We're Not in Minnesota Anymore! - A Merchant Seaman Sees the World
The maiden voyage of the Segundo Ruiz-Belvis began in Portland in December, 1943, ending in Long Beach, California, in May, 1944. The second voyage left Long Beach the same month and ended in San Francisco the following March. These voyages were among the hundreds made by the Liberty ships, Victory ships, and other cargo vessels which traveled far and wide in the vastness of the Central and South Pacific to reinforce Allied military operations.
Herman's archive contains pamphlets and papers about the stops made by the Ruiz-Belvis and the ship on which he made his third voyage, Elmer A. Sperry. There may have been other stops, but we know only of these seven: New Guinea, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Australia, the Philippines, and Shanghai and Tsingtao, China.
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WAR IN THE PACIFIC, 1941-1945
After the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, a campaign took shape to drive the Japanese from the Philippines, other nations of Southeast Asia, and the many islands in the Central and South Pacific, among them New Guinea, the Solomons, the Gilberts, and the Marianas.
Only six months after Pearl Harbor the tide began to turn with the decisive Allied naval victory at Midway in June, 1942, and the 3,100-mile island-hopping campaign from the Solomon Islands to Okinawa (doorstep to the Japanese mainland) was under way with unflagging support from the Merchant Marine.
Above: A Liberty ship is the nearest vessel in this view of a Navy task force at anchor in the Marshall Islands (website link). Another is in the distant cluster at left. This iconic photograph was probably taken in early 1944 after control of the Marshalls had been wrested from the Japanese early in the island-hopping campaign.
The Segundo Ruiz-Belvis was on her first Pacific voyage at this time, but we do not know if she called at the Marshalls.
Note: The photograph is taken from a yearbook of New London's U.S. Maritime Service Officers School. No credit is given, but it was most likely taken by a military photographer.
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Making her way through the Pacific Theater, Herman's ship delivered supplies, equipment and sometimes personnel, re-fueled as necessary, giving the officers and crew time to briefly enjoy the sensation of terra firma.
The stop at New Guinea (website link) was likely on the first voyage. This pocket guide for military personnel was also given to merchant seamen and is typical of others published by the War and Navy Departments in the anti-Japanese thrust of its text:
"Everyone remembers only too well the grim days when the Japs spread out like a swarm of locusts over the peaceful Philippines and East Indies toward Australia, and eastward into the Pacific Islands. Determined Australian jungle fighters slowed and finally stopped them in the New Guinea mountains. Meanwhile our naval task forces hit them in the seas of east New Guinea and the Solomons, and our marines gave them the surprise of their lives at Tulagi and Guadalcanal..."
The book explains that New Guinea will become an offensive base from which the enemy will be pushed "back to where they came from," that campaigning in the islands will be "no picnic," and that it will be important to get along with the native people, who "are as anxious as you are to have the Japs thrown out."
In 2021 this would be viewed as politically incorrect, but in the harsh wartime reality of 1944 sensibilities and attitudes were supercharged; Pearl Harbor, the "day that will live in infamy" as President Roosevelt put it, was still a searing memory.
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Another stop was Papeete, Tahiti, where A Brief Bulletin of Information about Tahiti was distributed by the American Women War Workers. Excerpts:
"CURRENCY: Exchange of currency in Tahiti can be made only at Bank of Indochine and the Spitz Curio Store. No other currency than Tahitian can be used.
"POST OFFICE: The Post Office is across the street from the American Consulate. There is censorship of all mail and telegrams.
Taxis, car and bicycle rentals, and bus services are listed, as are churches, hotels, cinemas, bars and restaurants. (Hours for sale of alcoholic drinks are 11 to 1 and 5 to 9 weekdays, 11 to 1 and 5 to 11 Saturdays, and 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays)
A boat schedule to Moorea includes options for overnight stays. Destinations on Tahiti include Fautaua Falls, the Grotto of Maraa, and Point Venus "where Captain Cook in 1769 observed the transit of Venus across the sun's face."
A friendly gesture appears at the back: "A free ticket to the Cinema Moderne will be given to each member of the American forces for the following evenings, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and also other evenings when they are in Papeete."
