USS Tripoli - Escort Carriers.com

June 2013
Newsletter of the ESCORT CARRIER SAILORS & AIRMEN ASSOCIATION, INC.
ESCORT CARRIER SAILORS & AIRMEN ASSN.
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USS Tripoli
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USS Tripoli (CVE-64) was a Casablanca class escort carrier of the United
States Navy, the first ship to carry her name.
She was built under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1101) at
Vancouver, Washington, and was laid down by the Kaiser Shipyards on 1 Febru-
ary 1943 as Didrickson Bay (ACV-64). Renamed Tripoli on 3 April 1943 and
launched on 13 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Leland D. Webb, and commis-
sioned on 31 October 1943, at Astoria,
Oregon, Captain Wendell G. Switzer
in command.
Following shakedown train-
ing off the California coast, the escort
carrier entered the repair base at San
Diego, California. There, on 4 Janu-
ary 1944, gasoline was inadvertently
dumped into the water around the forward part of the ship, on the starboard side.
Acetylene torch sparks ignited the volatile mixture, and flames quickly spread
from the bow to frame 82, engulfing the forward galley walkway and the island
superstructure. Yard craft and the ship’s crew battled the flames and soon had the
fire under control, but not before two men had died.
Atlantic - Subsequently repaired, Tripoli departed San Diego on 31 January,
bound for the Panama Canal and duty with the Atlantic Fleet. She arrived at her
new home port, Norfolk, Virginia on 16 February. Embarking Composite Squad-
ron 13 (VC-13) - 13 FM-2 Wildcats and TBM Avengers - the carrier put to sea
on 15 March as the center ship in Task Group 21.15 (TG 21.15). Supported by
five destroyer escorts of Escort Division 7 (CortDiv 7), Tripoli patrolled west of
the Cape Verde Islands to break up German U-boat refuelling activities in that
area.
After providing air cover for a convoy routed to the British West Indies,
Tripoli’s Wildcats and Avengers searched the sea lanes northwest, southwest, and
west of the Cape Verdes before putting into Recife, Brazil on 5 April to refuel
and provision. Back at sea again two days later, Tripoli continued the routine
of daily launchings and recoveries of her aircraft, guarding the Allied sea lanes
against the incursions of enemy U-boats.
About one hour before sunrise on 19 April, one of Tripoli’s Aveng-
ers made radar contact with a German U-boat as the submarine cruised on the
surface awaiting the arrival of her “Milch Cow” or refuelling partner. U-513 put
up a spirited anti-aircraft barrage while the Avenger made three attacks. A pat-
tern of rockets bracketed the submarine on the first pass as the Germans prepared
to dive for comparative safety. On the second run, the aircraft’s depth charges
failed to release, giving the enemy submersible the time she needed to dive. The
U-boat evaded the aircraft’s last attack - a mine - but also missed her fuelling
rendezvous with U-488.
Returning to Norfolk on 29 April, Tripoli underwent voyage repairs
before embarking VC-6 - 12 Avengers and nine Wildcats. She then formed up
with CortDiv 7 and departed Hampton Roads on 24 May for further searches
in the vicinity of the Cape Verdes. Four days out, she changed course to
intercept a German submarine estimated to be proceeding southwest from a
position west of the Madeira Islands. When no contact was made by 30 May,
Tripoli and her consorts steamed north to rendezvous with a convoy bound for
Nova Scotia.
Following her return to Norfolk on 18 June, Tripoli spent two months in
carrier qualification training off Quonset Point, Rhode Island, before making port
again at Norfolk on 15 July. Embarking Composite Squadron 6, she conducted
two weeks of pilot qualifications in the Chesapeake Bay area before departing
Hampton Roads on 1 August, bound for her new base of operations, Recife.
Screened by O’Toole and Edgar G. Chase, the escort carrier proceeded
south until 1 August, when O’Toole developed a sonar contact and gave chase.
Aircraft from Tripoli laid patterns of sonobuoys at the initial contact point and
dropped
smoke floats
and float
lights on an
oil slick.
Continued on page 4

USS Tripoli (CVE-64) continued... Picking up the “scent”, O’Toole
straddled the floats with her Hedgehog projectiles and depth charges and soon
radioed victoriously “We hit the rodent!” A brief visual examination of the evi-
dence - debris and a large quantity of diesel oil - satisfied the hunter-killer group
that they had indeed sunk an enemy submarine. However, a post-war examina-
tion of German records did not confirm the kill. As night fell, Tripoli vectored
two aircraft to another sonar contact by O’Toole, and four depth bombs were
dropped - keeping another U-boat down and running.
Tripoli and her group then returned to Recife on 13 August and reported
for duty with Admiral Jonas H. Ingram’s 4th Fleet. Designated as the center
of TG 47.7, the escort carrier put to sea on 22 August with the four destroyer
escorts of CortDiv 24 to operate against a homeward-bound German submarine
estimated to pass at 25° south latitude and 5° west longitude.
After a fruitless search pursuing two fading sonar contacts in the mid-
South Atlantic narrows, Tripoli and her group returned to Recife on 11 Sep-
tember for provisioning and fuelling. Underway again two days later, TG 47.7
headed out to conduct another search - this time along the estimated track of
two U-boats slated to rendezvous for refuelling. One of the target U-boats was
U-1062, bound from Penang, British Malaya with a cargo of valuable petroleum
products for the German war effort. Ordered to fuel U-219, outward-bound for
the Far East, U-1062 prepared to rendezvous with her smaller sister boat in the
South Atlantic narrows - directly in the path of the Tripoli escort group.
Passing to the westward of the Cape Verdes, TG 47.7 made rendez-
vous with Mission Bay’s escort group to conduct a joint hunter-killer opera-
tion against the two enemy boats. Round-the-clock searches by radar-equipped
Avengers continued until 40 minutes after sunset on 28 September, when an
Avenger piloted by Lieutenant William R. Gillespie reported a definite contact
with the surfaced U-219 only 11 miles from the enemy’s estimated track.
Gillespie went in to conduct a low-level rocket attack, but was shot down
by heavy flak. Another Avenger, drawn to the battle, braved the flak to conduct
another rocket run and also dropped depth bombs, while a Wildcat strafed the U-
boat which struggled desperately to dodge the harassing attacks by the American
aircraft.
U-219 emerged from the fire fight unscathed, but U-1062 did not enjoy
similar good fortune. Fessenden, one of Mission Bay’s screen, homed in on
sonobuoy indications on 30 September and sank the “Milch Cow” with a four-
charge pattern. In the meantime, U-219 was not yet home free - one of Tripoli’s
Avengers dropped depth bombs on the fleeing boat on 2 October. American
sonar-men felt that they had definitely “killed” the U-boat, but post-war account-
ing showed that U-219 had escaped to Batavia, Java.
When fuel supplies ran low, Tripoli returned to Recife on 12 October.
She conducted one further search of the narrows from 26 October - 12 Novem-
ber before heading for a much-needed overhaul at Norfolk. Subsequently, the
escort carrier sailed for the Pacific and, after transiting the Panama Canal and
touching at San Diego, arrived at Pearl Harbor on 10 January 1945.
Pacific - Tripoli transferred Composite Squadron 8 ashore to conduct opera-
tions from Hilo, Hawaii, before she loaded a miscellaneous cargo of fighters and
bombers to be off loaded at Roi, in the Marshall Islands, where she made port on
20 February 1945. Returning to Pearl Harbor after this ferry run, the escort car-
rier commenced training operations which would continue through the end of the
war, and into late 1945. With Japan’s surrender and the end of hostilities in the
Pacific, Tripoli was assigned to the “Magic Carpet” operation.
Arriving at San Diego on 29 August with 500 Navy veterans, Tripoli
returned to Pearl Harbor on 8 September before resuming local operations - in-
cluding night carrier qualifications - through November. She subsequently made
one trip with Army passengers to San Pedro, California, and a further “Magic
Carpet” run to San Diego. The carrier departed the west coast on 15 January
1946 for deactivation overhaul at Norfolk. On 22 May 1946, the need for her
services required, Tripoli was decommissioned and laid up in reserve.
Korean War - The outbreak of the Korean War in the summer of 1950 resulted
in the return
of many of the
Navy’s reserve
ships to active
service to sup-
port American
operations in
the Far East.
Accordingly, Tripoli was recommissioned at New York on 5 January 1952, Cap-
tain Raymond N. Sharp in command.
Continued on page 5

