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We were underway early in the afternoon and went back to the USS Missouri which was anchored about 15 miles out from the dock. We carried out a rear admiral and a captain to the flagship and once more headed back to the docks in Yokohama.
The harbor in Yokohama was battered up quite a bit. It had a double row of breakwater pilings and inside the harbor with several sunken ships. There were three allied hospital ships tied up t the dock and sandwiched in between them was a Japanese baby flat top resting on the bottom.
We pulled into the same docks we had made earlier in the morning. While we were there the USS Lardner (DD487) pulled in ahead of us loaded with prisoners of war. There were Dutch, English, and Americans aboard. The entire main deck was covered with the people. Among the prisoners were 7 women and several children of various ages. These were immediately transferred and I learned they had been liberated from the Mishi Jima prison. All had been there for three years and some longer. They were in fair shape and some had been badly beaten by their barbarous guards while in prison.
We took bull Halsey aboard and once more started our return trip to the battle boat Missouri. We let the admiral of and headed back in again.
We picked up a captain and this time we were in dungarees and blue hats much to the joy of everyone concerned. We returned the Captain to the flagship and anchored.
It was quite late when they anchored and everyone was plenty fed up with being a personal admiral’s barge. It was really a lot of hooey all the ceremony and pomp. It really brought us face to face with the fact that we were certainly in the peace time Navy and no fooling.
For the next two days we remained at anchor and continued cleaning up the ship and converting it to peace time status.
Our new captain came aboard on September 6 and as usual everyone was busy getting the ship cleaned up.
On the afternoon of the 7th we had a drill general quarters and emergency drills followed as the new skipper was checking the efficiency of the crew.
This makes the third captain we have had since the ship was put into commission and believe me we are all ready to get back so the crew can get leave and liberty and see civilization once more.
We left Tokyo Bay on the morning following and headed north with the rest of our division. They were the Stockham, Wedderburn, Yarnall, and Twining. We escorted a group of minesweepers up to a small town of Sendai. While we were on our way up the Yarnall spotted a small ship at night. She looked like a fishing boat but she had a radio arial so the Yarnall turned her searchlights on the ship and sent a boarding party aboard to look her over. They found a high frequency radio aboard her. They disabled the radio and let the ship continue.
There was a small airfield here and we were the first ships to enter this port.
We arrived on the morning of the 10th and the minesweepers were busy all day. They found no mines that day and we anchored that night. The next morning we were underway at 0345 and our on patrol. All day we steamed around at the mouth of the bay. The minesweepers were doing a land office business that day and mines were exploding all day. All together there were 61 large mines exploded.
When this job was finished we again returned to Tokyo Bay to await further orders. Lord only knowing what they will be when they come.
While sitting in Tokyo Bay there had been a typhoon or two come up but very little damage had been done to anyone except the Twining. Who as usual can always seem to find something. We were tied alongside the Stockham during one of these storms when we stared to drag anchor and when it was over the Twining had a crushed in starboard side.
On the 14th of October we finally got the dope we have been waiting 20 months to hear. We are to leave for the states on the 10th day of November and it is actually hard to believe.
Now the biggest thing that we can possibly do is just sit here and make liberty and wait till the tenth then we will get underway for, what is known as God’s country out here, for the states and home.
This will just about wind up a wonderful experience that we all wouldn’t want to do over but wouldn’t take the world for what we’ve been through the last 20 months.
The End