HMS Matchless-- Part 2

In June 1942, the Matchless took part in Operation Harpoon which aimed to relieve the besieged island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.  The ship was damaged by a mine June 15th and had to remain in Malta for repairs.  During that time, the Matchless survived 265 air raids.

Repaired and out of Malta, the Matchless returned to the island during Operation Malta, also designed to relieve it.

Its next service was two Arctic convoys until May and June 1943, when the destroyer escorted the RMS Queen Mary half way across the North Atlantic.  The ocean liner was carrying none other than Winston Churchill on his way to the United States for a meeting with FDR.

While on convoy duty in December, the Matchless and three other destroyers were ordered to leave and join a task force going against the German cruiser Scharnhorst.  On December 25th, word was received that the British cruisers Belfast, Norfolk and Sheffield had engaged it.

The Scharnhorst had been ordered to attack convoys, but avoid a general battle with Allied warships.  On December 26th, Boxing Day in Britain, there was another fight and the Scharnhorst broke off and started heading for its home base in a Norwegian fjord.

The Matchless and other destroyers were ordered to intercept it.

Running for Home.  --GreGen

HMS Matchless-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

M-Class destroyer commissioned 12 February 1942, decommissioned 1946.  Sold to Turkish Navy in 1959 and renamed the Uluc Ali Reis.  Length of 362 feetand crew of 221.  Armament: several 4.7-inch guns, anti-aircraft guns, depth charges and torpedoes.

Evidently, ships of the Royal Navy were sometimes adopted by towns after they riased money.  The Matchless was adopted by the Maidenhead Bourough Council in Berkshire after they raised over 550,000 pounds.  In 1943, the ship was also adopted by the Associated Motor Cycle Company in London, which made Matchless cycles.

The ship went on Arctic convoy duty right after training.  On May 15, 1942, the Matchless rescued 200 survivors from the light cruiser HMS Trinidad and then sank the ship with torpedoes.

More to Come.  --GreGen

How the Scharnhorst Was Sunk-- Part 2

December 26, 1943 is British Boxing Day and that is when the British ships caught up with the German cruiser Scharnhorst which had altered course and running for safety in a Norwegian fjord.  It was pitch dark and radar was being used.

The Scharnhorst first encountered the HMS Duke of York and engaged the battleship receiving damage and being forced to slow down because of it.  Various other destroyers and cruisers moved in for the kill.  Star shells lit up the sky.

Near the end, the destroyers came in and fired off their torpedoes at the Scharnhorst, often described at the most beautiful fighting ship of any navy.  Fighting to the end, the German ship fired every gun still operational and used 20 mm cannon on the destroyers.

The destroyers and HMS Matchless could not find the Scharnhorst on their second torpedo run, but did find men, mostly dead, floating in the water.  Norman Scarth remembers a man from the Matchless calling out, ""Scharnhorstgesunken?" and getting the reply "Ja Scharnhorst gesunken!"

The destroyers scrambled to get nets over the side to rescue the Germans.  Only 36 of the 2,000 man crew were saved.

Then, the Matchless was ordered away and Scarth can still remember voices calling out for help in that cold Arctic water.

A Valiant Ship to teh End.  --GreGen

How the Scharnhorst Was Sunk-- Part 1

From the December 25, 2011, BBC News "How Germany's feared Scharnhorst was sunk in World War II" by Claire Bower.

The Scharnhorst was sunk by Allied forces 26 December 1943 in the Battle of North Cape.

Norman Scarth was 18 and on the destroyer HMS Matchless protecting a convoy to Soviet ports in the Arctic Circle.  Rumors were out that the Scharnhorst had gotten out and was on the prowl.  The Matchless, going full speed at 35 knots in mountainous seas in a full gale, was ordered to join the 10th CruiserSquadron with the HMS Belfast, Norfolk and Sheffield.

These cruisers had already had an engagement with the Scharnhorst, but it had gotten away

The British Admiralty guessed the Scharnhorst would be heading north to attack the Matchless' convoy.

More to Come.  --GreGen

Cruising on the Liberty Ship John W. Brown-- Part 2

Some 2,700 Liberty Ships were made during the war and transported cargo and troops to the war fronts.  They were built very quickly.  It took just 41 days to build the John W. Brown.  The ships featured few frills and were designed to be functional and not necessarily to last.

