Detailed History 1944 - 2008

from Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships , shipmate recollections and MANY other sources

SANCTUARY keel was laid down as MARINE OWL by the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania.  Launched 15 AUG as USS SANCTUARY (AH-17) and delivered 30 SEP, she was subsequently converted to a hospital ship by Todd Shipbuilding at Hoboken, New Jersey, whose citizens matched the cost of conversion with war bonds.  For more information:  Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945

Commissioned 20 JUN, her respective initial commanding officers were CDR John M. Paulsson -- ship, and CAPT Oscar Davis -- hospital.  She departed Norfolk, Virginia, following shakedown on 31 JUL. SANCTUARY arrived Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, four days after the Japanese acceptance of surrender terms.  She continued to the Far East on 22 AUG to assist in the repatriation of former POW's. 1945 details are specified in following excerpts from the original ship's WWII history, written by her Commanding Officer.

World War II era ship's patch: "SERVICE - MOBILITY - SUPPORT"

... My mother, then Lt. Alice Larke, served as a nurse on the original SANCTUARY crew during WWII. She married in February of 1947, and had to resign her commission when she became pregnant. Leaving the Navy and the decommissioning of the SANCTUARY were sad memories for her. She passed away in 1987, but memories of the SANCTUARY and the crew were always important to her. My father lives in Largo, Florida, and still has her photographs. I have not seen the photos since I was a child, but remember how thin the POW's looked when they were liberated. I was, and still am, proud that she had a part in helping our men get home. Dad just brought me more SANCTUARY documents. The first part is the history of the SANCTUARY written by the captain. The second is a copy of a letter from someone named Davis to a SANCTUARY crew member describing 8.15.45, and the Japanese surrender. The last part all in caps is the SANCTUARY daily news from 8.15.45 ... I have attached a photo of the POW's from Wakayama ... mother used to cry a lot when she looked at the pictures of the POWs. What bothered her most was the harsh treatment and the fact that so many of the men were so young ... Tom Smith, son of Lt. Alice Larke

Thanks to Tom Smith for sending this information and photos from his mother's archives:

History of the USS SANCTUARY

by Commander William Van C. Brandt, USNR

Navy Hospital Ship (affectionately called U.S.S. HEAVEN NO. SIX by liberated Prisoners-of-War), wins coveted Navy's "WELL DONE" and tribute from Fifth Fleet on First duty assignment.

HISTORY OF THE U.S.S SANCTUARY (AH-17)

The U.S.S. Naval Hospital Ship SANCTUARY (AH-17) later named "U.S.S. HEAVEN NUMBER SIX" by liberated Prisoners-of-War evacuated from Wakayama, Japan was converted by the Todd Ship Building Company, Hoboken, New Jersey from a C-4 hull built by the Sun Ship Building Company, Chester, Pennsylvania. Funds to pay for the construction of the SANCTUARY were raised by the purchase of 7th Liberty War Bonds by citizens of Hoboken, New Jersey. The vessel was placed in commission in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York on the 20th June 1945 by Commander H. J. Sasse, Acting Captain at the Navy Yard, and was placed under the command of Commander J. M. Paullson, (DM), USNR, who was later taken seriously ill and hospitalized while the vessel was on her shake-down cruise.

THE MAIDEN-CRUISE OF THE SANCTUARY

The SANCTUARY sailed from Norfolk, Virginia 31st July 1945, under command of Commander Wm. VAN C. BRANDT, (D), USNR. No. 25186. She arrived at the Panama Canal 5th August, 1945, On arrival at Balboa orders were received to proceed 9th August, 1945 to Pearl Harbor for further routing.

AT SEA WHEN WAR ENDS

While at sea 15th August, 1945 en route to Pearl Harbor word was received by radio of the Japanese Government's unconditional surrender and while this meant the end of the fighting for combatant ships, whose guns were silenced, it meant only the beginning of duty for this "Great White Ship of Mercy" who was en route to the Far Western Pacific on a "MISSION OF MERCY."

Appropriate nautical exercises were held aboard the SANCTUARY in celebration of the conclusion of the war. In this celebration King Neptune with his Royal Court, and accompanied by Davey Jones, boarded the ship bringing with them as prisoner Public Enemy No. One, and there upon the deck of the SANCTUARY, he, (Hirohito) was tried for his crimes. Though defended by the Devil himself, the prisoner was found guilty and hanged to a Jackstay of the Mainmast, after which the crew enjoyed a party provided by the Red Cross Workers attached to the ship. A copy of the Commanding Officer's speech on this occasion and pictures of King Neptune and his Court are attached.

ARRIVES AT PEARL HARBOR

Arriving in Pearl Harbor, 19th August, 1945 a two (2) day availability was granted for liberty and recreation which was enjoyed by all hands, Leaving Pearl Harbor under orders, 22 August, 1945 for Okinawa permission was given the SANCTUARY to exceed the established 16 knots speed limit on the Pacific. She, therefore, cruised direct to Okinawa, Japan at the speed of 17.5 knots arriving at Okinawa on 3 September, 1945 completing a 11,343 mile cruise without a breakdown and in a 4 0 condition and ready for sea.

SANCTUARY BECOMES UNIT OF FAMOUS 5th FLEET

Upon arrival at Okinawa the Commanding Officer, Commander Wm. Van C. BRANDT USNR, reported immediately to Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Commander 5th Fleet and was immediately assigned to Task Force 56, under the command of Vice Admiral J.B. Oldendorf, USN. At the time of the SANCTUARY'S arrival and in accordance with plans already prepared for the invasion of southern Japan, the SANCTUARY was assigned as a unit of the first invasion and evacuation force, Task Force 56.5.2 under Rear Admiral R.S. Riggs, USN. This force left Okinawa, 9 September,1945 for Wakayama, Japan to make a landing, establish a beachhead and to evacuate liberated Prisoners-of-War which the Japanese Government agreed to deliver to us at Wakayama, Japan.

AT WAKAYAMA, JAPAN

The Task Force arrived at Wakayama, Japan Tuesday, 11 September 1945 and laid off the bay until our minesweepers could clear a channel through Japanese minefields. This being accomplished late in the afternoon the Task Force led by the Group Commander, Admiral Riggs in the U.S.S. MONTPELLIER entered the bay and arrived off Wakayama about 19:30, 11 September 1945.

The beachhead was immediately established on the 12th of September 1945, and evacuation forces set up for the reception of Prisoners-of-War who began to arrive at Wakayama on the morning of 13 September, 1945.

THE SANCTUARY SELECTED AS THE FIRST SHIP TO BE LOADED

The Task Group Commander selected the SANCTUARY as the first ship to be loaded and the small landing boats started bringing out the sick, and injured and ambulatory liberated prisoners about noon on 13 September, 1945. At the beachhead they were interviewed, bathed, decontaminated, fed and given new clothing by the beach party ashore before being sent out to the ships.

The normal capacity of the SANCTUARY was 786, as this is the number of bunks she has in her air-conditioned wards, and all the wards were filled by 0300, on the 14th of September, 1945. As more prisoners were available and landing boats kept coming to the side of the ship the Commanding Officer appealed to the fleet over the voice radiophone for cots. Obtaining 400 these were set up on the bridge deck, on the fantail, on the weather deck and in the passageways and as boat after boatload of ex-Prisoners-of-War reached the ship those who did not require hospitalization were given cots. Finally a total of 1139 were taken aboard.

These men were mostly English, Australians and Javanese, who had been captured at the fall of Singapore, Hong Kong and the battles of Java. They had been in Japanese prison camps for three and one-half years. Finally at 1000 on the morning of 14 September, 1945 there being no additional Prisoners-of-War available the Task Force Commander gave orders to the SANCTUARY to proceed to Okinawa to discharge her passengers and there make all possible speed to Nagasaki, where thousands of other Prisoners-of-War were being congregated.

THE SANCTUARY RECEIVES THE COVETED NAVY'S WELL DONE

On the loading of the Prisoners-of-War the SANCTUARY'S officers, hospital corpsmen, nurses and crew had worked untiringly, hour after hour and continuously from noon of the 13th September, 1945 throughout the night and the morning of the 14th September. The Task Group Commander, Rear Admiral Riggs was very much pleased with the progress, and as the Commanding Officer, in accordance with his orders, weighed anchor and got the SANCTUARY underway over the blinker came the message I 'From MONTPELLIER to SANCTUARY, message for the Captain. Thanks for a good job WELL DONE , signed Riggs." Only a Navy man can appreciate the significance of those few words 'WELL DONE" and they were such as to inspire the crew of the good ship SANCTUARY.

TRIBUTE FROM THE FIFTH FLEET

As the SANCTUARY steamed slowly out of Wakayama's Harbor she met coming in the flagship of the 5th Fleet, the U.S.S. NEW JERSEY, carrying the 4 star flag of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, USN, Commander of the U.S.S. Fifth Fleet. With her was the Admiral's escort of destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers.

