FP47 (CAPE JAMES)

The little ship that LIVES!

From California to Alaska - Alaska to Sydney, Australia - from Sydney to New Guinea - from  New Guinea to the Philippines - from the Philippines to Borneo - from being a radio ship that shot down two Japanese aircraft - to fishing the Grand Banks of Newfoundland - to returning to Alaska - to being left in a fish trawelers' graveyard - then bought by Donna and Michael Lowry - to a great refit and  now a beautiful home and a retirement in the tropics!  WOW!! I would say that is a life very well lived and worth a celebration!

On my maiden voyage on board the Cape James, I had only been at her helm for a few minutes before we lost all mechanical power and we became a "Not Under Command" vessel.  We were fortunate not to have to fight winds, tides, or weather - although the day was rainy; it was a soft rain sans the wind.  This was my first ever experience of being Not Under Command and then under professional tug.  These were both really interesting experiences.  My time and roles on the Cape James have been very varied. 

The Cape James is owned by Michael and Donna Lowry.  She is a wonderful old wooden ship with a very illustrious past.   She has been in many of the waters that I covet as some of my favourites haunts.  Michael and Donna rescued the Cape James from a marine graveyard and showered her with heaps of positive energy, passion, and reconstruction.  It is wonderful and inspiring to be able to share, even if in a very small way, their love and passion for the Cape James, for life, and of ideas.

I cannot praise Michael and Donna enough for having the vision and fortitude to restore the Cape James and to make her their home.  They are two very great individuals with many accolades and accomplishments between them.  I wish them many years of great sailing and exploration. I most certainly hope they take the Cape James (FP47) back into the waters she once covered. Below is a bit about the Cape James (FP47) and her role in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.   

 

“I WILL RETURN.”  “I HAVE RETURNED”

The Japanese army landed on the north Coast of Luzon Island in the Philippines on December 10, 1941. The American and Filipino troops were slowly pushed southwards until they were concentrated on Bataan Peninsula and on Corregidor Island near the mouth of Manila Bay. General Douglas MacArthur was on Corregidor Island at the time and he listened to the daily news bulletin every evening on short-wave from KGEI in San Francisco.  General Douglas MacArthur was ordered by the President of the United States to evacuate to Australia.  But before leaving, General Douglas MacArthur informed his support staff that he would return.  The American forces in the Philippines had started a shortwave radio station, "Freedom Radio".  It probably used army equipment for its broadcasts. It was known to broadcast on Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island.

General Douglas MacArthur, with his wife and son, were removed from Manila Bay area by a small boat which took them to the southern Philippines where they boarded a plane for Australia.  Due to air raids in Darwin, Australia, MacArthur was diverted to Batchelor, a smaller community about 30 miles south of Darwin.  At Batchelor, General MacArthur made his first “I WILL RETURN” speech, stating the promise of his return and successful liberation of the Philippines.   He remade his “I WILL RETURN” speech in Alice Springs and at the railway station in Adelaide.  Shortly after General Douglas MacArthur's departure from the Philippines, Bataan and Corregidor surrendered. 

At first, General Douglas MacArthur made his headquarters in Melbourne and then later in Brisbane.  As the Pacific Theatre changed, General MacArthur moved his headquarters northward to Port Moresby, New Guinea, and then Hollandia, New Guinea.

An old freighter built in Baltimore, Maryland, launched in 1891 under the name Galveston, saw active duty in the Spanish-American War was, after the Spanish-American war, renamed Apache.  The Apache was de-commissioned in 1937, but after  American entry into WW II, the Apache resumed official duties as a troop transport.  In1944, the Apache was taken to Sydney, Australia and totally rebuilt and equipped as a radio broadcasting ship. In late September, the Apache sailed to General Douglas MacArthur’s headquarters at Hollandia, New Guinea and then joined a flotilla of American war vessels for the return invasion of the Philippines.  The Apache was a mobile radio broadcast station and US naval communication facility. A much smaller Morse code radio ship the FP47 (Cape James) sailed alongside the Apache.  

