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USCG CABLE SHIP PEQUOT UNITED STATES HARBOR DEFENCES |
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1. The US Coast Guard Pequot (WARC-58). During WWII this cable ship laid top secret Indicator Loop cables to protect harbors from German U-boats. Her mission ranged from the ports of Virginia up to Argentia, Newfoundland. (Calamaio family). |
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The Pequot was built in 1909 by the New York
Shipbuilding Company in Camden, New Jersey with the name
General Samuel M. Mills and first commissioned as an
Army mine layer. She was driven by two compound-expansion
2-cylinder coal fired steam-reciprocal engines which
generated 900 horsepower. The Pequot had a fuel
capacity of 128 tons of bunker coal. As a twin screw ship she was able
to conduct the critical manoeuvring required for precise
cable laying operations. The
Pequot had a length of 166' and a beam of 32'. With a
draft of 13' she displaced 1106 tons. During wartime the
crew consisted of 6 officers and 63 enlisted men. The ship
was armed with two 20mm automatic fire cannons. On top of
the rear cabin her signal letters and radio call sign,
NRFQ, was painted so aircraft could raise the ship on
the radio.
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FEEDBACK:
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If
you have any general feedback about indicator loops please contact me: Dr. Richard Walding (Email: waldingr49@yahoo.com.au) Research Fellow - School of Science, Griffith University Home: 69 Summit Street, Sheldon, 4157, Queensland, Australia. If you have comments or queries specifically about the Pequot, please contact Chip Calamaio chipaz@cox.net, 938 E. San Miguel Avenue, Phoenix, 85014, Arizona, USA. (H) 602-279-4505. 
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LINKS TO RELATED PAGES:
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Click the image to the right to learn about the Code of Silence among Pequot Veterans and How This Website Came To Be. |
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AWARDS
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Coast Guard Sea Veterans of
America Award |
Click image to view certificate. |
The Patriot Award. Patriot Website |
Golden Griffin Award Griffin Website |
The 1st USCG Pequot Cable Ship
In 1916, when the first World War in Europe became America’s business, it
was recommended that the various means of communication being used along the
coast be coordinated and that the Coast Guard, then being the existing
telephone system of coastal communications, be brought up to a high state of
efficiency. It was necessary to lay submarine communication cables to
achieve this. However, in WW1, the Coast Guard had no cable ship and what
little cable laying was done was accomplished by the Western Union cable
ship Robert C. Clowry and the converted 282 gross ton menhaden
fishing trawler, John A. Palmer Jr. (SP-319), which was operated by
the US Navy.
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| 2a. The only known photo of the Robert C. Clowry. (Courtesy Bill Burns - from Kenneth Haigh's "Cableships & Submarine Cables") | 2b. Crew from the Robert C Clowry untangling telephone cables in 1916 while working for the American Telephone & Telegraph Company. (Rosenfeld Collection Mystic Seaport Museum) |
The Clowry was built by A.C. Brown in 1910 in Tottenville, New York with a length of 132' and a beam of 33'. She was owned and operated by the Western Union Telegraph Company as a cable layer. Between 1919 and 1924 she ran each year from Halifax, Nova Scotia to New York where her foreign crew was processed through Ellis Island whenever they entered port. After Western Union sold the Clowry in 1924 the new owners painted “Western Union” in big letters on her superstructure and used the ship as a rum runner during prohibition which resulted in Western Union being accused of bootlegging! She was sold again in 1926 and renamed Telegraph before being sold in 1930 and renamed Salvor. The ship was scrapped in 1938.
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| 3a. The John A Palmer Jr. in 1911 in
Wilmington, Delaware as photographed by the Jackson and Sharpe
shipbuilding company. We have yet to locate a photo of the Palmer
after she was converted to a cable ship and later transferred to
the Coast Guard when she became the 1st Pequot cable ship.
(Delaware Public Archives) Click to enlarge. |
3b. A view of the Palmer’s
starboard side also from 1911. Here we see the ship as originally
configured as a menhaden fishing trawler for the C. E. Davis
Packing Company. (Delaware Public Archives) Click to enlarge. |
The Palmer was built in 1911 by the Jackson & Sharp Company of Wilmington, Delaware. she displaced 276 tons, had a length of 155' and a beam of 22.' With a top speed of 12 knots she was armed with two 1-pounder cannons. The Navy acquired Palmer from the C. E. Davis Packing Company of Reedville, Virginia, on April 7th, 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned the same day as the USS J. A. Palmer (SP-319) with Boatswain W. A. Hudgins in command.
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| 3c. The Palmer in
Wilmington along what we believe is the Christina River with the
Market Street Bridge in the background 1911. (Delaware Public
Archives) Click to enlarge. |
3d. Another converted fishing
trawler of the same period, The USS Margaret (WP-328) was
very similar to the John A. Palmer and was acquired by the US Navy
during WWI to serve as a patrol vessel. (U.S. Naval Historical
Center Photograph NH 100558) |
Assigned to the 5th Naval District, J. A. Palmer served on patrol duty off Cape Henry, Virginia, until February 1918, when she received special cable equipment at Berkeley, Virginia. She then was loaned to the United States Coast Guard for use along the East coast laying and repairing cable. To avoid confusion with the destroyer USS Palmer (DD-161), J. A. Palmer's name was dropped on January 17th 1919, and she became the USS SP-319. She was transferred to the Coast Guard on September 10th 1919 and served as the cable ship Pequot until 1922. She towed her replacement vessel, the former Army mine planter General Samuel M. Mills, from Newport News, Virginia to the Depot at Curtis Bay on April 28th 1922. The 1st Pequot cable ship was decommissioned on May 11th 1922 and was sold on August 8th 1922 to McNeal Edwards Company, of Reedville, Virginia for $17,000.
The 2nd USCG Pequot Cable
Ship
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4. The General Samuel M. Mills - later the USCG Pequot - during sea trials in 1909. (Independence Seaport Museum Archives) |
In April 1922, the Army minelayer General Samuel M. Mills was decommissioned and acquired by the Coast Guard - and renamed as The Pequot. The General Samuel M Mills, was constructed for $300,000 in 1908 at the New York Shipbuilding Company in Camden, New Jersey under a contract with the Submarine Mine Service of the US Coast Artillery Corps which was under the War Department, US Army, Office of the Quartermaster General. The ship was named after Brigadier General Samuel Meyers Mills, Jr. who was the U.S. Army’s Chief of Artillery 1905-1906 (see photo below). She was converted to a cable laying ship by the American Brown Boveri Electrical Corporation of Camden, New Jersey and renamed Pequot (WARC-58). The fact that an "electrical" company did the conversion indicates the addition of the motorized winches and other specialty equipment required to modify the ship to conduct general cable laying and repair work. The second Pequot was commissioned as a special craft on April 29th 1922. She was assigned permanent operations as a US Coast Guard cable ship out of Boston, Mass. On November 1st 1941 the Pequot was transferred from the Coast Guard to the Navy, and assigned as a cable laying and repair ship out of New London, Connecticut. From her home port of Boston she was responsible for laying and repairing indicator loop and communications cables for the remainder of World War II.
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5. The General Samuel M. Mills (March 11, 1927) - later the Pequot. Note the absence of the cable wheel on the bow of the ship. (Photo supplied Jim Flynn) |
6. A later photo of the Pequot shows
the cable wheel on the bow. Called a “sheave” this pulley was used when laying
and salvaging cable. |
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1st Lt Samuel M. Mills, Jr in 1877 with the Department of Tactics. |
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8. Flag from the US Mine Planter General Samuel M. Mills. In 1909 the term "Submarine" on the flag meant "underwater" defense as in sea mines and not the anti U-boat submarine defense which came decades later. |
9. A close-up of the note written on the flag
(A Place Called Yorkship / yorkship.us) |
For a detailed
look at the design plans, cabin details, and construction photos of the General Samuel M. Mills 1908-09
click here
The original construction drawings reveal how the ship's crew and
the Army troops involved in mine laying operations were provided with
completely separate quarters, galleys, and bathrooms.
It is also clear that accommodations for the ship's officers were
much nicer than the quarters for sailors and soldiers when the Mills
first put to sea in 1909.
Click image to enlarge.
Part Two of our ship
construction section presents information on five of the Pequot’s Sister
Ships. Anti-submarine Indicator
Loops USCG Pequot - Mission
Accomplished and a Job Well Done In addition to this major
push at the outbreak of hostilities, the Pequot would continue to
install indicator loop cables at ports and harbors along the Atlantic
coast as far North as Argentia, Newfoundland, as well as service and
repair damaged cables throughout the war. When not working on indicator
loop cables, the Pequot was kept very busy laying and servicing coastal
communication and teletype cables along the Atlantic seaboard between
Coast Guard lifesaving stations and lighthouses. She also pulled up
and salvaged cable no longer in use and ran electrical power cable to
isolated light stations. A sailing list of officers and
men is at the end of this webpage. Also included is a section from the USN
Harbor
Defense Manual dealing with
laying and repair of indicator loops. 13. USCG Pequot
fully underway in the North Atlantic - circa 1940 (Courtesy the John
McCormack family) Decommissioning of the
Pequot The Other Pequots
To learn about their history and see them under construction,
click here
Mills II - keel laying.
(Joyner
Library, ECU)
(Independence Seaport Museum Archives)
Indicator Loops are long lengths of armoured cable laid on the
seafloor of harbors to detect enemy submarines. They were developed by
the Royal Navy in the early 1900s and first trialled at the end of WW1.
They were successfully deployed in WW2 in British ports and other
Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South
Africa, Kenya, Ceylon, Penang, and in allied harbours (Iceland, Holland,
Dardanelles). By 1942 the United States had adapted this technology for
its own needs and a dozen United States Navy "loop
receiving stations" were established along the eastern seaboard of
mainland USA particularly at the ports of Boston and Portland. The Pequot was the main cablelayer for the USN's
indicator loop harbor defense. The deployment of indicator loops was
highly secret and hardly any of the men knew the purpose of the cables;
most thought they were underwater communications cables. The words indicator loop were not used - just
cable.
10. This diagram shows the
arrangement of the cables in the loop ("3-legged") and the
tail cable connecting them to the shore station. The Pequot crew laid the loop cable in the
correct position and joined it to the tail cable using
waterproof splices and junction boxes.
11. Longitudinal drawing of indicator
loop cable. It had a diameter of 30 mm (1¼"). After the
war this valuable lead lined cable was pulled back up
and salvaged by the Pequot and other ships. To
date no sample of actual harbor defense loop cable has
been located.
12. Cross section of
indicator loop "tail" cable recovered from Australian waters.
Beginning less than four months after
the attack on Pearl Harbor the Pequot joined the intense efforts
of the Army, Navy, and civilian agencies to get a viable harbor defense
system installed and operational. This was during the period when U-boat
attacks where at their peak and the overall situation along the entire
Atlantic seaboard was very grim. The Pequot and its crew
responded and played a vital role in establishing the initial indicator
loop defenses at entrances to major US ports. Her outstanding efforts
did not go unnoticed. On March 24th 1942 the Chief of Naval Operations
provided the following formal Commendation to The Commandant of the US
Coast Guard and the Pequot’s Commanding Officer:
During the past ten months the Pequot
has laid over fifty miles of armored cable for
establishing magnetic indicator loop systems in four widely
separated areas of the Atlantic Coast. This special work has
been accomplished in addition to many varied demands for her
normal service and has been done often under the most
adverse conditions of weather. It is considered that the
Commanding Officer of the Pequot, her other officers,
and her crew deserve special commendation for their manifest
efficiency in performance of duty.
The USCG Pequot tied up along Constitution
Wharf at her Boston Coast Guard Base home berth, circa 1945. Here
we can clearly see the wear and tear on her bow and hull from hard
years at sea during World War II. (Lou Carhart). Click to
enlarge.