In accordance with Navy practice the Commanding Officer of the SANCTUARY, upon coming within signaling distance, immediately signaled the flagship for: "Permission to proceed on duty assigned. Back came "Affirm," and, then, from the flagship came a blast of the bugle and in an instant her rails were manned from bow to stern and each man snapped to the right Hand Salute.

Instantly the Commanding Officer ordered the honors returned and the officers, and crew and all liberated Prisoners of War aboard the SANCTUARY who were able to stand came to attention and Right Hand Salute, and then, across the water, there came from that mighty battleship three rousing cheers. The crew of the SANCTUARY immediately returned them and then down the line as the SANCTUARY steamed slowly by, one after another of the escort ships they each one followed the example of the flagship, manned their rails and cheered.; " A tribute from fighting sailormen of a fighting fleet to a "Mercy Ship" on a "Mission of Mercy

NAMED "HEAVEN NUMBER SIX"

It was while on her way from Wakayama with her precious cargo of men, who had known the horrors of a living hell that one of these poor unfortunates was heard to remark, "I never knew that there was a ship like this in all the world." When he was told that there were six of them he asked their names, when told CONSOLATION, REPOSE, SANCTUARY, etc., and that the SANCTUARY was the sixth and last one of the group he remarked.. "The Navy should not have named these ships by those names they should have named them, HEAVEN NUMBER ONE, NUMBER TWO, NUMBER THREE, etc. And so, the SANCTUARY being the last one and Number Six on the list, should in the opinion of this liberated prisoner be ever afterward known as HEAVEN NUMBER SIX.

TYPHOON ENCOUNTERED

While en route to Okinawa and within 300 miles of the destination a typhoon warning was received. The course was immediately changed to evade it, but winds of 40 to 45 knots and heavy seas were encountered, which, considering the passengers aboard caused the Commanding Officer considerable concern. However, port was finally made after a delay of 48 hours and all passengers aboard delivered safely into the hands of the Army at Naha, on the West Coast of Okinawa Island.

ON TO NAGASAKI

While unloading, orders were received from the Task Force Commander Vice Admiral J. B. Oldendorf, Commander Task Force 56 to expedite unloading all possible and proceed to Nagasaki. Given a Destroyer, the U.S.S. MURPHY, as escort, the SANCTUARY at full speed cruised to Nagasaki arriving on 22 September, 1945. The loading of liberated prisoners from the U.S.S. HAVEN immediately began. While this loading was going on one half of the crew working, the other half of the crew was loaded into trucks, which the Commanding Officer obtained, and driven through the devastated area of Nagasaki where they had an opportunity to see at first hand the devastation and destruction of the second Atomic Bomb . The port watch was given a similar opportunity to make this tour , Next day, 24 September, 1945 loading had been completed and all Prisoners of War available as well as all men from the local fleet eligible for release under ALNAV 252 45 being taken aboard, the SANCTUARY with escort, the U.S.S. MURPHY set sail once again for Naha. At which point the liberated prisoners were discharged into the care of the Army. The ambulatory prisoners were taken to the U.S.S. Bingham for further transportation to Manila.

RETURN TO BUCKNER BAY AND ANOTHER TYPHOON

Following the unloading and returning to Buckner Bay for fuel and supplies and to await further orders, a typhoon warning was received and at a conference of all Task Group Commanders, Rear Admiral Stuble, SOPA ordered all ships from Buckner Bay on a typhoon sortie. The SANCTUARY left Buckner Bay in group four of 54 ships and for the next three days cruising about to the south of Okinawa out riding the typhoon. While on this cruise, a message was received from the Commander of the 5th Fleet, "Report by dispatch to ComServPac for Magic Carpet Duty, etc.," To which the Commanding Officer replied: "The SANCTUARY reports for duty. Now at sea Latitude 25.44N, Longitude 126.38, course 270, speed 10. On typhoon sortie from Buckner Bay." By a later dispatch the SANCTUARY was ordered to return to Okinawa and load passengers and ramps for San Francisco.

MAGIC CARPET DUTY

In accordance with these orders on her return to Okinawa there was transferred to the SANCTUARY 454 civilian repatriates from the U.S.S. REFUGE. These had been liberated from the civilian internment camps of Shanghai, China. These included men, women and forty children under ten years of age and it is with these the first shipload of repatriates liberated by the Japanese at Shanghai, China, plus 260 ex-American service men and ramps loaded at Okinawa and Guam, that the SANCTUARY is now enroute to San Francisco.

So thus the U.S.S. SANCTUARY, a Navy ship without a gun, a Great White Ship of Mercy in her brief career of approximately four (4) months has traveled the lanes of the South Atlantic, Caribbean, Eastern, Central and Far Western Pacific oceans, she has brought a great measure of happiness to thousands of men as well as hundreds of women and children who are now enjoying their passage home to their native land which many of them have not seen for years. She has, in addition been able to administer to the sick, wounded and even the dying, and to those who have been privileged to enjoy the comforts of her spacious wards, she will long be remembered as THE GOOD SANCTUARY - "U.S.S. HEAVEN NUMBER SIX."

ITINERARY OF U.S.S. SANCTUARY (AH-17):
31 Jul 1945 - Departed from Hampton Roads, Va.
5 Aug 1945 - Arrived Christobal, Canal Zone.
5 Aug 1945 - Traversed the Panama Canal.
5 Aug 1945 - Arrived Balboa, Canal Zone.
7 Aug 1945 Departed Balboa for Pearl Harbor

THE WAR IS OVER!

Officers and members of the crew of the "GOOD SANCTUARY", while our ship is steaming along on this vast Pacific Ocean - at home today thousands of miles astern of us, our loved ones, friends and all of our people everywhere are joyfully celebrating the greatest victory the world has ever known. A victory that means the final and most decisive defeat of the last of our enemies of World War Two, An enemy that has known no honor, but who has fought under the rules of barbarism and cruelty which must have been written especially for them by the Devil himself in the halls of HELL below.

Starting on a peaceful Sunday morning (7 December 1941), with a treacherous and sneaking attack on our fleet and upon our people in Pearl Harbor and Honolulu, while their so called Ambassadors of Peace were in Washington carrying on false peace negotiations with our government, they attacked us from the air and sea, they sorely damaged our fleet and killed and wounded thousands of our people on that peaceful Sunday morning, three years, eight months, and seventeen days ago.

But in spite of the fact that they had been preparing for this war of their own creation for many years and the fact that they did inflict serious damage to our First Line of Defense - Our Navy, our Nation (which has ever been a great nation once they are aroused), arose en mass, men and women, old and young flocked to our Armed Forces, and those too old or too young to serve at the front or in uniform, manned the machines in our shops, our ship yards, and factories and railroads, and by the sweat of their brow, they constructed and delivered to us of the Armed Forces, ships and planes, and guns and bombs, in such quantities and of such type, it amazed the world and confounded our enemies.

In the comparatively short period since Pearl Harbor, our Nation has built up, recruited and trained, the greatest and best equipped fighting force the world has ever known and though in the beginning; vastly out numbered in the far off South West Pacific by the forces which our enemy could throw into the area, those who were there to represent our government, fought so valiantly against superior forces that they stopped the advance of the enemy over two and one half years ago, and Not since the battles of the Coral. Sea and Guadalcanal, has our enemy been able to win a single victory on land, In the air, or on or under the sea.

In this period, the valiant forces of our Navy, aided by our shipmates, the Marines and our comrades of the Army, have advanced the line of battle into the homeland of our enemies, and there, day after day, and night after night, the fighting fleet of our Navy and the Armed Forces of all branches of services have rained such destruction upon them that they have been compelled to beg for peace before the people of all the world. To beg that the guns of our combatant ships, and bombs of our planes in the air, be halted, on bended knee; they have pleaded their usual slogan of "excuse us please", and have agreed unconditionally to meet every demand made upon them by our government and our Allies, to submit to unconditional surrender and to permit their Emperor to become a puppet of our Military Command.

So, August 14, 1945, will mark a day in the history of our nation and of the world which generations-yet unborn will celebrate throughout the ages.
Back home, as we face toward the east, thousands of miles away over the ocean; our people are celebrating the achievements of our Navy, of our shipmates--the Marines--and of our Army, and through the air, we who are sailing the seas feel a deep surge of pride and of pleasure as we hear over our radio the joyful shouts of our people back at home because each and every man in the uniform of our nation everywhere has a right to feel that he himself has contributed his share, no matter how small in the accomplishment of the final victory. It is the accumulated result of all of our efforts which has made possible the celebrating of our friends back home.

