Posted by Kevin Clements on February 11, 2012, 7:27 pm
My father James B. Clements served on the Horace Greeley from Aug. '43 to April '44, the Plymouth Victory from May of '44 to Jan. '45 and the Fort Moultrie from Mar '45 to April '45 and the Kenneth Whiting after that. I can find little ship history except on the Kenneth Whiting. I believe one of these ships was torpedoed and hit by a Japanese Betty but can't find any information. Does anyone know where I can find more on ship history?
My father Sidney O. Bartlow served on the Horace Greeley as well I believe from 1943 to 1945. Have photos of him and a few crew members together. If you are interested, contact me and I will send them to you. I do not know who the sailors are?
FORT MOULTRIE was a class T-2 tanker, the most common class of tanker built during World War II. She was built by the Kaiser Swan Island shipyard, Portland, OR, between August 1942 and March 1943. She was sold to a private shipping company in 1948. She was renamed twice, to HUNTINGTON in 1956 and to ANNA DEMETRIOS in 1963. Later that year she was damaged in an explosion and declared a total loss. She was scrapped in Spain in 1963. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/kswanisland.htm, hull number 3, and also http://www.aukevisser.nl/t2tanker/id525.htm, which includes a photograph.
USS KENNETH WHITING was a class C3 cargo vessel, built in 1944 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding in Tacoma, WA. She was sold to the U.S. Navy as a seaplane tender (AV-14), commissioned in 1944, decommissioned in 1958, and scrapped in 1962. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/toddtacoma.htm and scroll to hull number 50. Also see http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/41/4114.htm. She was named after one of the first naval aviators, who received flight training directly from the Wright brothers and who later served in USS LANGLEY, the first U.S. aircraft carrier.
I hope this is useful.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Thanks Ron. I think he said they were on their way to Iwo Jima - probably a supply ship when they were hit and they went into the water. That would have been early 1945. I'll see if I can get any more info from the Navy. Thanks,