USS Tripoli (CVE-64) continued...Assigned to the Military Sealift Com-
mand (MSC), Atlantic Area, the
former “hunter-killer” began her
new career as an aircraft transport
and ferry.
Over the next six years,
Tripoli conducted 44 transport
voyages, mostly to European and
Mediterranean ports, but with one
visit to Hawaii and two to the Far
East. Following the ship’s third
voyage to Europe, Tripoli was berthed at the Port Newark Terminal on 5 Au-
gust 1952, where she loaded 45 F-84 Thunderjets, 90 wing tip fuel tanks, and
related gear for transport to the Far East. After going to sea on 7 August, bound
for Japan, Tripoli steamed via the Panama Canal and San Diego and made port
at Yokosuka with her vital cargo on 5 September, where cranes lifted the rein-
forcements ashore - soon to be in action in their ground-attack role in Korea.
After loading battle-damaged aircraft for repairs in the United States, the carrier
embarked 245 Navy and Marine Corps personnel for rotation back to Alameda
Naval Air Station, California Making port on the West Coast on 22 September,
she then put to sea for the Far East a second time, once again carrying jet aircraft
to Yokosuka, as well as transporting men of the Sea Echelon of Boat Unit 1.
Loading a cargo of helicopters and military passengers, Tripoli returned to the
west coast and arrived at Alameda on 11 November 1952. Subsequently making
her sole Hawaiian voyage with the MSC, Tripoli then headed east to finish her
career with transport voyages to European and Mediterranean ports.
Receiving “smart ship” awards from in the intervening years, Tripoli was
reclassified a utility carrier and redesignated CVU-64 on 12 June 1955. Again
redesignated T-CVU-64 on 1 July 1958, Tripoli was decommissioned at New
Orleans, La., on 25 November 1958 and subsequently struck from the Naval
Vessel Register on 1 February 1959. Her hulk was then scrapped by a Japanese
firm in January 1960.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American
Naval Fighting Ships.
What is a Sailor?
Between the security of childhood and the insecurity of a second childhood,
we find a delightful creature called a sailor.
Sailors come in assorted sizes, weights, looks and sobriety.
They can be found anywhere on ships, shore stations, on all streets, in fast moving
cars, taverns, swinging from ropes, in bunks, in debt and in love.
Girls love them, mothers tolerate them, cooks ignore them, soldiers hate them
and the US Navy supports them.
A sailor is a composite. He is truth with his fingers crossed, beauty in his
uniform, a brave man with a tattooed arm, a great lover in thirteen button pants,
protector of the high seas with a copy of “Playboy” and the hope of the future
with a girl in his arms. He has the energy of a turtle, the slyness of a fox, the
sincerity of a lobo wolf, curiosity of a cat, imagination of Walt Disney, aspirations
of Casanova and when he wants something - it is usually connected with a
liberty card.
He likes women, girls, females, dames and the opposite sex though not
necessarily in that order. He also likes strong drinks, comic books, night clubs,
water in its natural habitat and mail call.
He dislikes answering letters, wearing his uniform, his superior officers,
week-end duty, Navy chow, reveille, jarheads, sea-going bellhops ---Marines in
general and all this is not necessarily in this order.
When you are busy, they usually follow you with fantastic sea stories,
When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or he’ll
deny everything...that he is from any town originally and sometimes that he is
even in the Navy.
Nobody can write so little and yet have
so much to say. Nobody gets so much from
letters, civilian clothes, and home. No one else
can cram into something as small as a jumper
pocket...a little black book, a pack of crushed
cigarettes, a photo of his girl, a comb, an I.D.
card, a church key and what is left of his pay
chit.
A sailor is a magical creature. You can
lock him out of your home, but not out of your
heart. You can cross him off your mailing list,
but not off your mind. He’s your long-wayfrom-home
lover and your one and only blurryeyed,
good for nothing bundle of worry.
But you may as well give up. He’s your captor,
your jailer and your sailor and your eyes twinkle,
your hopes and dreams come true, and life
is again worth living when your sailor docks and
looks at you with his blood-shot, blurry eyes
and says “Hi ya honey”.
Submitted by Luther Royds
USS Tripoli

One
of the most unusual combat aircraft of World War II was the Fairey
Swordfish. It was a big, unsophisticated biplane, slow and cumbersome.
It looked antiquated, because it was, but it served until the end of the
war and survived its intended replacement. Initially, Swordfishes operated from
the large fleet carriers. Later Swordfishes
operated from escort carriers, and
were very effective against U-boats.
The nickname Stringbag indicated the
versatility of the Swordfish, which could
carry an unlikely combination of loads,
but also referred to its jungle of bracing
wires, which belonged to a past age.
The precursor of the Swordfish,
the Fairey PV, was designed by Marcel
Lobelle as a private venture to meet an
order from the Greek Navy, which wanted a torpedo-bomber and spotter-reconnaissance
aircraft. The PV was similar to a design that had been offered to meet
Air Ministry requirement S.9/30 for an unarmed spotter-reconnaissance aircraft,
but had an Armstrong Siddeley Panther radial engine instead of a liquid-cooled
Rolls-Royce Kestrel. The prototype PV made its first flight on 21 March 1933.
After modifications and replacement of the engine by a Bristol Pegasus IIM radial,
it was called the TSR.1 (TSR for Torpedo-Spotter-Reconnaissance). It flew
in this form in July 1933, but was lost in September.
The design team then produced a modified aircraft, designated TSR.II.
The wings were slightly swept back to correct the center of gravity position, and
the fuselage was made longer. The TSR.II met the requirements of specification
S.15/33, which had superseded S.9/30 in the mean time, and called for a
type that could serve as two-seat torpedo-bomber and three-seat reconnaissance
aircraft. The TSR.II flew on 17 April 1934. On 23 April 1935, Fairey received a
production order. The Swordfish entered service when monoplane carrier aircraft
were already appearing, and although performance exceeded expectations, it was
not spectacular. The first aircraft reached service units in 1936.
The Swordfish was a large biplane, but because it is single-engined it
tends to look deceptively small from a distance and on photographs. Its fabriccovered
metal construction was sturdy and reliable, but lacked refinement. The
biplane wing had ailerons on both lower and upper planes, and leading edge slats
on the upper wing. For the take-off, the ailerons could be dropped 8 degrees to
increase lift. For storage on carriers, the wing folded backwards. In cold weather
the open cockpit was uncomfortable, especially for the rear gunner. The wing
struts, the robust fixed landing gear, and the generous size of wings and tail
produced high drag, and the single 690hp Pegasus IIIM3 engine gave the aircraft
a very modest performance. But it was reliable, which was especially important
for the lonely night patrols over the arctic seas that were to be the task of the
Swordfish.
The Swordfish was extremely easy to fly and easy to land on a carrier
deck, a quality that would become very important for night operations on the
small decks of escort carriers. Although the Swordfish was stable around all
axes, it could make remarkably short turns. It could also be dived vertically to
very close to the sea surface, and then make an abrupt pull-out. Very little speed
built up in the dive. Therefore the Swordfish was not necessarily an easy prey for
a fighter, but it was during the long, slow and straight run that was required to
launch a torpedo.
At the outbreak of war, the Fleet Air Arm had 13 squadrons equipped
with Swordfishes, most of them based on the six fleet carriers, and three flights
of Swordfishes with floats, that operated from catapult-equipped warships. There
was little combat until the German invasion of Norway in the spring of 1940.
Briefly, Swordfishes operated in France, covering the retreat of the British
Expeditionary Force. For the months to come, Swordfishes in the Atlantic region
conducted mine-laying operations. In the Mediterranean, Swordfishes based
on Malta flew anti-shipping strikes, usually at night, against Italian convoys to
North Africa. They sank an average of 50,000 tons per month.
In the summer of 1940, after the Franco-German armistice, Swordfishes
attacked French ships at Mers-el-Kebir and Dakar. On 11 November,
they became famous by the attack on Taranto, where the battleship Littorio was
sunk and two others heavily damaged. In May 1941,
Swordfishes from HMS Ark Royal crippled the Bismarck.
For such an old-fashioned aircraft this was an
impressive series of successes. But it ended in February
1942, when six Swordfishes attacked the Scharnhorst,
Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen in the channel, and were
all shot down. As a torpedo bomber, the Swordfish
was quickly replaced by the Albacore, Barracuda and
Avenger.
But production of the Swordfish, now built by
Blackburn, was increased and the type continued to
play a very important role. The Swordfish was now equipped with ASV radar
and rocket projectiles for anti-submarine operations. The Swordfish Mk.II had
wings with metal-skinned undersides and launching rails for eight 60lb rockets.
The provision for a float undercarriage was deleted, and the more powerful
Pegasus 30 engine installed. The Mk.III had ASV Mk.XI radar in a big radome
between the landing gear legs. This radar had a range of about 40km against
ships, and in good conditions also against U-boats; but it would detect a Schnorkel
only in very calm seas and at distances below 8km. Some Mk.IIs and many
Mk.IIIs became Mk.IVs when a cockpit canopy was installed.
Swordfishes operated from 14 escort carriers and 18 MAC (Merchant
Aircraft Carrier) ships. MAC ships were converted oil tankers or grain ships,
with a flight deck but minimal maintenance facilities, and the aircraft were
continuously exposed to the often appalling weather. For operations from small
flight decks with heavy loads, rocket-assisted take-offs were necessary.
In their anti-submarine role, the Swordfishes were very successful. They
usually flew patrols at night, patrolling between 145km and 40km ahead of the
convoy. Targets were located with radar, and investigated by dropping flares. In
September 1944, Swordfishes from HMS Vindex sank four U-boats in one voyage.
In total, Swordfishes claimed 22.5 U-boats.
The last Swordfish squadron was No.836, which was disbanded on 21
May 1945, but the last operational mission was flown on 28 June. Total production
was 2396 aircraft, including 989 Mk.Is, 1080 Mk.IIs, and 327 Mk.IIIs. Of
these two are now airworthy.
Specifications
Fairey Swordfish Mk.II
750hp Bristol Pegasus 30 radial engine
Wing span 13.92m, length 11.12m, height 3.93m, wing area 56.39m2.
Empty weight 2359kg, max. take-off weight 4196kg.
Max speed 224km/h at 1525m, economic cruise speed 167km/h at 1525m.
Service ceiling 3260m.
Max. range 1658km, range with a torpedo 885km.
Armament: One fixed forward-firing Browning .303 machine gun, and one .303
Vickers K gun in the rear cockpit. An 18-inch torpedo (731kg), a 681kg mine,
bombs, or four depth charges could be carried. Racks under the wings for eight
3-inch rockets.
Sources
•Wings of the Navy, by Capt. Eric Brown, published by Jane’s, 1980.
•Sub Patrol, by R.S. Young, in Flypast, February 1995.
•Fairey Swordfish: desuet mais efficace, by Alain Marchand, in Le Fana de
l’Aviation Nr.291, Fevrier 1994.
•Bob Spence et le Fairey Swordfish, in Le Fana de l’Aviation Nr.280, Mars 1993.

