Hello - my 93 year old grandfather was in the Armed Guard in WWII & is trying to track down and & all information about 2 ships he served on - the SS Alcoa Pegasus (12/17/43 - 9/11/44) & the SS/MS West Cusseta (10/4/44 - 10/18/45). I haven't been able to find much online outside of a few photographs. If any can share anything at all about these ships I would be forever grateful!
I’m sorry not to have responded earlier but sometimes life gets in the way of other things you would like to do.
Are you the Mike of “Find Sam’s Cap”? If so, thanks for leading me to a delightful story. I hope Grandpa Sam is still going strong. And if not … never mind.
Following is some information about Grandpa Sam’s two ships, plus a little bit about one of your grandfather’s voyages.
I found ALCOA PEGASUS in two short convoys, one in 1943, the other in 1945, both in the Pacific. The 1943 convoy was designated TN-118 (consisting of ten merchant ships and three warship escorts) and ran from Townsville, Australia, on Australia’s northeast coast, to “Fall River,” which turns out to be another name for Milne Bay, New Guinea, at the extreme eastern tip of New Guinea. The convoy sailed between 19 and 23 July 1943. See http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/tn/index.html?tn.php?convoy=118!~tnmain. The later convoy, GI-8, sailed from Hollandia, New Guinea, to Leyte, Philippines, between 31 January and 5 February 1945. See http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc/index.html?yy.php?convoy=GI.8!~miscmain. There is no evidence of anything remarkable happening to either convoy. From your information, your grandfather was not aboard ALCOA PEGASUS for either convoy.
WEST CUSSETA Cargo ship constructed by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Los Angeles, CA, completed in January 1921; survived the war; scrapped 1947. See http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/toddsanpedro.htm and scroll to hull no. 29. I can find no photographs.
I found WEST CUSSETA in three short convoys around and near Australia in 1942 and 1943. Again, your grandfather would not have been aboard for any of these convoys, according to your information. Convoy PG-21, five ships, ran from Caloundra to Sydney, Australia, between 13 and 15 November 1942. See http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc/index.html?yy.php?convoy=PG.21!~miscmain. Convoy CO-46, 11 merchant ships and two escorts, ran from Newcastle to Melbourne, Australia, between 17 and 20 November 1942. See http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/co/index.html?co.php?convoy=46!~comain. And convoy TN-165, nine merchant ships and four escorts, ran from Townsville, Australia, to Milne Bay, New Guinea, between 7 and 10 October 1943. See http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/tn/index.html?tn.php?convoy=165!~tnmain. Again, nothing unusual happened to any of these convoys.
Finally, I found a record of your grandfather aboard ALCOA PEGASUS on a voyage from San Francisco to Milne Bay, New Guinea, and return in 1944. The ship departed San Francisco on or about 8 January 1944, arrived Milne Bay on an unspecified date, departed Milne Bay also on an unspecified date, and arrived San Francisco 11 April 1944. Sam Tridente was part of a U.S. Navy Armed Guard detachment of 26 men. The Armed Guard unit was commanded by LT(jg) Herbert H. Royer; the ship itself was commanded by Capt. Bodvar Oiestad, a Scandinavian native age 56 but already with 42 years at sea. Your grandfather was listed as a signalman third class (SM3c). As a signalman it is very likely that your grandfather’s post was on the bridge of the ship where he must have regularly encountered Capt. Oiestad. The information in this paragraph comes from Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), a subscription website commonly used for genealogical research. Ancestry also has databases of the names of crew and passengers of merchant vessels that arrived in certain U.S. ports of entry following a foreign voyage.
No doubt there were other convoys in which your grandfather’s two ships sailed, including the times he was aboard. Likewise there must be records of other voyages in which he participated. But I know that the sources available to me are not comprehensive and the above is the only information I found.
In preparing this response I Googled Sam Tridente and found that he and his wife/your grandmother Marietta live in Washington, NJ. Possibly you live somewhere nearby. So here’s a thought: there is a restored, operational World War II Liberty ship in Baltimore, SS JOHN W. BROWN (https://www.ssjohnwbrown.org/). Your grandfather did not serve in a Liberty ship but there were more than 2,700 Liberty ships and many Armed Guard sailors served in Liberty ships. I know this would be a very long shot but might it be possible for Grandpa Sam to visit JOHN W. BROWN? There are both dockside visits and, twice a year, a six-hour day trip on the Chesapeake Bay with the ship operating under her own steam, including a mid-day mock air attack by vintage World War II aircraft, and our Armed Guard re-enactors valiantly fighting off the enemy; the ship has yet to be sunk. I realize this may be a bit much to expect of a man of your grandfather’s age but if not him, perhaps other family members would be interested. If only in your mind’s eye you might imagine what Grandpa Sam’s experiences were aboard a World War II merchant ship. I am familiar with all of this in that I am a long-time volunteer crewman aboard JOHN W. BROWN, along with my wife and two now-adult children. If anyone would be interested in a dockside visit please let me know and I will arrange to be aboard to provide a detailed personal tour. One must purchase tickets through the website for day cruises, which are the primary fundraising effort of Project Liberty Ship, which owns the vessel.
