04/24/2008
Our Future President Kennedy 1943 Purvis Bay -
Many remembrances and related stories from different old seaman while small group talking at our St. Louis reunions, probably never be a part of world history. But I feel many are much to good to be lost. When these men are no more with us, also will these memories be gone. With this in mind, these stories I feel are very important to our history.
While anchored in "Purvis Bay" off Guadalcanal early in 1943 (also known a "Iron Bottom Bay") deck seaman Bufford Brown of the 1st division related the story of the PT boat coming up to the bow of our ship,
PT boats were given ice cream from our machines when they came alongside (This was a standard occurrence) and of course they didn't miss to many chances to stop at any "Cruiser" or "Wagon" when they had business bringing them into this anchorage. These little gifts were given freely and as a courtesy to our "little fighters" who had no way to make "Geedunks". Normally where they anchored was quite primitive and not many too accommodations to make life easier. Theirs was a dangerous and brave task daily, looking for and taking on ships ten times their size. in these early days of the war.
The officer in charge hailed our ship and asked permission to come aboard. Given reason was a then common occurrence of mutual visiting to a acquaintance officer he knew to be on the ship. This officer by the name of "White"
Normal approval was given to the visiting officer by the officer of the deck, with come aboard approval, the quarterdeck ladder at the time, was busy, so to expedite matters the Officer of the Deck ordered a "Jacobs" ladder be lowered over the side forward by the anchor chain to the PT boat. (this ladder is of hemp 4 twist line on the sides with a wooden slat between for rungs, quite flexible).
An "Ensign" rank officer in charge was left aboard with the manning PT crew. Coming aboard was a tall very slender Lt(jg). Climbing the swaying ladder almost to the deck it became by the foot more difficult because of the under curvature of the bow, the ladder with the man climbing swung under the bow.
The teller of this story who at that time in life was a large and very strong deck sailor, appointed by his size as the ladder tending deck hand, name of Bufford Brown, (W. Harrison, Indiana) said he reached over, grabbed the (jg) by the seat of his pants and hauled him up to where he rolled over the life line. The now on deck officer in faded khaki’s made a quite normal statement! "Sailor" you about ruined my family jewels!
The coming aboard officer said, if approved by our skipper (OD) the PT boat could take the "Jacob's Ladder" detail ( 4 or 5 men ) for a joy ride while he was visiting. It was approved, no problem. This story was confirmed by John Garrett another seaman in the detail, now living in Rome City, Indiana and three others, names not remembered, hustled down to the boat, and the on board "Ensign" proceeded to take them for a wild ride a couple of times around this big harbor at 40 - 50 knots of speed.
When the visitor left the ship, the officer of the deck said to the men, "Do you know who that man was? Naturally they didn't. "That was Ambassador Joseph Kennedy's oldest son, John.". Of course this was before the Kolombangara incident in Kula Gulf, in which the PT 109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese Destroyer, and our future president Kennedy injured his back.
So as this former deck seaman related in later years, I wonder how many people can say they had "John F. Kennedy" Our future and deceased president by the "family jewels" as I did ???
Excerpts received from :....................
Dr. John Crawford,
Dear Jack,
As one of your more senior readers I probably have not
recorded the following humorous incident that occurred when the St Louis was
anchored for about five months in the Central Solomons on Purvis Bay.
Word was passed over the loud speaker that when "Washing Machine Charlie" came within a certain distance the loud speaker would set condition RED-YELLOW-or White, White meant "all clear".
This period of waiting for the opening of the Mariana's Campaign was a very boring time for all of us. one day when Lt(jg - I believe Dale Cox was his name was standing watch, he suddenly passed the word", Set Condition purple on the double. "Someone, in all innocence asked the Captain what that meant The Captain. also in the dark contacted Adm .Ainsworth on the Honolulu, who in turn, called the Army on the beach. The light finally dawned that it was a hoax which we all enjoyed.
I believe the Lt was confined to his quarters for 24 hrs. a small price to pay for relieving the monotony somewhat during that period of inactivity aboard ship.
