Need help finding ships served on for 21 AG crew members
Posted by Dave Schwind on March 19, 2013, 4:35 pm
All:
I am writing a book containing biographies of 138 members of the Armed Guard who received Soviet military medals in 1944 and 1945. Out of the 138, I have 21 who I cannot determine what ship(s) they served on, particularly during convoys to Russia. I am hoping some of you can help. Ranks are as of August 1945. Here's the list:
Enlisted: GM1/C Blake, Renald H. S1/C Cannon, John W. COX Hunsinger, Paul L. S1/C Ratz, Charles COX Walters, Charles E.
Officers (all ENS/LTJG/LT): Bloch, Jules H. Buckbee, Robert E. Daley, Walter R. Grotenrath, John G. Howard, Blake C. Kirby, William R. McNaughton, John T. Merlo, Michael L. Miller, Wesley N. Nisbet, Robert A. Rutherford, Wilson D. Schwartz, Dan Tipping, Kenneth W. Wanless, Robert H. Wright, Kenneth L.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Re: Need help finding ships served on for 21 AG crew members
I have found some information for some of the individuals you list. For the most part what I have found comes from searches of the subscription website Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com). Other information comes from ConvoyWeb (https://www.convoyweb.org.uk/) and the American Merchant Marine at War (http://usmm.org/).
I hope it is useful.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Also, according to http://armed-guard.com/wwww.html, Charles E Walters served in SS ANDREA LUCKENBACH, 12/42-3/10/43, and SS JOSEPH PULITZER, 5/43-1/44, as well as the above-named ships.
No ship-related information, however an obituary at http://newsok.com/jules-bloch-jr./article/2661968 indicates this Jules Bloch was a U.S. Naval officer during World War II and was decorated by Russia. The obituary lists survivors.
The Russian convoys prior to October 1942 in which U.S. ships were lost were convoys PQ-13, PQ-16, the infamous PQ-17, and PQ-18. Tipping's article mentions that nobody from the crew (meaning at least the Armed Guard crew) was lost in the sinking; it's less clear if he also meant none of the merchant marine crew was lost either.
Of the U.S. ships sunk in PQ-13, PQ-16, PQ-17, and PQ-18, there were ten in which there were no crew losses. Those ships, and the convoy in which each was lost, were:
AFRICANDER (PQ-18) ALAMAR (16) ALCOA RANGER (17) CITY OF JOLIET (16) EL CAPITAN (17) HOOSIER (17) KENTUCKY (18) MACBETH (18) PETER KERR (17) WACOSTA (18)
Arguably, therefore, Tipping was aboard one of these ten ships. His article mentions by name the chief officer aboard his ship, John Munro. Of great interest, a search of Ancestry.com finds a John E. Munro signing aboard AFRICANDER prior to her departure for Russia in April or May 1942. Although his position aboard the ship is not identified, it is possible he signed on as chief officer, thereby matching up with the details Tipping mentioned.
Re: Need help finding ships served on for 21 AG crew members
Thank you, thank you! I had some of that information previously, but never had the rest of the information and knowledge to put the pieces together like you did! Just beautiful! Thank you so much!
Re: Need help finding ships served on for 21 AG crew members
I should probably add that all of these men were on Armed Guard crews in the Atlantic. Some of them may not have made it to Russia; some of the awards were earned by AG crews in the vicinity of Greenland and in the Caribbean. Thanks again for any help you can give!