During WWII the "Floating Equipment Maintenance Unit"

Was formed to maintaine and furnish crews for Tender-Barges, 

Floating Dry-Docks, Gasoline Fuel-Barges and other Types of

floating equipment that was assigned to the P.T. Boat

Navy to enable the squadrons to move freely wherever

The enemy was to be found. This is the story or history of

 F.E.M.U. Crane Barge #6.

                This Barge was assembled by the C.B.s at                  

BASE  21  WOENDI  ISLAND  NEW  GUINEA

A  crew  Made  Up  of  P.T.Boat sailors was assigned to 

maintain and care for this barge as It was towed to the Philippines.  

It spent A few weeks at At A Base on Layte Named "FEMU Island"

FEMU  ISLAND  PHILIPPINES  IN  1944  

Was a few miles up the San Juanico Strait from  Tacloben

And  Accross  the  strait  from  advanced  PT Base Five.

A permanent Four man Crew was assigned consisting of

Jerry "Gerald K. Barnett" Machinist Mate 1/c as captain,

Eddie "Edward S. Miller" boson Mate 2/c, Al "Alfred B.Moore 

Motor Machinist Mate 3/c and Andy "Harold Anderson"Fireman.

Four enlisted crew members on a pontoon barge a hundred or so feet long, 

close to fifty feet wide, with a ten ton crane on the bow and a full sized

Quonset-Hut in the Center. The two  Eight Cylinder Chrysler Marine   

  Pusher  Units on the stern could, with no tide move us at about four knots. 

On March 9, 1945 a tug towing our barge, two fuel barges and 

a dry-dock strung out single file a couple hundred feet apart 

headed south for Zamboanga.  Barge Crews were all aboard the Tug.

 Halfway down the coast of Mindanao tow lines parted between the 

two gasoline barges and  the Dry-Dock.  This happened three times and 

on each occasion as the Tug circled around the loose Barges, with the 

Crane Barge and the Dry Dock still hooked on, looking for A way to get a 

new line to the loose Barges. Rough Seas made it not safe to launch a boat. 

 Al Moore & Eddie Miller swam in after them, to secure temporary tow lines, 

until another Tug could be sent out to safely hook on to the loose Barges. 

The "Navy Marine Corps Medal" Was presented to them for their dip in the deep.

We finely landed about eight miles north of Zamboanga at a

base the Japanese didn't want us to occupy. That evening,

we watched as  the enemy droped a few mortar rounds on the

base and decided to abandon ship. We flagged down A Ron

24 boat that took us to Zamboanga where we spent the

night. The next day another Boat took us back to our

  barge and we left that area for another more

peaceful Island about twenty miles south of Zamboanga.

A Tug towed us to a small inlet close to a town named Issabella.

  They Cut us loose and we steamed in

and tied to a sunk Japanese wooden ship's mast that was

sticking up out of the water. Now here we are no body

else in sight. We have a crane and we can see things on

the deck of the ship. With the use of a grappling hook we

brought up an anchor,  maybe a   hundred pounder.

With that hanging on the hook of the crane, we could

work it under the roof of the bridge and maybe pull it

apart to find some real goodies. As luck would have it

after quite a strain on the line, it broke and we

almost lost the Boom Of the Crane over backwards.

I wonder how we would have explained that. The next day

an advanced P.T. base Gang arrived and proceeded to set

up base. A few days later we steamed over to Isabella

  and The CBs came in and proceeded to Build P.T.

Base 16. We were there about a month not having much to

do. Our Barge made a good place for the Boats to tie

up to  between patrols. We were then ordered to move

around Mindanao with Ron 24 to give them a place to tie

up between Patrols. We stopped at Polac Harbor for a few

days while the Japanese were pushed out of the way.

Then on to Malalac Bay near Davao. A little over three

months later we were back to Base 16 tied up at the end

of a long Finger Pier as A place for the Boats to dock.

Not long after that the War Ended. Eddie went to another

station as regular Navy. Jerry and Andy went home. They

had the points. Al transferred to Base 16 and worked in

the motor pool until the base broke up. Being young

and unmarried, He was transferred to a Fleet Tug and run

up and down the coast from Samar to Manila until points

built up and He could go home. Andy was older than the

rest of us and acted as our cook. Almost made Spam

edible. He was from Whitefish, Montana and has never

been located since the war. Jerry retired from the

Detroit, Michigan Police department and now lives in

East Jordan, Michigan. Eddie, Now Deceased, retired after twenty five

years regular Navy,  lived  in Spring Valley,

California. Al worked as a construction Millwright and

had A coin and antique Business In Omaha, Nebraska and

is now retired and still lives In Omaha.

This Narrative Put together from memory by Al Moore

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