This is sort of an extra-special letter to give you the details of what is probably one of the most eventful days of our lives. How certain ships are chosen for special assignments is beyond my simple powers of comprehension, but we must have been sitting in the lap of the Gods at the right time, for we were picked to take an Admiral into Tokyo Bay to witness the official surrender ceremonies as a representative of our Task Group, and to be his flagship for the occasion. So, our two-star Rear Admiral's flag was broken out as our guest, Rear Admiral J.F. Shafroth came aboard.
Before you read any further, take a look at the postmark on the envelope. Only ships actually in the Bay itself are permitted to use this cache (Tokyo Bay), so that puts us right in there again.
To describe the affair chronologically: We were all broken out of our bunks about 0430 for breakfast this morning, in order to get everything in readiness to anchor in the bay by 0630. It was daylight very early, so we did some first-class sight-seeing on the way in. One of the scenes we will all remember is that of the big Yokasuka naval base with the Jap battleship Nagato dominating the scene with her ugly pagoda mast, so typically Jap. She is lying there now, harmless, a ship with her "teeth" pulled. Upon arriving in the bay we were ordered to drop our hook about one thousand yards off the port bow of the Missouri, the big battlewagon on which the surrender ceremonies actually took place. In this made-to-order position, we had a ringside seat to watch the various ships bringing the Generals and Admirals and high ranking officials from the different Allied nations to witness and sign the documents. The climax of the ceremony, when a great fleet of B-29's and carrier planes flew over the Missouri, was indeed a display that made us all proud of our Armed Forces. Imagine 500 Superforts plus 800 assorted varieties of navy planes all sweeping across the sky in one sprawling group! It was a sight that we shall probably never see again.
Geographically, the spot where we anchored is about six miles from the city of Yokahama, with Tokyo itself up the bay about 15 miles further. We are able to see many of the industrial buildings of the former city and even a few of Tokyo's land marks are barely visible. Our one big regret is that Mount Fujiama, ever present on all postcards of Japan, is hiding behind a heavy layer of clouds.
When General MacArthur left the Missouri after the ceremony, the destroyer flying his flag passed only a couple of hundred yards from us. The General and his staff officers were out on deck at the time so we had a good long-distance look at him too.
I must close this now and drop it in the mailbox pronto. Our Admiral will be returning soon and we will be getting underway shortly to return to our own Task Group.
By the way, today established an endurance record for our ship so far. This being our 63rd straight day underway at sea. A long time steaming in any man's language.
Love,
Richard
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