Douglas Recalled to Duty

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-68222-774-9
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

Lee Harrison Stewart, a Seaman Apprentice, was stationed at a backwater naval station in Astoria Oregon. There was nothing for a teenager to do in this salmon canning community and he wanted out. He requested a transfer to sea duty anywhere on any kind of ship. Shortly thereafter, the North Koreans invaded South Korea. A month later, Lee received orders to report to Naval Shipyard Yokosuka for further transfer to the 'PF Detail.' Upon arrival, Lee was assigned to something named PF-5 and he was to help restore this bedraggled, beat up, LendLeased Soviet Navy sabotaged hulk to active duty. He was instantly assigned to the Radio Shack where he discovered the other five Radiomen were pissed off USNR-R sailors that did not attend Reserve meeting, wear uniforms, or draw pay who were not supposed to be recalled until all USNR sailors who did attend monthly training meetings, wear uniforms, and draw attendance pay were recalled. President Truman, a WW1 combat veteran in France, decided its was better to recall WW2 combat veterans rather than wet-behind-the-ears USNR sailors. Lee was one of seven USN sailors assigned to PF-5 to rehabilitate the ship. Eventually, after nearly two months of corrective work, the USS Hoquiam PF-5 lights off one of two boilers and steams to a pier where she will be recommissioned.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Douglas, Mark