We of the Navy have every right to feel particularly proud of this great victory, because this particular war in the Pacific has been a Navy War and the Navy, "The greatest of American Institutions, glorious in achievements, and rich in tradition", has written new pages in the history of our Nation so bold they will never grow dim., They have made traditions which will live forever and ever, and we of the Navy have every right to feel proud of the wonderful achievement of our Navy in this, the last of all WARS.

So now, while the great guns of our fleet are silenced and our loved ones and friends back home are celebrating, it is equally fitting that we, a ship's company all alone in a ship of mercy, enroute to perform our duty, should also have our own celebration and you will note, flying from the signal yard arm ahead the signal flags Signifying. the call letters of our ship, and the message that the "Fighting has ended! The war is over! and All is well again."

God Bless America, a great nation once it is aroused and it never in history showed it's greatness with better or greater results that it has in the achievements of peace and the final victory in World War II, the last war for generations to come.

So now let us celebrate. I have just received a message from the Officer of the Deck that a strange commotion appears on the starboard side of the ship, "Officer of the Deck"', stop the ship, right 10 degrees rudder, there are some strange people coming up out of the sea with the intention, apparently of boarding us, It looks like Davey Jones, himself, Bos'n Mate stand by the starboard ladder to receive this strange visitor and escort him to the Commanding Officer. It is Davey Jones, and he informs me that Father Neptune, the Lord High Prosecutor, and his high court of Shellbacks desire to board us as they have a royal prisoner, World's ENEMY NO. 1, that they wish to bring aboard and try for his high crimes against hunanity. "Mr. Dearth, as Executive Officer will you attend the starboard-rail, provide his honor, King Neptune Rex, of all that floats on the seas and under the sea, with proper honors and pipe him over, the side? Escort him and his royal court and prisoner to the Bridge".

King Neptune Rex and his Lord High Prosecutor and court of Shellbacks together with the Shellback Master-at-arms come aboard the ship, bringing with them his former imperial puppet highness, Emperor of Japan, a nation whose sun has set.

In appropriate ceremonies before the assembled officers and crew of the U.S.S. SANCTUARY, Hirohito is tried for his crime against humanity, and against the Great American Nation. He is defended by the Devil who finally renounces him, claiming that none of the Devil's subjects could possibly be so fiendish as this person and those under his command.

King Neptune orders Hirohito hanged by the neck until he is dead, dead, dead.

And the Commanding Officer of the SANCTUARY joyfully carries out the sentence and Hirohito is hung by the neck to a stay on the mainmast before the assembled officers and crew of the "GOOD SANCTUARY," as our band plays "GOD BLESS AMERICA," and the crew cheers the execution, following this, the crew turns, to at a feast prepared by the RED CROSS WORKERS for members of the complement of this great ship of "MERCY."

USS SANCTUARY
MORNING NEWS
15 AUGUST 1945
WASHINGTON, DC. (SPECIAL BULLETIN)

PRESIDENT TRUMAN ANNOUNCED AT SEVEN O'CLOCK TONIGHT JAPANESE ACCEPTANCE OF SURRENDER TERMS PROCLAMED AT THE POTSDAM CONFERENCE. THE TERMS WILL BE ACCEPTED BY GENERAL MACARTHUR WHEN ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE COMPLETED. MR. TRUMAN READ THE FORMAL MESSAGE, RELAYED FROM EMPEROR HIROHITO THROUGH THE SWISS GOVERMMENT, IN WHICH THE JAPANESE RULER PLEDGED THE SURRENDER ON THE TERMS LAID DOWN BY THE BIG THREE AT POTSDAM. PRESIDENT TRUMAN MADE THIS STATEMENT "I HAVE RECEIVED THIS AFTERNOON A MESSAGE FROM THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN REPLY TO THE MESSAGE FORWARDED TO THAT GOVERNMENT BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE ON AUGUST ELEVEN . "I DEEM THIS REPLY A FULL ACCEPTANCE OF THE POTSDAM DECLARATION WHICH SPECIFIES THE UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER OF JAPAN IN THIS REPLY THERE IS NO QUALIFICATION. ARRANGEMENTS ARE NOW BEING MADE FOR THE FORMAL SIGNING OF SURRENDER TERMS AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE MOMENT. GENERAL MACARTHUR HAS BEEN APPOINTED THE SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER TO RECEIVE THE JAPANESE SURRENDER. GREAT BRITAIN, RUSSIA, AND CHINA WILL BE REPRESENTED BY HIGH RANKING OFFICERS. MEANTIME THE ALLIED ARMED FORCES HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO SUSPEND OFFENSIVE ACTION. THE PROCLAMATION OF V-J DAY MUST WAIT UPON THE FORMAL SIGNING OF THE SURPENDER TERMS BY JAPAN". SIMULTANEOUSLY, MR. TRUMAN ANNOUNCED STEPS TO SLASH INDUCTION FROM EIGHTY THOUSAND TO FIFTY THOUSAND A MONTH. ONLY MEN UNDER TWENTY-SIX WILL BE DRAFTED.

WASHINGTON, DC:
JAPAN FED REPORTS OF SURRENDER TO A WAR WRACKED WORLD TUESDAY, BUT KEPT IT ON EDGE WAITING FOR HER TO MAKE IT OFFICIAL LATE TUESDAY THERE WAS STILL NO CERTAINTY WHEN "'CEASE FIRING" ORDERS WOULD END HISTORY'S GREATEST WAR. IT WAS THOUGHT THAT ANOTHER DOSE OF ATOMIC BOMBS MIGHT BE NECESSARY TO CURE THE JAPS OF STALLING. THEY WERE ALREADY BEING PLASTERED HARD WITH LESSER WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION. PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARY ROSS DECLARED A JAPANESE SURRENDER NOTE WAS EXPECTED "SOMETIME TODAY" AND THAT " IT LOOKS AS IF WE ARE NEARING THE END OF OUR LONG VIGIL". THROUGH LONG TRYING HOURS, HOPES FOR AN EARLY PEACE HUNG ON A TOKYO BROADCAST THAT THE TEXT OF AN IMPERIAL MESSAGE ACCEPTING SURRENDER TERMS THE ALLIES LAID DOWN AT POTSDAM "WILL BE FORTHCOMING SOON." FOR A CHANGE, MOST OF THE WORLD WAS READY TO BELIEVE TOKYO RADIO. FROM GUAM AND MANILA TO CHICAGO AND NEW YORK, SPONTANEOUS VICTORY CELEBRATIONS ERUPTED. EXASPERATION MOUNTED IN UNDEMONSTRATIVE WASHINGTON. BUILDING IT UP WAS A STREAM OF CONFLICTING REPORTS FROM VARIOUS CAPITALS THEY RAN LIKE THIS: LONDON SAID PARIS RADIO QUOTED A MESSAGE FROM BERN SAYING A JAPANESE SURRENDER NOTE HAD BEEN TRANSMITTED TO SWITZERLAND. LONDON REPORTED THE SWISS RADIO AS PROCLAIMING "JAPAN HAS ACCEPTED THE CAPITULATIION OFFICIALLY". PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARY ROSS ANNOUNCED THAT A SURRENDER NOTE IS NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE SWISS". THE SWISS DELEGATION IN WASHINGTON AND A FOREIGN OFFICE COMMUNIOUE IN BERN SAID SIMULTANEOUSLY, NO SURRENDER COMMUNICATION HAD BEEN RECEIVED. THE WHITE HOUSE ISSUED A MEMO FROM THE SWISS DELEGATION DISCLOING THAT CODED CABLES RECEIVED EARLIER IN BERN DID NOT HOLD "THE ANSWER AWAITED BY THE WHOLE WORLD".

WASHINGTON:
THE HEAVY CRUISER "INDLANAPOLIS",WAS LOST RECENTLY AN THE PHILIPPINES FROM ENEMY ACTION WITH ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CASUALTIES TO HER PERSONNEL TOTALING 1,196 OFFICERS AND MEN. THE NAVY SAID THE CRUISER WAS SAILING FROM SAN FRANCISCO JULY SIXTEEN TO GUAM, DELIVERING ESSENTIAL ATOMIC BOMB MATERIAL. SHE WAS LOST AFTIER SAFELY DELIVERING HER CARGO.

PARIS:
A MONTH AFTER ANY JAPANESE SURRENDER IS SIGNED, A COMPLETE REVERSAL IN THE PRESENT EUROPEAN TROOP DEPLOYMENT PROCEDURE WILL TAKE PLACE "THAT WILL BRING THE HIGH POINT MAN INTO HIS OWN," A US SPOKESMAN SAID TUESDAY ORDERS. WERE EXPECTED TO GRANT PRIORITY TO HIGH POINT MEN ON HOMEWARD BOUND SHIPS AT PRESENT, THE LOW SCORE MEN HAVE BEEN GIVEN TOP BILLING AS THEY WERE RUSHED TO THE PACIFIC, EITHER DIRECT OR BY WAY OF THE UNITED STATES.

