their pay had been reduced because of the Depression, American troops received more pay than any other Western nation’s troops in China. Army enlisted man Anthony Ingrisano, stationed with the 15th Infantry in Tientsin, China, in the 1930s, remarked that the Americans were considered wealthy. He said some shops had signs that read, “‘Men in uniform not allowed except Americans.’ It was enough to turn your head.”32
Probably one of the most unusual clippings in Mac’s scrapbook covering Shanghai in 1934 is an undated newspaper article in The China Press. A photograph of an attractive blond woman is attached to the piece, which announces the arrival of Gold Star with twenty families of “American naval men aboard.” After detailing the ship’s itinerary, the article mentions the woman pictured. She was Larre (or Larry—both names are used in the article) Alexander, one of the daughters of Capt. George A. Alexander, the governor of Guam. The article pointed out Captain Alexander had been stationed in San Diego when he received orders to his current assignment. According to the account, at the time of her father’s orders, Larre Alexander “was tasting the sweet delights of first-won recognition as an actress in Hollywood.” Captain Alexander, however, “decided that Hollywood was too wicked for a young girl to be in it unprotected, so he brought her along with him.” The article relates how Larre Alexander appeared in a 1933 movie titled Cavalcade, which was based on a play by Noël Coward and directed by Frank Lloyd. The movie won three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Art Direction. The account stated that Larre appeared briefly to sing “Military Mary,” and one’s imagination can run away with what the sailors in Gold Star thought of their passenger.33
The ship remained in Shanghai for only a short period, departing on 26 March for Yokohama. By this time McKenna had his circle of friends in the engineering force, although not all have been remembered by history. Most sailors kept their group of friends within their particular division in the ship, as these were the sailors with whom they worked side by side. Engineering and deck force bluejackets have traditionally railed against one another. Mac, however, throughout his career in the Navy sought out interesting people and did not hesitate to make friends outside engineering. In Gold Star, for example, a deck force sailor, SN1 William Jennings Bryans, became his closest friend outside engineering. Bryans had enlisted in Denver, Colorado, about two months after McKenna and reported to Gold Star on the same date as McKenna. Mac found that, like him, Bryans was interested in photography; the seaman eventually became the ship’s photographer.34
Five days after Gold Star had left Shanghai, the ship moored to a buoy at Yokohama, on Saturday, 31 March, and remained there for six days. Sailors took three to six days’ leave while in port at Yokohama, a good indication that it was a favorite port for the Gold Star crew. They seldom took leave in any other port in Japan or China. The only other port sailors consistently took leave in was in the Philippines, and this was largely because the ship moored for extended periods in the Philippine Islands for repair work, plus many of the crew members were from the islands.35
At this particular time Yokohama must have seemed extra special for McKenna, as his time in mess cooking ended on Saturday, 31 March. Once McKenna left the galley, his evaluations improved steadily, thanks to his work habits and ability to quickly comprehend his new duties. In two evaluation periods before he was detailed to the galley, McKenna had been given a proficiency rate of 3.5 and 3.6, respectively, and a mechanical ability rate of 3.6.36
Gold Star departed Yokohama on 6 April and moored to its normal buoy in Guam on Thursday, 12 April. Again, stevedores began unloading the ship into lighters, and shortly thereafter, they began the task of taking on more cargo. It took nine hectic days to load the copra and “commercial cold storage cargo.” By Saturday, 21 April, the ship had departed for an extended period in the Philippine Islands, where it received overhaul work at the Machina Wharf in the Cavite Navy Yard and in the Dewey Floating Dry Dock. While in the Navy yard, McKenna attended a Mother’s Day service at the Service Club at 1000, Sunday, 13 May.
On Monday, 18 June, Gold Star finally ended its long stay in the Philippines and set course for Guam, where it arrived on Sunday, 24 June. The crew did not have much time in Guam, as Gold Star departed on Saturday, 14 July, for Manila. Captain Alexander’s wife, daughters, and servants again accompanied the ship. The ship moored alongside Pier 1 for five days and then departed for Hong Kong, where it arrived on Saturday, 28 July. One of the more unusual cargoes being loaded into Number 5 Lower Hold was “automobiles.” Once the cars were safely stowed in Gold Star, the ship departed on Thursday, 2 August, for Yokohama.
Because there were no offensive weapons on the vessel, the Japanese could issue Gold Star a merchant clearance with which the ship could avoid the long procedures required of a foreign warship entering the nation’s ports. The merchant ship–like environment worked to dull sailors toward potential threats and made them see their service in a different light. Mac observed that crews thought if they were not in combat, they were just being kept in reserve “against not too apparent contingencies.” Furthermore, the crew members thought they were not being paid sufficiently for the necessary ship maintenance of painting and scrubbing decks. McKenna continued, “By some magical inversion, this feeling . . . manifested in a covert hostility toward the ‘taxpayers’ who [came] out in the ships on visiting days.” None of the warship attitude prevailed in Gold Star; instead, the crew knew the ship’s cargo helped Guam in some way. “The ship’s storekeepers handled marketing arrangements and sailors ran the winches. Every man aboard had a job and his usefulness was never in question.” McKenna thought no other peacetime ship in the Navy of that time had a crew with “such an assurance of constructive usefulness.”37
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, 8 August 1934, Gold Star moored to a buoy in Yokohama’s harbor. One of the eight sailors going on leave in this favored port for four to six days was McKenna’s friend Bryans. During the mid-1930s sailors serving in Gold Star committed few infractions of regulations while in Yokohama, probably because no sailor wanted any excuse for stopping liberty in the port.
For the rest of the year, Gold Star continued its normal plodding to and from ports in China, Japan, and the Philippine Islands. This routine was shattered en route to Guam, at 0215 on Wednesday, 24 October, when the radioman in Gold Star received a message from Radio Cavite reporting SS Larry Doheny in distress. Commander Faus ordered full speed toward the ship’s position and quickly issued Special Order Number 1. The commanding officer said that “our greatest economy must be used in order to reach” the ship in distress and all “unnecessary lights must be kept turned off. No machinery, electrical or other, which is not absolutely essential for the safety of the ship will be used, and no fans will under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES [Faus’ emphasis] be turned on.” Commander Faus went on to write “non-compliance with this order may mean the life of a human being.”
Special Order Number 1 was quickly followed by an “Organization for Salvage Operations of S.S. LARRY DOHENY.” Commander Faus outlined the duties of all on board, including the women passengers. Thirteen women, including the wife of Captain Alexander and his two daughters, were to “assist the doctor if called upon.” The “remaining ladies will take personal charge of their children, see that they are kept clear of operations and that they maintain SILENCE [Faus’ emphasis] during operations.”
A lookout in Gold Star spotted Larry Doheny at 0150, Thursday, 25 October. The naval ship began escorting two thousand yards ahead of the civilian ship. The next day, the captain of the merchant vessel released Gold Star, which arrived at the mooring buoy in Apra on 27 October. Larry Doheny moored to another buoy the following day.38
Since being released from mess cooking, McKenna had continued to impress the senior petty officers and officers of the engineering force. His proficiency marks were recorded at 3.8, and his mechanical ability was rated 3.7. These above-average marks were rewarded when, one year and three months after reporting on board Gold Star, Mac received a promotion to fireman 2nd class on 16 November 1934, which meant he now received fifty-four dollars a month.39
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