Farragut’s Press NEWSLETTER OF THE MARE ISLAND MUSEUM, 1100 Railroad Ave, Vallejo CA 94592
Mare Island Historic Park
Building Ships for the British Ask any American and they will tell you that WW II started on 7 December 1941, and they would be correct if they were only talking about America’s entry into the war. However WWII actually started on 1 September 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland. Both Britain and France had agreements with the Poles that they would come to their aid if they were invaded and so those two nations were immediately involved. Neither was prepared for war as after WWI most western nations cut back on their military expenditures. In the United States the citizens were isolationist and did not want to be involved in another war. They considered WWI to have been a “rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.” Beginning in August 1935 the first neutrality act placed an embargo on trading arms and war materials with all parties in a war. It was supposed to expire after six months. In February 1936 the embargo was extended for another 14 months and also forbade all loans or credits to belligerents. In 1937 a 1
June 2018
new act was passed including all the previous restrictions and there was no expiration date. To appease Roosevelt a “cash and carry” provision, set to expire in two years, was added to allow the sale of materials and supplies (but not war materials) to belligerent nations if they paid for them immediately and transported them in their own ships. The Battle of the Atlantic had started 10 September 1939 and in the last four months of that year 400,000 tons were 1 2 sunk and in 1940 and 1941 2,000,000 tons were sunk each year, so it was quite hazardous to ship these supplies In 1939 after the German aggression Roosevelt wanted to broaden the “cash and carry” provision to allow the sale of arms to Great Britain and France, thus effectively ending American neutrality. By the summer of 1940 Churchill told Roosevelt that his country could not pay cash for the war supplies they needed much longer. In 1940 the British lost 11 destroyers to the Germans in ten days. Destroyers had been the escorts for the cargo convoys taking supplies to Great Britain. The British were desperate for more ships, but the shipyards in Britain were working at capacity. So the United States transferred 50 destroyers, “four stackers,” from WW I which had been mothballed and were not well maintained to Britain. They were less than optimal and the crews had numerous problems in many areas with them, but they were afloat. Lend Lease was proposed in December 1940 and passed by Congress in March 1941. The president was allowed to aid any nation believed to be vital to the
Farragut’s Press
June 2018
Fate of the reactor cores of decommissioned nuclear submarines. http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08600.htm
Building BDEs two by two at Mare Island(1943)
defense of the United States and could repay for goods “in kind or any other direct and indirect benefit which the president deemed satisfactory.” Under this legislation we would provide Britain with war materials and in return we were given 99 year leases on bases in the Caribbean and Newfoundland which were considered appropriate for the defense of the US. Britain was still losing massive amounts of cargo to German submarines. The only solution to protect the cargo ships was to provide escorts. Destroyers did not work well for escort duty. They were very expensive, had a large crew, took long to build and used large amounts of material. It was decided that a new design was needed. Capt. E.L. Cochrane of the American Bureau of Shipping, designed a vessel which was slower, smaller, required less crew and was a more maneuverable ship at half the cost of a destroyer. They were designated BDEs (British Destroyer E for anti-submarine Escort) and they were to be used warfare. 50 were originally ordered and it was decided In November 1941 that the first of these were to be built at Mare Island. However a major problem arose in that all the 2
shipyards in the Bay Area were working at full capacity and there was no more iron or steel available for shipbuilding. The manager of Thompson Pipe and Steel Company and a Navy purchasing agent met and decided that Denver, where Thomson was located, could come up with a consortium that could provide the steel and pre-fab the parts to build the destroyer escorts. Sub-sections of 24 ships were prefabbed in the Mile High City more than 1000 miles from the ocean and shipped to MINSY by rail. The ships became known as the “Rocky Mountain Fleet” and our guides today refer to Denver as “Mare Island East.” An interesting sidelight is that some of the sections had to be redesigned because they were too large to pass through the train tunnels on the way to MINSY. But where did Mare Island build them? As you come across the causeway to Mare Island today, look to the G right and you will see some footings extended into the Napa River. Those footings were for five double building ways located on the north end where they could build ten ships at a time. We have several photos that indicate these ways were started about February
