My father, Fredrick B. Remington (still alive) was the radio operator on the William Wolfskill in the South Pacific during I think 1944 until 1945 (would have to confirm the actual dates). He was 17 when he entered the Merchant Marines and started on that ship. He's 87 now and doing pretty well.
He has always shared with me history about his time on that ship. I'll share a few stories here, for those who are interested.
At one point, the William Wolfskill was one of three ships that cruised together. The one in the middle was loaded with ammo; the two on either side were there as decoys and to haul cargo. My father was in one of the flanking ships. One night they took enemy fire and the ship with all the ammo got hit in a portion of the hull that had nothing in it, higher than the water line. They were way lucky!!! He said “the hole was large enough to drive a semi through.” The captain told my dad, had that hit in another area, “Junior, you wouldn’t have known what hit ya’!” The repercussion would have killed everyone and taken the ship down. His ship was relatively unharmed, but he said that night was the scariest night of his life.
I like to think that my father became a man on the William Wolfskill.
Another story he shared with me was on his 18th birthday. It was June of 1945. The William Wolfskill was situated just off land from Bora Bora. He said they "tossed" him in the water (not sure what "tossed" means... Seems like a loooong drop if tossed overboard). He said he'll never forget wading in the warm water, looking at the island in the near distance. "It's a memory I'll never forget." Later, they told him the water was shark infested. I guess faced with other dangers at the time, that didn't seem as serious.
He remembered the radio room with it's large final tubes that would loudly "SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT" with each Morse code tap he'd send. One time water poured into the room and waterlogged everything. They shut the equipment down and let it dry out. After it was dry, they fired it back up, and it was fine. I guess something can be said for some of the old time gear!
Thanks for posting this information. I'm going to print this information and pictures of the ship and share it with him. He'll be thrilled!
-Paul
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