Tlvo Years and Four Destroyer Escorts by W
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Tlvo Years and Four Destroyer Escorts By W. Donald Hanlon W. Donald Hanlon (1922-2016) was bom in Syracuse, Jones and Al Baum) and somehow or other. we must have NY. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1943, gotten real patriotic and decided that we should look into Don enrolled in the Navy and served on four destroyer joining the U.S. Navy. It was only a few days later when escort ships USS JOHNNIE HUTCHINS (DE-360). we were headed fbr Rochester where there was a Naval USS WYFFELS (DE-6), USS OLIVER MITCHELL (DE- Reserve office. We went through all of the necessary 417), and USS KEITH (DE-241)-from 1944 to 1946, forms and physical examination necessary for joining the earning the rank of Lieutenant. With encouragement from Naval Reserve. It was only a short while later that we were his children, he wrote the following autobiographical notified that we would be sent to officer training facilities account of his experience in the Navy. with Ace Jones going to Columbia University and Al Baum and I being assigned to Annapolis for 4 months of mid- shipman training in preparation for becoming naval offi- Because of the Big War (a name used for the war at that cers. My parents thought that this was a very imponant time), our program at Syracuse University was accelerated and patriotic program. by scheduling classes during the summer of 1943 and mov- ing graduation up to the end of 1943. Our group at Annapolis was assigned to a wing in Bancroft Hall and the regular navy midshipman didn't Harold Smith and I had accepted job offers from an oil have much use for us. The f'eeling was somewhat mutual company in Texas, name unknown after all these years, and slnce our groups were comprised of college graduates I to were making plans accordingly. Harold's plans were 4 years older than the regulars. We all ate in the main din- somewhat diff'erent than mine because he had recently ing hall with our group having its own section. It was manied his childhood sweetheart. interesting to see that some of the first year regulars lagged behind when headrng for the dining hall so that rheir own It was only a few days later when I found myself in the section would already be filled and they would then spill SU campus Orange Grill having a beer and talking with over into our section, where we would feed them royally. ,.Ace" two non-chemical engineering colleagues (Bob Furthermore, as plebes in our section, these fellows did not Don's first destroyer escorl, IJSS DE-360. have to participate in the usual hazing where they might, of the rest rooms. Fortunately, about 4 hours later, the con for example, have to change places by going under the ductor was on the ball and transferred me to a warm bunl table and taking their chairs with them. sleeper where the occupant had reached his goal. I was ir New Orleans overnight and had an excellent dinner in i The regulars at the Academy had periodic night duty very nice setting at the Court of the Three Sister responsibilities and would on occasion unknowingly come Restaurant. over into our area and call us to attention for a room inspection. The response was somewhat negative and we The next moming, I was on a train again headed fo suggested in various forms of English that they go away Orange, Texas. I arrived in Orange on schedule and imme and not bother us. diately headed to the Naval Base only to find that JOHN NIE HUTCHINS was already underway and backing dowr I will never forget the day when our detail went in sec- about 15 feet from the dock. DE-360 was headed fo tions to the indoor swimming pool where we had to pass a Galveston, Texas. The staff at Orange came to my rescu( test, which required swimming across the pool underwater. immediately and arranged for one of their station wagonr For some reason or other, one of the many ensigns assigned to take me immediately about 90 miles along the coas to our group had led us to the pool for the test and then toward Galveston to a landing where DE-360 could picl decided to have one of us lead the group back. Well, the me up. fellow who had been assigned the responsibility was doing a great job right up until we approached our building, After I boarded, we proceeded to Galveston for a shor which was Bancroft Hall. As we arrived at Bancroft Hall, stay and enjoyment of the city. Recalling that Harold Smitl our fearless leader yelled out "Squad...", which was the and I had accepted engineering positions with an oil com prep command for stopping. It tumed out that according to pany in this area of Texas before I had decided to join thr the ensign, this was not a squad and therefore not the cor- Navy, I began a search with the hope of finding the Smiths rect command. We kept marching while our leader tried The search was successful and we had an enjoyable ge other prep commands, which also failed. When we started together at their home for an interesting review of ou going through the bushes and on to the roadway, our frus- respective experiences during the past year. trated leader turned to the ensign and shouted, "Ah shit, sir, I can't stop them. You had better take over." Well, the After a short stay at Galveston, DE-360 departed for i effect was beyond description, and even the ensign had shakedown assignment at Bermuda. This was quite ar trouble maintaining his professional appearance. interesting experience and especially so when considerinl that it was about the time that acoustic torpedoes werr Our class graduated from Annapolis on August 23, introduced into naval warfare. These torpedoes werr 1944. Dad, and Mom came down from Syracuse for the attracted to noise and as a result would head for the pro ceremony with Aunt Mae. It was an emotional day for all pellers, or screws, of any targeted vessels. Another ensigr the families, with the big parade and the Navy Band play- and I were very sensitive to the potential with acoustic tor ing. There was not a dry eye anywhere. After graduation, I left Annapolis and returned to Syracuse while awaiting my next orders. My first active assignment following Annapolis was to the new Destroyer Escort (DE) U.S.S. JOHNNIE HUTCHINS (DE-360), which was built in Orange, Texas. I left Syracuse by train and upon arriving in New York City found that the New York Central had lost my entire luggage. I was immediate- ly taken to one of the largest warehouses I had ever seen and to the internal area where my luggage might be. Fortunately after about 2 hours, I sighted my luggage on top of one of the hundreds of piles and immediately rushed, with luggage, to the next train headed for New Orleans. The next run was also quite interesting in that the sleep- er reservation was already occupied and I ended up in one Don Hanlon in 1914 and 2016. page 4 {-'.- \- -,t Don's second ship, tne eraisias" 0W. pedoes since our stateroom was located right in the stem had seen for transportation to Boston. There was some of the ship, directly over the screws. concem about the take-off on that flight. During this shakedown cruise, a land based officer I reported on board WYFFELS in the Boston harbor who had requested some short-term sea duty for the extra where preparation had started for the next p-ay potential had convoy assign_ been assigned to our ship for this project. ment. was I assigned to the Engineering staff, bui also had He was also bunked in our stateroom and as a result we deck duty assignments as a Junior Officer the didn't see much of him unless of Deck we were in the wardroom up (JOOD) for the convoy forward run to the Mediterranean. Convoy where he spent all of his time day and night. runs can be exciting and this one was, at times until we passed Gibraltar. We did, however, have a sub contact in Bermuda was an interesting place and we had a great the Mediterranean and depth charges time there when port were dropped all visits were necessary. Upon comple_ over the area, tion but without a confirmation. The htmeport of our shakedown assignment, we headed for the for the convoy screen was Oran, Algeria. The big event States and the tail end of a hurricane, in which was quite Oran was a two-handed touch severe and football game bet-ween the responsible for the sinking of a destroyer. We officers and crew. The game was somewhat of a toss_up brought about 40-50 survivors who had been picked up by was occasionally, for some reason an aircraft carrier into Norfoh. lndJhere or other, some hard hitting at the line of scrimmage. We left Norfolk york and headed for New City where Somehow four of received us were able to borrow a jeep and I orders transferring me to the U.S. Naval drive inland to the town of Sidi-bel_Abbes (Algeria) where Training Center in Miami, Florida. For the last day at the we had lunch at a Oranian military club. Florida training center, I was scheduled for an atandon ship exercise, which required a jump into the ocean from a Our retum convoy trip to the United States was some_ platform 35 ft above the water levei.