XVI 



The Pacific 



THE pilot who boarded the ship off Pearl Harbour was just 

 what one might have expected. Instead of the drab figure 

 who boards a ship for this purpose in most parts of the 

 world, this man was colourfully dressed in a gay aloha shirt, 

 palms and hula girls entwining themselves against an orange back- 

 ground. He wore a cap more suitable to a jockey than a man of 

 the sea and he leapt from his fast-moving launch with the agility 

 of a trapeze artist. Once on the bridge he said, 'Let's go, Captain.' 

 and soon the ship was steaming at her best speed through the 

 man-made passage in the coral reef which leads into the extensive 

 lagoons which now form Pearl Harbour, the greatest naval base 

 in the Pacific. She passed giant aircraft carriers and fleets of 

 destroyers moored alongside. The sound of orders, oddly phrased 

 to British ears, carried across the water as the boatswain's mates 

 passed them over the loudspeakers. 



It is fashionable for travellers to say that Honolulu is over com- 

 mercialised and that there is little pleasure to be had there, but 

 with its delightful climate and colourful people there is still much 

 of interest and enjoyment. 



The ship was welcomed alongside by a party of Hawaiian girls 

 dancing the hula on the dockside and accompanied by a small 

 orchestra playing the music which is so much a part of life in 

 these islands. That this entertainment was laid on by the U.S. 

 Naval Welfare Services and that the girls danced where they could 

 among the thickly parked automobiles detracted little from this 

 Island Welcome and the sailors' eyes were not upon the berthing 

 wires which they were handling. 



The Captain's first task was to call upon the U.S. Admiral 

 Commanding the Hawaiian area and so he landed in full white 

 uniform, buttoned close up below the chin, as British naval tradi- 

 tion demands. On this warm day he envied the Admiral in his 

 open-necked khaki uniform shirt and his rolled sleeves as he sat 



