We weren't making any headway, but at least we stayed clear of the shore line which kept us from being grounded. We could see the same point of land out in the distance for about two days. After that the storm calmed down somewhat and we were again moving. We were surely happy when we entered the protected bay at Dutch Harbor.
It was determined that the damage sustained from the storm was so extensive that the Anaqua would be ordered to return to the U.S. when a shipyard could take us. After that we spent quite a bit of time tied up the dock at Dutch Harbor1 but did make a few trips out to sea.
The Aleutians, no longer threatened by Japanese occupation, were peaceful while we were there. However, activities taking place there made us aware that there was still a war going on.
While at sea we would sometimes meet Russian cargo ships coming from Seattle, carrying Lend Lease goods for delivery to Vladivostok at the Pacific Terminus of the Trans Siberian Railroad. On one trip we carried a few Russian sailors who were survivors of a Soviet ship that had grounded and broke up during a violent storm. I remember that these sailors were quite surly and unfriendly and did not like our food.
We sometimes visited with sailors from a US Navy frigate docked nearby, whose patrolling duties took them as far as the Kurile Islands near Japanese waters.
While in port we would watch the Navy OS2U Kingfisher observation floatplanes take off and land near our ship. This was a two seater plane manned by a pilot and radioman. I was thankful that I was a radio operator aboard ship rather then on one of those planes, who had to contend with bad weather, fog and mountains on their daily patrols.
Around Dec. 8th everyone was in high spirits when we were underway for the U.S. Our Captain decided to take a scenic route via Kodiak. We zig-zagged through some spectacular scenary between Island inlets around Kodiak. At one point we were so close to land that we had a good view of a group of huge Kodiak bears. This was one time when it was nice to be on a small ship doing what a larger ship could not have done. We arrived in Seattle December 20th and headed for the Houghton Shipyard on Lake Washington at Kirkland, Washington.
The three liberty sections were given leave, one section at a time. The Anaqua crew enjoyed 3 months in the states at the west coast ports of Seattle and San Francisco.

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