CHAPTER Ill, SECTION 6 vans and other heavy lifts and to the safe handling of the ship’s “jumbo” gear. Individual lifts of up to 30 tons were common, and lifts to 50 tons were handled with no difficulty. Cargo was transported from the dock by fork lift, flatbed trailer, or lowboy to the classification yard or receiving areas. Special safety precautions were observed in the handling of inflammable, toxic, or explosive commodities. Freeze cargo was discharged in sling boxes to eliminate multiple handling during transfer from ship to reefer bank. These boxes, open on top and with a removable panel in one end, were taken into the hatch by ship’s gear. After being loaded they were hoisted to the dock, placed on waiting flatbed trucks by fork lift, and transported to a designated area for sorting before final storage in the reefer bank. Reefer cargo consigned to TG 7.2 was handled in the same manner, except that it was loaded at the pier into trucks provided by the Army and ferried to Site Fred by the H&EN Marine Department. Vessels containing POL products were con- nected by means of a flexible hose to pipelines running from the pier to the tank farm. Lines were checked for leakage, and thorough pre- cautions were taken to minimize danger from fire or explosion. The Stevedore Department maintained an active safety program within its own organization. Safety lectures with blackboard illustra- tions were given from time to time; also, on-the- job demonstrations and safety pointers were presented whenever the situation warranted. All equipment necessary to work a ship was fabricated in the Stevedoring Department gear loft. After use, each piece of equipment was inspected, cleaned, and stored, and any gear show- ing signs of wear or undue strain was repaired or replaced from stock on hand. In no instance was gear failure experienced using gear fabricated by the Stevedore Department. The work schedule for off-loading and back- loading cargo vessels during the interim and operational period commenced at 0730 hours and ended at 2200 hours. This work period proved highly satisfactory in keeping step with the demands for discharging and loading ocean carriers and for the supply of construction ma- terial to all sites. A few exceptions to this work period were necessary to meet the demands of the tight shipping schedule set up by JTF-7. A Foreman and five specially trained and “Q”-cleared Stevedores, working underthe Assis- tant General Supervisor, Supply, handled special security cargo and devices entering, leaving, and between the various sites at EPG. During the operational period, a crew of Stevedores was maintained at Bikini Atoll to Page 384 off-load and load LST’s carrying inter-atoll cargo. A crew of from 6 to 20 men, depending on the requirements, were transported to Johnston Island to handle the stevedoring operations. The operation at Johnston Island presented unusual challenges to the Department because (1) it was necessary for all ships other than LST’s to be off-loaded appproximately three miles from the dock in the open sea and (2) manyof the trailer vans needed for the Operation were too high to be loaded into the tank deck of an LST, requiring some other meansof trans- portation. The possibility of shipping these vans as deck cargo on the larger ships was excluded because of the obvious dangers involved in offloading in the open sea with the ship’s ‘‘jumbo” gear. Thefirst problem was approached by marshaling all available marine craft, including a small barge, to ferry cargo from shipside to the dock. In spite of heavy swells, averaging six feet, several heavy lifts were handled successfully. The second problem was solved by a loading and off-loading operation not heretofore used by this Department. Trailer vans were taken two at a time in LCU’s to an LSD in the lagoon, which took on sufficient ballast to permit the loaded LCU to enter the stern gate. After this procedure, the ballast was pumped out leaving the LCU riding dry in the well deck. The trailer vans were then pulled onto the well deck of the LSD, the LCU wasrefloated, and the process repeated until the loading was completed. In the space normally occupied by two LCU’s carrying a maximum ofeight trailer vans, a total of 18 trailer vans, a truck, a flatbed trailer, two jeeps, and sufficient genera] cargo for five additional flatbed trailers were loaded. It is estimated that one trip by an LSD loaded in this manner was the equivalent to three trips loaded by previous methods. It is also estimated that at least 30 trailer vans could have been handled at one time by this methodof loading. Off-loading was accomplished by reversing the procedure and pulling the trailer vans from the well deck of the LSD to an LCU, thence to the seaplane ramp on shore. Off-loading of general cargo from the LSD was handled by floating an empty barge into the well deck, pumping the well dry, and using two forklifts. One forklift operated on the mezzanine deck, bringing general cargo to the deck’s edge, and the other operated on the barge, carrying cargo from the edge of the mezzanine deck to the barge itself. By using this method, off-loading time for general cargo carried on the mezzanine deck was cut in half. Cargo from the helicopter deck was haudled by ship’s crane to the barge inside the well, thus decreasing the distance traversed by the ship’s crane and speeding up production.