Operation ‘’Magic Carpet’’ was the post-World War II effort by
the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million
American military personnel from the European Theater of Opera-
tions United States Army European, Pacific War Pacific, and China Burma India
Theater of World War Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships,
and troop transports began repatriating soldiers from Europe in June 1945. Be-
ginning in October 1945, over 370 navy ships were used for repatriation duties
in the Pacific. Warships, such as aircraft carriers, battleships, hospital ships, and
large numbers of assault transports were used. The European phase of Operation
‘’Magic Carpet’’ concluded in February 1946 while the Pacific phase continued
until September 1946.
Planning -
As early as mid-1943, the United States Army had recognized that, once
victory was won, bringing the troops home would be a priority. More than 16
million Americans were in uniform; and more than eight million of them were
scattered across 55 theaters of war worldwide. Chief of Staff of the United States
Army, General George Marshall established committees to address the logistical
problem. Eventually organization of the operation was given to the War Shipping
Administration.
Europe -
The Navy was excluded from the initial European sealift, as the Pacific
War was far from over, and the task of returning the troops was the sole respon-
sibility of the Army and United States Merchant Marine. The WSA ordered the
immediate conversion of 300 Liberty and Victory cargo ships into transports.
Adequate port and docking facilities were also serious considerations along with
the transportation necessary to take the veterans to demobilization camps after
they reached America’s shores.
The first homeward-bound ships left Europe in late June 1945, and by
November, the sealift was at its height. Whereas American shipping had aver-
aged the delivery of 148,000 soldiers per month to the European Theater of
Operations (ETO) during the wartime build-up, the post VE-Day rush homeward
would average more than 435,000 GIs per month for the next 14 months.
In mid-October 1945 the United States Navy donated the newly-commis-
sioned carrier USS Lake Champlain CV-39 - fitted with bunks for 3,300 troops -
to the operation. She was joined in November by the battleship USS Washington
(BB-56). The European lift now included more than 400 vessels. Some would
carry as few as 300 while the large Ocean liners often squeezed 15,000 aboard.
The WSA and the army also converted 29 troopships into special carriers for war
brides, for the almost half a million European women who had married Ameri-
can GIs. The ‘’Magic Carpet’’ fleet also included 48 hospital ships; these trans-
ported more than half a million wounded.
Nor was this a one-way stream. Returned to Europe were more than
450,000 German prisoners of war, in addition to 53,000 Italian ex-POWs. Be-
tween May and September 1945, 1,417,850 were repatriated.
Between October 1945 to April 1946, another 3,323,395. By the end of
February, the ETO phase of ‘’Magic Carpet’’ was essentially completed.
Asia and the Pacific -
USS Anzio (CVE-57) lies at
Shanghai, China, 1 December
1945 ‘’Magic Carpet’’.
A total of 29,204 servicemen returned aboard USS Saratoga (CV-3) more than
on any other individual ship.
With the surrender of Japan, the navy
also began bringing home sailors and
marines. Vice Admiral Forrest Sher-
man’s Task Force 11 departed Tokyo
Bay early in September 1945 with the battleships USS New Mexico (BB-40),
USS Idaho (BB-42), USS Mississippi (BB-41), and USS North Carolina (BB-
55), and two carriers plus a squadron of destroyers filled with homeward-bound
servicemen. Stopping at Okinawa, they embarked thousands more United States
Army troops.
The navy hastily converted many of its warships into temporary trans-
ports, including aircraft carriers, where three-to five-tiered bunks were installed
on the hangar decks to provide accommodation for several thousand men in
relative comfort. The navy fleet of 369 ships included 222 assault transports, 6
battleships, 18 cruisers, 57 aircraft carriers and 12 hospital ships.
By October 1945, ‘’Magic Carpet’’ was operating worldwide with the
army, navy and WSA pooling their resources to expedite the troop-lift.
Continued on page 8

Operation Magic Carpet continued...December 1945
became the peak month with almost 700,000 returning home
from the Pacific. With the final arrival of 29 troop transports
carrying more than 200,000 soldiers and sailors from the China-
Burma-India theater in April 1946, Operation ‘’Magic Carpet’’
came to its end. The last of the troops to return from the Pacific
war zone (127,300) would arrive home in September 1946.
Airlift -
The army’s Air Transport Command (ATC) and the navy’s Naval
Air Transport Service (NATS) were also involved in ‘’Magic
Carpet’’ operations, amassing millions of flying hours in trans-
port and cargo aircraft, though the total number of personnel
returned home by aircraft was tiny in comparison to the numbers
carried by ship.
References - Operation Magic Carpet (World War II)
If you Gotta Go, Start Early
Tommie Stanaland of Perry, Florida, shares this story of a
woman writing to inquire about campground facilities for a
vacation. Not wanting to write “toilet,” she thought of the
old-fashioned term “bathroom commode.” Thinking even that
might be too forward, she shortened it to “B.C.”
The campground owner, not being old-fashioned at all, was
stumped by the B.C. business in the letter. After much deliberation,
he figured she must be asking for the location of the
local Baptist church. So he sent her the following reply:
“I have the pleasure of informing you that the B.C. is located
six miles north of the campground. It is capable of seating
250 people at one time I will admit that is quite a distance
away if you are in the habit of going regularly, but no doubt
you will be pleased to know that a great number of people
take a lunch and make a day of it.
“The last time my wife and I went was six years ago, and it
was so crowded that we had to stand up the whole time. Right
now, there is a supper planned to raise money for more seats.
It will be held in the basement of the B.C. It pains me that
I am not able to go more regularly, but it is not for a lack of
desire on my part. As we grow older, it seems to be more of
an effort, particularly in cold weather.
“If you do decide to come down to our campground, perhaps
I could go with you the first time, sit with you and introduce
you to all the folks. This is a friendly community.”
Submitted by Luther Royds
President’s Message...........Our veteran members learned of war and/or life on a CVE
first-hand. They heard it, felt it, tasted it, and breathed their experiences to where it is unforget-
table to them to this day. This organization has been paramount in advancing the memory and
legacy CVE’s played in the preservation of our freedoms. While our veteran members experi-
enced CVE life first-hand, I think it a safe assumption that most of our legacy members have
learned about CVE’s through family members, inspired through this organization.
The focus of the Escort Carrier Sailor and Airmen Association is to preserve and pro-
mote the contributions of these ships in perpetuity. To accomplish this, we must consider all
methods of communication, especially those that appeal to a younger generation. A case in
point is a kiosk being considered for the National Museum of the Pacific War located in Fred-
ericksburg, Texas. We have all seen kiosks utilized in various ways – airline boarding pass
dispensers, ATM machines, utility bill payment machines, and movie video rental machines to
name a few.
Kiosks are gaining popularity as educational tools for a variety of reasons. They appeal
to the younger generation who are accustomed to the ‘touch’ technology of laptop computers,
smartphones, and gaming devices. A stronger advantage in my view is that the user can quickly
navigate through all the information imbedded in the kiosk for exactly what they are seeking.
Kiosks allow flexibility for each user to access information interesting to him or her. Addition-
ally, kiosks have flexibility for the owner (ECSAA) to add, delete, or change information as
desired. Such a kiosk at Fredericksburg, and possibly other locations, would be a tremendous
tool of teaching the younger generation to the CVE story.
In short order, the Internet has become the primary source of obtaining information.
We have a capable ECSAA Internet site (www.escortcarriers.com) that must be expanded to
become the repository of all information about escort carriers as a group, and individually by
ship. There is discussion underway to make our website considerably more robust by expand-
ing current website formats and adding others. We should remember that, other than first-hand
experiences of our CVE veterans, and those of us fortunate to have access to such veterans, the
ECSAA website is the most available repository of CVE history.
These are exciting times – who would have thought at that first ECSAA convention
years ago, that someday the entire world could learn of the “Little Giants” and the accomplish-
ments of their crews with a touch of their finger! As we move forward with these projects, we
will be seeking veteran participation and volunteer work of our legacy members – all to the
longevity of our fighting CVE’s!
God Bless You and Your Family, and God Bless ECSAA!
Anthony

USS Roi (CVE 103)
- formerly ALAVA BAY -
- formerly ACV 103, formerly AVG 103 -
USS ROI was the last but one ship in the CASABLANCA class of Escort Carri-
ers. Decommissioned after two years of service, she was scrapped in 1947.
General Characteristics: Awarded: 1942
Keel laid: March 22, 1944
Launched: June 2, 1944
Commissioned: July 6, 1944
Decommissioned: May 9, 1946
Builder: Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Wash.
Propulsion system: four boilers
Propellers: two
Length: 512.5 feet (156.2 meters)
Flight Deck Width: 108 feet (32.9 meters)
Beam: 65 feet (19.9 meters)
Draft: 22.6 feet (6.9 meters)
Displacement: approx. 10,400 tons full load
Speed: 19 knots
Catapults: one
Aircraft: 28 planes
Armament: one 5-inch L/38 gun, 16 40mm guns, 20 20mm guns
Crew: 860
USS ROI, originally MC hull 1140 and later projected as an AVG and an
ACV, was laid down as ALAVA BAY on 22 March 1944 by Kaiser Shipbuild-
ing Co., Vancouver, Wash., renamed ROI 26 April 1944; launched 2 June 1944;
sponsored by Mrs. William Sinton; acquired from the Maritime Commission and
commissioned 6 July 1944, Capt. P. H. Lyon in command.
Following shakedown off San Diego, ROI was assigned to the Carrier
Transport Squadron which carried planes, equipment, and men to forward bases.
On 13 August 1944, she steamed for Espiritu Santo and Manus, loaded with 287
passengers and 71 planes, returning to San Diego 27 September. Underway again
for Manus 21 October, she returned to San Diego before departing 2 December
on a third voyage which took her to Eniwetok and Guam.
Following overhaul at Alameda, Calif., ROI made two round-trip voy-
ages to bases in the Marshalls and the Marianas before returning to Pearl Harbor
to begin carrier refresher operations in preparation for her new duty as a replen-
ishment carrier for the hard-hitting fast carrier task force of the 3rd Fleet.
Loading 61 replacement aircraft in a 30-day combat ready state, ROI
sailed to Guam, where she reported to Task Group 30.8. Her duties were now
to furnish pilots, crewmen, planes, and aviation supplies to the carriers of Task
Force 38 on rendezvous days following their attacks on the Japanese home
islands. ROI got underway on 4 July with the carriers ADMIRALTY ISLANDS
(CVE 99), HOLLANDIA (CVE 97) and THETIS BAY (CVE 90), and met TF
38 at Sea on 12 July, 16 July, and 20 July, retiring to Guam on the 21st to reload.
She got underway on the 27th with 61 more planes, and joined the fast
carriers on the 31st. Returning to Guam, the ship reloaded and met the task force
again on 14 August, just prior to the cessation of hostilities, then remained with
the 3rd Fleet off Japan in preparation for the occupation. Following the end of
the war, ROI was used in “Magic Carpet” operations, returning veterans to the
United States for discharge.
ROI was decommissioned at Bremerton 9 May 1946; struck from the
Navy list 21 May; and sold 31 December 1946 to Zidell Machinery & Supply
Co., Portland, Oreg.
ROI earned one battle star for World War II service.
Taken from: http://navysite.de/cve/cve103.htm

