Voyage Eight
Charles H. Lanham - Page 3
While we were in Oran the war in Europe ended. I was below deck and I heard these explosions and shooting. Jesus, I had no idea what was happening. I ran up on deck to see this French Cruiser docked along side us firing her big guns. There was lots of shooting and ships' whistles going off all over the harbor. They told us that the Germans had surrendered earlier that day.
The ship left Oran on May 17, 1945. We took on French soldiers at Ajaccio, Corsica and took them on into Marseilles, France. I was firing when we came in and docked at Marseilles. It was a hard place to get into - they had these little slips that you had to dock in. I remember the bridge calling down ahead and then astern and then ahead and astern and then again and again forward and backwards. I really worked during that docking.
Marseilles is a big port city and at the time had a particular neighborhood with an international reputation for being a pretty rough place. The authorities told us to be careful if we went in there. They had a street they boasted was the most dangerous street in the world. I went all over that part of the port, in shops, cafes and drank in the bars, and I never had any problems.
( Armed Guard Report: "Speed - 12.5 knots to Ajaccio; 10 knots from Ajaccio to Marseilles Independent from Oran to Ajaccio; Convoyed by French Chasseur 51 from Ajaccio. . . .No. of ships in convoy 3. " ) On May 23, 1945 the Lanham departed Marseilles, France and returned to Oran, Algeria on 5/25/45 and on the 26th sailed to Beni-Saf, Algeria and took on 500 tons of iron ore as ballast. The next day she sailed out to meet the convoy home. ( Armed Guard Report of Lt. Jack Murphy: "Number of ships in convoy was 28 Number of escorts - 4 Made rendezvous with convoy GUS - 92 on afternoon of 27 May, . . . .Passed Gibraltar at noon on 28 May. Ship ran with full running lights starting 29 May and during time sailed in Mediterranean. Received instructions from Commodore that Lanham's destination was Philadelphia on 7 June, 1945. Voyage uneventful " ) The SS Charles H. Lanham arrived Philadelphia, PA on June 12, 1945 and the crew was paid off and discharged on the 14th of June 1945.
When we put in at Philadelphia there was a letter waiting for me. In it was a picture of Della holding up my son, Daniel John Traverso III. She had the picture taken a couple of weeks after he was born on June 2, 1945. I showed the picture to the Chief and to everyone in the engine room crew. The crew got paid off on June 14, 1945 and I took the train home to Texas. When I got home my son was a three weeks old. First time I got to see Danny the third. I have a picture taken with the baby in my arms on that visit home and one of me and my dad with the baby. I didn't stay ashore long though.