Leseproben

AUTHOR’S NOTE This is about a ship class formerly carried in the U.S. Naval Registry: Patrol Frigates, or PF’s. Patrol Frigates were 305 feet in overall length, about the same general dimensions as a Destroyer Escort, or DE. The PF’s mounted 3-inch 50 caliber guns on deck while DE’s had enclosed 5-inch 38 caliber gun mounts. Another significant difference, the PF’s carried two to three times the number of depth charges than the DE’s carried, and the DE’s were much faster. Early in World War Two, German submarines were sinking a huge number of ships in convoys crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Great Britain was in danger of being choked off from oil, food, medicine, and war supplies, coming from the United States and Canada. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, aboard the HMS Prince of Wales, and American President Franklin Roosevelt aboard the USS Augusta, met near St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada in August 1941. After agreeing upon the wording of what came to be called The Atlantic Charter, the two discussed a pressing problem: German submarines were devastating convoys from North America. The convoys desperately needed more escort vessels to knock out the German U-boats. “Franklin,” said the Former First Lord of the Admiralty, Winnie, “those fifty World War One American destroyers used to support convoys are just not enough. Your new destroyer escort design is very good but they take so long to build. The Allies need simpler, cheaper ships, faster to build, to kill U-boats.” He continued, “What we need is something special like our River class Patrol Frigates, Franklin,” then he paused as he lit up and puffed on one of his long cigars. “We shall give you our plans,” he said stabbing his cigar at Franklin Roosevelt. “You shall order your American ship builders to make them.” President Roosevelt charmed by Prime Minister Churchill, privately agreed. Publicly, FDR said our Navy’s Bureau of Navigation would make design changes. Both in agreement, Churchill sent a ship loaded with complete plans for River Class Patrol Frigates. The U.S. Navy purchased two River class patrol frigates from the Vickers shipyard in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for study and experience. This class of vessel was so much cheaper to build than destroyer escorts, that the Navy decided to build a lot of these ships and designate them Patrol Gunboats (PG). The U. S. Navy ordered one hundred fifty PG’s from civilian shipyards along the Pacific Coast, Atlantic Seaboard, up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and the Great Lakes. BuNav assigned names of cities located next to rivers, to PG’s, in keeping with their British cousins’ River class PF’s. However, before many U.S. Navy PG’s keels were laid, the Bureau of Navigation decided the correct designation for the intended function was Patrol Frigate (PF), after all. BuNav modified the British River class patrol frigate to the U.S. Navy ship building standards. The first construction, U.S.S. Asheville PF-1, set the class name. The principal visual difference between the American and British Commonwealth designs was the absence of portholes in the hull of American PF’s. Engines from local manufacturers and different armament were other major changes. Otherwise, they were strikingly similar. Indeed, all patrol frigates had a unique silhouette, created by the cutaway, down to the lower, after, Main deck. As the Asheville class patrol frigates came down the Mississippi River from the shipbuilders, Naval Inspectors at the Naval Station Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana, inspected the ships, tested and worried the new crews, and went on Sea Trials with them down the river into the Gulf of Mexico. During the mandatory full power run, every Asheville class patrol frigate burned out the engine bearings. BuNav issued a directive restricting patrol frigates to a maximum of 16 knots—135 turns or RPMs—not at all satisfactory for fast convoy duty. So restricted, BuNav slated these ships as floating ocean weather stations, spotted about the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to report weather conditions. Naval Inspector Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Ivan Douglas, USN, Engineering Officer of the Pre-Commissioning Detail at U.S. Naval Station Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana, soon learned that the frames under the twin reciprocating engines were flexing due to a design flaw. Meanwhile, Coast Guard crews of newly commissioned Asheville class PF’s discovered another serious problem. The fantail overhang, above and aft of the twin propellers, was drooping due to four tons of depth charges in the stern racks and after KGuns. This stress caused a crack across the deck in that area. Stiffened frames under the engines and welded double plating straps to the fantail deck, beefed up the overhanging fantail. Top speed was back up to 19 knots plus—170 turns. These and other changes affected a major redesign, requiring BuNav to issue a “new class” design. Kaiser Cargo, Inc., Shipbuilding Yard in Richmond, California, received orders to build twelve patrol frigates. Kaiser was already building Liberty Ships and LST’s in Yards #1, #2, and #3. This necessitated constructing Yard #4 where the new class of patrol frigates would be built. The first keel laid, designated PF hull #3, to be named Tacoma, gave the new class its name, the Tacoma class. Wilcox Babcock, Inc., manufacturer of steam boilers and reciprocating engines, had a contract with Kaiser Cargo, Inc., to deliver engines to the Richmond yards. Liberty ships (single engine) being built in Yards #1, #2 and #3, and patrol frigates (twin engine) in Yard #4, received these engines and boilers. The PF’s were to be given priority and built as fast as possible. Shipyards along the East Coast, up the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes, and the West Coast, geared up to build these ships, beginning in 1943. The Navy cut down the order to 105 PF’s. The U.S. Navy who owned these patrol frigates never manned them. The U.S. Coast Guard, part of the U.S. Navy in wartime, manned 75 of the PF’s. Great Britain received 25 PF’s in Lend-lease, and the Free French got 5 PF’s, also in Lend-lease. All performed convoy and weather station duties. A few served in the South Pacific in amphibious landings as Line of Departure vessels, for landing craft on the way to the beaches. Not one patrol frigate was lost to enemy action during World War Two. Two PF’s are known to have sunk a U-boat in the Atlantic. A full squadron of Patrol Frigates operated in the Aleutian Islands. Early in 1945, after much heated discussion, exactly one-half the crew of the USS Hoquiam PF-5 was transferred to other commands. The fully trained replacement officers and enlisted men were Negros. The insulting but very serious intent was to determine if Negros were fit for duties other than as Steward’s Mates on mess duties in the Officers’ Wardroom. Of course they were. In the summer of 1945, during secret Operation Hula, 28 PF’s were transferred in Lend-lease to the Soviet Navy from Cold Harbor and Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Soviet sailors received essential training from competent PF Coast Guard officers and sailors, and sailed off to Siberian ports. After lengthy negotiations, the Soviet Navy returned twenty-seven PF’s and one icebreaker, the Eastwind, to the U.S. Naval Base, Yokosuka, Japan, on November 1, 1949, in poor condition. Only a few of the PF’s were steaming under their own power when they came into Yokosuka Harbor. A Soviet Navy Mother ship and the few steaming PF’s were towing the other PF’s. The Soviet Navy crews ate their last meal aboard these ships, got up from the Mess tables, and marched off the ships leaving everything as it was and wide open. Transfer ceremonies completed their task. They marched aboard the Soviet Navy Mother ship, last seen heading towards Vladivostok, a naval port of the Soviet Navy. U. S. Navy Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Ship Repair Facility (SRF) personnel went aboard each PF long enough to secure all doors, hatches, vents, and the smokestack against the weather. In the Small World category, in 1944-1945, my Dad, Lt.(jg)/Lt. Ivan H. Douglas USN, had duty at Naval Station Algiers, New Orleans, to inspect new Patrol Frigates coming down the Mississipi River from their builders. During the Korean War, 1950-1951, I served on the Hoquiam PF-5 as a Seaman Apprentice and Seaman. Lt. Cdr. Ivan H. Douglas USN stationed at Yokosuka, Japan, in ComNavFE staff, sold Patrol Frigates to Navies around the Pacific Ocean basin, in 1956-1957. I learned of this while Dad and I were discussing this story’s early manuscript. Two of the PF’s, sold to the Royal Thai Navy, were spotted in Singapore in 1997. They were the last known PF’s in active service. Twelve of the twenty-seven patrol frigates were restored to workable condition, and recommissioned in the United States Navy. These ships served in a variety of functions: two ocean weather stations, Hong Kong Station ship, escorting convoys in the Sea of Japan...