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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

"Magic Carpet" Press Release

UNITED STATES
PACIFIC FLEET and
PACIFIC OCEAN AREAS
(For Immediate Release to
Press and Radio, Sunday,
23 October 1945.)

Press Release No. 836.

The job of "bringing Johnny home again" from the Pacific is just about as complex an operation as anything that was undertaken in the Pacific Ocean Areas prior to 1943.

In the first place, during the month of November, there will be a Fleet of more than 200 vessels assigned to the exclusive duty of bringing Pacific veterans home as fast as possible. It is expected that more than 150,000 men will be put ashore at United States ports during November by these ships,

However, to keep the shuttle service Fleet in operation will require the services of about 125,000 crew members. Navy Demobilization in the Pacific has been carried on with such speed that the operational efficiency of these ships is threatened through the loss of highly trained crew members who have become eligible for discharge under the point system. The pinch is being felt particularly in the engine-room and commissary departments. Skilled mechanics, who have learned their duties well and served the Navy to good advantage, have earned enough points for discharge, and trained replacements from low point men are few.

By the same token, most vessels converted to troop transport service, are going to have to feed passengers and crew members which in many cases total twice the number that were carried aboard during the war. Skilled cooks, bakers and Steward's Mates also are being discharged rapidly, again raising the problem of getting trained low point replacements.

In order to combine both speed and efficiency, the Navy is throwing its entire fleet of Pacific attack transports into the "magic carpet" operation. These vessels, and escort carriers, with crews reduced to about 600 – the minimum operational number - can carry on an average, 1,500 passengers each. Even though it will require double the number of crew members in proportion to the passengers carried, the Navy has also assigned to "magic carpet" six old battleships, four light carriers and 20 cruisers. It is expected that crews can be reduced and those ships prepared to carry the maximum number of passengers by the end of the first week in November.

The fuel to power the "magic carpet" fleet and the food to feed the November estimate of 150,000 separatees and 125,000 crew members run into rather staggering figures. Even though fuel consumption has bean reduced far below the wartime level since vessels no longer need to steam at high speed to attack or avoid enemy action. "Magic carpet" vessels will cruise at carefully determined speeds combining maximum distance "made good" with minimum fuel consumption.

It is estimated that the 200 plus "magic carpet" vessels will use 50,000,000 gallons of fuel oil during November. That's enough oil to fill 5,100 average size railroad tank cars, or one carload expended about every nine minutes throughout the month.

The same amount of oil would heat about 350,000 medium sized homes "for a month, and it will require the entire output of an extensive oil field, such as the one at Long Beach, California, to supply the amount required. The Navy will keep a fleet of soma 25 large tankers in operation to supply the needs of "magic carpet" ships.

Navy supply officers and logistics experts have figured out some other interesting facts about the shuttle-service Fleet. It's going to take quite a lot of food to feed those 150,000 veterans who will come home in November -- about 12,500 tons of dry provisions and 8,000 tons of refrigerated supplies. These figures, of course, include the food consumed by the crews aboard "magic carpet" ships as well.

Broken down into several representative items, that means for example, about 2,600,000 pounds of boneless beef, 618,000 pounds of potatoes; 9,183,000 pounds of flour, and 1,560,000 pounds of evaporated and powdered milk. The whole job will require 8,100,000 rations, which is the same thing as feeding the city of Now York for a day - and that's only for November. The figures will increase as more and more shipping is assigned to Rear Admiral Henry S. Kendall's "magic carpet" Fleet.


28 Nov 2006