Just before the end of hostilities,
the Pequot was reassigned to Norfolk, Va and she officially
returned to the Coast Guard on January 1st 1946 to help salvage miles of
undersea cable which was re-used for telephone and telegraph purposes.
After more than 35 years at sea, the Pequot was decommissioned on
December 8th 1946 and sold for scrap September 5th 1947 to Potomac
Shipwrecking Co., Inc. of Popes Creek, Md.
The Pequot’s Replacement
As early as 1944, based upon engineering reports of the Pequot’s
deteriorating mechanical condition, the Coast Guard started looking
around for a replacement ship. The US Navy’s Walnut (YN-31) was
considered but she was stationed in Honolulu and would require a long
transfer. Based upon recommendations from the Pequot’s Captain Lars
Sande, and the office of Coast Guard Admiral Park, “that an Army Mine
Planter would be suited seems to have considerable merit.” But the
decision on a good replacement for Pequot didn’t happen until
after the war when in June of 1946 the Navy’s Chimo Class mine layer,
Trapper (ACM-9), was obtained by the Coast Guard, converted for
cable work, and renamed the Yamacraw (WARC-333). She was originally built to
plant and tend controlled defensive minefields for the Army's Coast
Artillery Corps. After more than 10 years of Coast Guard service she was
returned to the Navy in 1959 who operated her as the cable repair and
research ship Yamacraw (ARC-5) until she was decommissioned in
July 1965 and sold for scrap in 1969.
14. The USS Trapper
(ACM-9) in 1945. The raised 40mm gun position on the
foredeck superstructure, the two 20mm gun positions above
the bridge, and the side and fantail mounted 20mm gun tubs,
were all removed during conversion to a cable ship.
(National Archives photo 19-N-79421)
15. The Pequot’s
replacement USCG Yamacraw (WARC-333). Notice the cable
wheels now built into the ship’s bow.
(Naval Historical Center)16. By 1964 Yamacraw’s bow
had three large cable pulley sheaves. (Photo Victor G. Edens)
In honor of the Native America tribe of Southern
Connecticut two other United States ships were named the Pequot.
The Pequots are members of the Algonquian language grouping who believe
that every living thing in the earth has a spirit and that One Great
Spirit oversees everything. By 1990 there were only 680 Pequot remaining
in the United States.
The Civil War Pequot.
The first USS Pequot was a 600 ton Nipsic Class US Civil War
wooden screw gunboat built in 1862 by Woodruff of Portsmouth, New
Hampshire. She was launched in June 1863 at the Boston Navy Yard and
commissioned in 1864 when she joined the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Stephen Platt Quackenbush.
Ordered by the Navy Department as an emergency measure, and built
rapidly of unseasoned timber Pequot and her sister ships were
known as "90-day Gunboats." Designed by S. M. and S. H. Pook with
engines by Isherwood these two-masted schooners did poorly under sail,
but performed well while steaming. With a deadweight of 836 tons she was
armed with one 150-pounder Parrott Rifle, one 30-pounder Parrott Rifle,
two 9" Dahlgren smooth bore cannons, two 24-pounder Howitzers, and one
smooth bore 12-pounder cannon. Under Quackenbush she captured the
British blockade runner, Don, off Beaufort, North Carolina and
helped the Army beat back a Confederate attack on Wilson’s Wharf at
James River, Virginia. Later she also engaged during the bombardment of
Fort Fisher, North Carolina and helped capture Fort Anderson.
Decommissioned after the Civil War in June 1865 she was sold to Haiti in 1869.
In 1875 she was renamed the Terreur which means “The Terror” or “The Dread” in
French.
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| 17. In August of 1864 after the
battle of Mobile Bay Rear Admiral Bancroft Gherardi was
given command of the U.S.S. Pequot. (U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 49305) |
18. The bombardment of Fort Fischer January 15th, 1865. (Engraving by J.O. Davidson) | 19.
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, Commander of the Pequot's
North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. (U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 91416. Photographed by Alexander Gardner) |
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| 20. A Nipsic Class gunboat at the Washington Navy Yard,
District of Columbia, circa late 1860s. (U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 45212) |
21. Navy Rear Admiral Stephen Platt Quackenbush who was the
Pequot’s first captain. (findagrave.com) |
22. The Pequot’s sister ship - the 1864 Nipsic class gunboat USS
Yantic. (U.S. Navy Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Naval Historical Center) |
The World War I Pequot.
The second Pequot (ID-2998) was a German built freighter which
displaced 12,500 tons, and was operated as the Ockenfels for the
German Navy. When World War I broke out and the high seas were unsafe
for German shipping, she took refuge at New York where she was seized in
April 1917 by the Shipping Board of the US Government and became part of
the American merchant marine. When the US entered the war she was
refurbished and taken over by the US Navy on October 28th 1918 and
commissioned as the USS Pequot on the same day. She was assigned
to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and was used to carry
general cargo on both the Army and Shipping Board accounts during the
war. She was struck from the Navy List in July 1919 and returned to the
Shipping Board.
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23. Gun crew bore sighting
the forward deck gun on the S.S Ockenfelds 1917. |
24. The officers and crew of the
freighter USS Pequot taken in Rotterdam, Holland on
February 23rd, 1919. |
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The Second
Pequot: SS Ockenfels - 28 June 1917. |
Semper Paratus AND THE SPIRIT OF THE FIGHT
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The Original Sheet Music of the
Official US Coast Guard Theme Song, “Semper Paratus.” (Sam
Fox Music Publishing, Cleveland, Ohio) Click the play button below to hear a recording of the march. (audio track from www.mp3raid.com) |
27. Old Glory
waving proudly up in the rigging. For the American men and women of
World War II the Stars and Stripes symbolized everything they were
sacrificing and fighting for. (Freiermuth family) |
Since basic training the men of the Pequot were galvanized by
this song into the spirit and camaraderie of their Coast Guard
service. (Semper Paratus Lyrics
by
Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck USCG, 1927) |
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| (Office of War Information 1943) |
26. World War II Era Coast Guard
Patch. In the best tradition of the service’s Latin Motto Semper
Paratus the Pequot crew was “Always Ready”. (Calamaio family) |
(Government Printing Office) |
| "United States Coast Guard - Its Purpose and Activities in War and Peace" | |||
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THE
PEQUOT'S WORLD WAR II HOME PORT
In the image below we can spot the large warehouse with its distinctive
raised center roof on the wharf were Pequot was tied up when in
port (see photo #32 below). Located in Boston’s historic North End
this area of piers and docks, which became the Coast Guard base, is
known as Constitution Wharf, since this was where the USS
Constitution “Old Ironsides” was built and launched in 1797.
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The US Coast Guard base which was Pequot’s home port during WWII
was directly across the inner harbor from the Boston Navy Yard. In
this aerial photo from May of 1945 we can see the USS
Constitution berthed in the foreground. (Naval Historical Center) Click to enlarge. |
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14. George G. Simmons Pequot Quartermaster & Photographer |
A native of Rhode Island, George Simmons served as a Quartermaster on the Pequot from late 1942 to the spring of 1945. George’s photographs appear throughout this website, most of them donated by other crew members or their families. In a 1988 letter to Chief Yeoman Jim Hudow George explained, “I was the guy that had the camera. Getting the materials to develop pictures during war time was difficult for civilians, but I had a friend back home, who enjoyed doing it. He felt he was helping the war effort somehow, and that’s how I was able to get so many pictures made.” George got married while he was still aboard ship on April 22, 1944. George and his wife Edna settled back in Warwick, Rhode Island and raised 6 children and had 16 grandchildren.
Roger “Guns” Calamaio’s Photos
One of the crew members aboard the Pequot during the war was Gunners Mate Roger Calamaio - then about 22 years old. These are his photos supplied by his son Chip who wrote, “My family thought Dad’s habit of writing all over photographs was very annoying. Now I’m so glad he did! It’s enabled us to identify so many Pequot sailors.” A short memorial page to Roger's life and Coast Guard career is at: Sailor Roger Calamaio.
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| 28. Roger Calamaio aboard USCG Pequot in Boston Harbor - May 1944 | 29. Pequot Gun Crew, Boston Harbor - May 1944: Moore, McElmoyl, Jusek, Quin, McConnell, Fleming | 30. In Boston Harbor - May 1944: sailors Livingston, Cidoni and Simmons. |
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31. In Boston Harbor - May 1944: sailors Cidoni, Jenkins and Livingston. |
32. Pequot in Boston Harbor - May 1944 |
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33. Sailor Jenkins - May '44, Boston Harbor |
34. Sailors McCormack and Cidoni practicing Hand-to-Hand, Boston Harbor, May 1944: |
35. Roger Calamaio - "ready for anything" - September '44 Boston |
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36. Sailors Coppo, Jenkins, Livingston, Cidoni and Carhart of the Pequot - May 1944 |
37. Crew on spar - May 1944: Sailors Cidoni, Jenkins, Coppo, Livingston, Fleming and Weber. |
38. Gun crew (L to R): Theodore Cline, Steven Cedoni on the 20mm deck gun, George Simmons, John McCormack. See note below about the Pequot's deck gun. |
The Pequot’s Deck Guns
The Irony
The historical irony is that the
Oerlikon Corporation almost went bankrupt in 1935 when the US Navy
rejected one of their guns in 1934 due to its low rate of fire.
However, the Japanese Navy’s purchase of that weapon saved the Swiss
company, which allowed them further development work in conjunction
with the British, resulting in the more successful model used
extensively by the US military during WWII - and this 20mm auto-fire
cannon was based upon an original design for Oerlikon by Reinhold
Becker - a German!
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39. 20mm anti-aircraft Oerlikon |
The Pequot Connection
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So the men of the Pequot were equipped to defend their indicator loop mission with a gun made possible by the son of the man who invented the indicator loops! |
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40. Gun Crew - May 1944 |
41. 20mm Oerlikons during target practice aboard a Coast Guard Cutter off Block Island, Rhode Island April 18th 1944. |
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| 42. A Coast Guard “83 Footer” patrol boat protects
the Pequot off the shores of Maine in August of 1944.
To see more about the 83 Footers and the many other types of ships that escorted and guarded the Pequot throughout the war Click Pequot's Escort Page. |
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43. Boston Harbor - May 1944. |
44. Sailors Livingston and Simmons - Boston Harbor - May 1944 |
45. Sailors McConnell, McElmoyl, Jenkins, Luongo, Campbell and Barnett on deck - Sept 1944 |
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| 46. Sailors Mike Luongo and Roger Calamaio - off the coast of Maine - August 1944. Notice the quick release lashing on the tarp next to them which covered the 20mm guns and protected them from the elements. In front of them we see two of the weather sealed ready-boxes which held the pre-loaded magazines for the deck guns. |
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| 47. Officers of the USCG Pequot - March 1945 The Pequot’s skipper during WWII was Captain Lars Anton Sande (2nd from the right). |
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The Scuttlebutt: According to Quartermaster Lou Carhart, the scuttlebutt among the Pequot crew was that Sande had served his entire Coast Guard career aboard the Pequot having first come aboard as a young seaman. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve learned from the skipper’s son, Ted Sande, that his father had a very long and colorful career on a variety of Coast Guard and merchant ships. |
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| 48, 49. Ted Sande, who was able to see his dad Lars Sande (shown above) several times during the war, actually stayed aboard the Pequot as a 10 year old boy. See our webpage “The Captain’s Corner” for his recollections of life below decks during WWII, how his father chased Rum Runners during Prohibition, and the story of Sande’s life at sea. (Ted Sande) | |
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| 50. Officers, dogs and crew - March 1945. Click on photo to see names. |
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| 51. Crew on deck with officers and dogs - March 1945. Click on photo to see names. |
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| 52. Storekeeper 1st Class Bill Moore in front of a 20mm, September 1944. According to George Simmons, Moore conducted church services aboard the Pequot every Sunday morning. |
162.
