Anyone that was part of the crew please contact me. I was a signalman aboard Oct 1943 to Oct 1944. Thanks. Bill Nicholas 817 836 2437
Re: SS Fort Laramie
Posted by Ron Carlson on February 28, 2011, 1:47 pm, in reply to "SS Fort Laramine"
Dear Bill,
I have found some information that may be useful to you.
There is a subscription website Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), a website more commonly used for genealogical research but which includes databases of crew members of merchant ships that arrived in certain U.S. ports up to about 1957. The information for some ports, New York for example, is very extensive although less so for other ports.
Anyway, I searched for your name and the name of your ship, and came up with information on several voyages in 1943-1944. Your name (appearing as either William J Nicholas or William Jesse Nicholas) was in each record, along with the names of your Armed Guard shipmates.
The voyages were as follows, for SS FORT LARAMIE:
1. Arrived New York 27 Nov 1943 from Curacao, from which it had sailed on 20 Nov 1943
2. Arrived New York 1 Jan 1944 from Liverpool, from which it had sailed 22 Dec 1943
3. Arrived New York 7 Feb 1944 from Liverpool, from which it had sailed 22 Jan 1944
4. Arrived New York 15 Mar 1944 from Liverpool, from which it had sailed 29 Feb 1944
5. Arrived New York 8 Dec 1944 from Honolulu; departed New York April 1944; arrived Honolulu July 1944; Armed Guard gun crew relieved in Curacao on return voyage on unspecified date
Your fellow Armed Guard shipmates were nearly the same group during each of these voyages. Here are the names of your shipmates, each of whom was on at least one of the above voyages but, in most cases, were on all of the voyages.
Crncevich, Maurice L Faulks, Sidney Emmanuel Haberkorn, Adolph J Hanshaw, Bayliss Fletcher Mang, Fred E, Jr Miller, Arthur C Moore, Edwin Louis Olin, Bernie R, Jr Pluim, Harvey John Raabe, Bernard Lee Rapchick, Adam Rapp, Earl William Reasonor, Alvin Woodrow Rector, Harold D Rector, James B, Jr Respress, James Walter Ritger, Donald Joseph Robinson, Craig Elmer Rodgers, Thomas William Roth, James Conrad Royster, Kenneth B Runyon, William Otis Rush, Jesse Wayne Retludge, Joe Henry Sage, William Roy Stewart, Willis T, Jr LT(jg), Armed Guard commanding officer Todrick, Conrad Patrick Tringale, Charles P Varney, Donald L
Many of these men are likely no longer living. Nevertheless I searched online telephone websites for the above names. Some names are quite common so it was not possible to determine which of multiple similar names applied to your fellow Armed Guard sailors, if any. But a number of the names are fairly uncommon and, in several cases, I found telephone listings for individuals who may have been your shipmates. If you can provide me with your e-mail address, I will send their names, addresses and telephone numbers to you in a private e-mail. I hesitate to place contact information on a public message board without the permission of the person in question.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: SS Fort Laramie
Posted by Jacqueline Woodson on February 20, 2017, 6:51 am, in reply to "Re: SS Fort Laramie"
I've been looking for information on my father to verify that he served in the military and I found information on ancestry.com. His name is Lemuel L. Woodson. He classified as the 2nd cook, a negro, 6 ft, age 26, yet your list does not include him as a serviceman aboard the SS Fort Laramie. If you have more information regarding my father, I would be interested in receiving it.
Thank you Jacqueline Slavin
Re: SS Fort Laramie
Posted by Ron Carlson on March 14, 2017, 3:32 pm, in reply to "Re: SS Fort Laramie"
The reason your father was not included in that list is because the list is of U.S. Navy Armed Guard sailors. Your father, as 2nd cook on FORT LARAMIE, was not a member of the Armed Guard. Rather he was part of the merchant marine crew that operated the ship or, in your father's case, prepared meals for the crew. That is to say, on World War II merchant vessels there were effectively two crews: a civilian merchant marine crew that operated the ship (consisting typically of about 45 men), and a U.S. Navy crew of about 27 men that operated the defensive weapons on the ship.
