LSM34

Landing Ship Medium-34
Navy LogoRalph E. Robinson & World War 2USN
Japan

After the Japanese surrender on August 14, 1945, we made two trips from the Philippines to Japan taking supplies.

The first trip was to Yokahama which was almost totally destroyed by fire bombs. 

On the second trip, I had liberty in Tokyo on my 20th birthday, September 29, and I took pictures of some of our crew by the Imperial Palace moat and some street scenes.  I also photographed the Japanese battleship Nagato from which we took fuel for our return to Manila.  The Nagato was later taken to the atom bomb tests at Enewetak atoll.

On both of these trips we had very rough seas, and on the second return to Manila we were in the edge of the typhoon that nearly wiped out our installations on Okinawa.  In order to have any control of our ship, we had to head directly toward China for many hours.  Several times we rolled so far, about 70 degrees, that the ship just hung in that position.  Once the exec. officer screamed over the wind to hang on because we were going all the way around.

After these trips, we started our trip home by way of Saipan where we picked up some amphibious tanks which we took to Guam for disposal.

We then headed for Honolulu and then San Diego.  After several weeks there, we headed down and around through the Panama Canal to Charleston, S. C. where I left the ship, and where the ship was decommissioned.


Japanese battleship Nagato in Tokyo Harbor, September or October, 1945. LSM 34 took fuel from it for their return trip to Manila. The Nagato was later used in U.S. atomic weapons tests.
Nagato
Nagato


Moat
LSM 34 crew members along the Imperial Palace Moat

Tokyo Street
Tokyo street.
Tokyo Street
Tokyo street

Cizewski, Lovetere, Musbach, & Robinson
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© 2006 Leonard H. Cizewski
Last Modified on July 5, 2007
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