Roger Calamaio and
Norman Zinner
ashore in their regulation Pea Coats 1943.
Roger loved that thick wool coat. He said it made him feel
"snug as a bug in a rug."
We believe that Roger and Norm
often ran errands together in the Boston area when the
Pequot was in port. |
As seen here in Buzzard’s Bay, Massachusetts during 1943, right before Roger shipped aboard the Pequot he served as a Coast Guard jeep driver shuttling ship pilots along the Cape Cod Canal when convoys were forming up for the dangerous runs to Europe. |
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54. Roger in April 1943 on guard duty at the Coast Guard station at Buzzard’s Bay, MA. |
55, 56. After their discharge
from the Coast Guard Roger Calamaio (right) and
friend had a train-station-booth photo taken in Detroit Michigan - in
Oct 1945 ... "and that is why they are so damned happy". Well, a
few beers may have helped. Note:
You can see the "ruptured duck" insignia on
his uniform that was given when sailors were discharged. |
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Many of the photos from Roger Calamaio's album were removed
and destroyed. His son sums up what is a rather poignant reminder of the lasting
effect of war: "There used to be other great pictures in that old photo album including some shots of the crew repairing and splicing cable, but it appears that after Alzheimer's started to take its toll, my Dad must have torn them all out. Perhaps what was going on in his befuddled mind was he thought it was all still Top Secret so he had to destroy those pictures. We will never know. There were two pages cut out of the album entirely. But I distinctly remember a number of pictures that were just not there any longer." Chip. |
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Convoy ONS 154, seen
here steaming towards Europe, was a slow moving
northbound convoy of 45 ships which was attacked for
four days in December of 1942 by a 10 U-boat Wolfpack
resulting in the sinking of 16 ships, damage to another
10, and a great loss of life and vital war supplies.
This is just one example of the carnage wreaked upon
Allied shipping by U-boats in the early years of the
war, and it underscores the Pequot's vital U-boat
detection and harbor defense mission. |
OUR SAILOR'S STORIES
We’ve been able to learn more about many of the Pequot’s WWII era crew.
A special thanks to the crewmen and family members who worked with us to honor these men and helped develop their biographies.
To see each sailor’s story click on their photo.
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John J. McCormack – Radioman 1st Class
Growing up in New York State John was a Sea Scout as a boy and started tinkering with radios in high school. In addition to his war time service, being a Radioman became a life long hobby. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Martin A. Coppo – Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Growing up in Northern Michigan with the chilly waters of Lake Superior as his swimming hole helped prepare Martin for his time on the Pequot. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Louis A. Carhart – Quartermaster 1st Class Lou tells of his once in a lifetime experience when the Pequot escorted a captured German weather ship into Boston Harbor. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Robert L. Livingston – Quartermaster 2nd Class The Pequot sailors Bob served with during the war held a special place in his heart and he kept in contact with many of them for years after VJ Day. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Roger “Guns” Calamaio – Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class
Living off the land as a young boy in Oklahoma helped prepare Roger to
serve as Pequot’s Gunner’s Mate. Read what happened to this kid from
the Ozarks when he went to New York City by himself on his first liberty
after basic training. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Clarke Straight – Chief Yeoman Before the war Clarke put himself through college and earned a business degree which made him a natural to serve as the Pequot’s Yeoman. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Michael Luongo – Seaman 1st Class When asked why he joined the Coast Guard during World War II instead of the Army or the Marines, Mike said “I figured why walk when you can ride!” To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Adolph H. “Ozzie” Frontel - Quartermaster In addition to his time on the Pequot in the North Atlantic Ozzie also served in the Pacific theatre and traveled as far as China. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Paul Freiermuth – Seaman 1st Class Before shipping aboard the Pequot Paul “pounded the beaches” of wind swept Gloucester, Massachusetts on shore patrol which resulted in a hospitalization, an encounter with some MPs in Grand Central Station, and eventually his wedding. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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John J. Jusek – Seaman 1st Class When John Jusek went off to war he made a point of having a clarinet stashed in the bottom of his sea bag. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Jim Hudlow – Chief Yeoman Jim served aboard the Pequot for 9 months and he tells us, that like most of his shipmates, had no idea the cable they were laying was part of a secret U-boat detection system. To see the sailor’s story click on their name or photo. |
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Norm M. Zinner – Yeoman 1st Class
Except for what he might have picked-up aboard the Pequot, Norm had no
basic gunnery instruction and probably never fired a shot, since he didn’t
even go through basic training after he enlisted and went on active duty. |
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Stories in Development: |
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My Favorite Memory - Seaman Mike Luongo “We’d had some engine problems which were repaired in Norfolk, Virginia, so on Labor Day weekend in 1945 we were bringing the Pequot up to New York. Out at sea we had four hour watches where we had to do lots of things and pull different duty. As it turned out when we came into New York City I ended up on the helm in the wheelhouse. As we were coming in, I could start to see the New York skyline and I was told to put the bow right on the Statue of Liberty.” Mike remembers. “That was the biggest thrill of my World War II years, being on the wheel and steering the Pequot into New York - straight at the Statue of Liberty.” |
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(New York Harbor, Library of Congress) |
COMMUNICATIONS
In today’s military, communication between ships, and from ships to shore, is sent by satellite in quick encrypted digital bursts of data from computers in a matter of seconds, a far different world than how the Pequot had to operate. Even with the two-way radios of the time, signals were often garbled or lost due to weather or equipment failures. During periods of radio silence, signal flags and pennants were run up the mast to communicate between ships, sailors on deck used semaphore flags, and especially at night, signal blinker lights using the “dash dot” language of Morse Code got the job done. The images below show sailors using semaphore and Morse. As well, thumbnail images of pages from the 1940 Bluejacket's Manual are shown. Click these "Bluejacket" images to see an enlarged view. Note: In the enlarged view of the
Communication Training chart below, you will see handwritten notes by Sailor Roger Calamaio. We can speculate that his updates to the code alphabet, from bootcamp in 1942, may have been made, by the military, to confuse the enemy. Although still in use, in the 65 years since the Pequot sailed, the Military Code Alphabet has changed. For example, today A is Alpha and Z is Zulu.
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57. Visual Communication was achieved using semaphore
flags.
Pequot 1944 |
58. Morse Code was used with the
highly directional blinker light. Pequot 1944 |
59. Flags & Pennants from 1940 Bluejacket's Manual. Click to enlarge. | 60. Communication
Training 1940 Bluejacket's Manual.
Click to enlarge. |
61. Semaphore Alphabet
1940 Bluejacket's Manual. Click to enlarge. |
The Pequot's Visual Call Sign was W-58 which meant that the W,
5, and 8 flags would be flown from the mast to identify her to other
ships. Running Lights and Pennants
(color added)
(USCG
Nautical Rules of the Road 1943, Page 115)
In addition to having the universal Red to Port and
Green to Starboard running lights, as a cable ship operating in international
waters, the running lights added to Pequot’s mast consisted of an upper and
lower red light with a while light in the middle. Per the regulations detailed
in the Coast Guard’s 1943 “Nautical Rules of the Road” directives
when Pequot was stationary and not underway the standard red and green
side running lights were to be turned off as a signal to other ships that Pequot
was not under power and unable to get out of the way.
(color added).
(USCG
Nautical Rules of the Road 1943, Page 81)
(Lou Carhart)
(Calamaio family)
(USCG “Nautical Rules of the Road” 1943
Page 82)
The Radio War
Although primitive by today’s standards radio communications of many
types played an intense role during WWII especially in the Battle of
The Atlantic. Like all Coast Guard ships, the Pequot was equipped
with a variety of high and low frequency radio receivers and
transmitters. Most radio traffic was enciphered. The messages came
in 5-character groups of numbers and letters mixed together.
Radiomen had no idea what they were receiving. Transcriptions would
be passed to an officer on the bridge who would do the decoding.
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62. Pequot Radioman 1st Class
John J. McCormack with Lester Jenkins in the Pequot’s Radio
Room” |
63. In Boston Harbor
Wallace Hoganson tests the intercom system by one of the tarp
covered 20mm cannons. A large ammunition ready-box is on the
right. |
The Mill. All communication had to be accurately documented and logged
and a custom communications typewriter called a “mill” was used by most
Radiomen. It had special keys to distinguish between similar characters such
as the numeral 0 and the letter O. The mill had a slashed zero "Ø" so there
was no confusion with a capital O, It also had a #1 key, which other
typewriters of the era didn’t, a small “l” was normally used. The mill was
designed to eliminate having to use the shift key as much as possible for
speedy radio transcription.
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64. As evidenced by the slashed zeros, this 1944 radio log entry of the Pequot’s movements was typed with a mill. It notates that on August 11th at 1310 hours (1:10 pm) the Pequot arrived at the District Coast Guard Office of the 1st Naval District in Boston escorted by the CG-94001. (US Coast Guard History Office) |
For much of the time radio silence was the rule so ships like the Pequot relied extensively on coded inbound communication from shore stations. There were also codes inside codes; for example “Z-codes” were used as abbreviations for longer routine messages. For example;
ZEQ = How is my note?
ZET = Your transmitter is not keying properly.
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Radioman Don Paxton in a shore station radio room (possibly at
Eastern Point Light Station). (Freiermuth family) |
66.
The Navy worked to let convoy
ships know how U-boats could find their position by picking up
radio transmissions.
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67. A Shipboard Radio Room (possibly the Pequot's). Note the “mill” typewriter on the lower left used for recording coded messages. (McCormack family) |
When at sea short range two-way voice radio was permitted
using a the Talk Between Ships, or TBS system. This was only permitted when
ships were in very close proximity to each other. At night, when visibility
was greatly reduced, and when submarines or other enemy vessels might be
within range, use of very high Frequency or VHF radio was strongly
discouraged. There were many cases where the German U-boats and surface
ships would try to bait Coast Guard and Navy convoy escorts by sending out
false distress calls. Other basic communication was also completed by the
dash and dot alphabet of Morse Code by tapping hand transmitters. Coast
Guard Radiomen had to be expert at notating incoming Morse Code
transmissions quickly and accurately. Lives often depended on correctly
receiving the distress calls from cargo ships after U-boat torpedo attacks
on the Eastbound and Westbound convoys. The Pequot’s Radio Call sign NRFQ
was designated by the Office of Naval Operations for all US Navy and Coast
Guard ships. In addition the Pequot was equipped with its own intercom
communication system that was used between the bridge and the ship’s main
operational areas such as the engine room, the radio room, and the two rear
mounted gun positions.
Radio Direction Finding. Shortly after the Army mine layer
General
Samuel M. Mills was converted to the cable laying ship Pequot she was
equipped with a first generation radio direction finding (RDF) system or
Radio Compass. This
can be seen on the photo below (right) as the distinctive diamond shaped
rotating antenna on top of the wheelhouse. It is not evident on the earlier
photo to the left. This
technology, which was first deployed by the Coast Guard in the early 1920s,
enabled the ship’s radio operator to get a compass bearing fix on the source
of a ship or shore radio transmission. Not only was this an aid to
navigation, but it enabled ships to locate each other at sea and during the
war determine friend from foe.