GUAM:
MORE THAN FIFTEEN MILLION LEAFETS, TWO MILLION OF THEM OUTLINING SECRETARY OF STATE BYRNES REPLY TO JAPAN'S INITIAL SURRENDER PROPOSAL, HAVE BEEN DROPPED ON JAPANESE CITIES BY SUPERFORTS IN THE LAST TEN DAYS.

CHUNGKIING:
THE GRAVE SITUATION BETWEEN THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND NORTHERN COMMUNISTS NOW PRECLUDES THE POSSIBILITY OF GENERALISIMO CHAING KAI SHEK REPRESENTING CHINA AT ANY JAPANESE SURRENDER CEREMONY. AN AUTHORITATIVE SOURCE RFPORTED THE CHINESE DELEGATION WOULD BE HEADED BY GENERAL HSU YUNG CHANG, CHIEF OF THE BOARD OF MILITARY OPERATIONS IN CHUNGKING SINCE NINETEEN THIRTY-EIGHT.

SAN FRANCISCO:
JAPAN CLAIMED TUESDAY THEIR SCIENTISTS HAVE DEVELOPED TWO WONDER DRUGS,"KOHA" AND "SHIKO" WHICH RAPIDLY ARE CURING THOUSANDS OF PERSONS BURNED IN AIR RAIDS. A DOMEI NEWS AGENCY BROADCAST RECORDED BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION SAID THE PILLS ALSO WERE GOOD FOR CHILBLAINS.

SAN FRANCISCO:
TOKYO JOLTED THE WORLD ALREADY ON EDGE WITH PEACE HOPES TUESDAY, WTH THE RADI0 BROADCAST THAT "AN IMPERIAL MESSAGE ACCEPTING THE POTSDAM DECLARATION WILL BE FORTHCOMING SOON." DOMEI SEMI-OFFICIAL NEWS AGENCY PUT THE ANNOUNCEMENT AT 150 EM EWT, AND IN ANOTHER BROADCAST HEARD BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION DESCRIBED A SCENE OF WEEPING JAPANESE GATHERED BEFORE THE IMPERIAL PALACE. "AUGUST 14, 1945 THE IMPERIAL DECISION WAS GRANTED" DOMEI SAID, "THE PALACE GROUNDS ARE OUIET BENEATH THE DARK CLOUDS". THEN WHILE TELLING HOW THE "MOB OF LOYAL PEOPLE ARE BOWED TO THE VERY GROUND" AND THEIR "TEARS FLOW UNQUENCHED". THE BROADCAST WAS SUDDENLY WAS TERMINATED WITH A SHARP WORD TO LISTENERS TO STAND BY THEIR RADIOS LATER. DOMEI NOTIFIED THE JAPANESE THAT AN "IMPORTANT TRANSMIS:ION WOULD BE MADE " TOMORROW AT NOON-JAPANESE TIME. THIS TRANSMISSION WILL BE OF UPPRECEDENTED IMPORTANCE, SO THE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE WITHOUT EXCEPTION MUST LISTEN ATTENTATIVELY",- A REPEAT BROADCAST NOTICATION OF THE IMPORTANT STATEMENT AND THEN ANNOUNCED THAT PLANS, HAD BEEN MADE TO MAKE ELECTRIC CURRENT AVAILABLE ON NORMALLY RESTRICTED CURRENTS, PRESUMABLY SO THAT ALL JAPAN COULD HEAR THE RADIO REPORT.

THE AMERICAN THIRD AND BRITISH PACIFIC FLEETS, WORKING TOGETHER AS HISTORYS GREATEST SEA FORCE, PROWLED OFF JAPAN TUESDAY WAITING FRO THE MIKADO TO MAKE GOOD ON TOKYO RADIO` S BROADCAST PROMISE THAT THE EMPEROR'S WORD OF SURRENDER WOULD BE "FORTHCOMING SOON". ADMIRAL NIMITZ HEADQUARTERS AT GUAM GAVE NO IMMEDIATE HINT OF THE PART OF THE FLEETS UNDER ADMIRAL HALSEY'S COMMAND WOULD PLAYWHEN JAPAN SAYS OFFICIALLY "WE'VE HAD ENOUGH," BUT THE ARMADA WAS THE ALLIED FORCE NEAREST TOKYO . AMERICAN AND BRITISH CARRIER PLANES RIPPED UP AIRFIELDS IN THE TOKYO AREA MONDAY. THE FLATTOPS WERE OPERATING LESS THAN 200 MILES OFF THE JAP COAST. NEAREST AMERICAN GROUND FORCES TO JAPAN ARE THE TENTH ARMY AND OTHER UNITS ON OKINAWA. MEANWHILE, OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN OF THE HUGE GUAM NAVAL BASE WAITED WITH RISING HOPES FOR THE OFFICIAL WORD THAT JAPAN HAD QUIT STALLING AND AT LAST SENT ITS WORD OF SURRENDER ON ITS WAY TO ALLIED CAPITALS.

ALLIED AERIAL ONSLAUGHTS ON JAPAN CONTINUED IN NONSTOP AROUND THE CLOCK FURY TUESDAY WITH BOMBING, STRAFING, AND ROCKETING PLANES ACCENTUATING ALLIED DEMANDS FOR ACCEPTANCE OF SURRENDER TERMS LAID DOWN FOR JAPAN. MORE THAN EIGHT HUNDRED SUPERFORTS HURLED APPROXIMATELY SIX THOUSAND TONS OF DEMOLITION AND FIREBOMBS INTO THE HOME ISLANDS IN THE PAST 24 HOURS UNDERWAY. EVEN AS TOKYO RADIO MONDAY SAID AN ANSWER TO THE ALLIED NOTE OF SATURDAY WAS EN ROUTE. THE B-29 RAIDS CONTINUED INTO THE EARLY HOURS TUESDAY. TWO HUNDRED IWO BASED FIGHTERS GAVE ESCORT

LONDON:
TOKYO BROADCASTS INDICATED TUESDAY NIGHT THAT SOVIET TROOPS RUSHING TOWARD HARIN FROM THE WEST AND EAST HAD CRASHED SIXTY MILES THROUGH JAPANESE LINES IN WESTERN MANCHURIA AND AT THE SAME TIME REPORTED A NEW RUSSIAN SEABORNE INVASION ATTEMPT IN KOREA. THERE WAS NO LETUP IN THE FURY OF WAR IN MIANCHURIA. THE RUSSIANS WERE TEARING AHEAD AT FIVE POINTS ALONG A VASIT 2300 MILE FRONT. HEEDLESS OF PEACE TALKS THE KHARBAROVSK RADIO CALLED ON RUSSAN SOLDIERS TO INNCREASE THEIR BLOWS AND MERCILESSLY BREAK THE ENEMY'S RESISTANCE." GAINING SPEED AS THEY HIT FLAT COUNTRY, WEST OF HARBIN, RUSSIAN SPEARHEADS WHICH BROKE ACROSS THE GREAT KINGHAM MOUNAIN RANGE WERE REPORTED BY TOKYO TO HAVE ADVANCED TO THE AREA OF TAONAN 185 MILES WEST OF THE GREAT CENTRAL MCHURIAN WAR PRODUCTION CITY

WASHINGTON, DC:
A GOVERNMENT PROMISE "TO GET OUT OF THE INDUSTRYS WAY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE" CAME TUESDAY. A HIGH OFFICIAL HIGH OFFICIAL OF THE WAR PRCDUCTI0N BOARD SAID HIS AGENCY WOULD "DROP OUT OF THE PICTURE AS SOON AS INDUSTRY IS SAFELY ON A PEACETIME FOOTING. PRESIDENT TRUMAN HAS GIVEN WPB A MAJOR ROLE IN GETTING THE COUNTRY CHANGED BACK TO A PEACETIME BASIS. THE OFFICIAL STRESSED THAT WOULD FOLLOW TO THE LETTER THE PRESIDENT'S PROGRAM FOR SAFEGUARDING THE NATIONAL ECOMONY DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD. WPB CHAIRMAN KRUG ORDERED IMMEDIATE STEPS TO SEE THAT WIDESCALE CIVILIAN PRODUCTION IS NOT IMPEDED BY EXCESSIVE STOCKPILING, PREEMPTIVE BUYING, OR HOARDING OF SCARCE MATERIALS BY A FEW.

