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Chapter 10 THE GOLDEN GATE A Virgin Visits Frisco Along with the battle damage to the number five cargo hold, Tate had developed a significant leak in the packing around its propeller shaft that required attention in a stateside shipyard. Just two hours after finishing the unloading of its cargo in Guam, the ship was under way, moving away from the war at fifteen knots toward the United States. Tate’s transport quartermaster, marine 2nd Lt. Dewey Maltsberger, flew ahead to arrange for the repair of his ship. For five days, the ship and its anxious crew plodded closer to home. Spotting a small flag target on June 18, 1945, the ship exercised at general quarters for a session of target practice on the floating object. Additional gunnery practice was conducted on the following two days, using the smoke from a five-inch shell burst as a target.1 On June 19 Tate crossed the International Date Line without ceremony. To the veteran crew of several line crossings heading home, the event was now insignificant. Two days later Tate replied to a distress call from the cargo ship Colgate Victory, who requested medical treatment for a member of its crew. Tate stopped and dispatched its medical officer, Lieutenant Heinan, by boat to render treatment. Returning after less than an hour, the doctor followed the patient’s progress as the two ships remained within signaling range for the next day.2 Tate’s navigator, Lt. ( j.g.) Paul Leahy, who had gotten off to a shaky start during the ship’s early days, was now setting a standard for professionalism for the entire crew. Immaculate, impeccably precise, and well respected by his peers, Leahy was the very model of a naval officer. His credibility with his captain earned him the latitude to recruit men of good character and intellect for his navigation department. One such man was John C. Raynor, a member of an LCM crew. During a stint at the ship’s helm, Leahy recognized Raynor’s aptitude for navigation. Raynor gladly accepted the invitation to study under Leahy, who became his mentor, encouraging him to pursue a college education after the war. Working on the bridge and in the chartroom presented a completely new perspective to the young sailor, who quickly achieved the 124 COMBAT LOADED rating of quartermaster 3rd class. It also put him in frequent contact with the ship’s command structure. While working a night watch, his captain told him, “Raynor! Go get Mr. Leahy and bring him here now! I do not want him to dress or shave. I want him here now—as he is!” Lieutenant Commander Lyon certainly appreciated Leahy’s professional decorum, but on this occasion the savvy mariner wanted an experienced navigator and not a naval officer. Raynor could only chuckle to himself as he hustled to Leahy’s quarters to awaken him. Enlisted men never got this kind of entertainment working in the boats.3 The long cruise gave Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Hubert Six plenty of time to make his daily diary entries. Several days after leaving Guam, he found himself unable to sleep and wrote the following: “On our way to the states. I am thinking a lot of home. Lonely and I have lots of dreams.” Several days later he penned this: “Still underway for Frisco thinking and wondering if my wife will be able to come see me, I hope so.” Six later changed his mind about sending for his wife: “I am glad to get to go home. I have been thinking about how surprised the home folks will be to see me.” Events would alter Six’s plans, and he would neither go home nor see his family.4 About 500 miles west of California, Tate received a dispatch from the commander of the Western Sea Frontier, ordering the ship to divert to Seattle due to shipyard availability. This was disappointing news, for there was no West Coast port as glamorous as San Francisco. On June 28 the disappointment eased as a sunrise illuminated the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula, providing the weary crew their first view of the United States. The ship sailed on to Seattle, where it docked for a few hours before moving to the Everett-Pacific shipyards in Everett, Washington. They were finally stateside.5 Liberty for all hands was granted in two ten-day periods. For those from the eastern United States...

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