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68. This close up of the General Samuel M. Mills shows that no RDF system was
installed before the Coast Guard obtained the ship. |
69. From the early 1920s until midway through WWII the Pequot was equipped with the diamond shaped antenna of early RDF systems. (McCormack Family) |
HD/DF or Huff-Duff. We see that by 1944 the diamond shaped RDF antenna was replaced by a circular loop antenna (see left-most photo below). This indicates that Pequot was equipped with the newly developed High Frequency Direction Finder (HF/DF) system or Huff-Duff as crews liked to call it. This new system was vastly superior and more accurate than earlier systems and enabled Pequot to not only obtain bearings from shore stations and more accurately navigate the rocky North Atlantic coast, but also to locate other Coast Guard and allied ships, as well help keep a keen ear out for transmissions from U-boats. Radio direction finders and Huff Duff technology were used extensively by both the German U-boat commanders and the ships of Allied convoys during the battle of the Atlantic. Each side did all they could to locate the position of their adversaries radio transmissions. The Germans used RDF to locate convoys and moved U-boats into position for torpedo attacks, and Allied escort ships used Huff Duff readings to set course bearings to chase down and depth charge wolf pack submarines.
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70. This photo from May of 1944 clearly shows the installation of the circular loop antenna of the improved “Huff-Duff” radio direction finding system. (Calamaio family) |
SO-1 Detection Radar. At the beginning of World War II radar was an emerging technology. In the late 1930s the first generation of ship borne CXAM radar was deployed on US and British battleships and aircraft carriers. In 1940, a group of British researchers stumbled upon a new electronic component, the "cavity magnetron," a type of transmitter tube that permitted the development of effective microwave radar. In America, Bell Labs, RCA, and Westinghouse explored and developed a wide range of radar technologies before Pearl Harbor, and a primary research and development center, the Radiation Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was created in 1940. With the outbreak of war the MIT “RadLab” greatly stepped up research work as did a large number of British efforts including those led by Reginald V. Jones in what was dubbed “The Wizard War”. By 1942, new radars were coming into service on both sides of the Atlantic and being deployed on ships, planes, and land based stations. Half of the radar deployed during World War II were designed at the MIT RadLab, including over 100 different radar systems costing $1.5 billion.
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71A. A 1945 Radar Plan Position Indicator or "PPI" Scope. (serialconsign.com) |
71B. SO-1 Operator Controls. (From the April 1945 Radar Operator's Manual) |
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72. SO Search Radar
Accessory Control and Indicator Unit (Catalogue of Naval Electronic Equipment - April 1946) |
In 1945 the Pequot was equipped with SO-1 microwave search radar which had a maximum reliable range of 13.5 miles to see aircraft at 500' elevation, it could see a battleship at 23 miles, and a destroyer at 14 miles, but it could only distinguish a surfaced submarine at a range of 1 mile. It had a resolution of 200 yards and at 4 miles was accurate to about 60 yards. It enabled Pequot to see ships, planes and coastlines in all types of weather and at night through the use of a Plan Position Indicator (or PPI) scope. Contacts picked up on the PPI scope would immediately provide officers on the Pequot’s bridge the range and bearing of aircraft and ships in the area, as well as verify Pequot’s location along the rocky shores of New England, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Although a short range device, the addition of SO-1 helped Pequot see in the dark and greatly increased the ship's safety.
Photos from the John J.
McCormack Photo Album
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80. Four Pequot Crewmembers in Port. During the 1940s the Coast Guard and crew referred to blue jeans as “dungarees”. |
81. A group of Pequot crewmen around the ladder to the bridge. |
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82. Nine Pequot sailors with an unidentified officer. |
83. Three Pequot sailors with a cat from the Boston docks that tried to stowaway. |
USCG Pequot - Between the Wars
These rare photos below show the Pequot before the onset of
World War II. During this period the ship installed and maintained
telephone, telegraph, and other communication cables along the
entire Eastern seaboard of the United States. These underwater
cables linked lifeboat stations and coastal navigation aids that
received poor service from commercial telephone and telegraph
companies. Note the absence of
the two 20mm guns on the ship’s fantail which were installed after
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the beginning of U-boat
attacks. (All photos courtesy US Coast Guard History Office).
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84. This formal photo of the Pequot’s 49 member crew was probably taken around 1932. The white haired officer in the center of the front row between the two life preservers is believed to be the Pequot’s Commanding Officer, Chief Boatswain Nelson F. King, who was nearly 60 at the time and the 3rd most senior Chief Boatswain in the Coast Guard. On both sides of King are the ship’s non-commissioned Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers. In the second row we see two Senior Stewards in their combination caps and an ex-Life Saving Service member in his single breasted uniform coat. Here we can also clearly see evidence of the era in which the Pequot was built. The exterior wooden 5-panel doors and screen doors on the upper deck are more reminiscent of a beach cottage than a military ship. The use of water tight exterior doors became standard on all ships well after the Pequot
was built. Click to enlarge; click again for a closer look.
(Special thanks to Jim Flynn for providing details on this photo) |
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85. The Pequot tied up at Pier 8 East of the Boston Navy Yard. In the background is Building 104 which was demolished in 1940. If you Click the Image to see it enlarged, you can clearly see the full complement of air cowls that were used to direct outside air below decks. If you Click Again and zoom in, you can find the Union Jack flying off the bow. That flag of 48 stars against a blue field was only flown when the ship was not underway. |
86.
On a blustery day the Pequot
crew is seen off-loading telephone poles from the fantail with the American Flag
and the US Coast Guard Ensign snapping proudly in the wind up on the ship’s
masts. |
Note: a common early problem encountered when
laying cables in certain waters was a species
of marine borer, the teredo worm. These tiny creatures found their
way through the cable armor
and dined on the jute insulation, exposing the conductor and causing earth
faults.
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| 87.
The Pequot tied up in front of an early
Coast Guard Cutter. Seeing the forest of masts and rigging
behind the ship we realize that the Pequot was first in
service during the maritime era when ships were still
transitioning from sails to steam.
The tower of Boston’s Customs House and the masts
of USS Constitution can be seen in the background. Click the image above to see an enlargement. |
88. Gerald Joseph Murphy (see below) seated in the front of this group of sailors taken in the mid-1930s. His daughter believes this was taken while he was recovering from a service related injury which led to his 1938 Coast Guard discharge. (Geralyn Murphy Brousseau) |
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Gerald Joseph Murphy
from Gloucester, Massachusetts joined the Coast Guard in 1935 at the age of 25.
According to his discharge papers he spent time aboard the CGC Cayuga and
then served on the Pequot before WWII as a Seaman 1st Class under the
command of Chief Boatswain C. Jensen. After he was discharged on March 21st
1938 he served in the Merchant Marine during WWII. His daughter Gerri writes that, “He always had wonderful stories and I could sit for hours listening to him tell about his travels around the world. He had one particularly funny story about a trip to south America where he got a monkey. During the war, he was on three different ships that were sunk, one in the waters near Iceland, where he nearly froze to death as he bobbed around for three days in that frigid water before being rescued by a Norwegian ship who heard their distress call.” After the war he moved to Waterbury, Connecticut where he married, raised a family, and worked as a machinist at the Anchor Fastener Company. Gerald J. Murphy passed away on March 12th 1980. |
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89. The
Pequot in Dry Dock - November
9th 1922. Her twin screws were able to run forward or reverse independently. This made it possible to position the Pequot exactly where need to accurately place loop cables on the seafloor. Top speed was 12 knots with a maximum cruising radius of 1670 nautical miles. Details on the tricky business of spacing the loop cables can be found in the USN Harbor Defense Manual (below) on Pages 53 & 54. |
PEQUOT AND CABLE LAYING - PHOTOS FROM LOU CARHART
The indicator loop 'tail' cable was towed from the shore by the Pequot crew using a DUKW amphibious vehicle. The DUKW (popularly pronounced "duck") is a six-wheel-drive truck that was designed by General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks. There are some good Dukw websites, even the USCG has a good one. The loop 'tail' cable was very heavy - weighing something like 3 tons per mile in air. The photos of the Pequot crew in the DUKW were taken during cable laying at the Peaks Hill Bar at the northern tip of Cape Cod near Provincetown, Mass.
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additional Photos
from LOU CARHART
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| 98. Some of the
Pequot crew on the main
mast rigging. Click on the photo to see an enlarged view with their names. Click again to enlarge more. |
99. Pequot crew members below decks in the engine room. The below decks crew was called “The Black Gang” by the other sailors because of how dirty they got from shoveling coal into the Pequot’s boilers. To the right we see the receiving “telegraph” which gave the crew engine speed and prop rotation directions from the Quartermaster in the wheel house | 100. Seaman 1st Class Lester Jenkins with the Pequot dogs. Sailor Mike Luongo said the black dog's name was Midnight but he couldn't remember the other dog's name. "The dogs would hang around the docks and one of the crew would bring them on board." |
Mike Luongo'S PHOTOS
1. Cable Operations
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| 101. Through a hatch we see crew members with thousands of yards of indicator loop cable in the forward hold. | 102. Seaman Mike Luongo operating the Pequot's cable winch. | 103. Two seaman in the wooden launch during cable operations with the Pequot in the background. |
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| 104. The Pequot's deck was a very busy place during cable laying operations. | 105. From left to right three of the Pequot's Quartermasters up on the flying bridge; Frontel, Simmons & Livingston. Simmons is taking a bearing with a sextant. Note the deck compass in the foreground. | 106. A Pequot sailor up front with the cable winch gear. |
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| 107. During cable laying operations crewmembers in the ship's launch. The Pequot is in the background. | 108. The Pequot during cable operations. Note all the crew up front playing cable over the ship's bow pulley. (if you look at this full screen you can faintly see the cable coming off the wheel). Click image to enlarge. |
That Dangerous Dangerous Smoke! Although the thick column of dense black coal smoke coming out of the Pequot’s stack looks almost picturesque to us today, that was actually very dangerous at the time. U-boats could spot smoke like that from miles away, even well beyond the horizon. Older coal burning ships like the Pequot were at a disadvantage when trying to avoid detection. There were instances where smoke from a single aging transport reveled the location of a convoy of more than 50 ships. The U-boat which spotted the smoke would radio nearby submarines resulting a coordinated 8-12 submarine ‘wolf pack’ torpedo attack on the convoy, with the loss of many ships and hundreds of lives. So the Pequot’s coal smoke and slow moving, at times stationary, cable laying and repair mission made her extremely vulnerable.
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| The US Navy saw coal smoke as a serious problem in both the Atlantic and Pacific. | 109. In the ship's launch a sailor with his hand firmly on the rudder looks back towards the Pequot to position the launch crew during cable operations. |
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"Working out in the launch could be dangerous." Gunners Mate Roger Calamaio spoke of how hairy it was when they were “at a dead stop...like sitting ducks” while a small crew was out away from the Pequot doing cable work and the fear of U Boat attack wasn't the only risk. He said once a crew was out in the launch and a squall came up and the seas started to get really rough. Everyone aboard was watching the cable crew and they were worried that the launch was going to swamp as the storm blew in. That small boat was trying to go up and down with the waves but both ends of the heavy cable were holding it down and not allowing it to rise with the growing swells. He said it was "nip and tuck there for a while", but they finally got the repair finished and those guys back aboard before the storm really kicked in. "That was a close one," he said.” |
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| 110. Two sailors in the launch shove off to set cable positions with round marker buoys. Note two of the Pequot's life rafts lashed up on the right. For details on how the crew placed buoys to mark the loop cable positions see Page 54 of the Harbor Defense Manual at the bottom of the page. |
111. In 1944 the Pequot’s seaman on deck during cable laying operations. Notice the indicator loop cable in the foreground being spooled out of the hold and up to the bow wheel. (McCormack family) |
112. A launch crew with an indicator loop marker buoy in 1944. We can see them retrieving the end of a cable that has been tied off on the buoy. (McCormack family) |
Installing many of the indicator loops involved very long cable runs. It appears that the Pequot’s cable hold was enlarged early in the war and probably widened to increase the capacity of cable she could carry. The bump out seen here, which is directly in line with the forward hatch to the cable hold, is evidence of a modification to the Pequot’s hull, since we do not see this protrusion in earlier images of the ship. Photos show this change on both the port and starboard sides. Even for a small ship the Pequot could carry a great deal of cable. In a Confidential Report dated October 23rd 1944 the Pequot’s Captain Lars Sande writes of taking aboard “4,498 feet type 15-strand, 18-conductor submarine cable". The tail cable had a weight of 3 tons per mile in air, and the lead lined (or "lead loaded") loop cable itself - just over 6 tons per mile.