The FP47 (Cape James) was only 125 ft long. It was built originally for the Alaska freight and passenger traffic. The FP47 (Cape James) was also refitted as a communication ship in Sydney, Australia.  It had two new diesel generators installed as power units for the electronic equipment which included two American army Morse code transmitters. The original masts had to be re-positioned to counteract the weight of the heavy electrical equipment.  However, the calculations were incorrect and the masts leaned forward making the FP47 (Cape James) look like she was moving backwards. The official radio code for the FP47 (Cape James) was "Bedpan".   


The purpose for the radio ship, the FP47 (Cape James) was as a subordinate radio ship to the Apache.  The FP47 (Cape James) was a communication vessel for newspaper and radio correspondents which sent Morse code dispatches and war news to the Apache for onward transmission to the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. 

The original delivery date for the Apache and the FP47 (Cape James) was planned for late November 1944. However, the Pacific War Theatre heated up and the FP47 (Cape James) hurriedly sailed from Sydney Harbour with the Apache at the end of September.  Neither the Apache nor the FP47 (Cape James) had time to have their electronic equipment tested.  They arrived at General MacArthur's forward headquarters in Hollandia, New Guinea on October 10. Two days later, the return invasion was imminent as the Apache and the FP47 (Cape James) sailed with the whole American invasion fleet to Manila Harbour.  The entire flotilla arrived in Manila Harbour one week later.  

This massive war fleet arrived in Leyte Gulf on the evening of October 20. The Apache sent its first transmission about the invasion of the Philippines to California on October 20, 1944 and a series of inaugural broadcasts on October 21. The American invasion was made at Red Beach, north of Palo on Samar Island.  On October 22, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore to deliver his "I Have Returned" speech so the Filippino people would know that he was fullfilling the promise he had made to them two years earlier. An American army vehicle, a weapons carrier, was fitted as a mobile communication station and General Douglas MacArthur made his speech from this location. This mobile broadcast was picked up by naval vessel Nashville and re-broadcast on several shortwave frequencies for reception throughout the Philippines. The Apache relayed this broadcast and the FP47 (Cape James) dispatched it in Morse code. Two days later, General Douglas MacArthur was on the Nashville and made a repeat broadcast of his speech for the whole world to hear. The Apache relayed it to California, and it was broadcast to the Pacific via KGEI.  For one and half years, the Apache, shadowed by the FP47 (Cape James) would relay to America the Pacific war news and its reports were heard on the shortwave stations “Voice of America”.

After a bit of air service in Manila Bay, the Apache with its smaller radio ship the FP47 (Cape James) covered the moving action of warfare on the island of Luzon.  The FP47 (Cape James) saw duty in the coastal areas of the Philippines and other islands in the western Pacific, usually in conjunction with the Apache, but not always. The FP47 (Cape James) covered landings in Brunei, Lutong, Tawi, Borneo, and Okinawa. The FP47 (Cape James) saw active action.  The photo below shows the FP47 (Cape James) with the Signal Corps emblem and two Rising Sun flags for two aircraft it downed.


The Apache, and her little auxiliary radio ship the FP47 (Cape James) witnessed the signing of the surrender documents on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.  Although this news was dispatched via a shore-based broadcast from Nazaki.

The Apache went on to do radio dispatches off the coast of Korea and China. Apache’s life as a radio broadcasting ship came to an end on April 20, 1946.  The Apache was decommissioned in 1950 and then scrapped. After the conclusion of hostilities, the FP47 (Cape James) was sent back to the Philippines, where it carried radio traffic in Morse code before returning to North America to become a fishing trawler off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and then she returned to the Northwest and continued fishing until she was put into a fishing trawler graveyard...and then she and her history were re-discovered and she became a gorgeous floating home, headed for tropical waters once again!  She absolutely loves her new life and owners Michael and Donna Lowry.