Clayton Drake of Masury joined the Navy in May of 1944 at 18. Little did he realize that he would spend a good part of the rest of his life on the oceans.

After six weeks of training in Hawaii, he was assigned to the USS Hamlin as a signalman, and by that September, he was on his way to Eniwetok as a member of one of the most unusual missions in the history of naval warfare.

With the taking of the Philippines, a unique problem was presented to our military forces preparing for the invasion of Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Japan, which tested our famous ingenuity.

There was no airbase available for the repair of crippled planes and immediate surveillance of invasion sites. What was needed was a virtual air base on the ocean. The entire service of the USS Hamlin lasted 15 months and Drake was there.

At Iwo Jima, the USS Hamlin proved that an airbase could be created and operated in any semi-sheltered water. At Kerama Rhetto, a small island off the south of Okinawa, the most daring base in history was formed to aid damaged planes during the invasion of Okinawa. It was a virtual suicide mission.

The Hamlin was launched on June 26, 1944. It was a steel hulk nearly as large as an aircraft carrier, which had cranes to lift planes onto the flat deck for repair. It could carry 400,000 gallons of fuel and it became an ocean airport close to invasion sites for the islands of the Pacific.

From Eniwetok, the ship went to Saipan, which was the base for the rest of their missions in the Pacific. Arriving shortly after the invasion, it was difficult to moor because bodies of dead Marines and sometimes Japanese floated out from the shore. Bloated from the heat, each was the size of a small cow.

From there the Hamlin went to Ulithi in the Caroline Islands for anti-submarine patrol. A fleet-oiler was torpedoed and went up in flames.

During their absence from Saipan, it had been built up with roads, Quonset huts, and airfields for the flights of super-fortresses’ raids on Japan.

In February 1945, the ship was on course to Iwo Jima and the Fifth Fleet bombarded the small island as the Marines crawled up the slope. For two weeks, the Hamlin lay off shore, operating squadron duty by day and the guns by night.

An incoming shell lodged in the stack of the Hamlin but did not explode. Digging that bomb out of the stack was quite a job. While repairing damaged planes, the Hamlin faced bombardment from Japanese batteries. Shore debris made operations difficult. Mount Suribachi lay off in the distance and the sailors watched as Marines waved flags upon reaching its summit.

A visit to Guam filled the ship with airplane engines, stores, fuel and ammunition, as well as replacements. In March, they were once again on Saipan. Every sailor aboard talked of another invasion. They prepared for weeks.

When the last plane was hoisted aboard, they set sail for Okinawa. The last of March they rounded the southern coast of Okinawa as the Japanese naval bombardment was in process. The Hamlin moored off the island of Kerama Rhetto, 15 miles south of Okinawa, and began to set up their Seaplane Tender operation.

The mission of the squadron was to fly anti-submarine patrols, search for the Third Fleet, and to keep an eye out for a possible attack by the Japanese fleet. The Hamlin arrived four days before the American troop invasion. Damaged planes returning from missions would be hauled to the crane and hoisted aboard for repair.

On April 1, the day of the invasion of Okinawa, the first kamikaze was sighted, and 40-mms came to life. A plane smashed into a nearby LST and those aboard could see sailors diving into the sea.