Vignette 5

A Journey of 18,000 Miles

 Author：Judith Lau

The months we spent in Bombay after father joined us on Sept 30, 1943 were tranquil and luxurious compared to the 5 years privations parents endured in Kunming and Chungking. We celebrated our first western Christmas at the Bombay Royal Palace Hotel with a small table top Christmas tree.

 

After Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, the mighty US industry and manpower began to slowly shift the balance of the war both in Europe and Asia. News from the warfront became more hopeful in spite of the continuing horrors such as the Italian campaigns, the 2 year German siege of Leningrad and Japanese ongoing atrocities in SE Asia, and China.

 

Control for air and sea in the Pacific saw immense losses of equipment and men on both sides. Though not as nimble as the vaunted German U Boats, for over a decade the 174 Japanese submarines had prowled unopposed in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and China Seas with the world's biggest, fastest, longest sailing and torpedo firing ranges. The Japanese navy was the only belligerent that launched 41 submarines capable of carrying 1 or more aircraft. Following the triumphant Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the US extracted vengeance at the pivotal Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942.

 

Yet the Japanese submarines continued their submarine dominance of the seas, sinking 2 US carriers, 1 cruiser, several destroyers and battleships as well as 184 merchant ships in 1942. From March 1943 to March 1944, one Japanese submarine group sank or damaged 39 Allied vessels. In May 1943, a Japanese submarine sank an Australian Hospital ship with 299 dead. The US began to step up their "unlimited submarine warfare" as declared by President Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor. Improvements in torpedo, sonar, the addition of more submarines and the adoption of the German U Boat submarine strategy of launching "Wolf Packs" in place of the American ideal of the "Lone Wolf" tactic resulted in increasing Allied success on land and sea from 1944 onward. The choking off of the Japanese supply lines to their troops throughout the Pacific began to inexorably sink the Japanese Empire.

 

Into these dangerous waters, our voyage began on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 1943 from Bombay to Los Angeles. We boarded the USS Hermitage, an Italian luxury liner launched in 1925 formerly named SS Biancamano that the US had captured in Panama and converted to a troop, civilian and supplies carrier. USS Hermitage had safely transported US troops across the Atlantic and Pacific into war zones and evacuated wounded and passengers back to the US. 6000-7000 passengers were crowded into cabins constructed for 3400. Nevertheless, the interior elegance of the ship was unmistakeable in the photos I found online - designs reminiscent of the Titanic.

 

Shortly after sailing, my infant brother, Austin, came down with German Measles which lead to the quarantine of my mother and brother in their cabins for several weeks. I had the whole ship to explore with little supervision except from the doting young Chinese students also traveling to the US. Father was never a domesticated husband or father and I remember being bathed and fed by attentive "uncles"- 叔叔 and 伯伯 after a day of scampering up and down the decks of this magnificent ship. Since then, I have loved ocean travel with its distinctive smell of salt water tang, disinfectant and diesel oil mingled with kitchen odors of meals in preparation.

 

To evade the fearsome Japanese submarines, the USS Hermitage took a cautious, circuitous bearing from Bombay south through the Indian Ocean to Melbourne, Australia and then to Pago Pago, Tahiti before crossing eastward through the Pacific to California. Portholes were sealed before dusk and all apertures blacked out with heavy coverings to silently glide in darkness through ominous waters. Mother sweltered in the cabin, unable to come out to the deck for air. Father said crossing the equator was stifling for everyone and tinged with anxiety as the unescorted Hermitage zig zagged its way to safe harbors. But as a 4 year old, I was oblivious to the dangers or the searing temperature conditions. For 2 weeks I reveled in the heady freedom until mother emerged from her quarantine and reined in her wild child.

 

The voyage of approximately 18,000 miles and 42 days docked us without incidence on February 10, 1944 in San Pedro, California. Father was to begin his first diplomatic post in Chicago the following month.

 

 航行一萬八千英里

父親抵達印度之後，我們全家在孟買 (Bombay) 待了幾個月，比起之前在昆明和重慶躲轟炸的提心吊膽，孟買平靜的日子無異是一種奢侈。那年聖誕節我們在孟買皇宮大飯店 (Royal Palace Hotel) 度過，桌上放了一棵聖誕樹，那是我們第一次過西方的節日。

我們全家在1943年12月31日從孟買啟程，在重重危機的海上航向洛杉磯。我們搭的是「何米塔吉號」(USS Hermitage )，是義大利的豪華巨輪，該船在1925年開始航行時，原名「比安卡曼諾號」(SS Biancamano)，美國在巴拿馬截獲後，改造成裝載軍隊、平民和補給品的輪船。「何米塔吉號」負責將美軍從大西洋和太平洋安全送入戰區，然後將傷兵和旅客運回美國。原本只能承載3,400人的輪船擠上6、7千人，但船的內部設計優雅，就是網路上的照片中所呈現的樣貌——讓人聯想到鐵達尼號。

我們啟程不久之後，弟弟就得了德國麻疹，媽媽和弟弟因此被隔離在船艙中好幾個星期。那段時間媽媽管不到我，我逮到機會在船上四處遊蕩，反正沒甚麼人監督我，除了同船幾位也要到美國的中國學生，可是他們總是順著我。記憶中父親一直都不太管家裡的事情，我在甲板跳上跑下，來去自如，管我吃飯叫我洗澡的都是一些叔叔伯伯。從此之後我就愛上海洋之旅那種自由自在，尤其海水的鹹味，船上消毒水和汽油的氣味，還有廚房傳來的陣陣香味，混合成獨特的海洋風味，特別讓人神往。

為了避開日本潛艇的橫行肆虐，「何米塔吉號」小心翼翼，迂迴繞行，從孟買往南走印度洋，到澳洲墨爾本 (Melbourne)，然後經過薩摩亞首都帕果帕果 (Pago Pago)、大溪地 (Tahiti)，往東航行太平洋到加州。船上的舷窗在天黑之前就全部緊閉，所有透光的細縫都用厚厚的東西覆蓋起來，這艘船就在險惡的海域中，在漆黑中靜默航駛，步步驚心。母親無法到甲板上透氣，非常鬱悶；父親說船經過赤道時，天候炙熱到每個人身體異常難受，而精神上的焦慮更是揮之不去，因為我們的船在沒有任何保護之下，形單影隻地飄洋過海。大人們忍受身心雙重的煎熬，我卻不知天高地厚，只顧盡情享受無拘無束、逍遙輕鬆的滋味，直到母親隔離結束。