Did you know??
The following is a listing of where your Memorial Dollars have been spent
to alert the public about our service to our Country. It has been estimated that
2,000,000 people will view these displays per year.
NAVY MUSEUM
Washington Navy Yard
Washington, D.C.
________________________________________________
USS YORKTOWN
40 Patriots Point
Mt. Pleasant, NC
_____________________________________________
HAMPTON ROADS NAVAL MUSEUM
MacArthur Square
Norfolk, VA
_____________________________________________
MUSEUM OF AVIATION
1750 Radford Blvd
Pensacola FL
________________________________________________
D-DAY MUSEUM
945 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA
_________________________________________________
USS LEXINGTON
Museum on the Bay
Corpus Christi, TX
_________________________________________________
USS HORNET
Pier #3 Alameda Point
Alameda, CA
__________________________________________________
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY
Chicago, IL
__________________________________________________
USS MIDWAY
1355 N. Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA
__________________________________________________
COLUMBIA RIVER MUSEUM
1792 Marine Drive
Astoria, OR
__________________________________________________
NAVY ROTC
University of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE
___________________________________________________
VERMILION COUNTY WAR
MUSEUM
Danville, IL
____________________________________________________
NIMITZ MUSEUM
Fredericksburg, TX
COLUMBIA RIVER MUSEUM
MUSEUM OF AVIATION
VERMILION COUNTY WAR MUSEUM
USS HORNET MUSEUM

INTERESTING FACTS?
• The best time to buy an airline ticket for non-holiday domestic travel is 49 days before
departure.
• The best time to buy an airline ticket for international flights is 81 days before departure.
• The worst time to buy an airline ticket is 200 days before departure. So, cheaper airfares
depends not just when you fly but also on when you shop.
• Did you know that a severe outbreak of “Yellow Fever” in 1793 in Philadelphia might have
determined the ultimate location of our U. S. Capital?
• Did you know that Ben Franklin’s earliest invention, at age 14, was swim “Flippers” ?
• Did you know the Liberty Bell was so named by a group of Aboli tionists who wrote a poem
entitled “The Liberty Bell”?
• Did you know that the steeple on Christ church could be considered the first “skyscraper”,
being the tallest point in America for almost 100 years?
• Did you know that Lafayette is buried in American soil gathered from his 1824 trip to the
United States?
• Our colonial-costumed guides will certainly provide you with an unforgettable tour of Philadel-
phia on October 22, 2013.
• Did you know that the first man-of-war captured by the U.S. Navy in the War of 1812 was the
Brig “Nautilus” on June 30, 1815 by the USS Peacock?
• Did you know that the second man-of-war captured by the U.S. Navy was the U-505 on June 4,
1944 during World War II?
The above was gathered by George Manik, your Convention Chairman.
• Do you know that ECSAA
is donating a U-505 Exhibit to the
Hampton Roads Naval Museum in
Norfolk consisting of the USS Gua-
dalcanal, CVE-60, the USS Pillsbury,
DE-133, the partially-submerged
German Submarine U-505, a U.S.
Navy whaleboat with a boarding par-
ty and a US Navy airplane from the
USS Guadalcanal flying overhead?
The Following Information About The Transportation
Incentive Program provided By The Greater Wilmington
Convention & Visitors Bureau Explains What The Pro-
gram Provides.
PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS INFORMATION.
WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED.
A BUS COMPANY HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO ECSAA.
WE MUST ACCOMMODATE A MINIMUM OF 100
ROOM NIGHTS TO RECEIVE OUR SUBSISTENCE.
_______________________________________________
Transportation Incentive
Terms and Conditions
Criteria:
1. To be eligible:
• Your event must involve an overnight stay
• Generate a minimum of 100 room nights
2. The incentive will encompass:
• Transporting attendees to and from the airport
• Transporting attendees to and from the train station
• Transporting attendees to an off-site event or attraction
• Transporting attendees to a central meeting location
from different hotels
• Transporting attendees to and from the area by bus
3. How to Qualify (Stipulations):
• The planner/organizer must contact the GWCVB Prior
to signing a contract.
• The event must go to contract with a New Castle
County, GWCVB member hotel.
• A copy of the signed contract, credit card authorization
form and transportation requirements must be received
by the GWCVB.
• Once the above is received, the GWCVB will negotiate
price and help set-up transportation arrangements with
a GWCVB transportation provider.
• Funding is based on CONTRACTED room nights.

Welcome to The ECSAA 2013 Convention Information Pages
When? Friday, October 18th , 2013 through Wednesday, October
23th , 2013
Where? The Clarion Hotel, 1612 N. DuPont Highway, New Castle,
Delaware 19720
Room Rates? Guest Room – Standard Accommodations
►One King or two double beds - $99.00 per room, plus 8% Dela-
ware State Occupancy Tax.
Note: This rate includes complimentary hot buffet breakfast every
morning from 7AM until 10 AM. This rate will extend 3 days before
and 3 days after the convention.
Comps.? Free parking, shuttle service within a 5 mile radius of the
hotel, high speed internet – wired or wireless, all rooms equipped
with refrigerator, microwave & coffee maker, in-room safe, alarm
clock with MP3 connectivity, handicap- ac-
cessible rooms, pet-friendly rooms, gift
shop & aerobic fitness center.
Augusta Grille Restaurant & Lounge with
discount for all overnight hotel guests.
FREE TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE FUNDS to & from the
Philadelphia International Airport & hotel PLUS FREE transporta-
tion for our tours!
Please read about this free transportation assistance program
provided by the State of Delaware included on page 13 in this
issue of the Piper.
Five Breakout Rooms, Main Hospitality Room & Meeting Rooms.
RESERVATION
METHOD &
CUT-OFF DATE
RESERVE YOUR
ROOM BY CALL-
ING: 302-428-1000
OR 877-235-5350
These Reservations
MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE HOTEL NO LATER THAN
SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2013
The hotel will honor the same rate of $99.00 plus 8% tax to any
guest making a last minute reservation, providing the room is still
available!
TAXES - There is a sales tax of ONLY 8% on reserved rooms.
THERE ARE NO FOOD AND/OR CLOTHING TAXES IN
THE STATE OF DELAWARE! ♥
Please send your comments to me via a letter or email.
George Manik
50 North Island Drive
Bayville, NJ 08721
Email: georgejmanik@gmail.com
Let’ s make this 2013 convention the best ever!

2013 ECSAA CONVENTION REGISTRATION FORM
OCTOBER 18TH THROUGH OCTOBER 23RD
NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE
NAME________________________________ SPOUSE/COMPANION____________________________
FAMILY/GUESTS__________________________________ _____________________________________
STREET_____________________________________________CITY______________________________
STATE_________ ZIP ___________________ PHONE _________________________________________
EMAIL__________________________________________ SHIP/SQUADRON _____________________
MEMBER NUMBER _____________________WOULD YOU LIKE TO BECOME A MEMBER ______
REGISTRATION FEE OF $58.00 includes banquet, entertainment, gratuities, taxes, and normal convention
expenses such as paper, printing Memorial Service guests and speakers.
REGISTRATION FEE @ $58.00 PER PERSON ___________________________
NUMBER ATTENDING ___________________________
TOTAL FEE ____________________________
Please make checks payable to: ECSAA CONVENTION ACCOUNT
Mail to: GEORGE MANIK, 50 NORTH ISLAND ROAD, BAYVILLE, NJ 08721-3578
HOW MANY BANQUET CHOICES
________CHICKEN BREAST - SERVED WITH WILD MUSHROOMS IN MARSALA WINE SAUCE
________FISH - FILET OF TALAPIA, PAN SEARED WITH PINEAPPLE SALSA
________PORK - ROASTED PORK LOIN
________VEGETARIAN MEALS AVAILABLE
________SPECIAL DIETARY CONCERNS
LIST CONCERNS ______________________________________________________________________
All CHOICES INCLUDE A CAESAR SALAD, CHEF’S CHOICE OF VEGETABLE, BAKED
POTATO, ROLLS AND BUTTER, DESSERT AND BEVERAGE.
Remember - This form has nothing to do with your need to register with the hotel! You must call the
hotel at 1-877-235-5350 or 1-320-428-1000 to reserve your room. Reservations must be made before
September 19, 2013 for you to be eligible for the special ECSAA room rates!!
Comments/Suggestions: _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you.
George Manik
Free Shuttle Tickets to the
2013 Convention
How to Get Your FREE Shuttle
Tickets from the Philadelphia Airport
to the Hotel Clarion, New Castle, DE
Follow the instructions below:
Delaware Express Reservation Procedure
(advanced reservations
required)
• Please book your reservation online
at www.delexpress.com.
• Click reservations button and
enter the code word “escort” in
the box toward the bottom of the
page.
• Or if you don’t have access to a
computer, you may call our reservation
center at 1-800-648-5466.
• Arriving into Philadelphia International
Airport.
Shared Ride Service arrivals, prior
to retrieving your luggage, follow
the signs for ground transportation
desk. Once you arrive there, retrieve
a two-digit ticket number from the
airport attendant and dial 24 from
the telephones to contact Delaware
Express’ arrival call center. We will
monitor your flight and have a driver
waiting for your call.
Advanced Reservations (preference
24 hours) are required.
DELAWARE EXPRESS
2825 Ogletown Road
Newark, DE 19713
302-454-7800
800.648.5466
http://www.delexpress.com

