Mr. Ashmont served on a tanker, USS Walter Jennings, in WWII and is hoping to hear from other USN gunners (Armed Guards). He may be reached at 863 467-2808.
Thank you.
Re: William Ashmont
Posted by Ron Carlson on October 5, 2010, 8:24 am, in reply to "William Ashmont"
Dear Chuck,
The correct designation of the ship in which William Ashmont served was SS WALTER JENNINGS, not "USS" WALTER JENNINGS. USS means United States Ship and denotes a commissioned warship in the U.S. Navy. SS WALTER JENNINGS was never a commissioned warship but rather was a civilian-crewed merchant ship. SS means steamship.
In a search of Ancestry.com, I found two records for William Leon Ashmont, a member of the Armed Guard crew aboard SS WALTER JENNINGS, arriving in New York City after foreign voyages. One arrival was on April 19, 1943, from Swansea, England, the second was on July 23, 1943, from Bizerte, Tunisia. The names of his Armed Guard shipmates were as follows:
Bowen, Ray H Cassady, Wesley J De Stephano, Anthony Ducharme, Joseph L Haley, Paul Henner, Walter George, Jr. Kapturauskas, Walter A Lawson, Howard Lincoln, Glen Dale Jack Loveless, Granville R McCort, Lawrence William McKenna, John E McMurry, James Turner Mikac, Adolph Moore, Robert Moresco, Samuel Joseph Neville, William F Ensign, Armed Guard commanding office Powell, Frank L Priddy, James C, Jr. Provost, Robert James Reed, Jack Stacy Richards, Albert England Rondeau, Robert A Royal, Robert L Ruiz, Pablo M Schnell, Ralph Frank Walters, Raleigh Williams, Bob Claude Wilson, Thomas Donovan Winget, Kenneth Guitner Yankosky, Joseph James
Unfortunately I do not know whether any of these men are still living, nor do I have contact information for any who may be alive.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: William Ashmont
Posted by Brent McClearen on March 3, 2013, 9:37 pm, in reply to "Re: William Ashmont"
I just bought a life preserver from a guy at a flea market marked "SSWS Jennings" thought you might be interested....
Re: William Ashmont
Posted by Ron Carlson on April 1, 2013, 10:23 am, in reply to "Re: William Ashmont"
Brent,
Just FYI, SS W S JENNINGS was a Liberty ship, one of about 2,700 virtually identical cargo ships built during World War II. Some (although probably not W S JENNINGS) were configured to carry troops as well as cargo. She was built in 61 days in June-August 1944 by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company in Jacksonville, Florida. I find nothing of particular significance about her so she may have had an uneventful wartime career. She was laid up ("mothballed") in the reserve fleet in the James River, Virginia, some time after the war and was eventually scrapped in Italy in 1970. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/stjohnsriver.htm and scroll to hull number 51. Also see http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsW.html and scroll to the name of the ship.
I find W S JENNINGS in convoy HX-305, departing New York on Aug 25, 1944 (presumably her maiden voyage) and arriving Liverpool on Sept 10. JENNINGS actually went to Hull, England, on England's east coast instead of Liverpool (on England's west coast), arriving on an unspecified date. See http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hx305.html. W S JENNINGS returned to New York in convoy ON-256, leaving Liverpool on Sept 28, 1944, and arriving in New York on Oct 12, 1944. See http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/on/index.html?onz.php?convoy=256!~onzmain.
Later I find W S JENNINGS in convoy UGS-59 leaving Hampton Roads (i.e., Norfolk area) on Nov 1, 1944. The convoy was to end in Port Said, Egypt, but W S JENNINGS and other ships split off to various other destinations, with W S JENNINGS heading to France (unspecified port and unspecified arrival date). See http://convoyweb.org.uk/ugs/index.html?ugs.php?convoy=59!~ugsmain. She returned to Hampton Roads in convoy GUS-60, which left Oran, Algeria, on Dec 3, 1944, probably picking up other ships as the convoy proceeded west, presumably including W S JENNINGS sailing south from France. The convoy reached Hampton Roads on Dec 22, 1944. (Either that or the reported diversion to France is in error and W S JENNINGS remained with convoy UGS-59 into the Mediterranean.) See http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/gus/index.html
Still later, W S JENNINGS was in convoy HX-331, departing New York on Jan 8, 1945, and arriving Cherbourg, France, on an unspecified date probably late in January. She returned to New York in convoy ON-283, departing Southend, England, Feb 5, 1945, arriving New York on Feb 27, 1945. See http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/on/index.html.
I also found fragmentary information in which W S JENNINGS carried P-47 fighter planes from Italy to Brazil later in June 1945. This would have been after World War II ended in Europe. I can only speculate that this voyage was to transport surplus military equipment to augment the Brazilian air force.
That was a lot more information than you expected to find, I dare say.
As to when and why your life ring parted company with the ship, and how it made its way to the flea market at which you purchased it, I haven't the slightest idea.
Thanks for your message.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: William Ashmont
Posted by chuck domm on October 6, 2010, 1:53 pm, in reply to "Re: William Ashmont"
Mr. Ashmont sure was excited about hearing some of the names he knew so well, and he greatly appreciates the information. He claims to have been wounded onboard by a torpedo attack that barely missed the SS Jennings, striking a nearby ammo carrier instead, with the blast throwing him against a valve. He was "med-evacuated" by a Navy motorcyclist with sidecar once reaching shore in Mediterranian waters, take to a hospital in the mountains and later returned to the states. Also, he has a book of photos provided by Standard Oil after the war. Said that it has pictures of most of the ships that the Armed Guards rode.
Re: William Ashmont
Posted by chuck domm on October 6, 2010, 1:18 pm, in reply to "Re: William Ashmont"
Well thank you for my latest education. I greatly appeciate it and will pass the info on to Mr. Ashmont asap, and see if there is anything else to do for the man. He really wants to speak to some others who served as Armed Guards when possible. Thank you for your service and for this response..I think you know how much it means.