I lost track of the Lt In the ensuing years but he must have done well. I always thought that he had a lot on the ball. Perhaps there may be someone around who remembers this
Dr. John
Excerpts received from :....................
J.D. "Doug" Huggins
Jumping right into a story of living on the St. Louis ; Having been in the F
division, the two division officers made the deal that allowed Hudgins and me to
move from F to E division in January'42.
My work duty was taking care of and maintaining all of the sound-powered telephones and gunnery circuits on board. Hudgins had the same responsibility for the engineering circuits and phones..0ur work station, where we hung out and worked when not on watch was the (former) movie projection compartment and Sam Federico handled the care and maintenance of all the batteries,
Working in and hanging out in the battery locker compartment near our phone shack. We all knew several of the S Division people because the entrance to the refrigerated space where a lot of fresh(??) food was kept was just across the passageway from the entrance to the Electrical shop, where we all went for coffee and to see other E Div. sailors.
Strikers and lower ratings didn't spend too much time around there because if it looked as though you didn't have anything to do some chief or 1st class would find something for you to do!
We often got "cumshawed" fruit and butter etc. from some of the S div. people and they in turn acquired little home made hot plates and other favors from us. They used the hotplates etc for making their own liquid refreshment I guess .
Later on in my career on a PC boat, I made a large heating unit which we used to distill and redistill some alcohol which was supposed to be used to clean searchlight reflectors it mixed quite well with canned grapefruit juice when we could get it from the supply ships at places like Eniwetok etc. The working party going to supply barges in these cases were made up of the senior cook, senior electrician (me) the senior gunner's mate, a 1 st class machinist mate, and a couple of our strikers, none of this group were chiefs. while the senior cook kept the supply ship guy busy going over the list of requirements, the rest of us got what was needed plus other "Necessities" and put aboard our boat, then when we were through our senior cook would sign for what was on his list but not for the extra goodies such as a lot of extra juice and canned milk etc ...Like in real life, everyone had a little "deal" going!!
One of our E div. buddies ( Walt Mason I think) was owed a gambling debt by one of the cooks or bakers, and in the night when the bread was baking he would go to the bakery and get several loaves of hot bread, and a pound or more of butter, and three or four of us would take the whole mess into the movie shack close every thing up, turn on the lights, and tune the radio to Ted Fiorita and his orchestra playing at the Starlight roof of one of the big hotels in San Francisco. This was while we were in Alaska from June of 42 till October of 42.
Nothing in the world tasted as good as those loaves of hot bread, with all
the soft stuff pulled out and melted butter poured inside it. My mouth is
watering now, just thinking about it. We were always afraid that the baker would
pay Mason the debt and then
probably not get the bread and butter for us any longer. but it didn't happen
while I was there! The built-in radio in the movie shack was the only radio,
that we knew of, besides the one in the wardroom, and we felt lucky to be able
to get the music etc. direct and live, from San Francisco. Well enough of these
sea stories.
If I tell you anymore you won't believe me! I'm going into the galley and get myself a hot crust and butter sandwich and remember those great days and nights of 60 years ago!! when it didn't take a lot to make a bunch of lonely sailors happy for a little while!
See ya, mate. Best Doug
Ed’r JJ: Doug this story will qualify for a place on our "Site" on the Internet with other "Daily Living and Surviving" stories. Every did as much as they could to "Make Do" didn’t they
Additional notes received from Wm. (Bill) Goode, USN Cmdr (Ret)
William M. Goode
Jack,
The Bufford Brown "Sea Story" of JFK's PT coming along side
in Tulagi was a new one on me. I have absolutely no recollection of it
whatsoever----nor have I ever heard it mentioned.
One day while we were anchored in Tulagi a PT boat commanded
by Bart Connelly, a classmate of mine, came alongside to see me. While I
was talking to him the XO (Executive Officer) came out on the quarterdeck and
yelled at me with some pretty damn vulgar and forceful language to "Get that
stinking garbage away from the ship. IN RETROSPECT! Bart
won a "Navy Cross" for sinking a Jap DD and device added for putting a "Fish" in
a cruiser.
Bart's boat came alongside near the starboard quarterdeck.