I can confirm that your father sailed in SS FORT LARAMIE for at least two consecutive voyages.
Voyage #1: departed New York on or about November 13, 1943; arrived Curacao, West Indies on unspecified date; departed Curacao unspecified date, arrived New York November 27, 1943.
Voyage #2: departed New York on or about December 1, 1944; arrived Liverpool December 13, 1944; departed Liverpool December 22, 1944; arrived New York January 1, 1944.
It is possible that your father sailed in FORT LARAMIE or in other ships before or after these two voyages but I found no other records. It was very typical for the merchant marine crew of a ship to change completely from one voyage to the next. While one or more senior officers might remain with a ship for multiple voyages, the rank-and-file merchant mariners tended to move as soon as possible from a returning ship to a departing ship so as to keep earning pay. As soon as a returning ship reached its final destination, the crew drew their pay and at that point were unemployed. Since the same ship might not sail again for weeks, most crew members would immediately try to find another ship that required their services. In the case of FORT LARAMIE, the ship arrived from Curacao and then departed for Liverpool in a matter of a few days. So the voyage to Liverpool might have been considered a continuation of the Curacao voyage, so your father (and other crew members) remained for two consecutive voyages.
As it happens, FORT LARAMIE was a tanker, which carried petroleum products. The voyage to Curacao was doubtlessly to obtain a cargo from the South American oil fields, and then to transport that cargo immediately to Britain for the war effort, with the following voyage to Liverpool.
Since your father was in the merchant marine, which is a civilian organization, he was not in the military during the period of these voyages. That said, as of 1988, World War II merchant mariners were officially considered to be World War II veterans even though they had never been in the military. Of course by 1988 many World War II merchant mariners had passed and the recognition of veteran status as of 1988 provided very few benefits even for the living. The primary benefits were the right to be buried in a military cemetery, have a government-issued grave marker, have a military funeral, and the survivors received the U.S. flag from the coffin. Treatment in Veterans Administration facilities might also be a benefit for their veteran status. That is precious little for men who risked their lives in World War II alongside U.S. Navy sailors with whom they were literally in the same boat.
Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: SS Fort Laramie
Posted by Bernard Raabe on January 22, 2013, 4:42 pm, in reply to "Re: SS Fort Laramie"
My father-in-law Bernard Raabe sailed on the SS Fort Laramie when he was in the Navy and would like more information (addresses and phone numbers if possible) on the list of men above.
Please responde to our e-mail
Thank You.
Re: SS Fort Laramie
Posted by Ron Carlson on March 27, 2013, 11:40 am, in reply to "Re: SS Fort Laramie"
Bernard,
As noted in my message dated Feb 28, 2011, in this series of messages:
"Many of these men are likely no longer living. Nevertheless I searched an online telephone website for the above names. Some names are quite common so it was not possible to determine which of multiple similar names applied to your fellow Armed Guard sailors, if any. But a number of the names are fairly uncommon and, in several cases, I found telephone listings for individuals who may have been your shipmates. If you can provide me with your e-mail address, I will send their names, addresses and telephone numbers to you in a private e-mail. I hesitate to place contact information on a public message board without the permission of the person in question."
To the best of my recollection "Bill" never contacted me with his e-mail address so I presume I was unable to share the results of my searches for the men in question. Fortunately I still have the information I prepared for Bill, which I will send to you in a private message.
Good luck.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: SS Fort Laramie
Posted by Carol Reynolds on October 2, 2011, 7:48 pm, in reply to "Re: SS Fort Laramie"
I'm trying to locate a photograph of the ship to include in a shadow box of memorabilia I'm making for my Dad, Albert J. Nienberg, who served on this ship. I know only that his name appears on the ship manifest when it entered New York on March 25, 1947. Thank You!!