HANNIBAL VICTORY

[Music] right here on this peaceful river is where the story starts of a sea voyage that took us halfway around the world a wartime sea Voyage yep it's the Mississippi all Man River himself sort of makes you homesick doesn't it homesick for when you were a kid in the good old summertime when you listen for the steamboat blowing for the [Music] bend remember your first ride on a Stern wheeler with their paddles biting into Mississippi water and thinking maybe how you'd like to run away down the river on one of them to St Louis or Memphis or maybe even New Orleans then aboard a big ship out to sea well that happened to [Music] me it's a long jump from the middle of America to the deck of a seagoing freighter but that's how I happen to know about this voyage that started right here in the town of Hannibal Missouri the hometown that Mark Twain made famous would have tickled old Mark I bet to have been with us he liked to tell about big things things happening and they happened big to us all right he was a great traveler too wherever he went he brought his America the real America of Hannibal Missouri along with him and we did [Music] too we had the kind of Adventures Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer dreamt about there they are looking out across the Big River real American Kids Town of Hannibal has changed since those days I guess paved streets and Automobiles and so forth the people haven't changed when war came they pitched into work and fight so that the American brand of freedom and liberty could survive like every other American Town Hannibal had sent its boys to the battlefronts and her men and women were helping to win the toughest War America had ever been in now when I said the town of Hannibal was the starting point of a wartime sea Voyage here's what I meant somewhere in one of the battle zones the United States Army needed a railroad railroads mean Freight cars and Freight cars need Wheels now railroad people everywhere will tell you Hannibal is famous for making car wheels so all Hannibal's car wheels went to war and the first lap of their Journey was from here in Missouri to the shores of California [Music] here's what happened to Hannibal's [Music] wheel now if the Army wanted a railroad there was only one place for it to come from a good old USA and only one way to get it overseas on ships of the United States Merchant Marine so out here on the docks of San Francisco we began to take aboard our ship car wheels for a railroad somewhere we guessed across the Pacific Ocean this is early February 1945 lots of things are happening out there west of the Golden Gate on Shore the news boys are yelling that our troops have gone into Manila that our Navy is Plastering the japel China coast and our b29 are stepping up the fire raids on the nips home Islands so we were in a hurry to finish loading and get this cargo to where it was needed the great Port of San Francisco was naturally the jumping off place for most of the stuff moving West we were just one of the hundreds of merchant ships taking War Goods [Music] aboard we were Mighty proud of our brand new victory ship and look at her name she was one of the bunch named after American towns you remember nobody aboard hailed from Hannibal itself but that didn't stop us from adopting Hannibal as our [Music] hometown now we began stacking our holes with great car underframes I guess you'd call them chassis the stors and long shoremen wasted no time fitting them below deck their job was to speed up what they called turnaround time in other words hustle each ship out of port as fast as possible because in war it's the ship at Sea not at the dock that counts in the spaces between our bulky cargo we packed small but badly needed stuff such as K rations CS hospital supplies like bandages and plasma and dozens of other valuable items the boys overseas were hollering [Music] for but this was the payoff cargo nothing less than eight full grown railroad engines complete with tenders each engine weighed 55 tons and it tender tipped the beam at 20 tons complete with fuel oil the idea was that these fellas would be ready to run as soon as we could set them down on Rails somewhere in the [Music] Pacific we were tied up to the dock where they had the big crane in the harbor 100 T job and the way that crane operator handled those babies you'd have thought they were toy electric trains but they weren't they'd have dropped well the Hannibal Victory never would have even sailed from [Music] Frisco one of our mates told me afterwards this Voyage gave him a bad dream he dreamed he was that old Greek king what's his name Dam as that said but instead of a sword always dangling over his head it was a locomotive but one by one they were set into place on the deck on either side of each hatch four hatches eight [Music] locomotives easy easy does it now the last one's down we laid regular Road beds you might say out of Big Pine Timbers to cushion the weight of the locomotives on our steel deck plates wheel flanges fit those Timbers just like rails and to keep them from shifting in a heavy sea we welded turnbuckle and Steel Rod assemblies to the deck and clamped them tight and wedged Chained and bolted them down we're getting near the end of the loading J job now and all hands knew that sailing day was near somebody else knew our time was short too the chief maate had only been married a little while but it doesn't take a woman long to find out that a voyage is likely to be a long one I can remember the chief saying I'm going ashore on a couple of errands when I get back I want to see number one hatch secured well we went ahead with a job and got the big tarps flashed into place [Music] the Embarcadero was windy that day I saw her red hair all ruffled up and him with that baseball cap he always wor I wonder how many million times in history some girl has gone down to the waterers Edge to watch her seafaring man off for what might be well for the last time anyhow we began lashing down the cargo booms tried to wind up all the the last details before sailing [Music] time sure sailing time was a secret but do you think it could be kept 100% secret from her maybe she didn't know the exact hour oh well all I can say is I'm