OUR ITINERARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2013
TOUR OF HISTORIC/CULTURAL PHILADELPHIA
ITINERARY:
8:45AM Tour Guides on Bus to meet members at Hotel Clarion
9:00AM Depart Hotel Clarion, proceed to Philadelphia
10:30/1145AM Visit the Constitution Center
12 Noon/1PM Lunch on your own at either the Bores Building Food Court or the Reading Terminal Market
one block away.
1PM Load bus and go to the Constitution Center for a 1:30PM tour, time stay of at least one hour.
2:45/3:45PM Tour Guide, our experts in the history of various sites, expand our knowledge as they bring the
history of the area to “life” mixing history with fascinating stories of the time.
3:45PM Depart Philadelphia for the return trip to the Hotel Clarion
5:00PM Arrive at the Hotel Clarion
History comes alive as we walk in the footsteps of our Founding Fathers along brick walkways and cobblestone streets in Penn’s “Green Countrie Towne,”
Philadelphia. This city, which served as the capital of the colony of Pennsylvania and the Federal capital from 1790-1800, has a history that is unrivaled in America.
In an area known as “America’s Most Historic Square Mile,” we visit or pass such sites as Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Indepen dence and the U.S.
Constitution were signed; Congress Hall, where the House of Representatives and Senate met from 1790-1800 while Philadelphia served as the federal capital, the
Liberty Bell, America’s most cherished artifact now housed in a pavilion with interesting displays regarding the bell’s History, Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest continuous-
ly occupied residential street in America, Betsy Ross House, Quarter seamstress who legend maintains made our first flag and whose home is an excellent example
of an 18th century working class residence; and Christ Church, Anglican Church founded in 1695 where many of the founding fathers worshiped.
Lunch on your own at either the Food court of the Bourse Building, the Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia’s indoor farmers market where you can feast
on a variety of foods from Philadelphia cheese steaks to Amish Pot Pie and everything in-between or the Delegates Restaurant of the National Constitution Center.
Your tour will also include a driving overview of downtown Philadelphia including Penn’s landing area along the Delaware waterfront, the charming 18th
century neighborhood of Society Hill to see its many mansions, churches, cemeteries and gardens, City Hall, which is the largest municipal building in the U.S. and
the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, referred to as the “Champs Elysees of America.”
One of the Highlights of the day will be a visit to the National Con stitution Center. “We, the People” is the preamble of the document establishing a system
of government which has enabled the us to flourish into the most successful republic in history. Washington called it a “miracle“ and it remains such. This interac-
tive facility is dedicated to help people better understand the Consti tution and its impact on our lives as well as prepare us to be better citizens. What better location
than the city of its birth!
The cost to each person for this tour is $30.00. Be sure to bring your ticket from your registration packet
for boarding the bus. The cost of the bus is free, providing we meet our estimated number of reserved hotel nights, so
please, reserve your hotel room and tours prior to October 7, 2013.
As always, if you have any questions or if you need a walker , etc., please include this request on your tour res-
ervation form.

ECSAA TOUR ITINERARY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2013
TOUR OF DOVER AIR FORCE BASE/AIR COMMAND MOBILITY MUSEUM
ITINERARY
8:45 AM Tour guides on Bus to meet members at Hotel Clarion
9:00AM Depart Hotel Clarion, proceed to Dover AFB, Dover, Delaware
10:00/10:30AM Arrive at Dover, AFB, check in and assemble at base Chapel
10:30/11:45AM Memorial Service at Dover AFB. A message will be presented by Chaplain, Lt Col Dennis Saucier. Following the service, our
deceased veterans will be recognized by the “ringing of the bell” ceremony
12N/2:00PM Lunch and tour of the Dover Air Force Base Air Mobility Command Air Museum
Welcome to Dover Air Force Base - home of the 436th Airlift Wing, known as the “Eagle
Wing” and the 512th Airlift Wing, referred to as the “Liberty Wing”. The base is located in the “First
State”, and the center of the Delmarva-Delaware, Maryland and Virginia peninsula. The 436th Airlift
Wing is the active duty military host unit at the base which provides command and staff supervision,
along with support functions, for assigned airlift providing worldwide movement of outsized cargo
and personnel on scheduled, special assignment, exercise and contingency airlift missions.
The “Eagle Wing” consists of operations, maintenance, mission support and medical groups
and 14 staff divisions. The wing has more than 4,000 active-duty military and civilian employees.
Home to the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, the Eagle Wing flies hundreds of missions
throughout the world and provides 25 percent of the Nation’s strategic airlift capability, projecting global reach to over 100 countries around the globe.
Dover AFB operates the largest and busiest air freight terminal in the Department of the Defense. The Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs is the
Department of Defense’s largest joint-service mortuary facility and the only one located in the continental United States.
The Dover Air Mobility Command Museum is located with the base and is the home of multiple static military aircraft. The museum is dedicated to military
aircraft and the people who maintain them. It has a large collection of fully restored cargo and tanker aircraft.
Lunch will be provided at the Air Mobility Command Museum by the “Where Pigs Fly” restaurant. This restaurant is known throughout the state for excel-
lence in barbeque cuisine. You will have a choice of pulled pork or pulled chicken, with side dishes of baked beans, coleslaw, broccoli salad, potato salad, and des-
ert of cookies or brownies. Sweet and unsweetened tea, soda’s and bottled water will be provided.
The cost to each person for this tour is $20. This cost covers transportation, admittance to the
air base, museum tour, and lunch. Be sure to bring your ticket from your registration packed for
boarding the bus. The cost of the bus is free, providing we meet our estimated number of reserved
hotel nights, so please, reserve your hotel room and tours prior to October 7, 2013. BE SURE AND
PROVIDE IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION (Name, Drivers license state/number, and
date of birth) REQUESTED ON THE TOUR REGISTRATION FORM FOR THIS TOUR.
DOVER AFB REQUIRES THIS INFORMATION FOR YOUR ADMITTANCE TO THE
BASE.

2013 Tour Registration Form
**Monday Oct. 21 ________People @ $20.00 Each = ____________
Tuesday Oct. 22 ________People @ $30.00 Each = ____________
Total Seats ___________ Amount Due ______________________
Make checks payable to: ECSAA Convention Fund
Mail checks to: George Manik, 50 North Island Road,
Bayville NJ 08721-3578
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information below is for ECSAA records Please leave blank.
Amount:_____________ Check No. ___________ Received:_______________
EXTRA ACTIVITIES AND SITES TO SEE
Several people asked me how to get to Cape May, NJ
1. Take the car/passenger ferry from Lewes, DE directly to Cape May - about
1 1/2 hour ferry trip, or
2. Drive the NJ turnpike North to exit 3 [RT 42 South] to the Garden State
Parkway [exit 7] south to exit one.
3. To the Naval Academy, take 13 south to Rt 301 to Annapolis.
4. To Norfolk, take Rt. 1 Express to Dover to 113 south.
Name__________________________________________________________
Family and Guest_________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Address_________________________________________________________
City_________________________________State_________Zip___________
Email___________________________________________________________
Remarks/Special Needs____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
**WE WILL BE VISITING AN ACTIVE MILITARY BASE THIS DAY - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE IN DOVER DELAWARE. ALL ATTENDEES OF THE
MONDAY TOUR MUST PROVIDE THEIR NAME, DRIVERS LICENSE (DL) STATE/NUMBER AND DATE OF BIRTH (DOB) FOR ADMITTANCE TO
THE BASE. ALL INFORMATION MUST BE AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS FORM BY OCTOBER 12TH. IF A PERSON DOES NOT HAVE A DRIVERS
LICENSE NUMBER (CHILD, OTHER), PLEASE PROVIDE ALL OTHER INFORMATION.
NAME __________________________________________________ DL STATE__________ DL# ______________________ DOB_______________________
NAME __________________________________________________ DL STATE__________ DL# ______________________ DOB_______________________
NAME __________________________________________________ DL STATE__________ DL# ______________________ DOB_______________________
NAME __________________________________________________ DL STATE__________ DL# ______________________ DOB_______________________
Cut Out, Complete All of the Above Information and Mail to George Manik
5. Visit Ocean Beach and/or other beaches in DE.
6. If you like fishing and mussels, pick them at low tide in Assateague and
Chincoteague, VA.
7. Also see the miniature ponies running around Wallops Island
[Space Center] is next door. Drive through Hampton Roads Tunnels to
Virginia Beach.
Call me or see me at the convention if you want to go to other places such as
New York City, Boston, or State College to see Penn State play.
George Manik
The Stars For Our Troops project takes your worn, used American Flags and turns them into a prized possession for our Armed Forces & Veterans.
This project is a wonderful opportunity to bring your community together to share in the making of these packets for our Troops and Veterans.
“I am part of our American flag that has flown over a home in the U.S.A. I can no longer fly. The sun and wind have caused me to become tattered and
torn. Please carry me as a reminder that You are remembered.”
Your worn American flag is now able to touch the lives of Troops & Veterans even after it has reached the end of its flying days.
To volunteer email: esther@msawi.org
Frequently Asked Question: Is it correct to cut the flag? Don’t we consider it a “living” flag?
We use old flags that would be retired and burned. Flag Etiquette experts advise us that one may respectfully in this way cut the flag. We are doing a transplant of
the love and respect that the flag represents. We are giving our Troops and Veterans special recognition for what they are doing or have done for our country.
Submitted by Luther Royds, USS Tripoli

