FUELLING AT SEA

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 100, 30 April 1945, Page 6

FUELLING AT SEA

FLEET TRAIN SETS OUT

BRITISH NAVY IN PACIFIC

(From Noel Chappell, N.Z.P.A. War Correspondent with the British Pacific Fleet.). We are a small convoy of fleet trfein ships and escort vessels going out into the broad Pacific to supply fuel; and spares to warships of Vice-Admiral Rawlings's command. It is the first time the fleet train has been called upon to send ships to sea and so' increase the range arid endurance of the British Pacific Fleet, which otherwise would have to return the full distance to its nearest base.

The senior ship of the convoy is an American-built escort carrier. Keeping station with us are several tankers, and at some distance are ships of the escort. When the ships left the: base a storm was threatening to cross the track they had to take to arrive at the apnbinted time. Since then the storm has weighed more with us than has possible interference by enemy aircraft or submarines.. SAILORS NOT DISTURBED. . The captain said in a broadcast to the ship after leaving port: "We need not expect to be attacked all the time, we are at sea, but we should be ready against attack at any time." But the stornv mainly because the characteristics and trends of the weather are not yet completely known in this part of the Pacific, has been on our minds all the time, because it might delay the fleet train. However, it seems to Have avoided all but the tail of the storm. There is a suggestion that another storm is forming, but the ocean seems to have quietened considerably since yesterday, and the sky is no longer so threatening. For the .officers and men of this ship, among them 11 New Zealand seamen and one stoker, the storm and the fact that we are about to perform what for the Royal Navy will be a historic refuelling operation are the only things which are strange in their experience. Any risks they might run, the sight of a convoy at sea, the unceasing vigil against the weather and the enemy, and the constant work of keeping the ship in as perfect condition as possible —all these make a pattern which has been the most familiar thing in their lives for anything up to the past five years. ; AT PLAY AND DUTY. At the base from which we sailed there was such an array of shipping as New Zealand has never seen, the British and American Navies and the Merchant Marine forming a comradeship m war which was so tangible that it could almost be felt. From this companionship, like a little cluster of ducklings,, we put out into the almost unknown mysteries of the Pacific. Even then we could not regard ourselves as immune from attack, and it was more than likely that Japanese eyes in parties , still skulking in the back-country watched us go. On the flight deck men strolled idly in the freshening* wind. They did gymnastics over a vaulting-horse, and two teams played deck hockey with completely preoccupied vigour. Later they would practise action station, damage control stations, and various' other exercises designed to maintain the ship's efficiency, but for the time ■ being they were off watch and determined to enjoy themselves. Later the weather enveloped us. The ship plunged and rolled to the gathering uneasiness of the ocean. Visibility was so poor that our consorts could only occasionally be seen. But our sailors did not notice the weather. It meant harder work, and that was about all. They regretted the rain that pre- • vented more hockey and more gymnastics, and did not wait for much of an improvement before they were atit again. And meantime the bridge and" the hidden eyes of the ship kept watch, and ward against the weather and the enemy, and the convoy slowly moved on to its appointment. The fleet train should see the warships soon and will then discover how well it can carr^ out its duty in refuelling and replenish* ing them. ....