CANADA:
THE AMERCAN FLAG WHICH WAS LOWERED FROM THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN TOKYO WHEN THE JAPS ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR DECEMBER SEVENTH NINETEEN FORTY ONE WAS RAISED OVER THE ONTARIO COUNTY COURT HOUSE TUESDAYAN ANTICIPATION OF AN OFFICIAL JAPANESE SURRENDER ANNOUNCEMENT. THE FLAG WAS BROUGHT TO THE UNITED STATES BY H. MERRILL BENNINGHOFF, SECOND SECRETARY OF THE EMBASSY, WHEN HE RETURNED WITH OTHER DIPLOMATS IN NINETEEN FORTY-TWO.
THE GIANT AIRCRAFT CARRIER MIDWAY DESCRIBED BY NEWSPAPER AND RADIO NEWSMEN WHO TOURED THE VESSEL AS "ONE OF THE GREATEST MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS" THEY HAD EVER SEEN, MAY NOT SEE BATTLE ACTION IN THIS WAR IF JAPAN SURRENDERS SOON.

MACARTHUR, CALIF:
CAPTAIN TOM HARMON FORMER MICHIGAN ALL-AMERICAN HALFBACK, TONIGHT RECEIVED HIS DISCHARGE FROM THE ARMY AIR FORCES AFTER NEARLY FOUR YEARS OF SERVICE. HARMON, HOLDER OF THE SILVER STAR AND THE PURPLE HEART, TWICE MADE HIS WAY BACK FROM MISSIONS OVER DUTCH GUIANA AND CHINA ON WHICH HE WAS REPORTED MISSING FOLLOWING CRASHES. HARMON WAS INDEFINITE ABOUT FUTURE PLANS, BUT SAID HE WAS CONSIDERING RETURNING TO RADIO SPORTS ANNOUNCING, HIS OCCUPATION FROM THE TIME HE WAS GRADUATED FROM MICHIGAN UNTIL HIS ENLISTMENT IN NOVEMBER NINETEEN FORTYONE.

CHUNGKING:
CHINESE TROOPS DRIVING WITHIN TWENTYFOUR MILES OF LINGLING, IN SOUTH CENTRAL CHINA HAVE CUT AN ESCAPE ROUTE FOR THOUSANDS OF JAPS TROOPS IN KWANGSI PROVINCE SOUTHWEST OF THE FORMER AMERICAN AIR BASE CITY, THE CHINESE COMMAND DISCLOSED TUESDAY NIGHT. A COMMUNIQUE ANNOUNCED AT CHIANG KAI SHEK'S TROOPS, FIGHTING ON DESPITE JAPANESE PEACE BIDS, HAD REACHED AND ATTACKED THE JAP GARRISON AT TUNGAN, TWENTYFOUR MILES WEST OF LINIGLING IN HUNAN PROVINCE.

WASHINGTON, DC:
THE CRY FOR QUICK SUSPENSION OF THE DRAFT AND EARLY RELEASE OF MEN FROM THE ARMED FORCES ROSE IN VOLUME TUESDAY. AT THE SAME TIME, OFFICIAL FIXING OF THE VJ DAY BECAME A MATTER OF VITAL CONCERN NOT ONLY TO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS BUT TO GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.

19 Aug 1945 Arrived Pearl Harbor.
22 Aug 1945 Left Pearl Harbor for Okinawa.
3 Sep 1945 Arrived in Buckner Bay, Okinawa.
9 Sep 1945 Got underway for Wakayama, Japan.
11 Sep 1945 Arrived Wakayama, Japan.
15 Sep 1945 Got underway for Buckner Bay, Okinawa.
19 Sep 1945 Anchored on Western side of Naha to discharge patients.
20 Sep 1945 Got underway for Buckner Bay.
21 Sep 1945 Got underway for Nagasaki, Japan.
22 Sep 1945 Arrived at Nagasaki, Japan.
24 Sep 1945 Got underway for Okinawa.
25 Sep 1945 Anchored on Western side of Naha Okinawa.
26 Sep 1945 Moved on to Buckner Bay.
28 Sep 1945 - Put out to sea to avoid typhoon.
1 Oct 1945 - Dropped anchor in Buckner Bay, Okinawa.
3 Oct 1945 - Got underway for Apra Harbor, Guam.
7 Oct 1945 - Arrived in Apra Harbor, Guam.
8 Oct 1945 - Got underway for San Francisco, California.
11 Oct 1945 - Via Radio, Diverted to Pearl Harbor.
13 Oct 1945 Crossed 1800 Meridian 1450.
16 Oct 1945 Arrived Pearl Harbor at 0900.
16 Oct 1945 Departed Pearl Harbor at 1430.
22 Oct 1945 Arrived San Francisco, at 0900.

Letters From 1945 Ship's Passengers

LETTER NO. 1

16 September 1945
The Captain
U.S.N.H.S. SANCTUARY.

Sir:
May I have the-honor of proffering this note of appreciation to you, your ship's company and evacuation staff at Wakayama for your great efforts in evacuating us from Japan so quickly and comfortably.

Each one of us will always remember the care and kindness given us and hope that this letter might convey our gratitude which is difficult to express other wise.

May I add with deepest sincerity, "GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

Yours truly,

/S/ Wilfred Crossen, for British ex-POW's

LETTER NO. 2

17 September, 1945.

The Commandant, U.S.S. SANCTUARY

Sir:
I am a tea planter from Assam, India - Irish by birth and 51 years of age - evacuated from Motoyama Prison Camp on the 13th September, 1945. I came, or rather was carried on board this wonderful ship on the night of the 14th, and prior to leaving I wish to thank you and your wonderful staff for your great kindness to me. I shall never, never forget it. May God bless all of you.

The cussed "Nips" made my life a Hell for 31/2 years, but you, and those under your command have obliterated the past in these few days. Well, what more can I say? Words fai1 me.

Thank you once again for all you and yours have done.

Yours very respectfully,
/3/ L.A. JACK, Cpl.

LETTER NO. 3

The Captain,
U.S.S.SANCTUARY.

Sir:
I wish to express my deep appreciation of the fine treatment I have received since. I have been a guest aboard your ship. Coming from a POW camp to this ship has been a rise from Hell to Heaven, and this Heaven has all the trimmings.

I wish also to thank the Nurses and orderlies who have done so much to make us feel at home. Their kindnesses are without number. And for the officers, they are just as I expected gentlemen, all.

You have made-us feel a part of your ship, sir, and know that always, we will have cause to remember the good ship SANCTUARY and her crew.

I am sir, Your Obedient Servant.

/S/ Burus, D., Cpl.,
2nd Bn. The Royal Scots,
Late of Tomano Camp, Japan.

LETTER NO. 4

To the Commander of the Hospital Ship, "SANCTUARY".

--As ever a promise has been kept, then it was McArthur's, that on board of the evacuation ships, everything would be "To our heart's delight!"

--Surely the change from a Japanese POW camp to the "Good SANCTUARY" has been so much for us all, that we cannot possibly find adequate words to express our gratitude.,...

--We think it a great privilege to have been patients on your ship.

--On behalf of all the Dutch we want to thank most sincerely the Commander, Doctors and Nurses, the Representatives of the Red Cross, Officers, and further crew for all they have done for us.

--You have given us the first taste of being really at home again. Thanks again and "Good Luck" to you all.

Nihama POW Camp. Motoyama POW Camp
/S/ J.E. Hansen /S/ T.H. Van Qeurert

LETTER NO. 5

Okinawa, 19 Sept. 1945.

Dear Captain:

I cannot express my thoughts to you, or the officers, nurses, orderlies, and crew of the good SANCTUARY, but believe me the work done for us, has been splendid and nothing seems to have put-you or your staff at a loss. I only wish I and the rest of the POW's were continuing all the way on this ship, which is heaven itself after a Japanese Hell. A few more months and I think you would have found very few prisoners to take off Japan, but I thank God and a bit of guts has brought a lot of us through. I thank the storm for letting us have a few more days- with you. So here's hoping you and your staff have "Bon Voyage" wherever you go and may God look after all of you the good work you are doing.

Yours with every sincerity,

J.H. Brogden.

LETTER NO. 6

19 September, 1945.

Dear Sir,

Our short voyage on your grand ship has drawn to a close much too soon it seems. Since I came East of Suez eight years ago, I have traveled quite a number of miles, but never have I had such a grand trip. You have done much to make us forget the grim past, and look forward to the better days ahead. So I take this chance of thanking you, sir, also the nurses and crew. Wishing you all the very best of health and good luck.

Yours sincerely,

/S/ R.V. BUDD

LETTER NO. 7

Dear Sir:

We are not very good at writing letters especially letters of thanks, so would you kindly accept this as a letter of appreciation and thanks.

There is no other way except by letter in which we could show our appreciation to the nurses, officers, members of the crew and yourself for the fine way in which we have been taken care of since arrival on this ship, the good SANCTUARY rightly named. Whilst aboard we've been treated with great kindness and everyone, nurses,-officers, and crew have been very good to us all. The few days we've been on board has been Heaven compared to what we have been through during the last three and a half years.