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113. Modification to Pequot's hull. (Calamaio family) |
114. Boston Harbor 1944. (Calamaio family) |
USN Harbor Defense Manual - 1946
Published after WWII in 1946, The Harbor Defense Manual furnishes information about harbor defenses in the United States. During WW2 it became an instruction manual for Navy, Coast Guard and Army personnel given the responsibility of setting up and operating harbor defenses. After the war it was provided as general information to personnel not assigned permanently to the harbor defense work, and to capture the detailed technical knowledge obtained during the war years. It provides an overview of general harbor defenses (component training, planning, tactics, principles, teamwork and efficiency) and details the components in separate chapters: indicator loop, Herald (fixed sonar), and hydrophones; the role of the harbor control post; surface detection radar; patrol craft; smoke defenses; net and boom defenses; sneak craft, and passive defense. Below are excerpts from the manual that provide the technical principles, installation procedures, and the step-by-step process for laying indicator loops and how buoys were used to guide the positioning of cable laying (Pages 53-55). It also details the meticulous and time consuming step-by-step process for splicing various types of underwater cables (Pages 55-61). We must remember that Pequot’s cable splicing work along the Eastern seaboard took place on bobbing and pitching decks, in small boats, and often in very foul weather. Many of the techniques perfected by the Pequot, and its crew during the war years, are captured in this manual.
Click on image to see an enlarged image of the page.
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page 50
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page 51 |
page 52 |
page 53 |
page 54 |
page 55 |
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page 56 |
page 57 |
page 58 |
page 59 |
page 60 |
page 61 |
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To see how the
wives, girlfriends, mothers, and sisters
contributed, click on either of the Women’s
Posters.
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Before he joined the crew of the Pequot, Radioman John McCormack was jolted out of
his bunk on the USCG Storis (WAGL-38) near
Greenland when the Coast Guard cutter Escanaba
(WPG-77) exploded and sank in a matter of minutes
directly in front of Storis. At the time it was assumed
Escanaba was the victim of a U-Boat torpedo, but
German records indicate that no U-boat commander ever
claimed victory for the sinking. Speculation has
increased that a magnetic German mine was responsible
for the Escanaba’s icy fate.
The Germans planted several types of surface and
sub-surface sea mines in the shipping lanes commonly
used by the allied convoys and along routes that the Pequot routinely steamed. These mines were
detonated not only by physical contact, but by the use
of magnetic sensors. As a ship passed above it, the
mine's detector sensed a change in the magnetic field
emanating from the steel hull. They were designed to
trigger and explode against the mid-point of a hull,
usually breaking the ship in half and sinking it.
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115. The first type of German magnetic mine used in the war. Recovered unexploded from Shoeburyness, England on November 23rd, 1939. (British Royal Navy Photo) |
All ships have a permanent magnetic field or “magnetic
signature” which is created during shipbuilding as a
result of the hammering, riveting, and movements of the
hull’s steel plates during construction in the shipyard
while in the presence of the Earth’s magnetic field (see
photo below, left). Changes to the strength of the
magnetic field in the hull also occur at sea mainly due
to the vibrations while in the Earth's magnetic field.
Any steel ship is like a huge floating magnet and the
Germans knew it. In November of 1939 alone more than
200,000 tons of shipping was lost off the coast of
England to German mines. To protect warships and
merchant vessels, the Allies needed a way to render
their ships “magnetically silent” and they needed it
fast.
In Britain Commander
Charles
F. Goodeve
of the Royal Canadian Navy (later Sir
Charles) worked with the Royal Navy in 1939-40 to
develop ways to neutralize the inherent magnetism of
steel ships. A series of experiments and sea trials was
conducted at the H.M.S. Vernon naval research shore
station. Work at Vernon determined that the magnetism in
a hull can be read by having a ship pass over a loop of
cable on the bottom of a harbor, like a miniature
indicator loop. The research team developed two methods
to trick the German sea mines. Since the Germans used
the term “gauss” as the unit for magnetic strength when
developing the triggers for mines, Goodeve named the
first hull treatment “degaussing” - that is - removing
the "gauss" (magnetism).
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| 116. A ship such as the Pequot built and sailing at northern latitudes similar to Boston would have a "North-down" magnetisation due to the direction of the Earth's magnetic field there. The Pequot would behave like a magnet with the north pole underwater. | 117. To eliminate the Pequot's magnetisation an electric current would be passed through a coil orientated like the one drawn above. The direction of the current is shown by the yellow arrow and this would produce a "North-up" magnetisation to cancel that of the ship's. |
Degaussing involves the permanent installation of large
copper cables around the perimeter of a ship’s hull just above
the water line through which a large continuous electrical
current is passed which creates a magnetic field in opposition
to the field of the ship - and neutralizing it (see above
right). This system was hooked up to the ship’s electrical
system to easily permit degaussing at sea.
Deperming or wiping consisted of having a ship slowly
move past stationary electric coils while in port, or by having
large copper cables pulled across the hull through which a
current of up to 2000 amps DC would be passed, to “wipe or
flash” the ship to eliminate it’s magnetic signature. For most
small ships deperming normally had to be repeated every 3-4
months.
Both of these countermeasures proved to be successful and
permanent degaussing equipment was installed first on the
largest ships in the British and American fleets. Once these
techniques using large copper cables were widely adopted, the
demand for copper in the US, which was already in short supply,
soared, resulting in the minting of steel pennies by the US
Treasury for the remainder of the war.
Research indicates that the Pequot’s home port had the largest
degaussing operation on the Atlantic coast first at the Boston
Navy Yard, and beginning in 1943 at Castle Island in Boston
harbor. Between 1943 and 1945 more than 500 ships were degaussed
at Castle Island. A note in the Pequot’s file at the US Coast
Guard History Office shows that between May 26th and June 26th
1942 the Pequot was at the Boston Navy Yard for
“conversion and installation of permanent degaussing” equipment,
although none of the photographs of Pequot after 1942 show the
addition of an exterior degaussing coil around her hull common
with permanent systems of the time. So although speculation
remains about that permanent solution, it is safe to assume that
Pequot had periodic deperming treatments at the navy yard
or Castle Island to camouflage her magnetic signature and
greatly reduce the threat from sub-surface mines.
Navigation and Magnetic Deviation
During the 35 years that the Pequot was at sea, navigation was accomplished through the use of nautical charts and compass readings.
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Nautical Chart: When steaming along the rocky
coast of Maine during WWII the Pequot’s navigator
and captain would use the ship’s compass and a
nautical chart such as this one from 1944. A
close-up on the right shows numbers in the ocean
which indicates the depth of water in fathoms,
with one fathom equal to 6 feet. (US Coast and
Geodetic Survey 1944) Click image to enlarge. |
A section of the
Nautical Chart Abbreviations used with the
charts opposite. (US Coast and Geodetic Survey
January 1941) Click image to see a full sized view. |
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Binnacle:
During the 1940s directly in front of the helm in the
pilothouse was a John E. Hand & Sons 8" liquid
Compensating Pedestal Type Spherical Compass Binnacle.
This was the ship's primary navigation compass when
she first went to sea.
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118. We can see the placement of the steering binnacle in the pilot house on the 1908 construction plans. |
119. A typical Compass binnacle of the period with red and green iron spheres (quadrantal spheres) used for magnetic deviation adjustments. (Antiques of the Sea, Lionel Corporation Binnacle 1944) |
The "binnacle" is a watertight stand which holds the ship's magnetic compass. It is designed to be seen by a helmsman standing at the ship's wheel. Consisting of a circular base, a pedestal, a magnet compartment, and a chamber where the compass 'floats' in a metal ring in a bowl of alcohol on two pivots, the binnacle's gimbals keeps the compass level despite the motion of the ship. Early binnacles had a small oil lamp mounted on one side of the compass for night viewing. Electric lighting systems were introduced later.
Mounted 21' above the Pequot's main deck and 60' from the stern the "After Deck House" Compass on Pequot was an E. S. Ritchie and Sons 8" liquid Type 7, (#49 U.S. Navy Bureau of Navigation Machinery Division) Compass Binnacle that had been on the ship since January of 1919. This "back-up" compass was located on top of the rear deck cabins so it would be as far away from the magnetic signature of the steel hull as practical.
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120. The After Deck House compass binnacle is clearly detailed in the 1908 elevation construction drawings. |
121. Just aft of a life raft on top of the officer's staterooms we can see the exterior compass binnacle with its distinctive iron adjustment spheres. (Calamaio Family) |
These critical navigation compass binnacles were periodically re-calibrated to compensate for the difference or "deviation" of true north from magnetic north, and adjusted for the magnetic influence of the ship's steel hull. Changes in the magnetic signature of the hull after deperming and degaussing during WWII only complicated matters.
Captain Matthew Flinders of the Royal Navy, determined that erecting a vertical metal bar in front of the compass allowed adjustments to be made for magnetic deviation. Those bars were named Flinders Bars in his honor. Later, Sir George Airy, the Astronomer Royal, discovered that the accuracy of the magnetic compass could be further improved by placing quadrantal spheres (large balls of soft iron) on either side of the compass. Both the Flinders Bar and the quadrantal spheres, along with various adjustable compensating magnets, for correcting the compass were part of the Pequot's compass binnacles.
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122.
An April 10th 1942 Deviation Table shows
adjustments were made to correct for 17 Degrees of
deviation. At that time Lars Sande was the ship's Navigation
Officer. The commanding officer was Ensign John
Lenci.
(National Archives and Records Administration,
Records Group 26 Entry 26C) |
123.
The methodical hand calculations required during
the April 10th 1942 compass calibrations. (National Archives and Records Administration, Records Group 26 Entry 26C) |
We see that the April 1942 compass calculations took place at sea off the coast of Maine near Outer Green Island which is one of the many islands of Casco Bay. The notes from the Coast Guard District Compass Adjuster tell us that the Pequot’s gyrocompass was used as the reference during the calibrations. The Compass Adjuster pointed out that laying the metal cable from the Pequot’s hold could cause magnetic deviations and effect the accuracy of the binnacle. “The steering compass should be watched for changes in deviations with distribution of cable, necessitating constant check. No great dependence should be placed on deviation table.” This reinforces how critical the Pequot’s gyrocompass was to accurate navigation of the ship.
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124.
The records of Pequot's
September 2nd 1943 compass deviation adjustments note
that the ship did not have a Degaussing Coil installed.
Yet at the top of the Deviation Table column notations
for the Standard Compass we see references to "DG OFF"
and "DG ON". DG stood for Degaussing. (National Archives and Records Administration, Records Group 26 Entry 26C) Click to Enlarge. |
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Gyrocompass:
In addition to the main compass
binnacle, during WWII the Pequot's pilothouse was also
equipped with a Gyrocompass, which was invented in 1908
the year the ship was built. A Gyroscopic Compass uses
a spinning gyroscope which, once calibrated, keeps the
compass pointing not to the magnetic north, but to the
Earth's true North. Once the rapidly spinning gyroscope
inside the compass is set spinning, it remains pointing
in the same direction, regardless of the ship's motion
at sea.
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125. In one of the few photos we have inside the Pequot's pilothouse, we can see a gyrocompass with a magnifier for the Quartermaster similar to the one on the bridge of the 1945 Victory Ship S. S. Lane Victory (V-794). (Centre photo courtesy Mike Luongo; left and right images www.lanevictory.org/index.php) |
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126. Pequot Quartermaster Ozzie Frontel keeps a keen eye on the gyrocompass. (Mike Luongo) |
127.