Farragut’s Press 1942. They were 96 feet wide and 450 feet long. The outer end, 137 feet, was built of concrete and the inner end, 327 feet, was a wood framed deck. The outboard end was closed by a removable steel gate which acted like a caisson. They had both rail and crane service. In front of the building ways was a large lot filled with the prefabbed ship sections sent from Denver. The pieces were lifted into place by cranes and the two ships in a building way were just a few feet apart amidships. The first BDE to be launched here was HMS Bentinck in August 1942 and it was christened by the daughter of the governor of Colorado. (Escort vessels were so frequently launched that no invitations were mailed except to the sponsor!). But don’t look for Bentinck’s name on any list of Mare Island built ships. It does not appear. Nor do the names of the HMS Berry; HMS Blackwood; HMS Burges; HMS Byard; HMS Calder; HMS Duckworth; HMS Duff; HMS Essington; HMS Foley. All these ships were launched in 1942, from August to December, and by that time the U.S was involved in the war. All the ships launched with British names were reallocated to the USN and had their names changed - seven for men lost at Pearl
June 2018
Harbor. You can find these names on the lists of Mare Island built ships. The Berry became USS Doherty, and in the same order, the others were named USS Austin; USS Edgar G. Chase; USS Edward C. Daly; USS Gilmore; USS Burden R. Hastings; USS LeHardy; USS Harold O. Thomas and USS Wileman. In addition to these ten, we also started at least 11 more BDEs but they were never given British names. Of the 150 BDEs eventually ordered by Britain, they only received 78 and all of those were built in Boston, either by the Boston Navy Yard or the Bethlehem Steel yard also in Boston. Mare Island eventually launched 47 of these Evarts class destroyer escorts, but five started in 1944 were cancelled after launching. The Evarts were used in the Pacific for escort duty and anti-submarine warfare. Interestingly enough when the BDEs were first designed ADM King was absolutely opposed to building “one mission” ships which in the case of the BDEs, was to be escorts. FDR finally convinced him (perhaps, ordered is a better word) and they started with the number BDE 1. When the U.S. Navy stopped building them in the 1960s the last was DE 1082. Had attitudes about one mission ships changed?
(Left) The launching of HMS Bentinck (BDE-13) on Aug 22nd, 1942 at Mare Island. (Top Middle) HMS Bentinck as she rides the water off Mare Island after launch. (Bottom Right) USS Brennan (DE-13), renamed on Jan 6th, 1943 off of barrage balloon covered Mare Island after commissioning. (Top Right) Captain Edward L. Cochrane (March 18th, 1892 – Nov 14th, 1959) the designer of the BDEs, was, incidentally, born at Mare Island. California.
3
Farragut’s Press
June 2018
1942 World War II on Mare Island Here are some interesting tidbits about Mare Island in 1942 garnered from stories in the Grapevine: • Shop 17 had a Brass Bandit locked cylinder which had marked on the outside “Deposit 5 cents for the Red Cross each time you swear.” The article noted that donations had greatly decreased since two women started working in the shop and they were considering moving the cylinder to a shop where there were no women working. • There was to be a “Hale and Hearty Party” for the USS Shaw which was bombed at Pearl Harbor and sailed backwards to Mare Island with a temporary bow to have a new bow placed on the ship. On 12 June she was ready to leave with the pre-fabricated bow which awaited her when she arrived here. • There were over 200 American born Chinese at work on Mare Island, many of whom were members of prominent families in San Francisco. • Mrs. Emma Yam (below, right), a ChineseAmerican, was to christen the ship HMS Foley (a British BDE.) She was selected in a two part contest on the shipyard. The first part was to choose which group among employees should do the christening and the Chinese, who were our allies, were selected and then Mrs. Yam was selected from among the Chinese.
(Top) USS Shaw (DD-373) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The moment her forward magazine exploded. (Middle) Photo showing the extensive damage suffered by USS Shaw. (Bottom) USS Shaw, with her temporary bow, at Mare Island to be refitted with a new permanent bow.
4
• It was suggested you not send Christmas cards to people whom you saw regularly and instead just wish then a verbal “Merry Christmas’ to save the mails for more important matters. • Shop 31 machinists were asked to return empty medicine and cold capsule bottles which could be sterilized and reused.