I'm glad nobody was there to tell me goodbye best thing is to keep busy up to the last minute you don't have any brass bands on the duck side when you sail in wartime we practically sneaked away that cold February morning it takes a while to get out of San Francisco Bay if you've never done it that's an experience you watch the other ships the great City built on Hills SLI by like on a movie screen with our cargo out on Deck sticking up like a sore thumb we had a feeling every everybody on Shore was looking at us the Bay Bridge is ahead there's a hospital ship in from the Pacific and that's a P2 a big new type passenger ship converted to carry troops when war broke out and those [Music] bridges we had two Army corporals aboard nursemaids for the locomotives and that Sparks our radio operator with the Army security officer they've cited the Golden Gate bridge ahead now we've been LED through the submarine net from the Navy seen our signals the pilots on the Flying Bridge with a skipper [Music] the talker is checking his telephones he's hooked up to each of the gun stations that's peg leg and Joe on the engine funny how he got attached to those Locos the engines I mean not the guys now the golden gates a Stern and there's the pilot boat laying to to pick up our pilot [Music] now we know we're on our own dropping the pilot always makes you feel like you've cast off your last line to [Music] shore the engineer opens the main throttle the turbine start turning smoothly start spinning the big shaft which links up our 6,500 horsepower turbines to the propeller it's gaining [Music] speed now you begin to feel the lift of the Pacific this is what a ship is built for I guess this is why a fell goes to Sea [Music] so we're headed west 10,000 tons of steel Cargo in our hes and lash to the deck banging through the Blue Pacific the fast Victory ship was the answer out here all right there's lots of ocean and time is short we tried out our guns right away so we could turn back if anything was wrong with them we're out at Sea now and anything can [Music] happen it's the first morning hour Sun peep through just enough for the skipper to get our position you got to admire the captain he's already had two ships shot out from under him but he's kept sailing even though he wasn't getting any younger now he'd opened his sealed orders and was plotting our course for the navigation officer to follow we were headed for gate which was an Army code word for a certain point of longitude and latitude as far as we were concerned it was Destination Unknown as we teed Westward the Scuttle but began these seagoing rumors had us leading the invasion of the Chinese Mainland and is headed for the Philippines for India for Japan itself but most of us had learned to Discount this kind of talk and just to wait and [Music] see so we settle down to shipboard routine we're on our maiden voyage but the maintenance starts right away you got to like one thing if you go to seea and that is to paint anyhow it's a fine job for the young fellas sort of reminded us of Tom Sawyer how he got the boys not only to whitewash his vents but to pay for the privilege remember we told these Lads it was good experience you know on this trip half our deck crew were making their first voyage they've been through the government's Maritime training schools but they still had a lot to learn board ship there's always something to be lifted or lowered or moved from here to over there the block and tackle is the answer and in land lber language that's a pulley in a rope and a FY block might cause a mean [Music] accident if you're not painting then you're chipping away old paint or so it [Music] seems there was one routine job nobody ever tried to get out of keeping the Lifeboat gear in first class shape when you need a Lifeboat you need it in a hurry [Music] that's Peg Leg going aoft it seems like he wanted all the tough jobs just because he did have only one real leg the other was aluminum you see Peg had been in the Navy and around guad Canal somewhere they got his ship when he came to in the hospital he owned one Les L but that didn't stop him somehow or other after he' learned to use his shiny knew leg he still wanted to go to see oh there he was more of a man than any of us we [Music] thought in peace time you can tell what company operates a merchant ship by the colors on her stack but in war it was gray and black this is a job for a man who knows how and Maxi the boson knew how you got to have tough hands for this he's making a splice in wire rope maybe the day of the sailing ship is gone forever but there's still a couple of miles of rigging strung around on a modern cargo ship and practically all of it is steel wire rope strong enough to lift several tons so a modern sailor has got to know the special tricks of handling [Music] it there's a splice strong as the line [Music] itself the rigging of The Loft has to be kept sled down with Tallow and graphite so it won't rust and jam and so the seagoing housekeeping went on all the small jobs it takes to keep a ship sailing no matter whether it's war time or peace red was an ex football player but another of our Lads very new to the seafaring profession one day he came a during his offat to catch some air so you get paid to watch a goon bird hey Maxi asks maybe you're learning to fly to be a pilot hey oh says R I only came here on the back end to rest up a little on the what Maxi yells you and me are going to go on a little tour and he lectures as he goes Mist cargo [Music] booms that's number four [Music] hatch on the bridge de Maxi stops okay is that the stack or the funnel Brit says G bson I don't know Maxi says I don't know either [Music] they make their way forward until they get to the Flying Bridge this is on top of the Wheelhouse and has a duplicate set of controls did they tell you what this was at school Maxi that's right the wheel and this correct reinle Now red says Bon I'll show you a thing or two life [Music] boat fad not wall P hole not window deck not floor forist cross Tre ventilator hatch cargo boom [Music] anchor windless now they're all the way forward red Pats the bwork the front end he says the what oh bosen I'm sorry I mean the bow but Maxi's through be sorry below [Music] scram [Music] this was another and very important routine job on the voyage taking care of the locomotives those two GIS groomed those engines like they were prize racehorses they spent practically all their waking hours spraying the engines with a gooey mixture of paint and oil which wouldn't dry out and greasing and oiling every moving part otherwise the rust would have ruined them sitting out here in the salt spray funny thing about the two GIS they've been working for a railroad before they got in the Army and now here they were doing the same thing as they did in peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] time the days went by in a hurry as we knifed Westward through Pleasant Seas the Pacific was living up to its name so far [Music] I remember our first Sunday on that Voyage from the after gun deck came the sounds of singing hymns it was it was the Navy gun crew going to church in the sunlight holding their Sunday services in the shadow of their own guns it was a fine full sound out in the Clean Air the chief mate happened to be making his rounds because Sunday or not we were a cargo ship underway and besides they were waiting for us somewhere on the far side of the Pacific to deliver those locomotives in good [Music] shape now church services are part of Navy custom but in his own quiet way the chief mate joined in [Music] too and all the while the Lookouts scanned the face of the waters kept watch upon the heavens [Music] that was a Sunday we had a strange visitor here we were 500 miles from any known land and this long-legged fellow comes aboard somebody said he must be a Japs spy so we caught him even a spy gets hungry we thought but he was here on business wouldn't have Chow with us we gave him a lift but what we didn't realize was he had business to attend to then we got it he came aboard to inspect us and with his hands behind his back and his white frock coat he carefully checked over each turnbuckle and ring bolt saw to it that our cargo was lashed down Ship Shape in Bristol [Music] fashion and pretty soon he went back somewhere to make his [Music] report Sunday was a good day for a lot of little personal jobs we took turns cutting each other's hair and some of the lads did a good job at it too with lots of advice from the customer also you had a little time to repair your seabag for instance with expert assistance of course ever see a Good Ship Without a monkey [Music] aboard it was on Sunday you felt domestic turned to on some of your old household chores the oldtimers knew how to take care of their own little problems like this maybe that's why so few Sailors get married they figured they can handle this department by themselves each man develops his own technique you might [Music] [Music] say but Sunday was the day the boys in the steward's Department showed off what bread those guys baked we all agreed that the Hannibal Victory fed well and a well fed ship is a happy ship as any sailor knows pies makes my mouth water to think of them the baker was as proud of his pies as mother used to be nobody would believe he hadn't ever had any experience before he signed up but he swore that was the truth so I guess he just had natural [Music] Talent Baker was a friendly guy so maybe he didn't care if it was dangerous to leave any slices hanging around convenient [Music] like better watch [Music] out one of the rules of Bo our ship was that every man must have plenty to eat the steward's Department totaled about a dozen Cooks Bakers and mesmen all told their job was to feed 80 hungry men this meant serving six meals per day to take care of the men on the different watches with coffee and sandwiches on hand any hour of the night or day food was first class too the war shipping people arranged it so every merchant ship could draw on stockpiles of hard to get Provisions like meat poultry butter eggs and so forth we carried our own Refrigeration of course so we kept our food good and fresh and had a lot of menus so that nobody suffered from not getting all the vitamins or whatever it was they needed no cover charge and a free floor show compliments of Tokyo Rose the Japs had been smart enough to realize how much those phony broadcast tickled us they'd have cut them off the air so officers and men sitting down to the same good Chow we had our Sunday dinner steaming Along on a fair run through the mid [Music] Pacific nobody seemed to have a care in the world but you couldn't keep the engineers from Talking Shop revolutions steam pressures arguing the merits of turbines compared to the up and down engines on the Liberties and so on and on [Music] well a good meal calls for a good cigar our Navy Lieutenant was an ex football coach by the way even the skipper loosened up after Sundy Chow you were wondering then how long and how Bloody the road to Tokyo would be the thing that you noticed about the armed guard crew was how young they were those were the kids who used to hang around The Corned drugstore when school was out they were filing clerks machinists helpers Farmers Sons these were the soft spoiled Americans who didn't stand a chance against the trained armies of Hitler musolini and Hirohito with chow over those of us offat were swapping lies or otherwise showing off our seaf fairing ability that's Sully the Hawaiian Irishman showing what he learned in Maritime school he's another of the bunch we had a board from the island Joe was an ex- fisherman from Monteray when war came along he figured he could serve best in the Merchant Marine and we agreed don't let the beard fool you this was Tony's first voyage but of course the real expert on nautical matters was red as [Music] usual all weedi need did was a grass skirt then the old Maestro shows how a fancy one is [Music] done to one pair of the lads aboard ship Sunday wasn't entirely a day of rest our two Cadet midshipmen had to finish a certain amount of studying by the time they reported back in the States they couldn't help being a little homesick around the edges now and then they were good kids and were going to good officers Sunday was the traditional day for riding home the mate was pretty good about it but some of the rest of us just put it off I guess put it off so long we didn't have anybody to write to