A Marine Clinometer of the era. (Maine Maritime Museum) |
In addition to the standing compass binnacle and the
newer gyrocompass, Quartermasters in the Pequot's wheel
house also used the ship's wheel which was hydraulically
connected to the steering engine, a Rudder Indicator
which let them know what angle the rudder was set at, an
RPM gauge which showed the revolutions per minute of the
two propeller shafts, a Fathometer to let them see the
depth of water beneath the keel, and a Clinometer which
indicated the degree of roll the ship was under which
was critical in rough weather.
Pelorus: Both the port and starboard
side flying bridges on Pequot were equipped with
a pedestal mounted gyro-compass repeater that duplicated
the direction reading indicated by the main gyrocompass
in the wheelhouse through electrical signals. To take
bearings on objects outside the ship, a Pelorus with
movable sighting vanes was mounted on top of these
compass repeaters to enable the ship’s navigator to
obtain direct bearings of objects which could aid in
navigation such as a distinctive land form or a
lighthouse. True bearings were read by observing the
degree on the compass card that the crossbar of the
sighting vane lined up with. Relative bearings could be
read from an outer dumb compass ring on the repeater
stand.
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| 128. One of the Pequot’s pedestal mounted gyrocompass repeaters with Pelorus in place. Note the electrical cable which connects this compass to the main gyro-compass on the bridge. (Mike Luongo) | 129. Quartermaster 1st
Class Chester I. Isaacson taking a reading with
a Pelorus on the Destroyer Escort USS Hilbert
(DE-72) during WWII.
(George D. McCarthy) |
130. When not in use
the Pelorus was removed and the compass was
covered to protect it from the elements. (Calamaio Family) |
To accurately determine the Pequot’s position, the standard formula of time at speed equals distance was used to calibrate how far the ship had traveled on a given bearing. Early binnacles included a sand timer similar to an hourglass. By the 1940s highly accurate ship clocks were the standard in every wheelhouse.
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| 131. A
1940s US Navy Bureau of Navigation Mark I deck clock. (Savage and Polite’s Antique Clocks) |
132.
Referred to as Celestial Navigation, a sextant
enables ships at sea to determine their location
by ‘fixing” their position from the sun, the moon,
a planet, or a star and their angle above the
visible horizon at certain times of the day or
night. (NOAA photo) |
Quartermaster Lou Carhart tells us that the Pequot’s
officers were responsible for all navigation
calculations, plotting the ship’s course and maintaining
the deck log entries. Quartermasters assisted with
taking star or sun sightings off the horizon using a
sextant, but primarily were responsible for keeping
their attention focused on the bridge gyrocompass and
keeping the ship on a given bearing.
Ship navigation was, and continues to be, a very
complicated science where a number of elements all must
be factored in using a variety of calculations and tools
such as the use of a Maneuvering Board which is used for
solving relative motion problems. Bearing and distance
marks from the center of the board and scales at the
sides, allow quick and easy plotting of course and speed
vectors to quickly determine and calculate a course
bearing and a speed in knots to intercept, or avoid,
another vessel.
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| 133. The Maneuvring Board was first established in 1920. It uses a polar coordinate system that is divided into 360 units or degrees and a series of concentric circles which relate to speed in knots. Scales on the side of the diagram can be used to determine relative or actual speed and distance. (Defense Mapping Agency) | 134. Various rulers, dividers, protractors, and other plotting tools were used with the Pequot’s nautical charts to calculate navigation solutions. Here we see a modern navigator’s “tool pack” using the same devices common on the Pequot more than 65 years ago. (Starpath Corp.) |
Pequot Quartermasters Carhart, Simmons, Livingston and others all went through extensive training to obtain their rating where they had to learn that a ship’s speed was measured in knots which equal 1.151 nautical miles per hour, and that a nautical mile was equal to 1.15 statute miles on land. Most importantly they had to gain the skills to handle the ship’s wheel and be able to respond to cross winds, heavy seas, and the techniques required for tight maneuvering especially during cable laying operations.
Even though today satellite generated GPS signals are used extensively for maritime navigation, ships still routinely use compass bearings and the earth's magnetism to set their course.
MIKE LUONGO'S PHOTOS
2. Life aboard the Pequot
Even though in many of these photos the crew is
obviously horsing around for the camera, the grim
reality was that the officers and men of the Pequot had
to be ready for a fight in case they ended up in a
surface battle with a U-boat and it’s crew.
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Sleepless Nights. Pequot’s Gunners Mate Roger Calamaio believed that was a very real possibility, “We thought that a U-boat might not want to waste a torpedo on us since we were so small, compared to the big cargo ships and tankers all around us, but they might surface and try to take us out with their deck gun and small arms fire. I had some sleepless nights about all of that when I first came aboard and would look down at that icy water. Once I realized there was no way I could change what might happen, I put myself in God’s hands and slept like a baby." |
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| 135. Hand to hand combat with the Germans could have become a reality. | 136. Bob Livingston in port on a summer day having fun for the camera. |
137. Coxwain Robert McElymol with fixed bayonet and helmet up by the bow. |
Standard Issue.
In addition to Colt .45
caliber automatic pistols, the Pequot’s small armory was stocked with
Springfield M1903 .30 caliber bolt-action rifles. This World War I era gun with
it’s long 16-inch M1905 bayonet was standard issue in the Coast Guard during
World War II and was the primary rifle available aboard ships and used by
sailors during beach patrols.
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| 138. Radioman John J. McCormack. | 139. Sailor Simmons is armed and ready. | 140. Sailor Lester Jenkins - Remember Sailor, pull that trigger just once and it'll cost you 50 bucks! |
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Hold Your Fire! The Pequot's officers didn’t want crew members randomly discharging their weapons. Lou Carhart explains, 'Roger "Guns” Calamaio would checkout 45 caliber hand guns to the crew when they went on duty but they were warned not to fire. Unless it was an emergency it would cost you $50 for every bullet you fired. As our Gunner’s Mate he would pick them up from us, exchange them, and keep them clean and loaded.' |
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141. A close-up from a 1945 photo shows two large steel munitions lockers with heavy duty watertight doors on both sides of the stairs to the bridge. We believe this is where small arms and ammunition was stored. In pre-war photos these lockers are not present, in many of our 1942-43 photos we see one locker, by 1944 two of these large steel cabinets are seen. |
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| 142. Two crewmembers below the bridge. Notice the .45 caliber side arm issued while on watch. | 143. Seaman 1st Class Steve Cidoni with rifle and helmet up by the bow. | 144. Lester Jenkins and another sailor in the wheelhouse. The navigation gyrocompass is seen in front of the helm and in the foreground we see the ship’s main “telegraph” which gave the engine room crew directions on the Pequot’s speed and propeller rotation - forward or reverse.” |
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| 145. An axe helps relieve the tension. Sailors Luongo, Cline & Livingston. | 146. Helmets on and smiles: Cidoni, Livingston & Luongo |
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Collision Drills - "We had collision drills so we were ready in case we got rammed or in case we hit another ship," Mike Luongo explains. "I was in charge of a big thick collision mat that was like a mattress. We’d have to practice quickly lashing it up against the hull with ropes to plug a hole in the ship." |
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| 147. In their GI Issue wool sweaters sailors Simmons, Jenkins and Frontle. | 148. Sailors Quinn, Cline & Livingston on work detail. | 149. A Pequot Soundman First Class in his "undress blues." The hash mark on his sleeve indicates he already has served at least 4 years of active duty. |
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| 150. Two Pequot Sailors in Port. | 151. With the Union Jack waving in the breeze up on the bow behind them we see Jusek, Benoit and their pals looking sharp in those dress blue uniforms for shore leave. |
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| 152. Machinist Mate Theodore Cline, Seaman Mike Luongo, and Quartermaster Livingston. |
Photos from the John Jusek family album
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| 153. John Jusek (right) aboard the Pequot. | 154. John (right) ashore with some of his friends. |
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| 155. John with his good friend Norman Zinner in the dory. | 156. Zinner and Jusek on shore leave. |
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157. John standing in the back while his pals clown around for the camera. |
158. Hitting the road on liberty - somebody had a car! |
MIKE LUONGO'S PHOTOS
3. More Life aboard the Pequot
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| 159. The best of pals - Sailors Cline, Luongo and Quinn |
160. 14 crew members on
the Pequot's starboard side |
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According to Seaman Mike Luongo there
were two crew mess halls on the Pequot during WWII.
“We ate in the forward mess hall and the Black Gang
ate in the one in the back. We really didn’t socialize
too much with those guys, except when we were on
Liberty. The mess cooks would bring the food up from
the Galley on big trays and since there was not enough
seating for everybody we ate in three shifts by
seniority. The guys who were aboard the longest got to
eat first,” Mike remembers. “The food was very good
and we ate family style. The mess crew did a lot of
baking. They would make bread and pies. Hathaway made
good pies and hot crossed buns. There was coffee in
the mess 24 hours a day and that’s where we’d sit and
write letters, play cribbage, and listen to the
government radio station. I remember listening to the
World Series,” Mike adds.
What Mike and the other Pequot crew listened to were
most likely the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS)
broadcasts which the War Department’s Armed Forces
Network launched on May 26th 1942 as a world-wide news
and entertainment network to improve troop morale and
give service members “a touch of home.” Programming
included music, war news, and regular variety programs
including the popular “Mail Call,” “Music Hall,” and
“Command Performance” which featured stars such as
Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Louis Armstrong, Red Skelton,
Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters. To listen to
samples of these vintage radio programs visit:
Rand’s Esoteric Old Time Radio
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| V for Victory or “V DISCS” such as this one by the Andrew Sisters were produced by the government and major recording companies exclusively for American solders, sailors, and airmen serving overseas. ” (University of Missouri, Miller Nichols Library, Kansas City) | Judy Garland,
Bing Crosby, and Jimmy Durrante recording a “Mail
Call” segment for the May 17th 1944 Command
Performance program. (AFRS photo) |
Music Hall program #108, December 28th, 1944. In addition to live transmissions, AFRS sent records of programs all over the world to all branches of the military. (rand’s esoteric otr) |
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| 163. Officers & crew up at the bow. Notice the buoys in the foreground that were used to mark loop cable positions. | 164. A sailor at the Coast Guard base sawing lumber for use on the Pequot. |
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| 165. Mike Luongo with intercom system. One of the Pequot's 20mm guns is under the tarp. | 166. An unidentified Pequot sailor by the forward winch equipment. | 167. Sailor Mike Luongo has a 'Corn on the Cob' break on the Starboard Gunwale. |
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| 161. Sailor Luongo (right) and friends in port. | 168. For centuries sailors have passed time aboard ship making intricate rope weavings. Here George Simmons shows off his rope mat down in the crew quarters in 1944. Notice how tightly spaced the bunks are stacked behind him. With more than 60 men aboard space was at a premium. | 169. Seaman 1st Class Mike Luongo ashore |
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| 170. With Livingston, Frontel and Luongo we see Lester Jenkins on duty and armed with a regulation 45 caliber sidearm. | 171. Sailor Hoganson - Maintenance work on the Pequot was hard dirty work. |
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| 172. Sailor Hoganson by the forward winch gear. | 173. Pequot Sailors against the port gunwale off the coast of New England. |
SOME PHOTOS FROM THE JAMES H. HUDLOW ALBUM
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| 145. L to R: Unidentified Sailor, Seaman Lester Jenkins, Sailor 'Gillian' (perhaps Elmer Gillenwater), Quartermaster Ozzie Frontle, Storekeeper William Moore. | 159. Photo day in the launch on what looks like a cool windy day. |
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| 147. Here it looks like Chief Commissary Steward Henry Hathaway is fishing from the launch. | 148. Seaman Roland Benoit catching a few winks during a break in the action. |
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149. Back (L to R): Steven Cidoni and Mike Luongo. Front: Paul Quinn and Bob Livingston. |
150. Sailors Bob Livingston (left) and Mike Luongo. |
151. Back row (L to R): Bob Livingston, Lester Jenkins and unidentified sailor. Front: George Simmons, Adolph (Ozzie) Frontel. |
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| 152. From the top down: an unidentified sailor with Quartermasters Simmons, Frontel, Jenkins and Livingston below. |
153. In the wheelhouse Seaman Lester Jenkins looks on as Ozzie Frontel keeps a steady hand on the helm of the Pequot. |
154. Pequot sailor on the ladder while in port |
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155. Chief Machinist, Roger W. Schaus in his new uniform right after his promotion to warrant officer. Schaus supervised the engine room “black gang” below decks and kept all mechanical systems functioning. |
156. At Boston's Constitution Wharf two Pequot sailors - Clyde J. McFarland and Kenneth M. Dowling - in their dress blue uniforms getting ready for shore leave. |
