It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the logistics of stuff like this… How much water was necessary to have on board to get through a day, and how many days did a ship go before resupplying? How did bathrooms/sanitation work on ships this packed?
informedlate
That’s a lot of baby boomer sperm on one vessel right there…
bluesrulz1
Is that the Queen Mary? I’ve seen similar pictures while touring the the ship.
semarla
Why am I thinking urinals?
PlutoKlept
Men who once believed they were already dead were suddenly alive. What a feeling.
LittleSisterBinx
Why does it appears a lot of them have their hands on their head?
pghracerx
Where did all of those soldiers sleep? There couldn’t have been enough space below decks, was there?
b_sinning
I bet that boat wasn’t the best smelling place but the energy was so positive and off the charts
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Jokesarethenewblack
I sure hope they were welcomed better than soldiers are today
danielkrutzelmann
So I’m guessing it took somewhere between a week or two to cross the atlantic…
that must have been fucking horrible after the euphoria of the war ending faded away
pepperw2
Do you know what ship?
pontonpete
How / where did all these guys sleep during the crossing? Vertically?
charonn0
> The other understandable complaint was the length of time that men were compelled to stay in the camp before securing transportation to America. This was owing to lack of ships.
> Freighters, which constituted the vast proportion of our overseas transport service at that stage of the war, were not suited for transportation of passengers. These ships lacked facilities for providing drinking water, while toilet and other sanitary provisions were normally adequate only for the crew.
> The men did not know these things and it angered them to see ships leaving the harbor virtually empty when they were so anxious to go home.
> So pleased did the soldiers seem to be by our visit that they followed us around the camp by the hundreds. When we finally returned to the airplane we found that an enterprising group had installed a loud-speaker system, with the microphone at the door of my plane.
> A committee of sergeants came up and rather diffidently said that the men would like to see and hear the commanding general. There were some fifteen to twenty thousand in the crowd around the plane.
> In hundreds of places under almost every kind of war condition I had talked to American soldiers, both individually and in groups up to the size of a division. But on that occasion I was momentarily at a loss for something to say. Every one of those present had undergone privation beyond the imagination of the normal human. It seemed futile to attempt, out of my own experience, to say anything that could possibly appeal to such an enormous accumulation of knowledge of suffering.
> Then I had a happy thought. It was an idea for speeding up the return of these men to the homeland. So I took the microphone and told the assembled multitude there were two methods by which they could go home. The first of these was to load on every returning troopship the maximum number for which the ship was designed. This was current practice.
> Then I suggested that, since submarines were no longer a menace, we could place on each of these returning ships double the normal capacity, but that this would require one man to sleep in the daytime so that another soldier could have his bunk during the night. It would also compel congestion and inconvenience everywhere on the ship.
> I asked the crowd which one of the two schemes they would prefer me to follow. The roar of approval for the double-loading plan left no doubt as to their desires.
> When the noise had subsided I said to them: “Very well, that’s the way we shall do it. But I must warn you men that there are five United States senators accompanying me today. Consequently when you get home it is going to do you no good to write letters to the papers or to your senator complaining about overcrowding on returning ships. You have made your own choice and so now you will have to like it.”
> The shout of laughter that went up left no doubt that the men were completely happy with their choice. I never afterward heard of a single complaint voiced by one of them because of discomfort on the homeward journey.
That would have been a bad boat for a random Japanese dude to fall onto.
twitchosx
Is that the Queen Mary?
jk1318
Did any of these returning troop ships sink from any kind of natural disaster, old mines, etc.? That would have to suck, survive the war and die en route home.
TrippyStick
A boat full of heros. Thank you all for your service
cjc160
It would be amazing if there was a higher def version where you could see their expressions
CrazyRabb1t
Imagine needing a poo?
ElvisCoversTupac
The old timey Where’s Waldo was way more intense.
Likeasone458
What a time to be alive. The world and opportunities were there for the taking. “Hey can you put this bumper on this chevy when in comes by? Yessir I can. Okay get to work”. Grab your card and punch in.
​
Nowadays: Oh first we do 3 phone interviews, check your credit, blood and urine samples, background checks. Oh you wanted a living wage? Like seriously?!
sbsb27
Lots of arms and elbows up to watch the photo plane/helicopter.
bluesrulz1
I couldn’t find the amount of rooms on the Queen Elizabeth, but the Queen Mary has 346. I think those two ships are comparable in size. So if there was roughly 16,000 people on that ship, that’s 46 people per room. It seems like there were probably people sleeping in places other than rooms.
