02/03/2012 - Heavy Seas

This last week I received an email with an interesting video titled Destroyer Duty. The video of the stormy ocean was spectacular. While it did contain a Destroyer/Frigate, it appeared to be a knock off of professionally made video production.  After a little research I discovered that it was a segment in  Ωceans – a French (Galatée) film produced in partnership with the Census of Marine Life and the Sloan Foundation. Oceans was released in 2010.  The full clip  concerning the storm is available on You Tube.

The embedded video above shows one of the segements of the film being made. The ship in the video is the French frigate Latouche-Tréville (D646) on March 10, 2008. The frigate is substantially larger than the USS Slater but it looks quite small relative to the ocean. According to news reports the waves pictured were 14 - 17.8 meters (over 40').

01/17/2012 - Salute to the Navy (1943)

The Internet Archive contains plenty of great films from the WWII era. This one is a salute to the USS Navy. In the end it briefly profiles the USS San Francisco and the Battle (where Frank Slater was killed).  According to the Archive the film dates from 1941, but that's impossible since many of the events it discusses occurred in 1942.

While the film does not profile Destroyer Escorts (since it was probably made in 1942), it does contain segements that profile the guns used by DEs (20mm, 40mm, 1.1 and 5"38, but no 3"50). It also contains a lightline transfer of mail to a 4-piper destroyer.

12/16/2012 - Victory Garden

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Linda led a small contingent of DE Docents to Sheridan Academy to give presentations on the World War II home front.  The central theme was victory gardens.


Jack Madden and Linda Wruck (USS SLATER Education Coordinator) were the key note speakers. Jack is a WWII Navy Vet and DE Docent "par excellence". They did a great job. Gardening is not my cup of tea, nor is it my area of expertise. That said, I was glad to help and enjoyed the experience.


Note - One thing we need to add to the presentation is a few rolls of paper towels and a dust bin/brush combination.  These things can get a little messy.

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• USS SLATER - Nora's Garden 
• USS SLATER - Museum in a Bag Program
• WWII Book on Planting a Victory Garden (Dept of Agriculture Pub 483, 1942) 
• Wikipedia - Victory Gardens 
• Boston's Fenway Victory Garden 
• Canadian Broadcast Short Film on Victory Gardens (1943) 
• Victory Garden Film (Internet Archive)
• Victory Gardens Handbook (Pennsylvania State Council of Defense, 1944 E-Book) 
• Prelinger Archives (Internet Archive, WWII Film Libary) 

5/31/2010 - Memorial Day

It was a beautiful Memorial Day, and Tim and Admiral Paul did a fine job. Immediately after the ceremony I took off for about an hour to do a quick walk. There seemed to be plenty of guides (perhaps 10), which seemed like a sufficient number to handle the crowd. When I got back I learned that they were barely enough. I was a little sorry I didn't stick around. But as soon as I got back I was able to start giving tours.

The 1st group was small, only two visitors. They remembered seeing the USS Slater at the USS Intrepid. The Slater was there from 1993, when it returned to the US from Greece. In 1997 the Slater was relocated to Albany. This video on Navy TV shows the Slater's condition in 1993. I expedited the tour so they could catch a ride on the Dutch Apple. I'm glad to see it cruising again.

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The 2nd group was larger, mostly younger visitors. The tours went fine, and except for the heat everyone had a good time. I was asked a lot about how much things weighed, especially the guns. I have two excellent sources that help with the answers (both from the Historic Naval Ship Association): Gun Mount and Turret Catalog; and Boats of the United States Navy. The USS Slater E-Tour is also an excellent source.

• How much does the 3" Gun weigh? Answer: 6,700 - 7,510 lbs.
• How much does the Motor Whale Boat Weigh? Answer: 5,550 - 8,850 lbs.
• How much does the 50 Cal. Gun weigh? Answer: 83.78 lbs.
• How much does the 20mm Gun weigh? Answer: approx. 1,400 lbs.
• How much does the 40,, Gun weigh? Answer: approx. 14,700 - 14,900 lbs.

Good questions - Hope I answered all of them.

Torpedo Attack (DDR-742, DD-875)

Recently I exchanged letters with an old shipmate from the Frank Knox (DDR-742). He asked if I had seen the picture of the USS Frank Knox being torpedoed (And I had)? In 1971 the Frank Knox was sold to the Greek Navy as the HS Themistoklis (D-210). Twenty years later, on September 12, 1991 the Frank Knox was used as a torpedo target and it was sunk by the Greek submarine Nereus (S-111).