USS TRIPOLI
Date: October 19 - 23, 2013
Location: New Castle, DE
Contact: Luther Royds
Phone: 267.902.5403
Address: 1019 Gorman St
Philadelphia PA 19116
2013 Currently Scheduled Reunions
Current Reunion Notice
Please list the following:
Ship or Association:
Dates of Reunion:
Where:
Contact:
Address:
Phone or email:
Send to: Joyce Wilson, 1317 Malmgren Court, Norfolk, VA 23502
Email: cjwilson5051@yahoo.com
Membership Application
MAKE REMITTANCES PAYABLE TO
ESCORT CARRIER SAILORS & AIRMEN ASSN., INC.
(NAVY & MARINE SHIPBOARD VETERANS OF WWII, KOREA & VIETNAM)
Membership Committee
Attn: Dave Ryan, Membership Chairman
5802 E. Virginia Beach Blvd., Ste 122, Norfolk, VA 23502
Email: membership@ECSAA.org
NEW APPLICANT RENEWAL MEMBER NO. ADDRESS CHANGE
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE E-Mail
CVE (S) NAME & NUMBER OR SQUADRON(S)
RANK/RATE
NEW MEMBERS - ATTEND OUR REUNIONS, MEET SHIPMATES IN NEW CASTLE, DELAWARE IN 2013
Looking for Information
CITY ST. ZIP
DATE SERVED
Since 1996, my cousins and I have been working on histories of both
my father’s and mother’s families. Two of our relatives, Lt. John Joseph
McAteer and Storekeeper 3rd Class John Taylor Rochford, served in the
Navy during WWII.
Among his assignments, Lt. McAteer served aboard Thetis Bay, CVE
90, May 1945 to May 1946. He was the ship’s supply officer. He passed
away in 1996.
Storekeeper Rochford served in the submarine base, Unit 128, in
Pearl Harbor, January 1944 to December 1945. Then he served aboard the
Sperry, AS 12, January to May 1946. He passed away in 2004.
Most of the escort carriers operated in the Pacific during the war.
They were in and out of Hawaii often. We feel it is possible crew members
of the various escort carriers may also have had friends in the submarine
base. They may have known our two relatives. We would be delighted to
hear from any former crew member, or their descendants, who knew Lt.
McAteer or Storekeeper Rochford. We would be grateful to know about additional
resources or information we could look into.
1 YR.
2 YRS.
3 YRS.
$30.00
$50.00
$65.00
DONATIONS ARE TAX
DEDUCTIBLE
DUES ARE NOT.
CHECK
NO.
AMT.
DATE
RECD. BY
ENTRY DATE
USS WAKE ISLAND CVE 65
Date: September 19-22, 2013
Location: Branson MO
Contact: Earl Carter
Address: 5309 Timber Lake Circle
North Little Rock AK 72116
Email:earlemmacarter@sbcglobal.net
Storekeeper Rochford Lt. McAteer
Anyone with additional information can contact:
Stephen M. Rochford, 121 S. Norwinden Drive, Springfield PA 19064
Telephone: 1-610-543-7451

Milo Rowell
TAPS Name
My husband, Milo Rowell, died on September 2, 2012. He was
a signalman 1/c on the USS Corregidor CVE 58.
I am getting the Piper - and enjoying it very much, I haven’t
seen Milo’s name in the obits. Milo really enjoyed the Piper and
read it from cover to cover.
We were married for over 60 years. It is so lonesome without him.
Viki Rowell
Thomas Cosgrove Creagan
Thomas Cosgrove Creagan, 90, of Stone Moun-
tain, Georgia, passed away on March 1, 2013.
He was a native of Boonville, MO. He served
his country as a weapons officer in the U.S.
Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Tulagi in
the Pacific during World War II. Years later, he
retired from the Naval Reserve with the rank of
Commander.
Thanks to Frances Hoffman for the notification.
DECEASED
CVE Date of Death
John E. Morgan USS Salamanua November 2012
Harold McCoy USS Corregidor January 21, 2013
Arthur A. Kowalski USS Bismarck Sea July 15, 2012
Stanley Sumara March 3, 2010
Ralph Watkins USS Shipley Bay March 14, 2013
William C. Dwyer USS Gloucester 2011
Ralph Kirch USS Point Cruz December 21, 2012
Paul Reedy USS Point Cruz February 27, 2013
John Michael Coogan USS Point Cruz January 27, 2013
Don B. Kraps USS Santee February 15, 2013
William P. Naylor USS Santee
Name__________________________________________________________________
Address________________________________________________________________
City & State_______________________________________________Zip____________
Ship___________________________________________________________________
Squadron____________________________________Date of Death__________________
Survivors Name___________________________________________________________
___Continue sending “CVE Piper” ___Discontinue sending “CVE Piper”
Please send to: Joyce Wilson, 1317 Malmgren Court, Norfolk, Virginia 23502
I received a request from Paul Roales asking for a point of contact for the USS Munda. While at a flea market in Tulsa ,Oklahoma He
bought a collection of about 250-300 letters written by Herbert R. Tennent of Nowata, OK to his wife during WWII. The letters date
from January 1944 when he was heading to San Diego for school until December 1945 when he was just about to get out of the Navy.
He served on the USS Munda from its commissioning on July 8, 1945, until he was discharged. The material includes other information
as well as a photo. Several of the envelopes from the end of the war have a special “Tokyo Bay” cachet and cancellation. He is looking
for other information about the USS Munda. If you can be of assistance, please contact ECSAA President Anthony Looney (Phone:
214.738.5949 (cell); Phone: 972.359.0373 (home); Email: anthonylooney@sbcglobal.net).
Members, we need your assistance in finding the correct points of contact for all the escort carriers. Please forward any information to
the Piper for publication.

LCS(L)(3)-61 / LSSL-61
A BRIEF HISTORY OF U.S.S. LCS(L) 61
by Powell Pierpoint, LTjg. USNR, Executive Officer
The ship in itself is nothing. She is unlovely to look upon and has neither
grace nor speed. She has not even the dignity of a name. The most that can be
said for her is that she looks more like a ship and is a little more handsome than
her other cousins in the Amphibious Forces – LCIs, LSTs and LSMs. Her history
comes from the men who are in her and the job they did with her.
Properly speaking the history of U.S.S. LCS(L)(3) 61 begins in Solomons,
MD, though she herself never saw that “gemlike isle”, and probably never
will. Here it was that her crew was assembled and trained, here the business of
making sailors out of landsmen was begun in earnest. For the first time some of
the men saw the sea, and still more of them went out upon it in a ship for the first
time. There were a few old salts amongst them – men who had seen the beaches
of Sicily, Salerno and Normandy. When they condescended to leave their sea stories
and their coffee these veterans could be helpful. Their ribbons and stars were
impressive, but still more impressive, they knew how to run a ship.
Among the plodding LCI boys at Solomons the crews that were to get
LCSs were the glamour boys. Theirs was to be a fighting ship, with guns and
rockets. No bow doors, no ramps, no cargo holds; just guns and rockets, a small
galley, and 71 men and officers. The first sight of the training LCS confirmed the
envy. Lofty beside the squat LCIs and lopsided LSMs she simply bristled with
guns.
On November 3, 1944 the training was over and our crew left to “pick
up our ship”. The gunnery gang had come up from Florida for the final cruises
and it was with profound regret that all hands bid farewell to sunny, friendly
Solomons. The trip west to Portland, Oregon, where the ship was built, bore no
resemblance to a Sunday School picnic. The Captain confiscated enough bootleg
hooch to set up a small, well-stocked night spot, and the rumor that officer
personnel drank it all is believed to be unfounded.
About Portland, the less said the better. The tellers of tales should not be
handicapped by having their stories of conquests and liberties set down on paper
and thus solidified. Suffice it to say that Portland was hospitable to an unprecedented
degree. The authorities cooperated by giving even the occupants of the
brig liberty every third night.
The 61 became a ship of the Navy on the 29th of November 1944. The
commissioning ceremony was brief, damp and unimpressive, but U.S.S. LCS
61 was born. On December 12 she sailed for San Diego for operational training,
shakedown and such outfitting as had not been completed in Portland.
The first trip to sea was notable chiefly for the waste of our food provisions
and effort by the ship’s cook. The trip was not too rough, but performances
by various members of ship’s company at the rail were gaudy to say the least.
San Diego was a round of inspections, training and working parties. The Captain
got married and was seen infrequently.
On January 12, 1945 the ship sailed for Pearl Harbor, and all hands started
counting the days and weeks and months, confidently expecting to be home
again in 18 months. Once again the production of second-hand lunches over the
railings was prodigious. It was on this trip that our first crisis was successfully
met. About six days out of San Diego, C.R. Wise, F1/c came down with an acute
case of appendicitis. After taking doctors aboard underway in fairly heavy seas,
the Captain received permission to leave the convoy and head for Pearl Harbor
at flank speed, arriving on 21 January. Wise was transferred to the hospital and
rejoined the ship a few weeks later, sans appendix.
All hands fought the battle of getting a small boat in West Loch at Pearl,
with the exception of one short pleasant period of availability in Kewalo Basin,
with a bar across the street and Waikiki a mere hop, skip and jump away. At
Pearl, also, most of the people who couldn’t take the life aboard an LCS were
transferred and the crew which was to acquit itself so well in action was virtually
complete.
And so the LCS 61
went to war. On February 16
she stood out of Pearl Harbor
to be greeted by LCTs,
hundreds of fat little LCTs
(Landing Craft, Tank: 115foot
long “lighter-like”, open
well decked troop and tank
carriers), as far as the eye
could reach, all waiting to be
escorted to Guam at the terrifying
speed of 4.5 knots. As a matter of fact there were only 36 of them, with an
escort of six LCSs (the 61, 81, 82, 83, 23 and 25), four YMSs (mine sweepers)
and six LCTs for column leaders, but at the time it seemed like more.
The first stop was at Johnston Island, a minute sand spit entirely covered
by an airstrip. We anchored in its lee the night of 22 February, and sailed for Majuro
in the Marshalls the next day. Majuro, where we arrived on 5 March, was a
very fine little atoll. The Naval garrison was extremely friendly, there were trees,
a little grass, and even a USO show. It didn’t look like much at the time, but we
were to come to look back upon Majuro as an ideal spot among atolls we would
see.
The next port of call was Eniwetok, a forbidding, barren, sun-baked
wasteland that we endured from the 15th to the 21st of March. Guam came
next, and though it was big and had trees, no one got ashore except the working
parties. We sailed on the first of April, after only three days, for Ulithi. It was
at Guam that we left our little friends, the LCTs. Their performance had been
remarkable. During the entire trip they had only one breakdown, kept excellent
station and rated cheers from all hands for a difficult job well done.
Ulithi, where we arrived on the 3rd of April, was another Eniwetok, only
worse. Rumors about our ultimate destination were so thick the mess cooks demanded
a six-man working party to help down in the chow hall. We had missed
Iwo Jima completely and it looked very much as though we had missed Okinawa.
LCTs were cursed fluently and frequently by all hands. At Ulithi we had
a few days availability alongside the USS MINDANAO and acquired a Group
Commander, Lt. Commander Vogelin of Group 12, Flotilla 4. The news, when it
came, that we were to sail for Okinawa, did not particularly impress anyone. The
invasion of Okinawa had taken place on April 1, and though we saw a few damaged
DDs that might have been at Okinawa in Ulithi, barge-busting looked like
the duty we were slated for.
We sailed on the 7th of April in company with two DDs, an ARL (Landing
Craft Repair Ship), and an ARSD (Salvage Lifting Vessel) with two tugs to
tow it. The trip was quiet and uneventful. Our destination was Kerama Retto, a
group of islands off from Okinawa, and our first indication that the laughs were
over came as we steamed in. Without any warning two bogeys (enemy planes)
came out of a cloud and made a suicide run on one of our escorting DDs. She got
them both, but one of them almost got her, shrapnel and flying debris killing four
men and wounding others aboard.
We had had our first serious G.Q. (call to battle stations), seen our first
suicide attack, and were to have a few more of the same, “thank you”, before we
said goodbye to Okinawa. That was the afternoon of 16 April. We spent the night
snug in Kerama Retto, whiling away the time by looking at all the damaged
destroyers scattered here and there about the harbor, and firing at a little grass
shack on the beach.
The next morning we sailed for the Hagushi Anchorage, off the assault
beaches of Okinawa. As we steamed in, the cruisers, battleships and destroyers
were pouring shells into the hills south of the beaches. The first thing we saw
Continued on page 20

