MEMORIES of 1945 CRUISE
Osborne Ellis '47
Two ports of call that were on the 2012
training cruise itinerary caught the attention of Osborne Ellis
'47 because his 1945 cruise also stopped at Galveston, TX and
Bermuda. That fact led him to relive parts of his own cruise.
He noted, "Two things are still quite clear in my Galveston
memories. The first was that shore liberty required a walk from
the dock through a railroad yard. While traversing the rail yard, we
watched the train engineers, using steam locomotives, switch and
shuffle the various boxcars. One small steam engine ­ not unlike
the `Thomas' engine portrayed in the children's book ­ scurried
along a tangent section of track that had a rather sharp curve to
the right. The `little engine that could' suddenly `couldn't;' and
shot instead completely off the tracks. It ended upright, tender
and all, parallel to its tracks. Smoke steamed from its stack leaving
the engineer and fireman in complete shock. Thus, two innocent
Maine boys got an inside look at the `professionals.'"
The second thing that Ellis remembered was hitchhiking from
Galveston to Houston on another liberty. He mentioned, "The two
of us were picked up by a `mighty proud' Texan who had a heavy
foot on his 1937 Chevy gas pedal. As we sped toward Houston, our
host talked endlessly about his car and how he couldn't get new
tires. The Texan told us, `I only have a couple of them recappulated
things- so's I can't drive as fast as I usta!' Nevertheless, he managed
to speed us along at 60-65 mph on rough roads. We survived the
trip, saw the city, and opted not to hitchhike back. Suddenly,
planes looked somewhat safer, so we got seats on a DC-3. Never
having flown on a commercial plane before, I turned down the
proffered drink and snack afraid I'd be charged for it. So much for
the sophistication of an 18-year old boy from Benton, Maine.
On the way back to Maine aboard the old MSTS American
Seaman, aka TS State of Maine, the ship made a stop at Bermuda.
Ellis said, "I was assigned to be some kind of messenger of the
watch and directed to welcome the pilot aboard and escort him
to the bridge. The pilot boat came alongside and we lowered
the ladder. I stood back and awaited the pilot's arrival aboard.
Suddenly, an impressive pure black man came into my view. His
black hat, crisp white shirt, black tie, and spiffy navy blue jacket
with gold buttons symbolized his professionalism and attention to
detail. As he swung his leg over the rail, I caught sight of a pair
of ragged, brightly colored shorts and no shoes! But his elegant
British accent and upper body clothes sure impressed me."
Following his training cruise, Ellis and his fellow midshipmen
were told the "old tub" American Seaman/TS State of Maine
had been put into dry dock and inspected for repair needs. The
inspectors found her hull rusted through in places so she was
scrapped.
Osborne Ellis '47 graduated as a marine transportation officer
and became a civil/structural engineer, designing and building
buildings, bridges, hydro dams, power houses, etc. On the strength
of his reserve commission in the US Naval Reserve and his Civil
Engineering degree, he transferred from USNR Line Officer to
Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), played with the Seabees and did those
things required of a civil engineer. He retired as a Captain CEC
USNR after 26 years of service.
21 MARINER / FALL 2012

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