June 30, 1945

30 _____ Still laying at anchor in San Pedro Bay _ Port had recreation.

June 29, 1945

29 _____ same as yesterday except star. had re.
_________

star. had re. = starboard had recreation.

Photo shows Mobile sailors playing baseball.

June 28, 1945

28 _____ Still not much doing except cleaning ship up. Port had recreation.
_____________________

Photo shows crew cleaning the bilges, the lowest compartment on the ship, where excess water (from rough seas, etc.) is channeled, then pumped out.

June 27, 1945

27 _____ " _ " _ " _ Starboard _ " _ "

_____________________

"Nothing much doing. Starboard has recreation."

June 26, 1945

26 _____ " _ " _ " _ Port _ " _ "

_____________________

"Nothing much doing. Port has recreation."

June 25, 1945

25 _____ " _ " _ " _ Starboard has _ "

_____________________

"Nothing much doing. Starboard has recreation."

Photo shows a Philippine laundry.

June 24, 1945

24 _____ not much doing _ Port has recreation

June 23, 1945

23 _____ " _ " _ " _ Starboard has _ "

_________________________

"Nothing much doing. Starboard has recreation."

Photo shows a sailor shopping at the Samar Bazaar.

June 22, 1945

Joe made no entry at all today.

Joe might have seen the view in the photo. The ships were anchored in San Pedro Bay about the same time. The large ship is the destroyer tender USS Dixie (AD 14), which was a maintenance ship for the flotilla of destroyers beside her. Those ship are the USS Compton (DD 705), USS Ault (DD 698), USS Charles S. Sperry (DD 697), USS English (DD 696), USS John W. Weeks (DD 701), and USS Borie (DD 704).

June 21, 1945

21 _____ " _ " _ " _ Port _ " _ "

_______________

Joe used ditto marks, meaning "Nothing much doing. Port had recreation."

June 20, 1945

20 _____ Not much doing _ starboard has recreation

_____________________

Joe says pretty much the same thing until about July 2. I'll post Joe's entries, but with different photos of shipboard and shore leave recreation the next 2 weeks.

In this photo, sailors go to an open air concert in the Phillipines.

June 19, 1945

19- _____ Just as yesterday _ Port had recreation
110 days out of states

June 18, 1945

18- _____ Not much doing today _ starboard recreation _ LCT 681 took us on recreation.
______________________

Photo shows sailors going ashore on an LCT (tank ship).

June 17, 1945

17- _____ Port had recreation & we loaded Amm from L.C.T.
__________________

LCT = Tank Landing Craft (or Littoral Craft, meaning it had a shallow keel and could get in close to the shore). Besides landing tanks and troops, these crafts were used to deliver ammo and supplies to ships. Photo shows the LCT 202.

June 16, 1945

16- _____ Came into harbor at 800 AM & we went along side (tanker #60) but didn't stay there long. Starboard had recreation. left tanker & drop anchor.
________________

"went along side" probably meant they refueled.

Tanker AO-60 was the USS Nantahala, seen in the photo fueling a ship at sea.

June 15, 1945

15 _____ We left harbor at 7.00 AM _ We fired 6" & AA guns for
test firing. We came back to harbor entrance but didn't go in,
We will go in first thing tomorrow morning.
________________

Photo shows AA practice (no one is wearing battle gear). Note circled drone target.

June 14, 1945

14- _____ We left U.S.S. Jason & drope anchor. We are going out tomorrow _ there was no recreation today.

June 13, 1945

13- _____ alongside Jason a repair ship _ Port has recreation. Almost finish with tirrit II so well be leaving Jason soon.
________________

Photo: another view of the USS Jason as she repairs the USS Randolph in March 1945.

June 12, 1945

12- _____ alongside USS Jason _ starboard has recreation.
________________

Photo shows sailors swimming on Leyte beach.

June 11, 1945

11- _____ We turned the ship around this morning so tirrit I & II will be in line with the Jasons' big crane. Port had recreation today.

June 10, 1945

10- _____ along side Jason _ Starboard had recreation. tirrit III is almost finish getting new guns tomorrow were going to turn the ship around to tirrit I & II can have theres changed.
__________________

Photo is a shot of the Mobile at anchor.

June 9, 1945

9- _____ alongside Jason _ Port had recreation
100 days out of states___________________

Port = The crew from the left side of the ship (I assume this means where they had their sleeping berths) went ashore for recreation. The right or starboard side stayed aboard. Joe was part of the starboard crew. Photo shows sailors on board sunbathing.

June 8, 1945

8- _____ We are still along side Jason. starboard has recreation. We got two new planes today.
__________________

Photo shows Mobile's original seaplanes.

June 7, 1945

7- _____ Were along side USS Jason _ had recreation today
_____________________

Photo shows a bazaar on Samar visited by the sailors on recreation days.

June 6, 1945

6- _____ We went along side USS Jason a repair ship for new 6" gun barrles. Mobile is the first ship to have its guns changed out here so there not sure its going to work. Tirrit four is the first to have them changed.
___________________
Mobile's Official War Record states: "The main battery six-inch barrels were renewed alongside the repair ship Jason (ARH-1), in 12 days."

The USS Jason was the first heavy-hull repair ship, commissioned in June, 1944. In the photo, you can see the big cranes used to switch Mobile's guns. She continued service after the war, was redesignated the AR-8 in the 1950s, and remained in service until 1995. Her crew called her "The Jolly J."

June 5, 1945

5-
___________

Although Joe wrote the number 5, he made no entry that day.

June 4, 1945

4- _____ One large carr[ier] came in today _ We carried on stores till 5.00 this morning & again from 11.00 AM till 1800 (6 PM).

June 3, 1945

3rd- _____ not much happen. all the ships are getting a new pa[i]nt job. We carried some stores on from 20.00 till rest of night.
_______________________

Photo shows sailors painting the outside hull of the Mobile.

June 2, 1945

2nd _____ a small task force came in today _ consist of BB USS South Dakota and some DDs. LCT 681 took recreation party off.
_________

Photo: USS South Dakota

June 1, 1945

1st _____ A small task force came in _ it consist of One large carrier Esc _ (BB Wash. & 3 CL & 1 CA _ we loaded Amm from Amm ship. LCT 681 took recreation party off. We got back at about 20.00 _ we went to Sam[a]r.
__________________________

Esc = Escort carrier (CVE): a small aircraft carrier with a single catapult system for launching. Many times these ships had no tower like regular carriers, so they were called "baby flat tops." The photo shows the CVE USS Guadalcanal.

BB Wash. = Battleship USS Washington

CL = light cruiser
CA = heavy cruiser
LCT = Tank landing craft
Samar is the province across the gulf from Leyte Island in the Phillipines.