ABSTRACT

Howorth left Pearl Harbor just after supper on August 25 under secret orders to escort USS Sangay to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands southeast of New Guinea. During the eleven-day voyage across the Pacific, Orvill Raines celebrated his twenty-sixth birthday. When Howorth crossed the equator at the 180th meridian, the largely pollywog crew (70 percent of whom had never been to sea before) were initiated into the realm of King Neptune with the traditional maritime festivities. After three days devoted to the tedious and backbreaking task of replenishing supplies and loading ammunition at Tulagi and Purvis Bay in the Solomons, Howorth was ordered northwestward to Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands. 1 Raines observed his shipmates become more withdrawn as the ship sailed closer to the combat zone. On Manus, Raines was affected deeply by his first sight of a wounded soldier.