LCS(L)(3)-61 / LSSL-61 continued...
was a fire-blackened LCS, down by the stern and towed by a fleet tug. Later we
went alongside LCS 84 to greet our regular Group Commander, Lt. Commander
Montgomery, and for the first time heard of Radar Picket Stations. The sea stories
were strange and wonderful to the ear. Suicide planes, suicide boats, suicide
swimmers, more suicide planes, salvage and survivors. For a fact the laughs were
over.
The first night in the anchorage held its first taste of action. We dutifully
started our smoke generators to cover the larger anchored ships from the enemy
planes and lay at anchor, smoking for dear life and hoping for a bogey. Finally
one was caught in the lights and we fired on him. The range was extreme, however,
and he flew off unscathed. Another came out of the smoke over our stern
and was gone in an instant – no chance to fire. In the morning we got our orders
– to Roger Peter Two (Radar Picket Station #2), “Suicide Gulch”, with nothing
but water between us and Japan, and bogeys as thick as flies.
Aside from the main drama of attack and maneuvers, radar picket duty
brought with it a minor show that was played on the voice radio circuits day and
night. The destroyers we worked with, we knew only by their voice calls. Their
official names were for the log only. Each ship and station took on the personality
of its radio talker. In the case of the DDs, there were two of them, one on
the I.F.D. (Intercept Fighter-Director) circuit and one on the private circuit for
the station. If the talkers were hesitant, or didn’t speak well, the destroyers went
down in our estimation. If they spoke well and had a sense of humor, it went up.
The I.F.D. circuit was fascinating. It was the lifeline of the picket stations and
it lived up to the drama of its task. Over it passed the orders, instructions and
information which implemented the coordination of plane and ship, picket and
anchorage. Through it we heard of friends in triumph or trouble and were warned
of trouble to come to us.
Roger Peter Two (phonetic language for Radar Picket Station Two) was
relatively tame after the buildup it had been given, but it carried promise of
things to come. There were raids all around us and the DDs frequently opened
fire at night at targets we could not see. On April 19th we saw our first Jap,
floating in the water with his legs nibbled off by sharks. On the 20th we found
another one, in better condition, but he carried no papers and after a few of the
crew had cut buttons off his coat for souvenirs, we then threw him back to the
sharks. On the night of the 21st we chased an elusive radar target but had no luck
– he was much too fast for us. The next night we went off by ourselves to patrol
around Iheya Shima, a nearby island, and had no excitement beyond a few alerts.
On April the 24th in the afternoon the USS BENNION, which was to become
one of our favorite destroyers to work with and which already was one of
the most successful DDs on the picket line, suffered a very near miss by a suicide
plane. Her starboard motor whaleboat, in fact, was caught by the wingtip of the
attacker and was smashed. Close, very close indeed. We were ordered back to the
anchorage on the 25th and the same night were sent to Roger Peter One.
The first few nights we spent on a little patrol of our own about two thirds
of the way out to the main station. Just after midnight on the morning of the 28th
of April a bogey made a run on us from dead ahead. He passed over the ship and
was driven off by the after 40MM gun but the whole thing was over so quickly
we could not tell whether we had hit him or not. At first light we joined the formation
at the main station. That night we shot down our first bogey.
Roger Peter One had been alerted for a good part of the night and the
DDs had taken bogeys under fire several times. It was an active night all over the
picket line, and we had been at Red & Green battle conditions for a long period.
Our private bogey had not been reported to us by any source until our own
Radarman, A.H. Bleiler, RdM2/c, picked him up and tracked him in. LCS 61 was
second ship in a column of three and the bogey was closing from ahead, from
right to left at an angle of about 20 degrees to the axis of the column. The lookouts
and fire controlman sighted him visually while he was still on the starboard
side of the column and started tracking. Fire was not opened until he cleared
the ship ahead. The number two 40MM gun with Larry Fabbrone, FC2/c at the
director, was right on from the first shot.
As soon as he realized he was being fired on, the Jap turned in toward the
61, but he was much, much too late. We had him on fire before he fell within 100
yards on our port beam. Eighteen rounds of 40MM ammunition were expended,
and that was that. The OTC (officer in charge of the picket station) investigated
the wreckage, discovering two bodies. Just as easy as falling off a log. We had
visions, in our talking, running into the dozens. We were soon to be disillusioned,
but our first conquest gave us a world of confidence. Bring on the bogeys. We
were ready and waiting for them.
On April 29th we were relieved and went back into the Hagushi anchorage
for a period of smoke duty, logistics and anti-skunk patrol. The 61 found
skunk patrol extremely dull, mainly because she never found any skunks. It was
definitely a chore, with minesweepers, cruisers, destroyers, LCI(G)s and all manner
of other small craft to dodge, not to mention the natural hazards of the course
such as shoals, sandbanks and buoys.
And so, on the first of May we went back to the picket line, to Roger
Peter Seven. This station had a spotty reputation. It had had its share of action,
but it was not the bogey highway that some of the others were. In the first few
days it lived up to its reputation. We had alerts, and even raids, but all around us
the other stations were catching unadulterated hell. During evening twilight the
ships of Roger Peter Seven retired from their daylight position to one closer to
Kerama Retto. On the evening of 2 May, as we steamed into our night station,
the USS SANGAMON, a CVE, with two destroyers, sortied from Kerama Retto.
We were at G.Q. at the time, there being bogeys in the area. Just at dusk two of
the kamikaze boys rode their divine wind down on the carrier. One of them was
knocked down early by five-inch fire from the DDs, but the other, despite a fountain
of automatic weapon’s fire, hit the SANGAMON dead-center, at the base of
the island.
The ships of Roger Peter Seven immediately headed for the carrier at
flank speed to render assistance. When we arrived she was ablaze from stem to
stern, with ammunition, pyrotechnics and bombs exploding, and debris flying
everywhere. As the 61 came up, a DD went along the starboard side of the SAN-
GAMON to put water on the hangar deck. However, damage control parties on
the flight deck were pushing burning planes overboard, and one of them landed
on the fantail of the destroyer and she immediately moved clear. Another jettisoned
plane narrowly missed us as we moved in to replace the DD, and we too
were forced to stand off a short way.
At this time our own damage control parties had the 61 in maximum
condition of readiness to assist the CVE. All fire lines were streaming, and we
were ready to handle survivors. In this connection it should be noted that until
the ships from Roger Peter Seven arrived on the scene men were abandoning the
SANGAMON. However, when help arrived they gave us a cheer and we saw no
one else go over the side.
After our first attempt to get alongside we went under the SANGAM-
ON’s stern and found that the damage control parties there had no contact with
the bridge. Accordingly we went up the side of the carrier to the spot in which
the Captain of the SANGAMON had set up his command, the bridge being gutted
by the fire. There, we were requested to try to get water on a fire under the
bridge. Once again we came alongside, but the bridge was now on the leeward
side and the smoke was extremely heavy, too heavy for us to see enough to direct
our water effectively. By this time the men of the SANGAMON had gotten the
terrific fires on the flight and hangar decks partially under control, the explosions
were much less frequent, and we stood off about fifty yards from the carrier to
render any assistance she might ask for. The last job we did for her was to read
and report her draft. The men of the SANGAMON did a truly magnificent job.
Continued on page 21