I cannot imagine any PT coming alongside near the bow. It is
possible that Kennedy came aboard while I was ashore on one of my several hikes
that I set up for F. Division. But, I never heard anyone say anything
about the Kennedy incident.
Regards, Bill.................
AJ & Karl D. Dobie
A story told by him to his wife Alice:
If you call Karl sometime Jack, ask him about the story he
tells about the "watch".
His relief would always be late to free him up and he would
make several trips to wake him. He warned the young man that if he had to come
back for him , he wasn't going to like it.
Evidently the water in the water fountain on deck was
extremely cold, like ice water.
So on the third attempt to roust the sailor, who was snoring on his back with
his mouth wide open, Karl poured a coffee cup of icy water down the man's
throat. He never had to
wake him more then once after that.
I can see him doing that even now at 78.
Alice J Dobie, wife
Additional notes received from Wm. (Bill)
Goode, USN Cmdr (Ret)
William M. Goode
Hi, Jack.
I think I was fortunate to have spent my teens in San Diego
and San Pedro. In 1927 Dad was assigned to the USS ARGONNE in Brooklyn. The ship
was transferred to San Diego and we joined him later that year.
San Diego had a population of 50,000. The harbor was a part
of my life. I remember the rows and rows of old four-pipers at the Destroyer
Base and then watched with interest arrival of the "new" destroyers, starting
with the FARRAGUT (DD 348).
When the PORTER (DD 356) arrived I thought she was the most
beautiful ship in the world. She represented a new concept in destroyer
operations, being 1850 tons compared to 1500-1600 tons of other DD’s. She was
designated a destroyer leader and armed with eight 5"/38 DP guns in twin mounts.
With her tripod masts and massive top-hamper she looked formidable. Before the
War started it was found that PORTER and a number of other DD’s were top heavy
and were modified to make them more seaworthy. Then followed a number of
different designs, including the "One Stack Cans" that were noted for speed.
When I was in high school I enlisted in the organized Naval
Reserves to have a better crack at an appointment to the Naval Academy. We met
once a week at the Armory which was a converted fish cannery on the waterfront
between the Coast Guard aerodrome and the present berth of the STAR OF INDIA.
The floors [ A true sailor knows the difference between a
floor and a deck!] were all painted red and polished and the rest of the
interior was painted gray. Attached was a boat house with a 28 foot cutter and a
28ft sailing whaleboat. They were hoisted by cable up out of water and had to be
lowered whenever they were used. Because I was a sea scout I qualified to take
out both boats whenever I wanted.
Frequently I would get a bunch of my friends from high school
and spend the day sailing around San Diego Bay. Often we would bring dates and
have a picnic on a sand spit. One of these coed cruises nearly got me in
trouble. After lunch we re-boarded and continued to cruise, making the mistake
of going down wind into East Bay.
Darkness set in as we headed for home but before long it was
pitch black and we still had a long way to with no running lights. I pulled
alongside a "DD" and borrowed a kerosene lantern. Crawling along at a snail’s
pace we finally made it back and secured the boat. When I started to walk my
date to her house she stopped and said with emphasis, "Bill. I think you had
better go because my father is so worried about me that he might kill you".
I know I should have stood up like man and taking the chewing
out I deserved, but I chickened out. I never had the guts to take her out on
another date. So much for this sea story.
Hang tight. Bill Goode
Sherman Jones
Dear Jack,
For your files of every day events and happenings on the
ship................................here’s one for you.
I remember an incident when I was on watch on the bridge. We had a two-man crew for watch - one person in the lookout chair with the glasses and the other located on the deck with headphones. The person in the chair would notify his watch partner down below if he spotted anything, and then the guy below would read the degree marking on the chair and report in. We'd alternate positions every hour. Of course, Captain Roberts was pacing on the bridge.
Well, when it came time for me to take the headphones, I jumped down (about 30"), and crashed into something. I looked down to see what I'd hit, and there was Captain Roberts flattened on the deck in front of me. I thought, "Oh boy, I'm in for it now". But the Captain never said a word, he just got up and went on his way. He did give us a little more room after that when we were on watch.
I figure I'm probably the only seaman to deck a captain and not get court marshaled.