U.S.S. OCELOT
(IX-110)
c/o Fleet Post Office
San Francisco,
California
Tuesday 4 Sept 1945,
9:30 PM
Dearest Eleanor,
Hello Honey,
the lid is off. Censorship ain't no mo? Fire away.
Briefly here
is what happened when we got to Pearl.
Commodore Carter, Commander of Service Squadron Ten was looking for a
flagship and since the Ocelot had no definite duty to perform, she was it. For nine weeks we lay along the dock while
the shipyard equipped the ship for his duty.
A service squadron has the duty of supplying food, clothes, ammunition,
fuel, personnel and anything else you can think of to the fleet. The Ocelot was the floating headquarters and
we housed about 85 officers and 700 men on our ship. Squadron 10 grew by leaps and bounds and soon
there were several divisions functioning at Eniwetok, Ulithi, Leyte, Saipan and
Okinawa. When Commodore Carter went back
to the states, Rear Admiral A. E. Smith relieved him as Commander of Squadron
Ten. In addition, Service Division 101
under Commodore Du Val also was established aboard. Now that the war is over, the Squadron is
breaking up. 101 is going to China and
Korea and Squadron 10 to Okinawa and then Japan.
Here's the
good news. The Ocelot is very old and
has no place in a peacetime Navy. There
are many newer vessels suitable for flag ships. Admiral Smith has asked for another and is
supposed to get it within thirty days. Further
the Ocelot has no heating in crews' quarters and isn't suited for duty
in a cold climate. So the scuttlebutt is
that as soon as the Squadron gets its new flag ship we'll go back to the U.S.
for decommissioning.
I've never
even intimated it before but we did have a few visitors while we were in Ulithi. I saw a tanker torpedoed and sunk about 2000
yards from our ship. One night before
the movies while we were singing Red River Valley, two Jap planes flew overhead. We all cussed them out thinking they were our
own. The reason for the cursing was that
they were flying very low and without lights.
Anyway the Randolph, a carrier, was about 1000 yards astern. Suddenly
one of the planes dove and the whole anchorage lit up. There were numerous casualties but the ship
was repaired and back in action in two weeks.
We've had other lesser excitements but we came through OK. I'm surprised you never read about it in the
Outlook. Dave saw the item about it which was broadcast by Tokyo Rose. He cut it out and sent it to me. He hoped you hadn't seen it and didn't call
your attention to it lest you worry unnecessarily.
So much for
that. Today was quite a busy day for me
but no dentistry, just collateral duties.
We are slated to leave for Okinawa on the 7th and it'll take 5 to 6 days
to make the run. We will be anchored in
Buckner Bay so if Leon does ship out tell him to look for me. The Ocelot is a famous ship and anyone who
has seen duty in the West Pacific knows about her. He shouldn't have any
trouble finding it.
Just think Darling
in another month or six weeks I may be homeward bound. I get so
excited just thinking about coming home to you and the kids that I wonder how
I'll act when the thought becomes a reality.
We had a good
movie tonight. Gary Cooper and Loretta
Young in "Along Comes Jones" was it and quite good.
I got five
letters and a card all from you but they were marked the 22nd and 23rd of August.
I've already received some of the 25th
so all the news was old. By now you are
home and I hope the stay up at Lake Arrowhead was real nice. Yes Dear we have a honeymoon to go on and I
hope it's real soon. I'm a lousy writer
of love letters but when I get back I'll prove personally that I'm no amateur.
So Sweet,
I'll sign off. Goodnight and pleasant dreams.
Love
Gil
Outlook Article About Bombing of the Randolph
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