These ships were indispensable to the war effort and many remained in military service for many years after the war.  Others were sold to other countries and to to private interests.  Many also became part of so-called "Ghost Fleets" at various ports along both coasts.  These were ships kept in readiness for use in case of another war.

An all-volunteer group called Project Liberty Ship restored the Brown.  Beginning in 1988, the ship began cruising from Pier One of Baltimore's Clinton Street.  The one Donald Halverson was on had 550 passengers (the ship can hold 700).

When cruising, every effort short of being attacked is replicated.  The ship's guns are popular sites for photographs.  The September 10th trip is sold out and will also feature a flyover by vintage Japanese, German and British planes as well as actors portraying FDR, General MacArthur and Abbott and Costello will be on board.

There will be a two-hour Veterans Day Tour November 5th for just $20, but only veterans are allowed for this one.

Real, Living History.  --GreGen

Deaths: Photographer

WAYNE F. MILLER, 94

(1918-May 22, 2013)  American photographer known for his striking photos from World War II and then Chicago's South Side after the war.  The photos of the South Side were put in a book "The Way of Life of the Northern Negro."

In World War II, he was assigned to Edward Steichen's U.S. Navy Combat Photo Unit, and was on hand for many important events as well as one of the first photographers to enter Hiroshima after the atom bomb.

He also provided photos for Dr. Benjamin Spock's book "A Baby's First Year."

Deaths: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Fighter

BORUCH SPIEGEL, 93

One of the last remaining survivors of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising where 750 Jewish fighters launched an attack on their German occupiers April 19, 1943, (we just had the 70th anniversary of it, but I came across no mention of it, sadly).  Outnumbered and outgunned badly, they defied odds and held on for nearly a month before being crushed.

They became a symbol of resistance.

A few dozen fighters were able to escape to the so-called "Aryan" side of Warsaw.  German revenge was harsh and every building in the ghetto was destroyed.  Then, Mr. Spiegel and his wife joined the Polish partisans fighting the Germans and took part in the 1944 Warsaw Revolt.

Sadly also, it is not known how many of those 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighters are still alive, but there can't be too many.

Heroes--  GreGen

Cruising on the Liberty Ship John W. Brown-- Part 1

From the September 7, 2011, Baltimore Sun "Liberty ship sets sail for the 1940s" by Chris Kaltenbach.

The last time Donald Halverson was on a Liberty Ship, he was a young draftee on his way across the Atlantic where he spent two and a half years fighting the Axis.

More recently, he took a leisurely 6-hour cruise on the Chesapeake Day aboard the refurbished Liberty Ship SS John W. Brown.  It brought back memories.

The John W. Brown was launched from Baltimore's Bethlehem Steel Shipyards on Labor Day 1942 and was named for an east coast labor leader.  It is one of only two operational Liberty Ships left and the only one on the Atlantic coast.

It is a museum ship and a living memorial to wartime shipyard workers, merchant marines and naval armed guards.

Glad We Still Have Liberty Ships.  They Were As Important To the US War Effort As the Bigger, Better-Known Ships.  --GreGen

Harry Daube, Last Remaining Survivor of the USS Leopold-- Part 3

In an accompanying video, Mr. Daube speaks of looking into the eyes of sailors holding on to the sides of the life rafts and as they lost their lives to thee xtreme cold water, just go limp and drift away.  Survival in the frigid water was just 20-30 minutes.

They had to wait 10-15 hours as torpedoes were still being fired at the USS Joyce as it tried to rescue the survivors.

Harry Daube is a survivor and it is belived that Signalman 3rd Class Joseph Arnand is the only other one still alive.  (I wasn't able to find any information on him, though.)

Mr. Daube is a retired park police sergeant and lives in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

The Story of a Ship and Its Valiant Crew.  --GreGen

Harry Daube, Last Remaining Survivor of the USS Leopold-- Part 2

The thread for the USS Leopold started back last week when I wrote about the lost Purple Heart of Clyde Ballenger being found.  I found this follow-up from 2010 about one of his shipmates receiving his Purple Hear, some 66 years later in 2010.  I came across no mention of his death, so hopefully Mr. Daube is still alive.

