The USS Pickaway was the liberty ship that transported our battalion of Marines from San Diego to Okinawa in 1961. She wasn't fast, about 13 knots top speed, but she was steady maintaining that speed 24 hours a day. That's why the trip to Okinawa, with a brief stop in Hawaii, took 28 days.
Much of the ships crew of 300 was new to sea duty and the 1200 Marines didn't have their sea legs yet so motion sickness abounded. Two mid-west farmers managed to avoid the illness; Ed and Al. Some Marines got queasy standing on the pier and watching the ship's gentle roll. At least one was still sick two weeks later when we reached Hawaii, though he made the mistake of staying in bed. Had he moved topside for fresh air likely he'd have recovered earlier.
Yesterday's post about sugar cane in Hawaii made me think about how we got to the island. Trough the magic of the internet this history of the ship surfaced. Not a very large ship to transport 1500 men.
USS Pickaway was a Haskell-class attack transport that saw service with the US Navy in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. She was of the VC2-S-AP5 Victory ship design type and named after Pickaway County, Ohio. Wikipedia
Takk for alt,
Al
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