Seeing this makes me think this is also what the stern of the Titanic must’ve been like in its last hour, packed with humanity. Cameron’s movie does a lot to work it all out, but the actual event must’ve been just a mass of people.
didyoutouchmydrums
Where’s Waldo?
FiveCentsADay
Fuck that. The plane ride back from Iraq was shitty, can’t imagine taking a *boat* back
bloodthirstysons
They saved a bunch on “bring ’em home” boats.
InevitableTreachery
Sir, there seem to be an insufficient number of lifeboats on this ship.
DoMoreWork
I think I see my father. 3rd row 5th guy.
EastBayRae
I see a lot people about to be unemployed.
bloatedsac
noice…that ship must have smelled like triumph and urine….
dethmaul
My uncle was telling me about when he was stationed in germany. They were on a ship going to vietnam, everyone was anxious and worried. Everyone was sick. Vomit and diarrhea rampant.
They get the word that the war was over, and the ship turned around for home. Everyone was magically better and so rejoiceful, they had worried themselves into feeling so shitty that it manifested physically.
SublimeParadigm
That’s a lot of turtles. How far did they sail like that? Were they all below deck before the pic?
SharpChedder
Where’s Waldo?
happytrailz1938
Yeah, but where’s Waldo?
demonmariner
Where’s Waldo?
bodilessbobby
Howd they get this angle on the photo back then?
NullSignificance
Imagine if some rogue German fighter plane dropped a bomb on that ship.
starlecky
Serious question. How much weight can a ship hold?
snupolt
thank you for your service
thrtysmthng
Please tell me they didn’t have to ride this way the whole way home. I mean damn
zoon82
Anyone willing to take a crack at colorizing this?
the_eric
There is more courage in this one photo than there is of the entire Republican party.
SleepyforPresident
Boat was 100% positive vibes. I guarentee it
anrole
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the logistics of stuff like this… How much water was necessary to have on board to get through a day, and how many days did a ship go before resupplying? How did bathrooms/sanitation work on ships this packed?
informedlate
That’s a lot of baby boomer sperm on one vessel right there…
bluesrulz1
Is that the Queen Mary? I’ve seen similar pictures while touring the the ship.
semarla
Why am I thinking urinals?
PlutoKlept
Men who once believed they were already dead were suddenly alive. What a feeling.
LittleSisterBinx
Why does it appears a lot of them have their hands on their head?
pghracerx
Where did all of those soldiers sleep? There couldn’t have been enough space below decks, was there?
b_sinning
I bet that boat wasn’t the best smelling place but the energy was so positive and off the charts
historymodbot
Welcome to **/r/HistoryPorn**!
This post is getting rather popular, so here is a friendly reminder for people who may not know about our rules.
* **Personal attacks, abusive language, trolling or bigotry in any form is not allowed**. This will be removed and may result in a ban.
* **Keep the discussion on-topic.** Comments that do not directly add to the discussion will be removed and in some cases can also result in (temp) bans. Things not on topic are comments that solely consist of a joke, (political) soapboxing, etc.
Additionally.
* **Use that report function**. If you spot a rule breaking comment please do not make things worse by engaging in an argument. Downvote it and then report it using the report function or send a modmail to the mods so we can deal with it.
Thank you!
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Jokesarethenewblack
I sure hope they were welcomed better than soldiers are today
danielkrutzelmann
So I’m guessing it took somewhere between a week or two to cross the atlantic…
that must have been fucking horrible after the euphoria of the war ending faded away
pepperw2
Do you know what ship?
pontonpete
How / where did all these guys sleep during the crossing? Vertically?
charonn0
> The other understandable complaint was the length of time that men were compelled to stay in the camp before securing transportation to America. This was owing to lack of ships.
> Freighters, which constituted the vast proportion of our overseas transport service at that stage of the war, were not suited for transportation of passengers. These ships lacked facilities for providing drinking water, while toilet and other sanitary provisions were normally adequate only for the crew.
> The men did not know these things and it angered them to see ships leaving the harbor virtually empty when they were so anxious to go home.
> So pleased did the soldiers seem to be by our visit that they followed us around the camp by the hundreds. When we finally returned to the airplane we found that an enterprising group had installed a loud-speaker system, with the microphone at the door of my plane.
> A committee of sergeants came up and rather diffidently said that the men would like to see and hear the commanding general. There were some fifteen to twenty thousand in the crowd around the plane.