From the U.S. Department of Defense by Christopher Lagan.

The Coast Guard blames the 66-year delay on Daube's Purple Heart on paperwork.  Said Mr. Daube, "I accepted the delay....  We had lost all of the officers and the ship's personnel records."

He says he has suffered poor circulation in his legs ever since the attack due to "quite a few hours" of exposure in icy waters.

Better Late Than Never.  --GreGen

Another Pearl Harbor Survivor Dies

From the May 14, 2013, Prairie View (Kansas City, Mo.) Post "Jesse Dunnagan-- Prairie Village resident, Pearl Harbor survivor--  dies at 92."

Mr. Dunnagan was gun director on the USS California and had to jump into the water and avoid pools of burning oil swimming to safety to Ford Island.  He was initially reported as dead.

Back on the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 2011, Prairie Village declared it as "Jesse Dunnagan Day."

He also served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

GreGen

Calling All Rosies

From the May 16, 2013, Lancaster (Pa) News " Group seeks stories from county's 'Rosies the Riveters'"

Rosie the Riveters were women who worked as riveters, welders and plant inspectors during World War II to keep the fighting men supplied with the weapons they needed.

The "American Rosie the Riveter Association" is looking for stories from Lancaster County women to put into their archives.

The association was formed in 1998 and currently has 4,300 members nationwide.  The 15th Annual Convention will be held June 14-16 in Dearborn, Michigan.

Call toll free at 1-888-557-6743 or write "American Rosie the Riveter, P.O. Box 188, Kimberly, Al., 35091.

A Great Group.  --GreGen

A Great Story: The Bracelet

From the December 25, 2011, Chicago Sun-Times.

This was one of those touching human-interest stories, especially on Christmas Day.  The story involved a bracelet being returned to a woman.  This bracelet had been given to Delores Wells Mistretta by Army Lt. Bill Sexton before he shipped off to Europe.

It was returned to her 69 years later.

Check It Out, by Mark Konkel.

Harry Daube, Last Remaining Survivor of the USS Leopold-- Part 1

From the June 6, 2010, Coast Guard Compass "WWII Coast Guardsman receives Purple Heart" by Christopher Lagan.

Harry Milton Daube, 88, the last surviving member of the crew of the USS Leopold, sunk by a German U-boat March 9, 1944, in the North Atlantic near Iceland, received a long overdue Purple Heart Medal from the commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville.

Daube was a seaman first class at the time and one of only 28 survivors when the ship sank.  All 13 officers died as did 158 of 186 enlisted men.  The men waited on life rafts (some in the water hanging onto the rafts) as their ship split in two and sank beneath the waves.

He was rescued by the USS Joyce and returned to New York City.  He continued his Coast Guard service until the end of the war.

The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration in the world and awarded in the name of the president of the United States to servicemen and women wounded or killed in combat.  Earlier this month I wrote about the Purple Heart Medal of Clyde Ballenger who lost his life on the Leopold.  However, he received his during the war, but it somehow became lost until earlier this year.

Mr. Daube's arrived just 66 years late.

Better Late Than Never.  --GreGen

The USS Joyce (DE-317)-- Part 2

The Joyce's next convoy found it involved with rescue operations for the SS Pan-Pennsylvania, one of the largest vessels ever built, that had been hit by torpedoes.  In the process of rescuing survivors, the submarine was detected and the Joyce dropped a pattern of depth charges forcing the U-550 to the surface where the Joyce and two other ships opened fire.  After a hard fight, the submarine surrendered, but was scuttled.

The Joyce went on eight more convoys before being transferred to the Pacific in July 1945.  There, it protected some more convoys.

It was decommissioned May 1, 1946 and placed with the Atlantic Inactive Fleet in Florida.

As the Cold War heated up in 1950, the ship was recommissioned and became a Radar Picket Ship, serving first in the Atlantic and then the Pacific.  It was decommissioned in 1960 and sold for scrapping in 1973.

The Story of a Ship.  --GreGen

The USS Joyce (DE-317)-- Part 1

Of there was ever a sister ship to another, it would have to be the USS Joyce to the USS Leopold, the ship that Clyde Ballenger died on in 1944.  It was also an Edsall-class destroyer escort.  This one was named for Ensign Philip Michael Joyce, KIA 19 February 1942 in the Japanese attack on Darwin.\, Australia.

