"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep" (Psalm 107:23-24).
The recent rescue of Captain Philliips of the Cargo Ship, Maersk Alabama, and the escalation of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, stirs up memories of merchant vessels in war time - mine.
World War II was was raging on two theaters of conflict: in Europe and in S.E. Asia. I was too young to join up and it bothered me. I could only think of one thing - enlisting in something and becoming a hero. My grades plummeted and I quit school in my junior year and worked on the Santa Fe RR.
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The recent rescue of Captain Philliips of the Cargo Ship, Maersk Alabama, and the escalation of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, stirs up memories of merchant vessels in war time - mine.
World War II was was raging on two theaters of conflict: in Europe and in S.E. Asia. I was too young to join up and it bothered me. I could only think of one thing - enlisting in something and becoming a hero. My grades plummeted and I quit school in my junior year and worked on the Santa Fe RR.
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Some of my friends were enlisting in the Navy with their mother's written consent. My mother would not sign. So at 17, I enlisted in the US Maritime Service by not telling my correct age. I could fog a mirror and they took me. Thousands of seamen were training at bases in Catlina Island, CA, and at Sheepshead Bay, Brookllyn, NY, where I trained with 5,999 other recruits. We replaced a great amount of seamen lost at sea by enemy dive bombers and U-boats.
Merchant ships were being topedoed and sunk just off the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean, close to Florida. Concoys of merchant ships were taking arms and goods to Russia, the "Murmansk Run." It was over the North Atlantic and the North Sea to Murmansk. If a ship was topedoed a man had no chance in the freezing water ... death came quickly.
They finally armed the ships with canons and anti-aircraft guns. Ships had a Navy armed guard agoard and they took care of and manned the guns, but they were not enough, we merchant seamen were prepared to man the guns - part of our training by the Coast Guard.
I was assigned to the Liberty ship, SS Robert L. Hague, which was tied up on the East River docks. After loading building supplies for Brazil, and explosives from the Navy Pier, sailed into the Atlantic without convoy or black-out conditions. European hostilities were just over for the most part, but our Captain was warned that Wolf Pack U-boats were hiding in the Carribbean and were not quite ready to give up.
We plowed through the edge of a hurricane, over the equator to Brazil, back up through the Panama Canal into the Pacific where the war was not over. We docked at San Francisco where we started preparing the ship for the "grave yard" at Seattle. I was hurt in a stupid accident and the ship went off without me as I was in the Mariner's Hospital. I went home, was drafted but re-enlisted into the regular Army. I always wondered what happened to my Liberty Ship.
Recently, a dear friend of ours, Tina Rowe, did some on-line research and located my ship and a photo of the Robert L. Hague, which she had beautifully framed with a picture of me in my sailor suit.. It did not go to the "happy sailing sea," as I thought, but had 20 more years of illustrious service to its owners. The photo does not show the armament, perhaps it was dismounted.
Merchant ships were being topedoed and sunk just off the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean, close to Florida. Concoys of merchant ships were taking arms and goods to Russia, the "Murmansk Run." It was over the North Atlantic and the North Sea to Murmansk. If a ship was topedoed a man had no chance in the freezing water ... death came quickly.
They finally armed the ships with canons and anti-aircraft guns. Ships had a Navy armed guard agoard and they took care of and manned the guns, but they were not enough, we merchant seamen were prepared to man the guns - part of our training by the Coast Guard.
I was assigned to the Liberty ship, SS Robert L. Hague, which was tied up on the East River docks. After loading building supplies for Brazil, and explosives from the Navy Pier, sailed into the Atlantic without convoy or black-out conditions. European hostilities were just over for the most part, but our Captain was warned that Wolf Pack U-boats were hiding in the Carribbean and were not quite ready to give up.
We plowed through the edge of a hurricane, over the equator to Brazil, back up through the Panama Canal into the Pacific where the war was not over. We docked at San Francisco where we started preparing the ship for the "grave yard" at Seattle. I was hurt in a stupid accident and the ship went off without me as I was in the Mariner's Hospital. I went home, was drafted but re-enlisted into the regular Army. I always wondered what happened to my Liberty Ship.
Recently, a dear friend of ours, Tina Rowe, did some on-line research and located my ship and a photo of the Robert L. Hague, which she had beautifully framed with a picture of me in my sailor suit.. It did not go to the "happy sailing sea," as I thought, but had 20 more years of illustrious service to its owners. The photo does not show the armament, perhaps it was dismounted.
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Photos: (l. to r,) Seaman Bulldog, US Merchant Marine; Liberty Ship of WWII, SS Robert L. Hague; Cpl. Bulldog, U.S. (Regular) Army.
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