Farragut’s Press
June 2018
• The Vallejo ferry service switched to larger launches to take workers to and from Mare Island for night crossings. • Workers were advised that the smallest canisters for gas masks were good for 40 hours and that there had never been a canister failure. • By mid-August, the largest bus operation in the world was set up to transport Mare Island workers to and from the shipyard. The 300 buses drove 25,000 miles daily and it was a bus fleet larger than the one in San Francisco • In February 1942 The Grapevine, the shipyard newspaper, became a weekly publication. • Christmas Day 1942 was a holiday, but 1 January 1943, like all other holidays during the past year, was not. • The Navy had reduced the amount of rubber required in combat vessels to one-half the amount used before 7 December 1941. • Six and a half billion pounds of restricted meats (beef, pork, mutton and lamb) during the 1942-43 marketing season are earmarked for use by the Army, Navy and our allies. (Air Force was then part of the Army) • The 25 December Grapevine announced that a Victory Tax would be collected beginning 28 December. It would be 5% of any earnings over $12.00 per week, but not more than $624 per year per employee. Military members, agricultural workers and domestics were exempt.
• The 50 first buses leased from Pacific Greyhound were put into operation in January 1942 to pick up employees on 12 different routes. Cost was $5 for fifteen round trips between Napa and Vallejo. The most expensive was $8.80 for fifteen round trips from San Leandro to Vallejo. It was also stated they expected 500 new buses by 1 May. • Apricot pies were completely eliminated and the number of berry pies was decreased due to the lowering of the sugar ration for the cafeteria. They normally used 13 tons of sugar per month and their ration was cut to 6.5 tons per month. They still made apple, raisin and pumpkin pies. Some cakes disappeared from the menu as well. • The cafeteria did away with the use of glass bottles for milk and milk was put into cartons. Using bottles they had to have 10,000 cases of milk per month and they could no longer sell the milk in bottles for ten cents for 12 ounces. It also meant they no longer had to collect, wash and transport the empty bottles. New serving size was eight ounces. • Prior to 1 July 1942 the US Government was financially responsible for any damage to property caused by enemy action or resistance to enemy action. As of 1 July, the private property owner was legally responsible. He could buy insurance from the War Damage Corporation. The lowest amount you could purchase was $5.00, but you were advised to buy 10 cents per hundred dollars of value. The insurance went into effect three days after purchase. They called it “Bomb Insurance.”
Preserving the history of Mare Island
Mare Island Museum Hours Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Every Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Closed Sundays Tel: (707) 557-4646 Shipyard tours by appointment, please call: (707) 664-4746 or (707) 280-5742 Saturdays 1000-1600
5
Farragut’s Press Blue Star Museum
June 2018
51, 53 and 55 which were located between the museum and the waterfront are all gone, the last, Bldg. 55, was finally demolished in 1979. But the heyday of the Sail and Flag Loft was during World War II. The number of employees increased to over 500 and the work changed from not only making flags, but also repairing submarine lungs, gas masks, rubber boats, kapok life jackets, life rings and floats as well as covers for delicate instruments, signal flags and pennants, mosquito nets and even a blanket for the Navy goat. They also did upholstery and manufactured all kinds of canvas bags for a wide range of purposes. But Mare Island produced more flags than the other two lofts located at New York Navy Yard and Cavite in the Philippines. According to the files Mare Island produced 70,000 flags per month which greatly outpaced the 12,000 made in New York. To make the flags red and white bunting were put on 50 foot long tables. There could be as many as 50 layers which were then cut with electric knives. The stripes were sown together with a double folded seam (French seam) which left no possibility of the seam fraying in the weather. Stars were cut from white wool bunting with a stamping machine which could cut 50 stars at once. The stars were then pasted on each side of the blue bunting to hold them in place while they were being sewed on. When the union was finished it was attached to the stripes and the flag was finished. Since flags are never to touch the ground (or floor), if the
Once again, beginning Memorial Day, 28 May, to Labor Day, 3 September, Mare Island Museum will be a Blur Star Museum. This is a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and museums across the nation. During this period all active duty military and their dependents will be admitted to Mare Island Museum free of charge. Spouses and dependents do not need to be accompanied by their sponsors as long as they have a current ID card. This is just a small way to say “Thank You!” to all our service men and women as well as their families for the sacrifices they make for all of us.
