USS
Augusta's diary for 7/1/45 - 8/7/45
Log of the President's
Trip to the Berlin Conference
6 July to 7 August 1945 (140 pages)
Press
Bulletin of Truman's Voyage 11 July 1945 (& photos)
For his trip to the Big Three meeting
at Potsdam with Churchill and Stalin, President Truman chose
an "'old salt" of many historic occasions, the USS
Augusta.
On July 7, 1945
President Truman stepped off a special train onto
pier 6 at Newport News, Virginia, and was piped
aboard the Augusta enroute
to the Potsdam Conference. Secretary of State James
F. Byrnes, and Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy
accompanied Truman. Following breakfast in the mess
(see photo at right) Truman proceeded to the flag
bridge. At 6:55AM Truman ordered the Augusta
to get under way, and the ship set out for the
Atlantic under a clear sky, on a smooth sea, with a
balmy 79 degree 23 knot breeze... destination
Antwerp, Belgium. Met by a British escort, Augusta
arrived on 14 July, and received dignitaries,
including General Eisenhower. Her guests departed the
same day and Augusta got
underway to proceed to Plymouth, arriving there on 28
July.
Click on the thumbnail above to view the
USS Augusta in Antwerp, Belgium
At the conclusion of the journey it
is said that the Augusta's crew rated their Commander-in-chief a
"Four-Oh" sailor.
