Posted by Karen McMillan on December 9, 2013, 12:16 pm
Looking for anyone that may have info on the US Jonathan Elmer - cargo ship. My Dad Wayne Allan Berry GM3c was aboard the ship going to Africa and Meditarranean up to the Middle East. Anyway I think that is correct. My father is gone now (2013 at 91 and like most I wish I had asked more questions. Would love to hear from anyone who is connected to the Jonathan Elmer. Karen
SS Jonathan Elmer
Posted by Karen Mcmillan on May 18, 2015, 2:32 pm, in reply to "U.S Jonathan Elmer"
Hi Ron, This is a bit late - some 5 months. I sure hope you receive this. Thank you for answering and setting straight on the SS Jonathan Elmer. You may know this man CA Lloyd - he really helped me to find information on my Dad's time in the Navy. I found out he was a member of the Armed Guard and not only was aboard the Elmer from Sep. 1942 to June 1943. The Elmer sailed from Baltimore to the Persian Gulf. Sailing through the Panama Cannel around S. America and Capetown, S, Africa up to the Persian Gulf. A very long voyage. Then in 1943 to 1944 he was on the SS Joseph Rodman Drake that sailed to Nova Scotia, Ireland, Scotland and England. All of that was news to me but very exciting to find out. CA told me what forms to fill out and I received info from the National Archives at Collage Park and National Personnel Records Center. It was extremely interesting and certainly made me very proud of his time spent as an Armed Guard in the Navy. He lost his oldest brother in March of 1942. Leo, also Navy, was aboard the tanker Pecos when it was bombed by the Japanese just off of the Christmas Islands, Indian Ocean. Dad enlisted in April of 42. His other brothers also enlisted - Dale in the Navy (2x)and Dennis in the Merchant Marines. Another tidbit about WWII - my Mother and Dad were married in 1944 in Iowa and I was born in March '45 in Miami were he was stationed his last year! Again thanks for the information and that YOU for your service in keeping our country free.
Karen McMillan
Re: SS Jonathan Elmer
Posted by Edward Gallagher on February 4, 2019, 12:34 pm, in reply to "SS Jonathan Elmer"
Per my mother, my father also Edward Gallagher also served on the SS Jonathan Elmer. He died in 1968 and there seems to be little to know records as our home burned after. We are trying to find what we can for myself & my mother who is 97 and still going strong. Any input or suggestions would be appreciated. Edward Gallagher
Re: SS Jonathan Elmer
Posted by Ron Carlson on June 8, 2015, 8:29 am, in reply to "SS Jonathan Elmer"
Thank you for your message, Karen. I have to deflect your thanks to me for my service since I never served in the military and certainly not in World War II.
Indeed I know CA Lloyd. He and I keep in very close touch and regularly exchange information. As you probably know, CA is national chairman of the Armed Guard veterans association. As such he is very interested in the Armed Guard website and I am equally interested in what he does, in particular publishing his association's periodic magazine, The Pointer. (Technically, the website and the veterans association are entirely separate entities, as the website was originally created by an Armed Guard veteran, now deceased, as a personal undertaking.) I'm glad I was able to help you with information.
Best wishes.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: U.S Jonathan Elmer
Posted by Ron Carlson on December 12, 2013, 2:52 pm, in reply to "U.S Jonathan Elmer"
Karen,
The correct designation for this ship is SS JONATHAN ELMER, rather than "US" JONATHAN ELMER or, what you probably meant, "USS" JONATHAN ELMER. USS means United States Ship and refers to commissioned vessels in the United States Navy. JONATHAN ELMER was never a part of the Navy or the Coast Guard. Rather she was a civilian merchant ship, operated by civilian merchant mariners, at the direction of the U.S. government. SS means steamship and is an appropriate description of the ship.
I have no personal connection with JONATHAN ELMER but I can provide some information. She was named for Jonathan Elmer (1745-1817) a member of the Continental Congress and later a Senator from New Jersey (1789-1791). JONATHAN ELMER was built in 65 days by the Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore in July-September 1942. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1960, also in Baltimore.
(Interestingly, at least to me, while she was being built, another Liberty ship, SS JOHN W BROWN, was being constructed on a neighboring way. The two ships were completed within a few days of each other in September 1942. JOHN W BROWN survives to this day as an operational museum ship in Baltimore. I am a volunteer crewman aboard JOHN W BROWN. If you live anywhere close to Baltimore, be sure to visit the ship someday. See http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/bethfairfield.htm and scroll to hull number 2058 and 2062.)
JONATHAN ELMER sailed in convoys between 1942 and 1945; she may never have sailed between the end of the war and her scrapping. I found some 22 records of convoys in which she sailed, in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the North Sea. You can find the same information by doing a SHIP SEARCH at ConvoyWeb (http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html). Similar but less comprehensive information (eight convoys) is also available at warsailors.com (http://www.warsailors.com/search.html).
If you want to obtain a photograph of JONATHAN ELMER, see http://www.usmm.org/photosource.html for sources of photographs of World War II-era merchant ships. Your best bet is Mr. Hultgren, second on the list, since his collection focuses on Liberty ships. I know enough about his collection to know that he apparently has an image of the ship. Mr. Hultgren is quite elderly but at last report he was still actively managing his collection. I understand he charges $10 for an 8x10 print.
I hope the above information is useful.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: U.S Jonathan Elmer
Posted by Edward Gallagher on January 6, 2019, 6:46 pm, in reply to "Re: U.S Jonathan Elmer"
Sir. My father was aboard the Jonathan Elmer during WW II and I am trying to find out anything about his deployment. He was also Edward Gallagher he passed away when I was young in 68 and I know almost nothing except what I learned from a shipmate when I sailed on the USNS Saugatuck in 71-72. Any information would be appreciated. Edward Gallagher
Santa Isabel and Explorer
Posted by Anthony Lomnicki on October 27, 2018, 4:24 pm, in reply to "Re: U.S Jonathan Elmer"
Of the ships my father served on in the Merchant Marine during WWII, there is no information on the two SUBJECT Ships. Can you tell anything about them? My father was on a ship that was torpedoed and sunk in the North Atlantic and of all things I never asked him was the name of that ship. Can you tell me anything about the Santa Isabel and the Explorer? I have located the details for the other ships Ship name
Santa Isabel (1 voyage) SS Caesar Rodney (3 voyages) SS Jonathan Elmer (1 voyage) Explorer (1 voyage) SS Franklin P. Mall (1 voyage) SS Nachman Syrkin (1 voyage)
This information is from his "certifcate of discharge" papers from the war years. My email is BAYCHESTER_NY@HOTMAIL.COM Thank you so much for your response!