The days we've spent here is the beginning of a new life to us all and those days will never be forgotten by us. Thanking you all, we are

Very sincerely yours,

/S/ Michael O'Connor.
Herfordshire Regiment.

/S/ T.H. Dudley
Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

LETTER NO. 8

Dear Captain,

Many thanks for the safe passage from Japan. I have enjoyed every moment aboard the U.S.S.SANCTUARY and know that my mates have. The ship has lived up to its name. Give my regards and thanks to the officers and crew for all they have done for our comfort and entertainment. Gee, that ice cream was grand after 31 years. Again,I say, thanks to you all.

Yours truly,

/S/ T.H. HANCOX.

LETTER NO. 9

Commander Wm. VAN C. BRANDT, USNR
Officers and Personnel,
U.S.S.SANCTUARY.

On behalf of all evacuated officers and men, I wish to express our whole-hearted appreciation for everything that has been done for us.

We are all most grateful for the kindness, comfort, and assistance given us; and again, our most sincerest thanks to you all.

/S/ R.J.S. EARLE, Major

LETTER NO. 10 - from a MISSOURI crew member

U.S.S MISSOURI
C/0 Fleet Post Office
San Francisco, Calif.

At Sea
15 August 1945

My dear von Zielinski,

Haven't had any mail in the last month so I am sort of out of touch with things but I thought you might be interested in the last day of the war in the Third Fleet. The day started off at 0300 When We manned our battle stations. Our first air strike went off at four against Tokyo. Apparently the Nips had not gotten the news and were very belligerent. They started throwing everything at us that would fly. However their hearts didn't seem to be in their work because their attacks were very poorly executed and they seemed more bent on killing themselves than us. It's right funny In that connection - after fighting the Jap Air Force this long we have gotten to know them pretty well. We can practically tell by the WAY he attacks whether we are going up against a Navy pilot, an Army pilot, or a trainee. The Navy pilots are very much the best and when we catch one of them we stand by to let him have the works and it is really quite a battle - our gunnery skills against his. We have been fairly successful in our little game and have knocked down everything that has attacked except one Kamikaze which caught us a glancing blow on the fantail and bounced off harmlessly.

At 1000 we received the President's proclamation that hostilities had ceased. Immediately the whole Fleet ran up their huge battle flags which have not been flown since 1918 and sounded off with all the whistles and sirens. The din was terrific but joyous. Our joy was short lived however because we received a report that some Betty's (Jap twin engine) had been sighted and were en route for us. Our Combat Air Patrol got them before they arrived but their enthusiasm was considerably dampened. The British Task Force nearby signaled us that they were splicing the main brace in our honor but that only made me thirsty.

At 1300 Admiral Halsey gave a fine speech over the voice radio to the Third Fleet. He bad been as happy as a clam all day and was dancing around like a kitten. During his speech two Zeke's (Jap single engines) approached and were shot down. By then my boys were a little undecided whether the war was over for the Missouri or not - so we concluded that we will keep our crews on the guns and the ammunition up. Do you concur?

I suppose we will stand by now to enter Tokyo bay as soon as things clear up. I am looking forward to a little Sake Cocktail. Anything would taste good now.

I was very happy to receive your note and so glad you apparently have a job which you like.

Sincerely,

Dick Bird

SANCTUARY made a round trip between California and Hawaii during JAN and departed San Francisco 7 FEB for deactivation at League Island, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She arrived 1 MAR, was decommissioned 15 AUG, and was berthed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

1 SEP -- Her name was stricken from the Navy list. She was then transferred to the Maritime Administration for berthing with the National Defense Reserve Fleet.  

Vietnam era ship's patch: "Copiae Servamus"

Patch scan provided by Tommy Bolton

1 MAR -- SANCTUARY was reacquired by the Navy and was reinstated on the Navy list. She was towed to Louisiana, modernized at Avondale Shipyards, Inc., Westwego, Louisiana, and recommissioned at New Orleans on 15 NOV. The modernization process installed a helicopter deck, three X-ray units, a blood bank, an artificial kidney machine, ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, a recompression chamber, four operating rooms, and enough medical, culinary, and laundry equipment to supplement her 20 wards. A recommissioning "nucleus crew" outfitted the ship prior to its trip to San Francisco via the Panama Canal.  The trip took the ship near Acapulco, Mexico.  Initial hospital staffing was 316 medical personnel.

She headed for her new mission on 8 MAR, departing San Francisco for Vietnam. She joined the US Seventh Fleet 2 APR at Subic Bay, Philippines. With the advent of Vietnam, her mission had changed from the former ambulance ship that had carried the wounded and sick to rear area hospitals to the new role of a fully equipped hospital carrying medical facilities close to the combat area.  She joined her sister ship, USS REPOSE (AH-16), off Danang 10 APR and took her first casualties that afternoon --- ten Marines badly burned when their amphibious tank hit a land mine that had exploded their gasoline tank. By midnight SANCTUARY had received 136 patients. By the end of April she had admitted 717 patients --- 319 combat casualties, 72 non-combat injuries, 326 suffering from various diseases --- and had treated 682 outpatients. Of those numbers, only two of her patients died.

The German hospital ship HELGOLAND was moored alternately in Saigon and Danang to fly the flag of the German Red Cross. HELGOLAND was eventually replaced by a land-based German clinic in An Hoa, Central Vietnam. Viet Cong later captured most of the clinic's doctors and nurses, took them on a death march to North Vietnam, and ultimately killed them. Many West German aid workers of faith-based and other non-governmental organizations appeared during the Vietnam conflict. Bonn funded the groups, but religious and/or other ethical commitments directed them toward often dangerous goals. The murdered doctors and nurses were employees of the German branch of the Knights of Malta, a lay order of Catholic nobility.

Assigned to duty off Vietnam on a non-rotating basis, SANCTUARY began her extended overseas tour spending a minimum of 50 days operating on the line each quarter, followed by an availability and upkeep period at Subic Bay. By APR 68, after a year on that schedule, she had admitted 5,354 patients and treated another 9,187 as outpatients. Helicopters made more than 2,500 landings on her deck.  By MAY her schedule was changed to 90 day on-the-line periods within the same operating area. She rotated among stations off the I Corps Tactical Area, including Danang, Phu Bai, Chu Lai, and Dong Ha. Her location at any time was dictated by the ongoing needs of Marines fighting in the northern provinces of South Vietnam.

Beginning of "Vietnamization"; midway through the year the Marine Corps offensive mission changed to a holding action; casualties decreased, SANCTUARY admissions dropped considerably --- and USS REPOSE was eventually returned stateside. Force levels of the Army (which maintained its own field hospitals) were increasing.

JUN -- Army nurse 1LT Sharon Lane was killed in Vietnam. Lane was the first nurse to be killed by enemy fire in Vietnam. SANCTUARY was swamped with casualties. During the night the Viet Cong had lobbed mortars into the Navy Hospital in Danang. There was no ship in Danang Harbor --- REPOSE was on its way to the DMZ and SANCTUARY was enroute to Danang.

. . . before we dropped anchor at 0730, the 1MC was calling for "litter bearers and all off duty x-ray techs, report to x-ray". Shortly, we heard, "all off duty lab techs, report to the lab" and we were admitting patients. Because Danang hospital had been hit during the night, they had all they could do to handle their injured, and the injured in the field had to wait until we arrived. The operating rooms on SANCTUARY ran until 2200 to accommodate all the injured. I remember as a day shift nurse, that the evening nurse never arrived on my ward for evening shift report. Seems there were about eight patients on the other surgical ward who had chest tubes and she was still trying to sort things out there. In those days, patients with chest tubes were in ICU, but our ICU was filled, so they had to go to the ward. Also, the evening nurse usually covered several wards. I stayed and worked a double shift and was relieved by midnight by the night nurse. The next day, we were back to "normal" and the high influx of fresh casualties did not continue. That was the last time SANCTUARY had a high census, to my knowledge . . . former LTJG Ellen Komarek, NC, USNR.

USS Repose left Vietnam 16 MAR and was decommissioned two months later. Sanctuary maintained her busy schedule as she became the only US Navy hospital off Vietnam --- and increased the pace of the schedule throughout 1970 and into 1971. USS Sanctuary remained in Vietnam, once spending a record 121 days on the line.

"fantail art" that greeted incoming choppers near the helo deck; a lighter glimpse of MEDEVAC duty --- artist unknown

Patch scan provided by Tommy Bolton: "I have been hanging onto this patch since I was an HM3 onboard the Sanctuary from '70-71. I do not remember where it came from, but it must have been a local production since TEAM is spelled wrong."

