Log of the USS BLESSMAN 8 November 1943

LOG:
On 8 November the BLESSMAN returned to the Boston Navy Yard for post shakedown repairs which were completed on 15 November when she departed for New York. She arrived in the New York Navy Yard the next day to await her first assignment. On 20 November 1943, she sailed from New York as part of Escort Division 19, to escort a fast troop convoy to the United Kingdom. Ten days later after having guided the Convoy to the Irish Sea, the BLESSMAN tied up at the USS Naval operating Base, Londonderry, Northern Ireland. On 8 December she departed Londoner to escort another fast transport group to the United States, arriving in New York 20 December 1943.

MY COMMENTS:
We were really in rough seas during our shake down cruise in the north Atlantic. After we set sail from Bermuda, most of the green crew was sea sick. There was no way all the sick sailors could be excused from duty because the ship had to be manned one way of another. After a couple of days at sea we began to feel a little bit better. However, one of the 3rd class firemen didn't get over his sea sickness. He stood his watch carrying a coffee can to puke in and when he wasn't moving, he sat on the can. As long as he was at sea, he was miserably sick. They made him take one more trip to make sure he wasn't faking and then gave him a job on dry land for the duration. Even our chief Machinist Mate was sick for a couple of days, but his problem could have been a hang over. As the ship was put through its maneuvers, the crew gradually began to work together as a unit and there was much less shouting. We had come aboard as land lubbers and were now genuine sailors. We began to take pride in being a sailor of our ship, the USS BLESSMAN.