Panama Canal Passage
On November 09, 1942 we departed Hampton Roads at 1330 hours Eastern War Time and sailed south via Crooked Island Passage to the Panama Canal on our way to the Pacific Fleet.

As I remember, on November 13, 1942 we entered the first locks at Gatun around 7 AM. There was a Russian submarine tied up on the outside of the first Lock. Sailors were scrambling around the topside of it and it was painted a faded light blue. There was one-foot clearance on each side of the ship. The canal is 33 meters wide and 51-miles from Atlantic to Pacific.

We went through the three locks into Gatun Lake and a light cruiser USS BOISE passed us on the port side going in the opposite direction. She had been badly shot up in the Battle of Cape Esperence.

After traversing the lake, we entered Gaillard Cut and on to the Pedro Miguel Locks. I remember a bridge over the lock with cars driving across it. It was about 5:00 PM with the sun getting low in the West when we were at the Miraflores Locks.

We tied up in Balboa for the night and took on oil. We left the next day. I stayed topside all day on the port side between mounts 8 and 10 looking with awe. It took 8-9 hours for the full trip from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean.

Later, as the USS Indiana crossed the equator there was the usual, but hurried, initiation of the Pollywogs. A stop was made at Nukulofa on the island of Tongatabu in the Fiji Islands for fuel. The ship headed south and west to Nouniea, New Caledoma joining the Pacific fleet, December 2, 1942, 1610 Hours. The trip from Norfolk, VA to New Caledoma took 23 days.....it was a speed record.

Whitner Livingston Griffin Jr., Fire Controlman 1c, FA Division

Last Updated 29 April 2002

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