Michael,

I discovered your message when searching through the Armed Guard message board for unanswered messages. I'm probably too late to help you in celebrating Herman Nolen's 95th birthday but let me give you some information, better late than never.

You may be able to find Mr. Nolen's merchant marine service record by contacting the U.S. Coast Guard. The record may include photocopies of actual documents. See this web page from the website I manage: http://armed-guard.com/searchmil.html. In particular see section A.2. Records of Individuals – Merchant Marine. You will have to contact the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The Coast Guard was and is responsible for issuing certain documents ("seaman's papers") to U.S. merchant mariners, so should have information about Mr. Nolen's merchant marine career. You will have to provide as much identifying information as possible about Mr. Nolen.

Note that while you or your wife could request this information, neither of you are his next of kin (next of kin = parent, spouse, child, sibling). As such you may not be able to obtain his complete record. So it would be better if Mr. Nolen himself made the request or, if you want to surprise him, someone else who is next of kin could make the request, if such a person is available. You could do the leg work of preparing the request but it would be better if Mr. Nolen or a next of kin to him could actually sign any necessary document(s). Otherwise make the request yourself and hope for the best. There may be a fee for this service but I expect the Coast Guard would not begin work without informing you of any charges.

Additionally I have found information on Mr. Nolen's service aboard EMMA WILLARD in 1945. This information comes from a search at the subscription website Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com). The site is more commonly used for genealogical research but it also contains databases with the names of crewmen and passengers aboard merchant ships that arrived at certain U.S. ports of entry following a foreign voyage. Information for New York is particularly extensive.

Herman Nolen was aboard EMMA WILLARD for at least two voyages:

Voyage #1
Departed Newport News, Virginia, May 7, 1945; arrived Marseilles, France, approx. May 28
Departed Marseilles June 2, 1945; arrived New York June 17, 1945
His position in the crew: troop cook and baker
Other description: age 27; 6' tall, 160 lbs.

Following are the names of the men listed for the steward's department on this voyage, with whom he would have worked most closely. The steward's department is responsible for the "hotel" functions of a ship, primarily meal planning and preparation, set-up and clean-up, provisioning, laundry, and general cleaning. I do not know whether any of these men are still living (although some were younger than Mr. Nolen; one was ten years younger) nor would I have any contact information for any of them. But maybe he will remember some of the names.

Alyrio Nunes, chief steward
Bernardo Andrado, chief cook
William Drury, 2nd cook and baker
Billie Leggett, assistant cook
Enrique Roman, assistant cook
Gilbert Cassel, messman
Alexander Chrzanowski, messman
Joe Hrovat, messman
John Maxwell, messman
Eugene Corder, utility
James Holbrook, utility
Franklin Martin, utility
Murray Freeman, troop cook

The name of the master (captain) for this voyage was Timothy Driscoll.

Voyage #2
Departed New York July 5, 1945; arrived Antwerp, Belgium, unspecified date
Dep Antwerp July 30, 1945; arrived New York August 13, 1945
His position in the crew: Army 2nd cook *

Members of the steward's department for this voyage:

John Ferro, chief steward
Edward Issacs, 2nd steward
Bernardo Andrado, chief cook
Kalervo Hovi, 1st cook
Murray Freeman, 2nd cook
Abe Patt, Army cook
Herman Katthoefer, chief baker
Edward Rajkowski, 2nd baker
Eugene Perry, chief butcher
Michael Ferrara, storekeeper
Romeo Lecroix, pantry utility
James Hines, utility
Henry Rooney, utility
Maurice Teeter, utility
Lucas Arture, messman
Gordon Benjamin, messman
Luis Echevarria, messman
Damie Gruber, messman
Harry Mehr, messman
Miguel Suarez, messman

* This does not suggest that he was in the Army, only that he helped prepare meals for the Army troops aboard the ship. A 2nd cook is also typically the baker, as was his position on the first voyage.

The name of the master for this voyage was again Timothy Driscoll. Otherwise, as was typical, there was nearly a 100% changeover in the merchant marine crew from the first voyage to the second.

EMMA WILLARD was a Liberty-class ship, the most common and numerous of merchant ships built before, during and immediately after World War II. More than 2,700 Liberty ships were built, the largest single class of ships in history. About 90% of Liberty ships were used exclusively to carry cargo but a smaller number was built (or converted) to carry troops as well as cargo, EMMA WILLARD apparently being one of them. A troop-carrying Liberty ship had a capacity of as many as 550 troops, traveling in great discomfort, plus a civilian merchant marine crew of 45-60 men and a U.S. Navy Armed Guard crew to man the ship's defensive weapons of 28-40 men. Given that the dates of the voyages noted above were near or after the end of the war in Europe, it is very likely that the voyages involved returning American troops from Europe to the United States rather than the reverse. The ship was named for Emma Willard (1787-1870), an American women's rights activist and founder of the first school of higher education for women, the Troy Female Seminary, now known as the Emma Willard School, in Troy, New York. A number of Liberty ships were named for women.

EMMA WILLARD was built in 80 days between February 1 and April 22, 1943, by the New England Shipbuilding Company, South Portland, Maine. She survived the war and was given or sold to the French government in 1946. In 1947 she was sold to a French shipping company and renamed SAINT NAZAIRE, and sold again to a Greek shipping company and renamed AGHIA SOPHIA in 1961. She was scrapped in 1968 in Hong Kong. For a postwar photograph of the ship as AGHIA SOPHIA, see http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/s-s-aghia-sophia;rad.

If you are interested in obtaining a wartime photograph of EMMA WILLARD, please see this web page: http://usmm.org/photosource.html. I refer you in particular to Mr. Hultgren, the second source on the list, as his collection specializes in Liberty ships. I know enough about his collection to be able to say that he apparently has an image of this ship. My understanding is that Mr. Hultgren charges $10 for an 8x10 photograph. Mr. Hultgren is quite elderly but at last report he was still actively managing his collection. He does not have e-mail or Internet capability, so you will need to call him or send him a letter.

Good luck. I hope this information is useful.

Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com