Status Updates From The Fleet the Gods Forgot: ...

"Old China hands referred to her as 'the Old Lady.' Built as a passenger liner, the USS Canopus was converted by the Navy into a tender - a mother ship for the S-type submarines, or pigboats, as those squat, cramped, ungodly hot undersea boats were called. Her sleeping accommodations and chow-line fare beckoned like a Ritz Carlton to sailors eager for a respite from the austere life they led on their boats."

"The last bombing attack of the day was directed at the unarmed troopships. Spotting this maneuver, Captain Rooks raced the Houston close to the convoy, and the protective curtain of shells put up by her guns was so effective that Japanese bombs fell close to only one ship. The bombers gone, the Houston steamed down the line of transports and, as she passed each one, hundreds of grateful soldiers cheered her. "