It was built by the same builder as the Leopold, in the same place, only laid down sixteen days earlier, March 8, 1943, launched 26 May and commissioned 30 September 1943.  Again, it sure didn't take the country a long time to launch a ship.

Its first duty was escorting a 100-ship convoy tp North Africa, leaving 4 December 1943.  It returned in January 1944, and then was sent on the March 1st convoy with the USS Leopold.  The two ships attacked the German U-boat and the Leopold was sunk.  It was the Joyce that rescued the few survivors.

A Story of Two Sister Ships.  --GreGen

The USS Leopold (DE-319): Clyde Ballenger's Ship-- Part 2

The  Leopold was built by the Consolidated Steel Corporation in Orange, Texas.

It's first duty was a convoy to the Mediterranean Sea and then it performed anti-submarine net duty off the Strait of Gibraltar.  It then returned to New York City with another convoy.

On March 1, 1944, it joined 27-ship convoy CU-16 crossing the Atlantic.  On March 8th, they received intelligence that there was a German submarine ahead, so course was altered, coming close to Iceland.  On the 9th, radar contact with the sub was made and the Leopold and USS Joyce were sent off to intercept it.

The crew was sent to General Quarters, a flare shot off and they spotted the U-255 in the process of diving.  A short time later, a torpedo hit the Leopold.  There were just 28 survivors and 171 lost their lives, including North Carolinian Clyde Ballenger.

And, That North Atlantic Water Is Mighty Cold.  --GreGen

The USS Leopold (DE-319): Clyde Ballenger's Ship-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Last week I wrote about Clyde Ballenger's Purple Heart medal being found in Wilmington, some 70 years after he was issued it.  His ship, the USS Leopold, was sunk on convoy duty in the North Atlantic, March 9, 1944.  He did not survive.

The USS Leopold was an Edsall-class destroyer escort named for Ensign Robert Lawrence Leopold who lost his life on the USS Arizona that day in Pearl Harbor.  It was laid down on 24 March 1943, launched 12 June 1943 and commissioned 18 October 1943.  That gives you an idea at how fast the American war industry was operating by 1943.    From beginning to launch was just over two and a half months.

It was 306 feet long, had a crew of 209 and weaponry consisting of three 3-inch guns, anti-aircraft guns, depth charges and torpedo tubes.

The Story of a Ship.  --GreGen

Doolittle Raiders Wrap Up Last Mission-- Part 2: "We Just Did What We Had to Do"

"At the time of the raid, you know the war was on and it was just a mission we went on, we were lucky enough to survive it but it didn't seem like that big of a deal at the time," said Edward Saylor.  I don't know, taking off from the short flight deck of an aircraft carrier, something people didn't think Army bombers could do, is something in my book.

Sixteen planes, loaded with one-ton bombs took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, knowing that they had just enough fuel to drop their loads and high-tail it for China and hopefully safety.  Of course, there would be no way they could land back on the ship.

Richard Cole said, "We were all pretty upbeat about it.  We didn't have any bad thoughts about what was going to happen.  We just did what we had to do"  Cole was James Doolittle's co-pilot.

The reunion was a week-long event

Thomas Carey, business manager for the Raiders said that the four survivors have decided that because of age and health issues, they can no longer keep up with the demands of public appearances.  "Their mission ends here in Fort Walton Beach on Saturday night, but their legacy starts then."

The Greatest generation.  --GreGen

Doolittle Raiders Wrap Up Last Mission-- Part 1

From the April 19, 2013, USA Today, AP, "Doolittle Raiders wrap up missions."

The final reunion, number 71, took place at Eglin Air Force Base near Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  They met here because it is where they trained in early 1942 for their top-secret mission, a short time after the devastation at Pearl Harbor.

There are still four survivors of the raid and three were present at the reunion.  Robert Hite, 93, was unable to attend.

Richard Cole, 98, can still fly and land a vintage B-25, which he did, waving and smiling from the cockpit at onlookers.

David Thatcher, 91, loves to tell stories about his part in the 1942 Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.

Edward Saylor, 93, still gets laughs from his one-liners that helped U.S. morale as much as it hurt that of Japan.

The Final Toast Taken.  --GreGen