LCS(L)(3)-61 / LSSL-61 continued...
When we first came up to her no one would have bet a nickel on her chances of
survival, but her crew stuck to her and with stubbornness and guts, saved their
ship. It was a grand and inspiring performance.
After the SANGAMON was safely on her way back to harbor, LCS 61
went back to Roger Peter Seven. The night of May 3rd was a busy one – G.Q.
all night and the destroyers firing off and on throughout the night. We got no
shots at the attackers however. Until the tenth the station was relatively quiet –
never more than two attacks per night and three hours of sleep in a night was
getting to be a treat. On the evening of May 10th, just after dark, a Betty came
past us very low and regretted it. We took it under fire, scored many hits, and
though we did not see it go down, one of the destroyers on the station did and
we got credit for our second kill. We were then relieved and went in for an engine
overhaul.
During this period in the anchorage we saw the USS NEW MEXICO
take a suicide plane in the gun tubs under her stack. The personnel losses were
very heavy although the damage was relatively light. One other plane was shot
down in this raid, but no planes came in range of our guns. After our overhaul
period (all two days of it) we went skunk hunting with no result until we shoved
off for Roger Peter Fifteen.
We got to our station on the evening of the 20th of May; from the time
we got there until the time we left we were under almost constant attack during
the hours of darkness. It was without doubt the warmest station we ever inhabited.
One of the roughest nights was the 23rd. Our Fighter Director destroyers,
equipped with air search radar, gave up trying to spot raids and simply told
us in a weary voice, “Many, many bogeys”. We were steaming in a diamond
formation with three other LCSs, and the one behind us, LCS 121, suffered a
near miss by a fragmentation bomb. We had the bogey under fire and assisted
the 121 in splashing it. Two men were killed and more wounded on the 121 and
she went back to the anchorage to get emergency treatment for her casualties.
The 24th was the same thing all over again – many, many bogeys and the
DDs firing overhead all night. We fired at anything we could see, which wasn’t
a great deal as it was the blackest sort of a night. At one time there were seven
raids directly above us and the number one director was endeavoring to keep
three planes under fire at the same time. It was a wild night and lots of planes
were shot down – quite a few by our night fighters. Whether we got any or not
we shall never know, and none of us cared much. We were still in one piece,
which for the moment, seemed sufficient.
On the morning of the 25th one of the destroyers, USS STORMES, took
a kamikaze on its fantail but extinguished the fire very rapidly without requiring
any assistance. It was a sudden, unexpected attack, out of range for us, and
very few shots were fired. Needless to say, however, the incident did not act as a
sedative for the lads on the 61.
On the 26th the rains came and we got twenty-four hours of blessed
peace. The fighter planes attached to our picket station (our C.A.P.) got a few
kills but nothing came near us and we actually got some sleep. The 27th, however,
was a different story. Once again it was many, many bogeys, and once again
the 61 had its horseshoe along. It was a night few of us will forget.
The victim this time was LCS 52, not 150 yards ahead of us in formation,
who was nearly missed by a suicide plane which we assisted her in splashing.
As we moved up to aid her, another bogey closed us flying low and we fired
every gun on the ship at it to drive it away. The 52 had suffered both material
and personnel casualties and we were ordered to escort her back to the anchorage.
There were bogeys all around us during the trip back, and as we approached
the Hagushi area one came at us from ahead very low. It was a Betty
and we took it under fire as it passed down our port side. It turned and made its
run on us from astern. At the last possible moment the Captain put on hard left
rudder at flank speed and the bogey fell not more than twenty feet on our starboard
bow. At first everyone was sure we were hit as we had a high list from
the turn and there was water and gasoline all over everything. Joe Columbus,
BM1/c was knocked down and out by a piece of the tail surface of the plane.
The pilot’s parachute we found still in its pack on the foredeck. If we
had turned to the right, or not turned at all, we would have been hit dead center.
If the plane had carried a bomb, the 61 would have been minus a bow and her
casualties would have been heavy. As it was, we had one Bosun’s Mate with a
bad bruise on his back and the 61 had another plane to her credit. The bogey had
been hit repeatedly by our after 40MM gun and was on fire as it passed over the
conn, but it had kept coming.
We had another bogey closing us that morning before we reached the anchorage,
but he stayed out of range and we got in without further incident. After
that night the rest of the Okinawa campaign was anticlimactic. We went out on
other Radar Picket stations, and saw other bogeys, and saw another ship hit, but
never again did we get a chance to fire our guns in anger.
On the 1st of June LCS 61 went east around Okinawa to Buckner Bay
for anti-skunk patrol and general anti-aircraft duties. Excitement there was
limited. On the 4th of June we sent a landing party ashore on a small island in
the bay, along with men from the LC(FF) 786 (Amphibious Command Ship), to
search for a Piper Cub pilot reported to be forced down. Some of the party was
fired on and the search had to be abandoned on account of darkness. We were
not permitted to land again.
After her tour of duty in Buckner Bay, LCS 61 took a short side trip to
island of Iheya Shima, spent a day on radar picket duty with a destroyer, found
another pair of dead Jap pilots much the worse for wear, for they were floating
in the water, and went back to Hagushi for maintenance and drydocking for
repairs to one screw.
On the 25th of June we went back to picket duty, this time on Roger
Peter Five. Our C.A.P. shot down some bogeys here but the ships never opened
fire, though we were at General Quarters almost constantly. It was while here
that the Okinawa campaign was declared over on the 22nd of June.
On the 10th of July we sailed in company with the rest of Flotilla Four
for Leyte in the Philippines for beer and liberty. A recap on our achievements of
Okinawa is, perhaps, in order. Out of a little less than three months there, LCS
61 spent forty days on the radar picket line. She shot down five enemy aircraft
and damaged others. She assisted in saving lives of the USS SANGAMON. In
recognition of her services, she was recommended for the Navy Unit Commendation
by the Commander of Flotilla Four, and her Captain, Lt. James W. Kelley,
USN, has been recommended for the Silver Star by the Commander of LCS
Group Eleven, and the Commander Carrier Division 22.
On 15 August 1945, the day the Japanese first announced to the Allied
powers that they were willing to surrender, USS LCS(L)(3) 61 was anchored
in Leyte Gulf completing availability and overhaul after the arduous Okinawa
campaign. The announcement was the signal for a colorful celebration by the
ships collected in the harbor. Searchlights played on the clouds; whistles and
sirens sounded for hours and all ships made earnest efforts to expend their supplies
of pyrotechnic ammunition.
A press announcement that LCS 61 was to be among the ships to take
part in the initial occupation of the home islands of Japan started the rumors of
imminent departure flowing from numerous sources.
In the interim, the 61 marked the end of our stay in Leyte by winning the
softball championship of Flotilla Four. The series was hard fought from start to
finish, and in the final games we were called upon to face an aggregation made
up of the best men from all the ships of Group Twelve. The trophy, a handsome
plaque, was well and truly earned.
continued on page 22

LCS(L)(3)-61 / LSSL-61 continued...
On the third of September we took departure from Leyte, in company with the rest of Flotilla Four, for Tokyo
Bay. The eight-day trip was uneventful except for a typhoon scare which never materialized. Upon arrival in
Tokyo Bay we were assigned duty carrying liberty parties to and from the battleships and cruisers anchored off
Yokosuka.
The 61 was assigned permanently to U.S.S. SOUTH DAKOTA, Admiral Halsey’s flagship, as long as she
was here, and then to other ships in the Bay. It was while we worked for the “Sodak” that we had one of our biggest
thrills of the war.
At 1045 on 18 September 1945, U.S.S. LCS(L)(3) 61 became flagship for both the Third and Fifth Fleets.
Admiral Halsey and his staff came aboard from the U.S.S. SOUTH DAKOTA and Admiral Spruance and his staff
from U.S.S. NEW JERSEY. Then, with the four star flag fluttering at our truck we got underway to carry the Admirals
to HMS KING GEORGE V for a farewell party given by Vice Admiral Rawlings, R.N.
Officers and men from the 61 were invited aboard the British battleship and were treated in the most hospitable
fashion imaginable. The trip back to the American ships was marked by high good spirits on the part of all
ranks and rates.
Later, over coffee in the flag quarters aboard the SOUTH DAKOTA, Admiral Halsey told the Captain and
Executive Officer of the 61, in reference to her action at Okinawa, to “break out your blue jerseys. Your boys are
first string.” This is the highest compliment we could get.
As I have said, the history of the ship is the history of the men in her. I have purposely avoided, except in
a few instances, mention of specific personnel, for to an unusual extent every man aboard was responsible for the
record of the 61. However, it is fitting that a few of the boys be mentioned by name: Larry Fabroni and “Junior”
Chambliss on the #1 director; Mola and Fred Berter on the #2 director; Scrom, Shellenberger, Shropshire and
Martin on the 20MM guns; Jumbo Miller with his Dead End Kids on the #1 40MM; and Art Bleiler on the radar.
These are the boys that did the damage. There were many ships which shot down more Japs at Okinawa then the
61, but I do not believe that there is any LCS which saw more night action, or got as many under the difficult conditions
of night firing as did the 61.
And so we reach the end of the story. The war is over and most of us will soon be going home. With us
we can take the assurance that when, in future years, we start off our sea stories with “Well, when we were on the
picket line at Okinawa” we will speak with authority, and also with the knowledge that we will be heard respectfully.
Acknowledgment is gratefully made for the use of material supplied by Lawrence Katz, RM2/c; Robert
Rielly, QM3/c; and Simon Kaplan, RM2/c in the preparation of this history.
Annual CVE Meeting in Arizona
When “Mage” Magerkurth passed away after our February 2012
meeting, I decided that this tradition should be continued. Mage had
originated and officiated at these meetings for the past 16 years. Three
other vets also agreed and together we arranged the meeting that was
held on February 5, 2013. They were George Williams, the USS Sar-
gent Bay CVE 83, Erwin Solloway, the USS Sangamon CVE 26, and
Billy Lee Bailiff, the USS Rendova CVE 114.
I volunteer to “MC” and I also took the pictures on page 24 of this
issue. George Williams arranged for Tim Worth, a captain of the US
Airways Company to be our featured speaker. Tim’s father had been
a Navy TBM pilot on several carriers during WWII. Tim spoke about
some of his father’s experiences during the war. He also told us about
his exciting experiences and adventures in flying before becoming a
flight captain with US Airways.
Four Happy Sailors and A Dog
This photo was submitted by Delores Dodge
whose father, Robert Lawrence Harrison, was
on the USS Sangamon. She is trying to find
out who the other sailors in the picture are and
if the puppy they are holding was a pup from
the ship’s mascot “Sangy”.
If you have information, she can be contacted
at: dhdodge@sbcglobal.net
Erwin Solloway and his charming wife Lu arranged with the
Four Cactus Waves to also speak at our meeting. They each spoke and
delighted the audience by sharing some of their interesting and charm-
ing experiences in becoming part of the then recently organized group
which became known as the USN Women Waves!
At the conclusion of the meeting we had a lively discussion and
those attending demanded that we continue and that we schedule a
meeting in 2014. We decided on February 4, 2014. All CVE veterans
and their families and friends are invited. The exact time and place are
yet to be decided. It will be announced in a later issue of the Piper.
Sincerely,
Leo C. Vogel
USS Rendova CVE 114

Erwin Solloway and his wife Lu, USS Sangamon
Loren Elliott, USS Madagassor Strait
Jesse Odom, George Williams and Captain Tim Wren
Lester Goss, Leo Vogel, Billy Lee Bailiff - All from USS Rendova
George Williams and Rose Issac, USS Sargent Bay
Arizona CVE
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Four retired WWII U.S. Navy WAVES
Nine Ex-CVE Sailors
Winton Fuglie, USS Cape Gloucester

Battle of the Atlantic Display at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, Virginia
Visit us on the web at www.escortcarriers.com