Sail and Flag Loft Shortly after the Civil War, widows of the war veterans needed employment and in those days work for women was greatly restricted. So Washington granted permission to employ some of these women to repair U.S. ensigns (flags) by hand. A small group of women known as the Flag Ladies started work in Bldg. 51. When commercial sewing machines became available, the number of employees was greatly enlarged, the work was increased and consolidated with the Sail Loft and the shop became known as the Sail and Flag Loft, Shop 74. Eventually the shop expanded to Bldgs. 45, 51, 55 and 65. Bldgs.
Several drawings from the Flag Loft: (Left) a pattern drawn on a scrap of paper, (Right) a drawing of international flags on line paper by a Flag Loft worker named Emily
6
Farragut’s Press flag was too large to be contained on the sewing machine, paper was placed on the floor to prevent the flag from being mishandled. Later in the war when the number of flags needed was greatly increased, Mare Island started to use printed or painted stars depending on the source. One flag however gained great fame and few people know it was made at Mare Island. It was an ordinary, regulation No. 7 flag suitable for flying on almost any ship. It had 48 stars made of cotton and the seven red and six white stripes were made of wool. The flag was 106 inches long and 56.5 inches wide- one of thousands just like it. The loft stamped its name and date (October 1943) on the white cotton edge of the flag called the hoist and shipped it out. Most flags are considered essentially of little value by common consent. You use them until they are faded or frayed and then dispose of them. This Mare Island flag No.7 ended up on a ship that did not even have a name, just a number LST 779. The LST was beached along with many others on the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific. The day came when a young marine came looking for a big flag which could replace the smaller flag that had been raised on top of Mount Suribachi. He was given the long Mare Island No.7 flag. When he reached the summit, six Marines placed this flag on a 15 foot length of water pipe and raised it while the smaller flag was lowered. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer later of San Francisco, took a photo of the raising and then posed a group of Marines at the base of the flag with those marines waving their helmets and rifles. Rosenthal called it his “Gung Ho” photo. The phtos were taken on 23 February 1945, four days after the marines had landed, the film was sent to Guam for developing and editing. The photos were then sent to San Francisco by radiofax and then out to newspapers. The famous photo of the Marines raising the flag appeared on virtually every front page. Rosenthal often said he thought of the cost of that flag-raising, 6800 Americans and 21,000 Japanese died during the battle for Iwo Jima. Rosenthal was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the photo and its effect on the American public raised morale. It was printed on posters and stamps and is still recognized as the inspiration for the Marine Monument near Arlington National Cemetery. The flag was eventually taken to the Navy museum in
June 2018
Washington D.C. where it was placed in a wooden frame with only the front visible. When the Marines started building their museum by Quantico which opened 6 November 2006, one of the first things they wanted was the Iwo Jima flag. In fact the center building of the museum was designed to evoke memories of the flag-raising. The flag was badly frayed and the white stripes were ashen, but it was the Marines’ flag! Upon removing it from its wooden frame they found on the back of the hoist stamped the words Mare Island and they called here to ask if we ever had a flag loft. And, of course, we did! It was at that time we first learned that the famous second flag to be raised on Iwo Jima, the famous one in the iconic photograph, was made in the Mare Island Flag Loft. And now you also know!