The video of the USS Frank Knox sinking is available in this link, and on youtube (as part of a larger video on Greek Submarine torpedo firings). On the youtube video the Frank Knox segment starts around the 4 minute mark. The other ship detailed in the youtube video appears to be a Knox Class Destroyer Escort. I believe that it is the USS Trippe (DE-1075), recommissioned in the Greek Navy as the HS Thraki (F-457). It appears that the submarine which launched the torpedo that sinks the Thraki is the Greek submarine Oceanos (S-118). Both the Nereus (S-111) and the Oceanos (S-118) are Type 209 submarines build in West Germany.

My other ship the USS Henry W Tucker was sold to Brazil in 1973. When it was ultimately decommissioned in 1994 it was also used as a torpedo target. While there wasn't a video of this sinking there is a detailed account of the sinking on the reunion website.

Good Bye - USS Frank Knox (DDR-740) and USS Henry W. Tucker (DD-875).

12/17/2008, Christmas on a U-Boat

I'm a bit surprised how many U-Boat video segments are available on You-Tube. This one details Christmas, on a U-boat in the Caribbean. After watching I had a few questions - What Year was it - 42, 43? What was the number of the U-Boat? And in the video they torpedoed a merchant ship - what was the name of the ship? Did the merchant mariners survive the ordeal?

A quick Google search for "German Newsreels" turned up this site that details German WWII Newsreels and their publication date: "....Volume 54 ca. 50 min. ....... Newsreel 658 (14 April 1943), ........U-boat in the Caribbean, off-duty activities, a torpedo barrel is fixed and a torpedo loaded, the cook makes a Christmas cake, a Christmas greeting from Admiral Doenitz is read, and gifts are exchanged, through the periscope, Curacao is visible, a steamer is sunk. ....."

If the newsreel was published in April of 1943, then it was Christmas, 1942. The Uboat Archive web site contains most of the war diaries (daily operating reports) of Admiral Donitz, the U-Boat Commander (Führer der Unterseeboote). In the news reel the depicted U-Boat reaches it's operational area near Curacao (island in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of Venezuela, and a Dutch Colony). By reviewing Admiral Donitz's war diary for early January 1943 I should be able to pinpoint the numbers of the U-Boat (or U-Boats) operating near Curacao. One problem - the War Diary doesn't reference geographic coordinates but it uses the German Naval (Kriegsmarine) Grid system. A U-boat operating near Curacao would be in operational grid EC (or on either side - EB and ED).

The specific diary - (F.d.U./B.d.U.'S War Log. 1 - 15 January 1943, PG30315) notes that there were two U-Boats operating in the area near Curacao (Grids EB, EC, ED): U-105 and U-214. The entry for January 8, 1943 notes: ".....U 105 and U 214 have been ordered to return to their former attack ares (U 214 Curacao, U 105 Trinidad) after they have met and transferred gyro-sphere. They are to operate off these harbors according to the moon. They have been informed of convoy traffic and favorable possibilities of night attacks because of inexperienced patrolling. ....." Based on this entry it appears like the U-Boat detailed in the newsreel was most likely U-214.

The war record for U-214 is summarized on the ubootwaffe.net web site. On December 30 U-214 sunk the Polish merchant ship Paderewski. However, there are a few inconsistencies with the newsreel. 1st the Paderewski was sunk before the New Year not after. And 2nd, while it was torpedoed it was ultimately sunk by naval gunfire. It is possible that the newsreel was altered for security reasons. The 12 week patrol to the Caribbean ended on February 24, 1943. In July 1944, U-214 was sunk by a Destroyer Escort in British Service (Captain Class) HMS Cooke K-471. Ships of the Captain Class were very similar to the USS Slater, but the hull was shorter.

The war record for U-105 is also detailed on the ubootwaffe.net web site. During this cruise U-105 sunk four merchant ships: on 14th Dec 1942, the British 6,578 ton Orfor; on 11th Jan 1943, the British 67 ton Sail Boat CS Flight; on 24th Jan 1943 the British 8,093 ton British Vigilance; and on 27th Jan 1943 he sank the American 5,106 ton Cape Decision. In June 1943, U-105 was sunk off the coast of Africa by a rather unique airplane, the French prototype flying boat Potez-CAMS 141.