> In hundreds of places under almost every kind of war condition I had talked to American soldiers, both individually and in groups up to the size of a division. But on that occasion I was momentarily at a loss for something to say. Every one of those present had undergone privation beyond the imagination of the normal human. It seemed futile to attempt, out of my own experience, to say anything that could possibly appeal to such an enormous accumulation of knowledge of suffering.
> Then I had a happy thought. It was an idea for speeding up the return of these men to the homeland. So I took the microphone and told the assembled multitude there were two methods by which they could go home. The first of these was to load on every returning troopship the maximum number for which the ship was designed. This was current practice.
> Then I suggested that, since submarines were no longer a menace, we could place on each of these returning ships double the normal capacity, but that this would require one man to sleep in the daytime so that another soldier could have his bunk during the night. It would also compel congestion and inconvenience everywhere on the ship.
> I asked the crowd which one of the two schemes they would prefer me to follow. The roar of approval for the double-loading plan left no doubt as to their desires.
> When the noise had subsided I said to them: “Very well, that’s the way we shall do it. But I must warn you men that there are five United States senators accompanying me today. Consequently when you get home it is going to do you no good to write letters to the papers or to your senator complaining about overcrowding on returning ships. You have made your own choice and so now you will have to like it.”
> The shout of laughter that went up left no doubt that the men were completely happy with their choice. I never afterward heard of a single complaint voiced by one of them because of discomfort on the homeward journey.
-Dwight D. Eisenhower (from [Crusade in Europe](https://books.google.com/books?id=WGQLGxE8LyAC&pg=PA422&lpg=PA422&dq=%22%22&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false))
CountryPrince
Soldiers, sailors, or both?
CuhRissToeFur
That would have been a bad boat for a random Japanese dude to fall onto.
twitchosx
Is that the Queen Mary?
jk1318
Did any of these returning troop ships sink from any kind of natural disaster, old mines, etc.? That would have to suck, survive the war and die en route home.
TrippyStick
A boat full of heros. Thank you all for your service
cjc160
It would be amazing if there was a higher def version where you could see their expressions
CrazyRabb1t
Imagine needing a poo?
ElvisCoversTupac
The old timey Where’s Waldo was way more intense.
Likeasone458
What a time to be alive. The world and opportunities were there for the taking. “Hey can you put this bumper on this chevy when in comes by? Yessir I can. Okay get to work”. Grab your card and punch in.
​
Nowadays: Oh first we do 3 phone interviews, check your credit, blood and urine samples, background checks. Oh you wanted a living wage? Like seriously?!
sbsb27
Lots of arms and elbows up to watch the photo plane/helicopter.
bluesrulz1
I couldn’t find the amount of rooms on the Queen Elizabeth, but the Queen Mary has 346. I think those two ships are comparable in size. So if there was roughly 16,000 people on that ship, that’s 46 people per room. It seems like there were probably people sleeping in places other than rooms.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabeth
das_Reboot
Seeing this makes me think this is also what the stern of the Titanic must’ve been like in its last hour, packed with humanity. Cameron’s movie does a lot to work it all out, but the actual event must’ve been just a mass of people.
didyoutouchmydrums
Where’s Waldo?
FiveCentsADay
Fuck that. The plane ride back from Iraq was shitty, can’t imagine taking a *boat* back
bloodthirstysons
They saved a bunch on “bring ’em home” boats.
InevitableTreachery
Sir, there seem to be an insufficient number of lifeboats on this ship.
DoMoreWork
I think I see my father. 3rd row 5th guy.
EastBayRae
I see a lot people about to be unemployed.
bloatedsac
noice…that ship must have smelled like triumph and urine….
dethmaul
My uncle was telling me about when he was stationed in germany. They were on a ship going to vietnam, everyone was anxious and worried. Everyone was sick. Vomit and diarrhea rampant.
They get the word that the war was over, and the ship turned around for home. Everyone was magically better and so rejoiceful, they had worried themselves into feeling so shitty that it manifested physically.
SublimeParadigm
That’s a lot of turtles. How far did they sail like that? Were they all below deck before the pic?
SharpChedder
Where’s Waldo?
happytrailz1938
Yeah, but where’s Waldo?
demonmariner
Where’s Waldo?
bodilessbobby
Howd they get this angle on the photo back then?
NullSignificance
Imagine if some rogue German fighter plane dropped a bomb on that ship.
starlecky
Serious question. How much weight can a ship hold?
snupolt
thank you for your service
thrtysmthng
Please tell me they didn’t have to ride this way the whole way home. I mean damn
zoon82
Anyone willing to take a crack at colorizing this?
the_eric
There is more courage in this one photo than there is of the entire Republican party.