157. James F.
Ryan Boatswain's Mate Mate 2nd Class, Boston, Massachusetts
1943. After the war Paul settled near Gary, Indiana. (Coppo
family). |
SOME MORE PHOTOS FROM THE LUONGO ALBUM
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174. Mike Luongo ashore, armed and ready. |
175. Quartermaster Bob Livingston, Carpenter’s Mate Wallace Hoganson, and Seaman Mike Luongo |
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| 176. Mike Luongo with his friend, George Corrino, and another sailor, in a Portland Maine photo booth while the Pequot was in port. |
177, 178. Seaman Mike Luongo back home in
Belleville, New Jersey on liberty with some of his old friends
who were also serving their country. |
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The Pequot - Other Duties AS ASSIGNED
During the first year of the war when all resources were stretched to the limit, Coast Guard commanders had to use every asset at their disposal to solve logistical problems, and the Pequot was no exception. In June of 1941 while laying loop cable near Norfolk Virginia the Pequot received orders to distribute depth charges to Coast Guard cutters who were actively engaged in convoy escort duty and battles against U-boats.
The Commander of the Norfolk District ordered Pequot to:
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Proceed to Boston Massachusetts, via the Naval Mine
Dept, Yorktown, Virginia. Obtain 4 Y-gun depth charges for delivery to the
Icarus at Stapleton, 3.I. N.Y., 6 Y-gun depth charges and 10 release track depth
charges for delivery to the Algonquin at Boston, Massachusetts, from the Naval
Mine Depot. This office will obtain and deliver 18 Y-gun propellant charges from
the Naval Ammunition Depot, St. Juliens Creek, Portsmouth, Virginia, to the
Pequot prior to her departure for Boston, also for delivery to the Algonquin.
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| 179. British sailors loading a Mk VII depth charge on to a Mk IV depth charge thrower with a block and tackle, 14 August 1942. Depth charges of the era could hold as much as 600 pounds of high explosives. (Royal Navy, Imperial War Museum Collection) | 180. USCGC
Icaraus
(WPC-110) in Charleston Navy Yard May 10th 1942 unloading German
prisoners from the U- 352 which she had just sunk off the coast
of Florida. (US Navy Photo) |
181. Coast Guardsmen on the deck of the cutter Spencer (WPG-36) watch the explosion of a depth charge during the attack which sunk the U-175 on April 17, 1943. (US Coast Guard, Photo #1517 by Jack January) |
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| 182. USCGC
Algonquin (WPG-75)
provided escort duty to numerous North Atlantic convoys and distinguished herself
by picking up survivors from torpedoed ships in rough seas while placing herself
in danger. (US Coast Guard 1943 Photo #4287) |
183. Y-Gun Depth charges
were a WWI technology. They were shot into the air from both sides
of a ship to propel them away from the launching ship to lay down a
“pattern” of underwater explosions. (U.S. Naval Historical Center) |
184. A release rack depth
charge exploding behind a Coast Guard cutter hunting U-boats. These
charges were rolled off the stern or side of a cutter by gravity and
exploded at a pre-determined depth. (Life 1941) |
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Next Time Call Somebody Else!
Pequot Gunner's Mate Roger Calamaio
told of one harrowing experience he had with a depth charge. “We were in port
and since I was a Gunners Mate I was called over to deal with a problem on a PT
boat tied up nearby. The protective cap had come off the end of one of their
depth charges and they were worried. When I opened it up I saw that the bladder
had filled up with rain and sea water and the firing pin was less than ¼ inch
from making contact. Well, everybody else cleared way the hell off that dock and
there I was by my lonesome on my hands and knees. I carefully put a little piece
of wood in front of the firing pin and very slowly got the firing mechanism out.
I was sweating like a son-of-bitch and I told them next time to call somebody
else!” |
Boston Harbor 1941-45 and "The Battle of the
Atlantic"
Photos courtesy
Pequot Quartermaster
Lou Carhart
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A convoy of supply ships and escorts
steaming East across the Atlantic1942 |
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| 184B. The Boston Navy Yard was the home port of warships of all sizes and types during World War II. In addition to resupplying vessels between tours at sea the yard repaired and modified ships and quartered seaman and officers (Naval Historical Center) | 184C. The Charleston Navy Yard during WWII built and repaired hundreds of US and Allied warships. (Naval Historical Center) |
Military installations were everywhere. The entrance to the harbor
was heavily mined, anti-submarine netting was installed, as well as fixed
harbor defense Asdics (fixed sonar), and rows of hydrophones. For extra harbor
defense Pequot laid four anti-submarine indicator loops from
East Point, Nahant in a defensive circle around
Boston Harbor to Strawberry Point, Scituate. The Charlestown
Navy Yard, within the harbor, repaired American and British ships damaged by
the Germans and built destroyer escorts.
At peak production 50,000 people labored in the shipyards. They worked seven
days a week around the clock. The harbor
was constantly bustling with the movement of Navy ships, Coast Guard
Cutters, tugboats and cargo vessels. During the “Battle of the Atlantic”
more than 3,500 allied convoy vessels and 175 warships were lost to the
German U-boats which cost the lives of 30,248 merchant sailors. Many
freighters, tankers, and supply ships steamed out of Boston Harbor by the Pequot and
disappeared over the horizon never to be seen again.
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185. A view of the Navy Yard from the Boston Coast Guard Base during WWII. |
186. The Pequot at Constitution Wharf. A large air cowl is clearly seen to the right of the stack. Sailor Roger Calamaio told of a bunk down in the crew quarters that was directly under one of those air cowl shafts, “We called it pneumonia corner. When I first came aboard that's where they stuck me. I really gave it to 'em about that later.” |
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187. A Chimo Class Auxiliary Minelayer (MMA). These ships placed mines at key points to protect Boston Harbor. A ship of this class, the Yamakraw (WARC-333) was converted by the Coast Guard for cable laying work in 1946 after the Pequot was decommissioned. |
188. USN Navy Patrol Escort (PCE) steaming into Boston Harbor - 1944. |
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189. Busy harbor scene in 1944 with East Boston in the background - tough and rusty and raw. |
190. Convoy ship in harbor |
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191. A camouflaged Crosley Class high speed transport heads to sea in search of U-boats. Lou's photos give a broader feeling of what the sailors experienced - the hustle and bustle and energy of a busy port during war time. |
192. Merchant ship cruising through Boston Harbor. A veritable rust bucket for desperate times. |
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193. USS LST-692 (later the USS Davies County). This landing ship which saw action in France passes by the Pequot. Landing barge 764 is topside which carried soldiers to the beach during invasions. Built in February of 1944, this WWII workhorse is still in service with the Philippine Navy as BRP Benguet (LT-507). (Mike Luongo) |
194, 195. During their Coast Guard careers many of the Pequot’s sailors pulled shore patrol and would have to “pound the beaches” often accompanied by specially trained German Shepherds, who with their keen sense of hearing and smell could often give sailors advance warning of an intruder. More than 2000 dogs were used by the Coast Guard to help patrol the Atlantic, Pacific and gulf coasts during WWII.“ (US Coast Guard photos) | |
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Just Vicious: Roger Calamaio said they were scary at times: “Those dogs were very alert and trained to kill. Whoever took it from the cage was it’s Master. I could spend hours with one of those dogs up and down the coast and we’d be just the best of friends. But if I put it back in it’s cage, and few minutes later somebody else took it out, and gave it the order to attack me, it would have. They could be just vicious.” |
The Great North Atlantic Hurricane of 1944
As if living in U-boat infested waters wasn't enough, the
men of the Pequot also had to deal with mother nature.
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196.
For days the storm moved in a northerly direction wreaking havoc
along the entire Atlantic Coast of North America. (NOAA Graphic) |
197. "The Loss of the USCGC Jackson” by CG Artist Dick Levesque based upon his interviews with survivors. Courtesy of the artist. See: http://www.levesque-art.com/id24.html |
198.
The hurricane caused 46 deaths and $100 million in damage in the US,
yet the worst effects were at sea where it sank five WWII Coast
Guard and Navy ships causing 344 deaths. (NASA / National Hurricane Center) |
In September of 1944 one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the Eastern Seaboard chewed its way from Florida all the way up to Canada. This Category-4 storm produced hurricane force winds over a diameter of 600 miles. Without the aid of today’s weather satellites many ships were caught at sea with deadly consequences. The Navy destroyer Warrington (DD-383) sank off the coast of Florida with a loss of 248 sailors, and the minesweeper USS YMS-409 foundered and sank with all 33 on board lost. It also claimed the Lightship Vineyard Sound (LV-73) and 12 lives. Two Guard Cutters, the Jackson (WSC-142) and the Bedloe (WSC-128), also were sunk with a loss of 48 men.
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199. The Navy destroyer Warrington (DD-383) |
200. The Coast Guard Lightship Vineyard Sound (LV-73). (US Coast Guard) |
201. A YMS Class minesweeper (this is the 419...it was the 409 that
sank).
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The Pequot was off the Coast of New England and made it through the worst of it. “The bow would plunge into those big waves and the whole ship would shudder and shake as she pulled up through each wave,” Roger Calamaio remembered. “We didn’t have water tight doors and that was no fun since half the ship seemed to be underwater at times.”
In a 1988 letter to Jim Hudlow Pequot Quatermaster George Simmons wrote how he used to envy crewman Bob Livingston during the storms. “He’d dress for the weather and go up on the Halyards and just plain enjoy the whole scene. I would spend my time amidships with a box of crackers I got from the Galley and I’d be seasick for the whole time!”
Lou Carhart has vivid memories of the Pequot riding out very rough seas. “I didn’t like being in those big 100 foot waves. While I was aboard we toughed it out through four or five very big storms. It was very scary. Once I was going up a ladder in the fo’c’sle and the ship dropped out from underneath me and I landed hard on the deck and was almost washed overboard. That North Atlantic could be a very nasty place.”
Pequot Fireman Joe Davy and Roger Calamaio rode out the hurricane down on the floor of the crew’s shower. “We were so seasick and it seemed to go on forever,” Roger said. “We were just miserable. I asked Davy while we were lying there on the deck getting tossed around, ‘So, do you think we’re gonna die?” “Oh, Guns, I’m really going to be disappointed if we don’t.”
THEY WON
The
following photos from Gunner’s Mate Roger Calamaio’s photo album were taken
in October 1945. His son Chip gives this perspective...
The war was over. The Pequot was out of harm's way. The ship and men
were safely nestled in port at Staten Island, New York. They did it. They’d
actually survived World War II.