“I Can’t Dance!” A book that was recently donated to the library, Voices from the Pacific War – Blue Jackets Remember by Bruce M. Petty are oral histories of World War II and many of them relate to people who live or lived in the Vallejo area. One of the interesting stories which did not include the horror of some of the war stories is about a wife of a serviceman who had lost her leg in an accident and was fitted with an artificial leg. The day she got it she went to the captain’s office and danced around to show him what she could do. She stayed around at the hospital to help the amputees learn to walk and occasionally they would have dances. The wife would go up to one of the amputees and ask him to dance. Inevitably the answer was, “I can’t dance, I’m an amputee.” At that point the wife would lift her dress and show them she had an artificial leg and tell them to watch her dance. Needless to say, that gave a lot of them the will to do more than they ever thought they could. 7
Farragut’s Press
Many readers are aware that the Mare Island built ship, USS Ward, fired the first shot at Pearl Harbor and sank a Japanese two man sub a little over an hour before the air attack even started. The parts to be auctioned off were from a second two man Japanese submarine which had floundered at Pearl Harbor and the one man still alive on it became Japanese POW #1. It was taxied to Mare Island on the deck of a cargo ship The winning bidders would receive a small piece of the inner chamber where the two men piloted the sub. Each piece would have an engraved plate telling the history of the sub according to a letter from RADM W.L. Friedell, Commandant. All proceeds from the sale would be used to purchase war bonds. (Is anyone aware of any of these pieces still in existence? If so, please call the museum at (707) 557 4646)
All the Rats are Not in Nippon In the 4 September 1942 Grapevine there was an article about the rocketing mortality rate of the rat population on Mare Island which was attributed to Harry C. Brown whose sole job was to trap and destroy the pests. There were two types of rat, Norwegian and Mediterranean Sea rats, both equally dangerous because they could carry typhus and bubonic plague. People were discouraged from getting near them because if they were cornered they would fight back, crouching and screaming, before leaping at the person’s face or neck. Brown indicated that catching the rats was not an easy task. The smart ones would evade the traps altogether, especially if there was any other food around. A hungry rat could spring a trap with a sweep of its tail, then drag it around until it snaps and steal the bait. According to Brown he had captured all the dopes, now he needed to catch the smart ones. The smartest in Brown’s memory was one he called “Old Oscar” at the Rodman Club. Oscar had evaded capture by all the previous catchers and had the battle scars to prove it. The fact that he was missing a leg and a tail were evidence of prior close calls. Oscar was oblivious to rank and both officers and enlisted men would scurry as he limped along the hallways of the club and he would rush to safety if anyone tried to catch him There were many wagers placed when Brown made it his mission to capture Oscar. Those who bet on Brown were paid off when he managed to catch the old rat and take him to the crematorium. (All the rats were burned to prevent the spread of disease.) Brown’s biggest worry was the remnants of workers’ lunches which were not disposed of in a container. Brown said if they used containers, his traps would rid the island of all the rats which were left.
Captured Japanese midget sub Ha-19 being prepared for a War Bonds Drive at Mare Island on Sept 10, 1942 at Mare Island
Museum Visitors This quarter Mare Island Museum had visitors from 27 states including Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin as well as from Washington, D.C. Foreign visitors came from Bahrain, Canada, China, Japan and Mexico.
“JAP SUB RELICS to be Auctioned to Employees” The above was the headline in The Grapevine, the base newspaper, announcing a special auction to be help on the shipyard. October 27, 1942 was Navy Day at Mare Island and it was also “Buy War Bonds Day” with a very special auction of parts of a Japanese two man sub from Pearl Harbor.
June 2018
8
Farragut’s Press Coming Events
June 2018
Reunion Shop 31
MIHPF Board Meeting 21 May, 2018 10:00 A.M., MI Museum
29 Sept, 2018 11:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M., MI Museum POC: Sam Shoults, (707) 255-9402
MIHPF Board Meeting
Design Reunion 6 Nov, 2018 10:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M., MI Museum POC: Jim Holland, (707) 224-8593
30 July, 2018 10:00 A.M., MI Museum
Reunion Code 950
For further information on any of these events contact the museum at mihp46@att.net or call (707) 557-4646
8 Sept, 2018 11:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M., MI Museum POC: Tom Watson, (707) 507-5259
Corporate Members of Mare Island Museum We like to thank the following corporate members for supporting the mission of the Mare Island Museum:
Abrasive Blasting and Coating, Inc Alstom Association of Marine Underwriters Boyz Garage, Inc. Brayton Purcell LLP CS Marine Constructors Inc. Davillier-Sloan Department 66 Enclos Factory_OS, Inc. Lennar Mare Island
Mare Island Brewing Co. Mare Island Dry Dock, LLC Nautilus Data Technologies Navy Yard Association Petroleum Wine Consulting Savage & Cooke Society of Historical Architects Touro University United Site Services Weston Solutions
Thank You! 9
10