I'm doing research on my father-in-law's military service. He was in the armed guard and according to his discharge documents was stationed at Gulfport MS, New Orleans LA, and then Brooklyn, NY It then shows that the only ship he was assigned to was the USS Philadelphia. Not sure the purpose of this assignment and whether or not he served on any liberty/merchant marine ships. I believe the Philadelphia assignment may be in 1944 or later. Can anyone help. THANKS
His name was James Paul Barchick. Birth year 1922. and he was from Michigan.
Thanks
Re: Information on armed guard service
Posted by Ron Carlson on June 6, 2016, 7:43 am, in reply to "Re: Information on armed guard service" Edited by board administrator June 6, 2016, 7:46 am
Tom,
I found a James P Barchick serving in the Armed Guard unit aboard the merchant vessel SS ROSEBUD for two voyages in late 1943-early 1944. There may have been other voyages and/or other ships to which he was assigned but these are the only records I found. This information comes from the subscription website Ancestry.com (https://ancestry.com/). The website is commonly used for genealogical research but I have found that it contains databases of the names of passengers and crew of merchant vessels that arrived in certain U.S. ports of entry following a foreign voyage. The records for the port of New York are especially extensive.
James P Barwick was a member of an Armed Guard unit of 27 enlisted men and one officer. He was a seaman first class (S1c), meaning in practice that he was a gunner, and was part of the U.S. Navy Reserve. There is no other identifying information in the record. On this first voyage, ROSEBUD departed New York on or about November 19, 1943, with a destination of Glasgow, Scotland. She arrived in Glasgow on an unspecified date and departed Glasgow on December 7, 1943. She arrived in New York on December 20, 1943. She was in east-bound convoy CU-7 and returned in convoy UC-7.
On the second voyage, ROSEBUD departed New York on or about February 1, 1944, in convoy CU-13, again with a destination of Glasgow, arriving on an unspecified date. On February17, 1944, she departed Glasgow, arriving in New York on February 27, 1944, in convoy UC-13.
I can find nothing of significance that occurred in any of the four convoys in which ROSEBUD participated.
ROSEBUD was a class T-2-SE-A1 tanker, constructed by the Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Company, Mobile, Alabama, completed on September 30, 1943. She survived the war and was sold into private ownership in 1948 and renamed. She was sold twice more, in 1956 and 1963, being renamed each time. She was scrapped in 1977 in La Spezia, Italy. See http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/alabama.htm and scroll to hull number 258. Also see http://www.aukevisser.nl/t2tanker/id625.htm.
It was not uncommon for Armed Guard gunners to be reassigned late in the war “to the fleet,” meaning to U.S. Navy warships, where their gunnery experience was highly valued. USS PHILADELPHIA was a light cruiser, commissioned in 1937, operating in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during World War II. She was sold to the Brazilian navy in 1951, and served until being scrapped in 1974. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Philadelphia_%28CL-41%29.
I do not know, of course, how complete a record you have for your father-in-law, but his record should have shown his service in ROSEBUD and possibly other ships. If you do not have his complete military service record, see this page from the Armed Guard website: http://armed-guard.com/searchmil.html. In particular see section A.1. Records of Individuals - U.S. Military. You will have to contact the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO, a facility operated by the U.S. Archives. Provide as much identifying information as possible about your father-in-law. The links on this web page will take you to the necessary pages of the Records Center web site. There may be a fee for obtaining the information but the Records Center staff will not begin research without informing you of any charges. In addition to the ships to which he was assigned and corresponding dates, your father-in-law's military service record may contain such information as enlistment date, discharge date, training, illnesses or injuries, any decorations or medals earned, etc.
Note that since you are not next of kin to your father-in-law, you may not be able to obtain his full service record. (Next of kin = parent, spouse, sibling, child.) Therefore it would be best if your wife signed the request to the Records Center as next of kin.
Good luck.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com