TITLE

The $148 Million Cargo

PUB. DATE

October 2003

SOURCE

American Heritage;Oct2003, Vol. 54 Issue 5, p76

SOURCE TYPE

Periodical

DOC. TYPE

Article

ABSTRACT

The author shares his experience as a sailor. Scuttlebutt had it that we were homeward bound when we weighed anchor at Bahia (now Salvador), Brazil, on the day after Christmas, 1939. The crew was more than ready to get back to the U.S.A., but we were in for a surprise. Capt. H. J. Nelson's voice boomed over the ship's loudspeakers after we were well under way. He told us that we were not headed home at all. We were on our way to Simonstown, South Africa, to pick up $148 million in gold for delivery to the United States. My astonishment at the captain's bombshell still remains sharp in my mind. After boot camp in Norfolk, I reported to an old World War I destroyer, the USS Chew, at San Diego, where my main duty was scraping rust.

ACCESSION #

10912005

Tags: SAILORS;  WORLD War, 1914-1918

 

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