Like many towns and cities where locals are identified by the pronunciation of their locale, Mazamans prefer muh-zaa-muh (not muh-zah-muh – like aww for a doctor checking your throat). There are, however, places in our neighbor to the south — Oregon — where “Muh-ZAH-muh” plays an important role.
Mount Mazama is the volcano in Klamath County that collapsed due to an eruption of magma that emptied its underlying chamber some 7,700 years ago. The result is the caldera that holds beautiful Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the U.S. at a maximum depth of approximately 1, 949 feet.
A local Mazaman brought Mount Mazama to my attention and an historical namesake of the mountain. Commissioned in 1944, the U.S. Navy ammunition ship USS Mazama (AE-9) was named after the collapsed volcano.
USS Mazama served as an ammunition ship during World War II.
USS Mazama entered war service on May 6, 1944. Filled to the hilt with explosives, the ship headed out into the Pacific theater of World War II on a dangerous mission where she delivered ammunition to ships at sea and in port.
Struck by a manned torpedo launched by a Japanese submarine, the USS Mazama was crippled but reparable and continued to San Francisco before heading back to the Philippines with 5,000 tons of ammunition. She remained there until the end of the war.
Learning about the USS Mazama brought back memories regarding my sons’ grandfather who was a U.S. Merchant Marine skipper. Family history always included the story that he had brought the first post-war shipment of grain to Japan on a Liberty Ship. He was greeted by Emperor Hirohito and a large Japanese doll enclosed in a glass case was a gift to him from the emperor.
In this information age, it did not take long to learn more details about Captain Engberg, including the name of the Liberty ship that he commanded — SS Frederick Bouchard. During the war, the ship and crew traversed the Pacific theater much the same as the USS Mazama delivering munitions and military supplies to U.S. forces in the Philippines. As with the USS Mazama, merchant ships carrying ammunition were prime targets for Imperial Japanese submarines and kamikaze attacks.
Learning more about the dangerous and complex duty Grandpa Engberg had during the war made me appreciate his quiet resoluteness by the time he came into my life. He has long since passed at what now I realize was a young age of 74.
Thanks to Lincoln Loehr for the idea to take a deep dive into the Muh-ZAH-muh ship of wartime that, in turn, led to long-forgotten information about my sons’ grandfather.
Other Mazama news: The Mazama Community Club will host its second annual “Pumpkin Carving with Kids” on Saturday (Oct. 24) from 2-4 p.m. The event is free but pumpkins available on first-come, first-serve basis. Costumes for kids and adults are encouraged. The club will provide carving stations with kid-friendly tools, coloring area for younger children, treat bags, hot cider and fall treats. Email mbeahall@yahoo.com for further information.
