NAVY DEPARTMENT HOLD FOR RELEASE PRESS AND RADIO UNTIL 8 P.M. (E.S.T.) DECEMBER 16, 1945 |
NAVAL COMBATANT SHIPS ON ATLANTIC RUN NEAR END OF "MAGIC CARPET" DUTY
1. The return of eligible veterans from Europe is running ahead of schedule. By next month or by February there will also be an excess of transportation for the return of veterans from the Pacific. The shipping bottleneck is being broken.
2. These conditions will permit Army and Navy transportation officials to make three re-arrangements of the Naval transportation service in the near future.
(a) By early January the Navy combatant vessels in the Atlantic Magic Carpet -- one battleship, six cruisers and eight carriers --can be re-assigned to other Fleet duty or be placed in reserve. They are not being transferred to the Pacific Magic Carpet because there will be an excess of shipping in that ocean without them.
(b) By mid-January the Navy's non-combatant transports in the Atlantic will be available, with possibly one exception, for transfer to the Pacific.
(c) By late January or February the Navy combatant vessels in the Pacific Magic Carpet can begin to be re-assigned or placed in reserve as they become surplus to the homecoming traffic.
3. As Magic carpet ships are released, the eligible members of their Navy crews can be demobilized according to plan. This will be done while still assuring all eligible veterans who are overseas of prompt return.
4. The first fighting ship in the Atlantic Magic Carpet to complete its transport assignment will be the cruiser Savannah, which is due to arrive in New York harbor with over one thousand returning troops on December 17th. The battleship Washington and the carrier Enterprise will be next in-line when they dock in New York on December 20th. On December 22, the cruisers Philadelphia and Portland are scheduled to arrive in New York, thus completing their runs with troops returning from Le Havre, while the cruisers Reno and Augusta complete the same trip on December 23. On December 24th, the cruiser Boise will arrive in New York harbor after completing her final voyage from Le Havre and the carrier Randolph will also dock at New York, with troops from Naples. The carriers Langleyand Monterey likewise returning from Naples are scheduled to arrive at Norfolk on December 25th and 30th respectively while the carrier Wasp is due at the same port on December 26th with troops embarked at Southampton. The arrival of the carrier Bataan in Norfolk January 1, will complete the last combatant ship transport run from Naples to the United States.
5. According to present plans two combatant ships now en route to the United States from Southampton are being considered for another voyage to Europe during the latter part of December. The carrier Croatan, which is due in New York around December 14th, will possibly return some additional troops from Southampton while the carrier lake Champlain, arriving on December 18th at New York will in all probability make a similar trip.
6. The combatant ships in the Atlantic Magic Carpet will have returned about 85,194 veterans by the time they complete their assignment.
28 Nov 2006