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Papeete is the administrative capital of French Polynesia.
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Less well known was New Caledonia and its port of Noumea, then a French colony, now a French overseas collectivity (a semi-autonomous administrative division of France. )
The only evidence of the visit of the Segundo Ruiz-Belvis is a yellowed document listing censorship and security regulations for merchant seamen in the South Pacific. Stamped IMMEDIATE ACTION, all Merchant Marine personnel had to comply. As purser, Herman was responsible for posting the notice and probably scrawled "Noumea" on it later when sorting the souvenirs of his wartime travels.
Noumea had become a vital Allied base in March, 1942. The defeat of the Japanese at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May of that year was launched from Noumea, and by the time the Ruiz-Belvis dropped anchor in 1944 it was one of the most important Navy bases in the South Pacific.
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New Caledonia is "only" 750 miles east of Australia, and it is likely that Sydney was the next port of call. The threat of Imperial Japan's military program to dominate southeast Asia - repudiating centuries of influence by western nations - meant that Australia would be a key player in Allied campaigns to counter that threat.
Friendly, cosmopolitan Sydney would be a wonderful place for rest and relaxation for Allied combatants and non-combatants alike. But wartime security regulations were strict, and merchant seamen were required to obtain a Certificate of Registration of Alien Seamen in order to leave their ship. Herman's is dated Sept. 13, 1944.
The unwelcoming fine print suggests that Australian officialdom feared that some "alien merchant seamen" might be untrustworthy; for example, seamen had to "lodge" their passports with a ship's officer, likely the petty officer purser. And failure to register was punishable by a fine of 100 Australian pounds or six months imprisonment.
Below: Front and back of the certificate
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The huge impact of the war effort on the economy soon led to widespread rationing of ordinary goods and services needed by civilians. As in the United States, coupons were issued by the Australian government which tightly controlled the amount of food, consumer goods and gasoline available to civilians.
Because visiting merchant seamen could not obtain ration coupons, Herman obtained a Licence to Purchase Rationed Goods Coupon-Free in order to buy a pair of shoes and six pairs of socks.
The reverse of the licence indicates how carefully the government controlled rationing: it had to be signed by the ship's master and approved by a Customs officer.
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This little pamphlet - "to the Philippines" - may have bben acquired by Herman in Sydney. Printed in Brisbane (and lacking an author), it is addressed to the American military and makes the case for the campaign to liberate the Philippines that will follow the island-hopping campaign in the Central Pacific.
It also seeks to educate its readers - soldiers, pilots, sailors and merchant seamen - by giving a summary of U.S.-Philippine history and describing the nature and culture of the Filipino people.
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In a lighter vein, Herman's papers include two whimsical documents marking the tradition of celebrating the first crossing of the equator with a salute to King Neptune. The date of December 28, 1943, means that this occurred on the Ruiz-Belvis's first voyage as she sailed into the South Pacific from Portland.
Herman's name does not appear. It's possible that as purser he had to enter the names of his shipmates on the documents and hand them out with whatever ceremony the captain expected - but didn't bother to enter his own.
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The letter below from a friend at the Shepard Company office, written during the second Pacific voyage of the Segundo Ruiz-Belvis, is one of only two business letters in the archive containing friendly words of a non-businesslike nature. It is shown here to give a sense of the purser's responsibilities, in this case the importance of keeping accurate payroll records, especially when overtime is involved. The purser had to be well organized and detail-oriented if he was to keep both his employer and the crew happy.
It is tantalizing not to know what South Pacific island the writer is referring to when he says: "I presume that you had an interesting time of it at your first destination. I was there just about a year ago myself and things were in pretty bad shape but I understand that they have improved somewhat now."
"Hank" also says "I really thought that we would be seeing you before this time..." As it happened, five more months elapsed before Herman's ship sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay!
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After Sydney we have no information about other ports of call until the Segundo Ruiz-Belvis arrived in San Francisco. Merchant seamen were given a discharge certificate for each voyage (below). Herman would have prepared one for each of the crew of perhaps forty.
