Back in the day these ships were coveted assignments, as they went all over the world. Many times a green sailor would report aboard in a West Coast port and circumnavigate the globe a couple of times before getting discharged 4-6 months later in an East or Gulf Coast port. They went to places like India, Burma, the Persian Gulf, Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe which was the ultimate adventure in a world that once seemed so much larger due to the lack of hand held technologies that bind us together and allow communication in the blink of an eye. Those truly were the glory days of the U.S. Merchant Marine.