And finally, I am aware of a U.S. Navy Armed Guard museum that has recently opened in Florida (https://www.facebook.com/USNavyArmedGuardandMerchantMarine/). While I am not suggesting a visit to Florida, the organization that runs the museum also sponsors an Armed Guard veterans’ association. I don’t have the information readily at hand but I believe membership in the association is free for veterans over the age of 75. The primary benefit of membership is an interesting magazine named “The Pointer” (an Armed Guard gunnery term) several times a year sharing the stories of Armed Guard and merchant marine veterans. And maybe someday, if Grandpa Sam and your family would be so inclined, the museum might be a final destination for his uniform, minus one hat. If interested you can contact the museum at:
US Navy Armed Guard / Merchant Marine Museum 32 North Broadway Fellsmere, FL 32948 Ph 772-321-5493
I note that your grandfather is a retired postmaster. For what it’s worth, you can tell him that my grandfather, my late father and an uncle were all career postal employees, and I was briefly a substitute rural route carrier in the 1970s. My father and three uncles were all World War II veterans. My father in fact was an infantryman in the South Pacific and was in New Guinea and the Philippines among other places. You might say that he and Grandpa Sam were kinda in the neighborhood at the same time, back in the day.
I hope this information is useful. Your grandfather was a brave man; they all were.
Best wishes, and greetings to Grandpa Sam.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Hi Mike. Some additional information on these two ships for the period your grandfather was on board:
Alcoa Pegasus: She was in San Francisco when your father joined her. She left San Francisco January 9, 1944 for Milne Bay, arriving January 31. I am missing the next few months, but she left Milne Bay March 17, 1944 for San Francisco, arriving April 7. She left San Francisco April 30 arriving at Espiritu Santo on May 17, 1944. She left Espiritu Santo May 18 for Guadalcanal, arrival date unknown. She left Guadalcanal on June 6 to return to San Francisco, arriving June 23 (could be wrong, the file I got this from is very blurry). She returned to Guadalcanal (departure date unknown) arriving on July 24. She left Guadalcanal (unknown date) for Treasury Island, arriving there on August 4. Left Treasury Island on August 7 for Torokina, arriving the same day. She continued short hops between the various islands around Guadalcanal for most of August. She left Guadalcanal area on August 23, 1944, to return to San Francisco, arriving September 7, 1944.
West Cusseta (also spelled West Cussetta in some records, but I believe West Cusseta is correct): She was in San Francisco in early October, so your grandfather likely joined her there. She left San Francisco October 12, 1944 for Noumea (New Caledonia), arriving November 6. She left Noumea November 10 arriving at Espiritu Santo on November 12, 1944. She left there on November 17, 1944 for Guadalcanal arriving November 20. She left Guadalcanal on December 2 for Milne Bay, arriving December 5. She left Milne Bay December 24 for Finschhafen (multiple spellings exist) Arriving December 26. She left there on December 29 for Manus arriving on December 31, 1944. She left Manus on January 8, 1945, unknown destination. She arrived in Port Hueneme (Los Angeles area) on February 28, 1945. She left Port Hueneme on March 5, arriving Pearl Harbor on March 14. She left Pearl Harbor March 29, destination unknown. Next record I have is she arrived Honolulu on July 4, 1945. I have no further records of her.
I hope this helps! Tracking down these merchant ships is a real challenge. Like your Grandfather, my father served in the Armed Guard as a Signalman for all of the war. My simple search for info on his background has resulted in a 20 year project!
Ron - FYI - I have been remiss in not checking in more often. I have been spending endless hours trying to document as many of the Pacific Convoys as I can, along with other merchant ship movements, since there is no other source for this information (no Hague for the Pacific). I have amassed over 50,000 records for various merchant ships that served the Pacific, and over 5,000 convoys. Hoping to someday get it into a format that can be published so others have access. That's a story for another day!
Thank you for the FYI. I have often been dismayed at the lack of Pacific Theatre convoy information on ConvoyWeb, a source I otherwise use regularly. Anything you can assemble to address same will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Ron - Yes, I also visit convoyweb regularly, but as you know, the data there was from the files of Hague, who had access only to the UK records (including some of the Australian records). Hague did not have access to the US records, so all of the convoys controlled by the US are not documented there. I didn't realize how many convoys there were in the Pacific until I got well into this current project. I have been at it about 5 years now! Of course, if the movement cards from the archives were ever digitized and made public, it would make it a lot easier. In addition to organized convoys, there are thousands of other merchant ship movements in the pacific during the war, so sailing independently, and some with escorts, but not in numbered or named convoys. I am working on extracting that information now. Should only take another 50 years to complete!
Good thing I retired last year. I now have much more time to devote. If you (or anyone else here) ever needs info on specific ships in the pacific, let me know, and happy to share what I have.
Wow. Ron & Rick - I am just catching up on all of this now. What incredible information, thank you so much for looking into this & sharing!
Ron - I am the one from Find Sam's Hat! That was a fun little project & my grandfather's reaction was & still is amazing.
I'll print this out for him (no computers for gramps but he's always amazed at what we're able to find on the "magic box" for him). I'm sure he'll be floored! Thanks agian.