Her permanent departure from Danang was 23 APR. Enroute to Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, SANCTUARY visited Hong Kong, China; Sasebo, Japan; and Pearl Harbor Hawaii. She arrived Mare Island Naval Shipyard 10 JUN. Placed on the "in commission - in reserve" list 31 AUG, SANCTUARY later moved to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, California, where she was eventually decommissioned for yard conversion on 15 DEC.

USS SANCTUARY (AH-17) earned these awards for her extensive service:

Battle Stars (11)

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation Second Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic/Pacific Campaign Medal Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal Fourth Row - Vietnam Service Medal (12) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

VIETNAM CAMPAIGNS

Vietnamese Counteroffensive 9 April 1966

Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II 9 April to 31 May 1967

Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III 1 June to 3 June 1967 16 June to 18 July 1967 25 July to 27 August 1969 4 December 1967 to 6 January 1968 14 January to 29 January 1968

Tet Counteroffensive 30 January to 2 March 1968

Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV 2 April to 1 May 1968 9 May to 30 June 1968

Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V 1 July to 8 August 1968 16 August to 1 November 1968

Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI 2 November to 8 November 1968 16 November 1968 to 22 February 1969

Tet 69/Counteroffensive 23 February to 14 March 1969 22 March 1969

Vietnamese Summer - Fall 1969 12 June to 21 August 1969 2 September to 31 October 1969

Vietnamese Winter - Spring 1970 1 November to 15 November 1969 28 November 1969 to 14 February 1970 27 February to 25 April 1970

Sanctuary Counteroffensive 8 May to 30 June 1970

Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII 1 July 1970 7 August to 8 October 1970 10 October 1970 31 December 1970 to 8 February 1971 22 February to 2 May 1971

7 AUG - CNO Admiral Zumwalt Z-gram #116 - EQUAL RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN THE NAVY

SANCTUARY ushered in a new Navy era --- she underwent an eleven-month conversion at Hunters Point for use as a dependents' hospital and Navy Exchange commissary/retail store. Two women officers and sixty enlisted women were ordered to the ship for "other than medical duties", thereby qualifying the SANCTUARY as the first United States Navy ship with a mixed male-female ship's company upon her recommissioning 18 NOV.  In 1972, limited entry into all Navy ratings was authorized for enlisted women. Officer Staff Corps and Restricted Line Officer positions were opened to women. Pending change to Navy Regulations, suspended restrictions regarding women succeeding to command ashore was authorized. The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress. Captain Alene Duerk, NC, Director of the Navy Nurse Corps since 1968, was spot-promoted to Admiral (first female Flag officer). The name WAVE was dropped as an official title.

Refresher training with the new ship's crew started JAN 73. She put to sea for two weeks, returned to Hunters Point 22 FEB and remained berthed until 16 AUG. She got underway for two days of cruising, returned to San Francisco on 17 AUG, and began a lengthy restricted availability period while the propulsion system was converted to utilize Navy distillate fuel.  The US State Department sponsored a three-month goodwill cruise to South America. SANCTUARY assisted the peoples of Colombia and Haiti with medical aid, material aid (by delivering over $500,000 worth of non-monetary donations), and civic action projects (civil engineering assistance). She visited Buena Ventura, Colombia, from 12 OCT to 6 NOV and berthed at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from 13 NOV until early DEC.   SANCTUARY arrived at her new homeport, Mayport, Florida, on 14 DEC and remained there for the duration of the year. She then operated along the eastern seaboard of the US and in the Caribbean.

USS SANCTUARY was decommissioned 28 MAR. She was the last of the USS-designated hospital ships and the last hospital ship to serve with an all-Navy crew.

. . . was decommissioned in Philadelphia near the end of March, 1975 . . . DANFS incorrectly states that she was decommissioned in March of 1974.  I was there as part of the ship's crew when she was decommissioned in 1975. I served as a ship's serviceman as Rebecca Johnson, SH3 when it was decommissioned. I remember people like "Woody" Woodall, Dale Jett, J D Walker, Trish Reinhardt, the Seabee team, Sally Cravens, Mike Svoboda, Freddie Gallaspy, John Pacheco, Roy Shuff, Mary Jane Smith, Tony Wertz, and others . . . former SH3 Rebecca Johnson

16 FEB -- SANCTUARY was stricken from the Naval Vessels Register after her sale for $10.00 to Life International, which planned to sail her to third world countries as a missionary medical training facility. An act of Congress allowed the SANCTUARY charitable purchase to take place; the Navy had previously planned to scrap SANCTUARY. The missionary project fizzled after the death of the nonprofit agency's chairman. Not sure what to do with the SANCTUARY, the same agency attempted to give her back to the Navy until Project Life's Board of Directors intervened. Four years later, Life International transferred the vessel to Project Life, Inc., which planned to convert the ship into a job training center for recovering drug addicts.

AUG -- The third USNS Mercy(T-AH 19) and the third USNS Comfort(T-AH 20), now Military Sealift Command vessels, were activated for duty in the Persian Gulf war. "USNS" denotes Military Sealift Command (MSC) operational responsibility for each ship and its safety. Civilian Mariners (CIVMARS) handle ship's operations, engineering, deck and supply division tasks --- which was performed by US Navy personnel aboard older USS-designated hospital ships. The separate US Navy Command aboard COMFORT and MERCY is still responsible for hospital and hospital staff, as it always has been on all American hospital ships.

31 JUL -- Senate Bill 657 before the Maryland General Assembly seeks to create a State Debt not to exceed $500,000 for a grant to the Board of Directors of Project Life, Inc., for the repair, renovation, restoration, and reconstruction of, and for the provision of capital equipment for, the former hospital ship, the USS SANCTUARY. The ship would be used for residential educational programs for women with chemical dependencies in Baltimore. The board of directors must provide matching funds by June 1, 1999 --- which may consist of the ship, the USS SANCTUARY, the value of which is in excess of $5,000,000. Project Life now owns the ship and has plans to utilize SANCTUARY as an asset in the service of the Baltimore community rather than returning it to the Navy to be scrapped.

Project Life: The SANCTUARY plans to accommodate a group of women and their children who will be treated for alcohol and/or drug addiction in a safe, residential Baltimore setting.  The SANCTUARY invites staff, crew, and patients to be in touch.

12 FEB -- Barry Marsh frequently paddles his sea kayak past SANCTUARY's pier at Baltimore's (MD) North Locust Point Marine Terminal: "I've noticed no activity aboard her for many months now - no lights, no one on deck, no cars parked nearby. Sometime this coming spring when I paddle near the ship I'll take some photos and forward them to you; feel free to post them to your SANCTUARY website."

Barry is, coincidentally, the son of CDR Arnold D. Marsh, USN (Ret), SANCTUARY OinC/PCO/PXO from DEC 71 to JUN 73.

Check out his other three pics in the SANCTUARY Photo Album.

Doug Thompson sent me a Haiku he wrote after passing near Sanctuary on the Baltimore Water Taxi with his family: " . . . was struck by a very large eagle's nest (probably bald, too big for osprey) way up in the crossties of the main mast. I remarked to my wife that the image of the nest, tails of long grass noticably trailing in the wind, with the stark, rusting, but still somehow proud ship and its title --- somehow seemed a fitting tribute."

mothballed Sanctuary
borrowed wharf bark, strands of mizzen grass
eagles in the crow's nest

28 JUL -- Patricia Kelley "took some photos this past weekend of the Sanctuary while we were in Baltimore and thought you may be interested. These pictures were taken from the water taxi. There did not seem to be any activity on board, but it was a Sunday."

One of her photos clearly shows the subject of Doug Thompson's Haiku:

Long-held plans to create a training center for recovering drug addicts inside an old U.S. Navy hospital ship appear to have sunk, moving the Maryland Port Administration a step closer to gaining possession of the former USS Sanctuary.

At MPA’s request, the clerk of the U.S. District Court in Baltimore filed an order of default against Project Life Inc., the charity that owns the Sanctuary, a former Navy hospital ship. The state agency sued Project Life in March, saying the charity owed nearly $100,000 in back rent and other fees for docking at Baltimore’s North Locust Point Marine Terminal.

The court ruled that Project Life failed to respond to the suit in a timely manner. That moves MPA closer to winning its suit, which asked the court to condemn the Sanctuary and sell it or turn it over to the state. Proceeds from the sale would help repay Project Life’s debt.

“The MPA intends to continue pursuing the relief requested in its complaint,” spokesman Richard Scher said in a statement. Scher declined to comment further.

The default order is the latest turn in a years-long legal battle between MPA and Project Life over the promised drug-rehabilitation center. In 1989, the charity, then known as Life International, bought the Sanctuary from the U.S. Maritime Administration. Launched in 1944, the Sanctuary provided medical care for soldiers during World War II and the Vietnam War.

