Eats For One … or more

My first post as an Ensign in the Navy was as Communications Officer aboard the USS Tulare AKA112, stationed in San Diego. For a guy who had never been out of Ohio until he was 19, this was a paradise! The Tulare, named for Tulare County in California where the redwoods grow, was an Attack Cargo Ship (AKA), basically a merchant cargo ship configured for Navy use. We carried the boats used in amphibious landings. We’d hoist the boats out of the cargo hold and drop them gently (usually) into the ocean, where Marines from the Attack Personnel Ships (APA) would swarm aboard.

So we were a big ship with few people aboard. Luxurious. As an Ensign, I was assigned a stateroom shared by only one other Officer! This may be the only type of ship in the Navy with that luxury of space.
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