and other items. Some sailors had, without permission, gotten out there by swimming -- it was possible to almost wade to her when there was an exceptionally low tide -- and a few of those accounts are still heard at LST reunions or appear in "Scuttlebutt" -- official publication of the national LST association.

Lines hung down from the sides of the ship, so it was possible to scale up the side and visit crew quarters, the bridge, and other areas.

Descriptions by visitors tell of gaps in the deck and hull and of some close calls by fellows who got down into areas below deck or stayed too long and found that the tides had risen and surf conditions worsened to the point where they were lucky to make it back to Japtan and over to Parry Island alive. So far as I know, no one from the 1126 got to the ship during our 1952-53 operations. If you did, please send me an email account of your adventure at www.lst1126@comcast.net.

Meanwhile, back on the 1126 on the eve of Christmas Eve, 1952: At 9:46 the ship had cleared the channel into the atoll and by 10:00 was moored to the Parry Island pier with the bow doors open and the ramp down to unload cargo and take on fresh water. By noon the ship was finished at Parry Island and moving across part of the lagoon to moor to a buoy off Eniwetok Island. Even with LCM #46 standing by to help, the ship was unable to moor because of strong winds and, instead, dropped the bow anchor in 20 fathoms of water. She was almost straight west of the Eniwetok tower and southwest of the observation tower on Parry Island.

Thursday, December 25, 1952: Christmas Day. No reports of Santa, sleigh, or red-nosed reindeer -- just one hundred-plus lonely sailors on a rusting haze gray warship. Some special food, a few packages from home, music on the speaker system, and a bit of decoration here and there, but generally all quiet aboard ship. The same routine held for Friday through Sunday.

Monday, December 29, 1952: Typhoon "Hester" approaching the atoll. By 8:30 the winds had increased to Force 7 and by 9:07 Captain Mehus had determined that the ship needed to move to a safer anchorage (farther from islands or reefs) in the Eniwetok lagoon. By 9:38, the ship had been moved and had the stern anchor out in 25 fathoms of water. With the stern now to the wind the log reports that "ship is riding nicely."

At 16:28 in the afternoon, the typhoon winds had increased to Force 9, visibility had dropped to 700 yards, the sky was overcast, and there were heavy rain squalls. The main engines were kept on 5-minute standby and started and run for short periods.

Tuesday, December 30, 1952: Ship had continued on alert and ready status for remainder of Monday and through the night and Tuesday morning. About noon, the main engines were started, the stern anchor raised, and the ship moved within the lagoon to anchorage N-3. Nothing new reported on New Year's Eve.