MPA did not want the ship at the marine terminal, saying a rehabilitation center did not fit the mission of a state-owned port. Project Life disagreed and sued, saying the agency violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against the charity. A federal court backed Project Life in 2001, forcing MPA to sign a five-year lease with the charity.

Project Life has leased space at the North Locust Point terminal ever since. But the charity has not paid rent since January 2004 and continued to dock the Sanctuary there, even after its lease expired last June, according to the MPA suit.

In February, the dilapidated ship broke its moorings and was adrift until MPA secured it at a cost of $3,800. That same month, the captain of the Port of Baltimore informed Project Life that the ship “presents an unacceptable risk to the Port of Baltimore with the existing mooring arrangements at Pier 6,” according to the lawsuit.

It is unclear why plans for the rehabilitation center fell through. Project Life President Stephen Hammer and his wife had been enthusiastic about providing work-related training to recovering female drug addicts aboard the Sanctuary, according to past reports in The Daily Record.

Hammer could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

MPA’s suit called Project Life’s charitable work into question, describing the group’s “ownership of the Vessel” as its “only activity.”

The latest tax documents available for the charity are from 1998, according to Web site guidestar.org, which tracks nonprofits. That year, the charity reported having net assets of about $5.8 million. It said more than 98 percent of its funding came from “public support,” such as government grants.

The M/V Sanctuary, a former Navy hospital ship left to rot at the port of Baltimore, was auctioned off yesterday for $50,000.

A lawyer for the would-be owner refused to identify his client and couldn't say what will be done with the 522-foot-long, eight-story-high ship, promising more details if a judge agrees to accept the bid.

The ship was seized by federal marshals in March and auctioned by the U.S. District Court to repay debt racked up by the owner who wanted to see the vessel continue its long history of public service, this time as a floating drug rehab center.

Stephen J. Hammer, who couldn't be reached for comment yesterday, had fought a long battle with the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore to lease a pier for the ship.

Hammer eventually won a five-year lease for the ship's berth in North Locust Point in 2001 that expired in June 2006. But his debt continues to mount, with the tally for rent and fees reaching $284,567.93 as of yesterday.

Two bidders vied for the vessel during the auction yesterday on the steps of the federal courthouse downtown.

The first offer was for $1. The next was for $5. The first bidder then raised his offer to $50,000 - enough to swiftly end the contest and, perhaps, keep the court from rejecting the bid.

"We think it's a fair price," said Lawrence J. Kahn, the New York attorney representing a company called Potomac Navigation Inc., which was formed to buy the ship. Delaware records show the company was formed this month in that state and lists its registered agent as Yacht Registry Ltd., a company that assists firms seeking to incorporate in the state.

Kahn said the ship's next use depends on the vessel's condition. Engineers representing the would-be owner had only been able to look at the ship once before the auction and said there will be further inspections. The former hospital ship could be used for commercial purposes, sold or scrapped, he said.

The Sanctuary does appear to be deteriorating. It rests in the water off a weedy pier and has no gangplank. It broke free of its mooring lines earlier this year, and the Coast Guard told Hammer in a letter in March that the ship "presents an unacceptable risk to the port of Baltimore."

Officials never wanted the rehab center housed at the port in the first place because they said a working terminal was too dangerous for the ship's occupants.

If the judge accepts yesterday's bid, the ship will be towed away in the next 60 days.

That's a sad ending for Tom Callahan, a Vietnam veteran who came to the auction with his wife, Catherine, from Suffolk County, N.Y., to see what would become of the Sanctuary.

"We've been following the story of the Sanctuary for a long time," Catherine Callahan said. "Tom's life was saved aboard the Sanctuary when it was a hospital ship. We wanted to see it saved."

The Callahans wanted it to become a floating museum.

Kahn, the bidder's lawyer, said he would try and at least get the couple on board one last time.

From the port's perspective, the vessel is no longer serving any good purpose. It's using a pier along the harbor that could be rehabilitated and used for commercial purposes. North Locust Point is primarily used to handle paper products coming into the port.

"We're happy this vessel will soon be removed from its present location," said Richard Scher, a port spokesman. "Its pending removal will create different options for us to use that site for maritime business, as it was originally intended."

He said the port also is evaluating its options for collecting the remaining money it's owed for rent and fees.

A retired Navy hospital ship, abandoned by its previous owner and ostensibly bound for Greece under a new buyer, must remain in Baltimore's harbor after the Environmental Protection Agency obtained a warrant this week to search it for toxic chemicals and secured an injunction barring it from being exported.

The multiweek delay will cost new owner Potomac Navigation Inc. hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. The company bought the vessel Sanctuary for $50,000 through a court-ordered auction in August.

It also brings the ship back into the government's purview.

The Sanctuary, now docked at a Locust Point pier, is one of dozens of old ships that has caused headaches for the U.S. Maritime Administration. Congress has charged the agency with disposing of obsolete and deteriorating vessels that threaten the waterways in which they're stored, including Virginia's James River.

Yesterday, the federal agency awarded a Virginia company a contract worth nearly $800,000 to dismantle two other 1940s-era ships. Those vessels, the Sphinx and the Hoist, were abandoned at the Sparrows Point Shipyard this year when a local business charged with scrapping them, North American Ship Recycling, disappeared after being ordered to pay a contractor the $750,000 it was owed.

130 to be disposed
More than 130 old ships from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, established in 1946, are still awaiting disposal, according to the Maritime Administration, which was supposed to have removed the ships by September 2006. Many of them are rife with hazardous materials, including asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Maritime Administration removed more than 70 ships from the reserve fleet between 2001 and 2006. The agency said the process is complicated by inconsistent federal and state laws regulating ship scrapping and the handling of hazardous materials, and there are few companies authorized to do the work.

"We told [Congress] we would not be able to meet that deadline for a variety of reasons, the largest reason being the lack of capacity to be able to dispose of the vessels," said Shannon Russell, a spokesman for the Maritime Administration.

If PCB levels are low, breaking up a ship and selling its metal can be profitable. But ships full of PCBs, once mixed with equipment materials to make them fireproof, are costly to break up.

Texas shipbreaker International Shipbreaking Ltd. decided the Sanctuary wasn't worth the effort given the chemical concerns.

The company considered bidding on the ship at auction and sent a representative to Maryland to take paint samples. Lab results showed that the Sanctuary had very high concentrations of PCBs, leading International Shipbreaking "not to bid on the vessel," according to a deposition by company executive Kevin J. McCabe filed last week in the District Court.

Potomac Navigation has a report that shows low levels of PCBs on the ship, however.

Still, the possibility of high PCB levels has raised concerns among environmental groups who fear the ship will be towed abroad and illegally broken down without remediation. Such a move could harm the environment. It also could yield a profit of nearly $3 million.

Those worries led the EPA to intervene and seek a warrant through the District Court to board the ship in Baltimore and test it for PCBs, which are illegal to export under certain circumstances governed by the Toxic Substances Control Act. The warrant, and an injunction, were granted this week. Testing began Wednesday and is expected to continue through today.

Exemption possible
If PCBs are found in certain concentrations, Potomac Navigation may have to remediate the ship in the United States or the EPA would have to issue an export exemption for the ship to be taken abroad.

Representatives of Potomac, which is registered in Delaware and run by a U.S. citizen living in Greece, have repeatedly said they want to keep the ship intact. They planned to tow it to Greece and give it a new life as a hotel platform or storage facility, even though that could cost millions.

The company had planned to tow the Sanctuary from Baltimore by next week, at a cost of $1.1 million, "a substantial portion of which has already been paid," according to a deposition by the company's main shareholder, Nicholas Couchell.

Canceling the tow "will result in substantial charges to Potomac - an additional $300,000 above and beyond the monies already paid," Couchell's deposition said.

"Clearly we had hopes it would have gone in a different direction," said Lawrence Kahn, Potomac's New York attorney. He added that Potomac is waiting for the EPA's results before assessing its options.

The Maritime Administration was in control of the Sanctuary until 1989, when it sold the former hospital ship for $10 to a Baltimore humanitarian group that wanted to turn it into a floating rehabilitation center.

After the group's founder died, a successor organization took control of the vessel and eventually abandoned it. In March, the Sanctuary broke free of its moorings, leading the U.S. Coast Guard to label the ship "an unacceptable risk to the port of Baltimore."

The Maryland Port Administration asked the Maritime Administration to reclaim the ship, but the agency refused. So the port filed a complaint in District Court trying to find a home for the Sanctuary, which a judge ultimately ordered to be sold at auction and removed by early December.

But the EPA intervention ensures the ship will remain in Maryland through the middle of next month and possibly into next year.

Her fate awaits the decision of her current owner, Potomac Navigation Inc.

 

These International Maritime Signal Flags spell "SANCTUARY"

This page was updated Monday, 3/30/09