In these photos we see them goofing around and sense their elation and
relief. It was suddenly a different world than the life they had been living
with U-boats and the threat of death constantly around them. Now it wasn’t
fixed bayonets and gunnery practice, it was smiles, and hugs, and the
ability to just be silly again.
This was probably the last time they were all together - young boys from
across America who came forward and quickly became men and became sailors.
They put their lives on the line for America. Without realizing it they had
just concluded the finest chapter of their generation.
They had served their country.
They were heroes.
Every one of them.
After all, they’d won the big one and they were all going home.
What a wonderful word.
Home.
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| 202. | 203. |
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| 204. | 205. |
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207. Sailors Joseph Davy, Leonard Elber, Clyde McFarland, Don McGrath, Fisher and Thornley - Staten Island - Oct 1945 |
208. Sailor Richard Christensen, Staten Island |
209. Sailor Alphonse Ouellette, Staten Island |
All the men who served aboard the Pequot were awarded the
World War II Campaign Ribbon for the American Theater of Operations.
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210. Discharge buttons |
211. US Campaign Ribbon. (30th Infantry Division website) |
212. "Ruptured Duck" - awarded upon discharge |
Sailing List of Officers and Enlisted Men
Attached to USCG
Pequot on February 6th 1945
As evidenced by the “(R)” next to most crew names below, during World War II, the Coast Guard suspended regular enlistments and all of the approximately 115,000 men and women who signed-up served as Reservists. That figure includes 51,000 Temporary Reservists and 12,000 members of the Women's Reserve, called The Spars. Because everyone who joined during the war were Reservists, only 8% of the 214,000 Coast Guardsmen that served during WWII were non-Reservists. At the end of hostilities most Reservists were released to inactive duty or discharged. The Spars were disbanded in July of 1947.
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L. A. SANDE, Lieutenant BENJAMIN I. MIXON, Lieut.(j.g.) CARL E. JENKINS, Chief Boatswain |
JAMES A. SWEENEY, Chief Boatswain JAMES M. BROWN, Chief Boatswain WALTER W. BOND, Chief Machinist |
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ADAMCZYK, Joseph J. F.1c. (R) APPLEBERRY, Evert.E. W.T. 2c.(R) BAKER, Arthur G. F.1c(MoMM) (R) BARNETT, Alonzo T. M.M. 3c. (R) BENNETT, William F. W.T.3c. (R) BENOIT, Roland A. Sea. 1c. (R) BROOKS, William D. S.M. 3c. BUCHHOLZER, David R. M.M. 2c. (R) CALAMAIO, Roger G.M. 2c. (R) CAMPBELL, Harry W. Sea. 1c. (R) CARHART, Louis A. Sea 1c. R) CARTER, Clarence J. St.M.3c(R) CASTALDI, Anello J. M.M. 1c(R) CHRISTENSEN, Richard R. Sea. 1c(R) CIDONI, Steven T. Sea. 1c.(R) CLINE, Theodore E. M.M. 3c.(R) COPPO, Martin A. B.M. 1c DAVY, Joseph A. F.1c.(R) DOWLING, Kenneth M. R.M.3c ELBER, Leonard Sea. 1c. (R) EVANS, Russell D. Sea. 1c. (R)
FREIERMUTH, Paul R. Sea. 1c. (R) FRONTLE [FRONTEL], Adolph H. Q.M. 3c. (R) GILLENWATER, Elmer D. Sea. 1c. (R) HATHAWAY, Henry M. C.C. Std. HATHAWAY, Robert H. C.M.M.
JACHEC, Theodore J. C.M.M. |
JENKINS, Lester K. Sea. 1c. (R) JUSEK, John J. Sea. 1c. (R) KEEFE, Richard B. E.M. 1c(R) LISA, John D. F.1c (MoMM) (R) LIVINGSTON, Robert L. Q.M. 2c(R) LOWRY, Eldon L. F.1c. (R) LUONGO, Michael Sea. 1c(R) McCLELLAN, Clarence E. M.M.3c. (R) McCONNELL, Mervin O. Sea. 1c. (R) McCORMACK, John J. R.M. 1c. McELMOYL, Robert W. Cox. (R) McFARLAND, Clyde J. Sea. 1c. (R) McGRATH, Donald M. R.T. 3c. (R) MOORE, William S. S.K. 1c. (R) NELSON, Neil C. Sea. 1c. (R) OUELLETTE, Alphonse J. Sea.1c. (R) PALENSCAR, Arthur G. MoMM.1c. (R) POUNDS, Wilbert W. Ph.M. 2c. QUIN, Paul E. Sea. 1c. (R) ROBERTS, Isiah St. M. 2c. (R) RYAN, James F. B.M. 2c. (R) SANDS, Harris A. S.C. 3c. (R) SEALE, Leslie J. M.M. 2c. (R) SHERLOCK, William H. B.M. 2c(R) SIMMONS, George G. Q.M. 2c. SIMMONS, Lester H. St. 1c. (R) SULLIVAN, Patrick J. E.M.1c.(Tel)(R) WIESE, Orris S.C. 1c. ZINNER, Norman M. Y. 1c (R) |
Three additional last names were hand written on the bottom of the shipping
list, Pearce, Fisher, Campbell K.
It can be assumed they joined the crew after the Feb 6th [1945] list was typed up.
Paul Fleming's name was struck out in pen on the original, so he must have left
the crew around Feb 6th.
Pequot Crew Occupational Abbreviations
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B.M. |
Boatswain's Mate |
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R.T. |
Radio Technician |
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Cox. |
Coxswain |
S.C. |
Ship's Cook |
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E.M. |
Electrician's Mate |
Sea. |
Seaman |
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F. |
Fireman |
S.K. |
Storekeeper |
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G.M. |
Gunner's Mate |
S.M. |
Signalman |
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MM |
Machinist's Mate |
St. M. |
Steward's Mate |
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MoMM |
Motor Machinst's Mate |
W.T. |
Water Tender |
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Ph M |
Pharmacist's Mate |
Y. |
Yeoman |
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Q.M. |
Quartermaster |
1c |
1st Class |
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(R) |
US Coast Guard Reserve |
2c |
2nd Class |
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R.M |
Radioman |
3c |
3rd Class |
213. Click image to enlarge |
See: http://www.history.navy.mil/books/OPNAV20-P1000/A.htm
Acknowledgements and Contributors
|
Pequot Crew Members |
| Louis A. Carhart- Pequot Quartermaster Jim H. Hudlow - Pequot Chief Yeoman Mike Luongo - Pequot Seaman Stephan T. Cidoni Sr. - Pequot Seaman |
| Family Members |
|
Lee Coppo - Wife of Boatswain's Mate Martin A. Coppo |
| Contributors and Research Assistance |
| Dr.
Richard Walding - Griffith University. Brisbane, Australia Christopher B. Havern - Commandant, US Coast Guard History Office Jeffrey L. Bowdoin - US Coast Guard History Office William H.Thiesen - Atlantic Area Historian, US Coast Guard History Office Joanie Gearin, National Archives and Records Administration, Boston MA Mark C. Mollan - National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC Matthew DiBiase - National Archives and Records Administration-Mid Atlantic Region Kim Y. McKeithan - National Archives and Records Administration, Deck Logs Daryl D. Bottoms - National Archives and Records Administration, Cartographic Section James Konicek - National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD Nathaniel S. Patch - National Archives and Records Administration, Textual Archives Services Still Picture Reference Team - National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD Ken Liden - 83 Footers and Auxiliary Fleet Escort Vessels Lawrence Levine - 83 footers and PT Boats Daniel Treadwell - Submarine Chaser SC-1296 Ted Treadwell - Submarine Chasers Charlie Sproule - Officer on SC-699 Ramon Jackson - Army Mine Planters and USS Trapper Carson Calamaio - Civil War Pequot and Sister Ships Dale Sauter - Joyner Library, East Carolina University Bill Burns - Cable Ship. Robert C. Clowry Patrick Clancey - LST-692 History Jim Flynn - General Samuel M. Mills Photo Robert Hanshew - US Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo Curator Dina G. Linn - U.S. Army Transportation Museum, Museum Technician Janis Jorgensen - US Naval Institute, Heritage Collection Manager Dick Levesque - The Sinking of the USCGC Jackson Matt Herbison - Archives and Library Director, Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia PA Jim Bauer - The sinking of the General Royal T. Frank Remo - Naval Warfare Ship Photo Sources Kreama Nut Company, Columbus, OH Chris Whalen - Coastal Reclamation Co. - Cable Sample Mike Rogers - Fort Miles, Delaware for the Army Mine Planter Service insignia 2nd Lt. Candace Rogers, Second Service Command Public Relations, Fort Miles, Delaware. Mitch Williamson - Photos of Japanese KD6 submarine Suzanne Christoff, Associate Director for Special Collections and Archives, US Military Academy Library, West Point Casey Madrick - Archivist, US Military Academy Library, West Point Stephen P. Carlson - Preservation Specialist, Boston National Historic Park, Charlestown Navy Yard Gerald Butler - Author and Military Historian Randy L. Goss, Coordinator of Accessioning and Processing, Delaware Public Archives |
|
A special thanks to Linda Walding and Carolyn Barbier for the support and encouragement. |
Web hosting courtesy of
Codehaus
http://codehaus.org/
| Bibliography |
The Blue Jackets’ Manual United States Navy, 11th Edition 1940. United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland Coast Guard Version of Bluejackets’ Manual 1940, Chapters 18 to 22 United States Coast Guard, October 20, 1943 The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II, Malcolm E. Willoughby Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 1957 Bloodstained Sea, The U.S.Coast Guard in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1941-1944 Michael G. Walling, International Marine / McGraw-Hill 2005 Prints In The Sand, The U.S. Coast Guard Beach Patrol During World War II Eleanor C. Bishop. Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. 1989 The Story of the U.S. Coast Guard, Eugene Rachlis Landmark Books / Random House 1961 Smartest Ship Afloat!, Bill Reiche Popular Mechanics Magazine April 1947 The United States Coast Guard - A Pictorial History Gene Gurney, Crown Publishers, New York 1973 Splinter Fleet, Theodore R. Treadwell Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 2000 The Military History of Boston’s Harbor Islands, Gerald Butler Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina 2000 Inventory of Historic Light Stations 1994 US Department of the Interior, National Park Service Nautical Rules of the Road, US Coast Guard United States Government Printing Office 1943 Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30,1906 Volume IV Government Printing Office 1906
United
States Coast Guard - Its Purpose and Activities in War
and Peace The Arma Gyro Compass, Simplex
Equipment MK. 7 MOD. 4 The Sperry Gyro Compass, Mark XIV
Mod.1, Instructions 17-1400 D Introduction to Radio Equipment, Navy
Training Course, NAVPERS 10172 Catalogue of Naval Electronic
Equipment - NavShips 900,116 US Navy Visual Call Sign Book, DNC 4
(A) Ships of the United States Navy and
Their Sponsors The Ships and Aircraft of the United
States Fleet, James C. Fahey U.S Army Ships and Watercraft of World
War II, David H. Grover U.S. Coast Guard Cutters and Craft of
World War II, Robert L. Scheina Warships of the Civil War Navies, Paul
Silverstone Allied Escort Ships of World War II,
Peter Elliot
Building the Navy's Bases in World War II
The United States Coast Guard in World
War II, Thomas P. Ostrom |
Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright. The authors would welcome any information from people who believe their photos have been used without due credit. Some photos have been retouched to remove imperfections but otherwise they are true to the original.
If you have any further details of USN
harbor defences
or antisubmarine harbor defences in general (Indicator Loops and Harbour
Defence Asdic) that may help with this research project please email me at the
address at the top of the page.
Richard Walding
LINKS TO RELATED PAGES:
Indicator Loops around the World (Home Page)
How an indicator loop works
United States Navy Loop Receiving Stations
