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USS Algorab, and USS Bristol WWII

US Navy Ships Other Periods

USS Cavalier
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Written by a sailor serving aboard the USS Algorab, during WWII, in December 1942. From the Letter…….Just a few lines in reply to your letter of Dec. 14th I received it on the 16th but did not get a chance to reply as we got underway. I haven’t much that I can say only that I am well and I hope you are feeling much better than you have been. By the time this letter reaches you your night working will be all over and perhaps Christmas. I received a Christmas card from the store…….I don’t know what to tell you dear if our plans don’t turn out the way we expected them, only to take care of yourself and don’t worry about taking money from the bank as that was perhaps one of the reasons we were able to save it for. I am glad your received my Christmas card I bet it was a little wrinkled as it’s a big card and I had it in my pocket about six hours. …….I received my pipes and tobacco that you gave George to bring back and they certainly are swell thanks a lot……….

This letter was written September 13, 1945, from Tokyo Harbor, less than 2 weeks after the formal surrender of Japan, by a sailor who was serving aboard the USS Bristol DD-857. Some excerpts from the letter…………

Dearest Mother and Dad,

Here we are in the Japanese home waters. There are a million and one U.S. Navy fighting ships and fleet auxiliaries here: many battleships (BB’s), quite a few large carriers (CV’s), lots of cruisers (CA’s + CL’s), destroyers (DD’s) and patrol craft (PC’s), excort carriers (CVE’s), oilers (AO’s), cargo vessels (AK’s), transports (AP’s), LST’s, LCI’s,LSM’s, mine sweepers (YMS’s), and all kinds of other specialized ships. This is an immense harbor-Frisco is a pee-wee compared to this one………I can see many acrews of burned and demolished buildings, factories, houses, pagodas, radio stations, and other structures along the Yokohama and Tokyo waterfronts. Mass destruction by the B-29’s and the American fleet…….The Iowa, Indiana, Alabama,m Missouri, Wilkes-Barre, Essex, South Dakota, Morth Carolina, Hawkins, Higbee, and Bristol ar alll new ships. The Japs’ ships are at the bottom of th eocean: the greatest underseas fleet in the world! Ha, Ha!………..
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