If Camp Polk was miserable, life onboard the merchant marine SS Sea Pike was hell. For three weeks, the 511th PIR crossed the Pacific onboard the Sea Pike, alone, enduring stiffing conditions below decks and long lines for their two daily meals. The food was awful (so they stole the crew's), the holds smelled and as D Company's 1st Lieutenant Andrew Carrico III exclaimed, the men were "Bored as hell." Gambling was common and many Angels slept on deck at night to enjoy the cooler air. The paratroopers grew to detest the merchant marine crew and by the time they reached New Guinea, the Angels called the Sea Pike "The Kaiser's Revenge."