Admiral David W. Bagley-- Part 3: World War I and the Sinking of the USS Jacob Jones

During the first month of 1917, Bagley  moved from the command of the USS Drayton (DD-23) to the USS Jacob Jones (DD-61).  By May 1917, his ship was conducting anti-submarine patols and convoy escort duties in the western approaches to the British Islands.  Later, his area of operations widened to include the Irish Sea and English Channel.

In December 6, 1917, the Jacob Jones left Brest Harbor, France,   At about 1621 that afternoon, the watch spotted a torpedo wake.  The destroyer tried to avoid it, but it struck the ship's starboard side and pierced the fuel oil tank.

Though Bagley and his crew worked frantically to save the ship, it went down within eight minutes, carrying 64 out of 99 crewmen with it.  Bagley and 37 others made it into the icy waters in boats and rafts. Thanks to the humanitarian effort by the German U-boat skipper Hans Rose, who radioed their location to Queenstown, they were picked up by December 8.

Bagley was given the Navy Distinguished Service Cross for his role.

--Cooter

USS Jacob Jones (DD-61)-- Part 4: The Sinking

In early December, the Jacob Jones helped escort a convoy to Brest, France, with five other Queenstown-based destroyers.  The last to depart from Brest and return to Ireland was the Jones and was steaming alone along a zig-zag pattern when she was spotted by  the German submarine U-53.  At 16:20 on December 6, 1917,  lookouts on the American ship spotted a torpedo 800 yards distant headed for the ship's starboard side.

Despite having her rudder put hard left and emergency speed rung up, the Jones was unable to move out of the way and the torpedo struck her rudder.  Even though the depth charges did not explode, the ship went adrift.  The jolt had knocked out the power, so the destroyer was unable to  send a distress signal since she was steaming alone.

No other ship was present that would know of the Jacob Jones' predicament.

--Cooter

Wreck of First U.S. Destroyer Lost to Enemy Action Found: The USS Jacob Jones

From the August 19, 2022, Chicago Tribune "WW I Navy destroyer."

The wreck of the first U.S. Navy destroyer lost to enemy action has been found off the coast of southwest England, 105 years after it was sunk by a German submarine.

A team of British divers announced the find on Facebook last week saying it was thrilled to have located the World War I ship, the USS Jacob Jones, about sixty nautical miles south of Newlyn, a fishing harbor in Cornwall.

More than a century ago, in 1917, after the United States entered World War I against Germany, the Jacob Jones left Boston for Ireland, whetre it performed rescue operations, picking up survivors from British steamships that had been hit by German submarines and escorting convoys through dangerous waters.

On December 6, 1917, the Jacob Jones left Brest, France, for Queenstown, Ireland, according to U.S. Naval records.  About 20 miles off the coast of southern England, a German submarine torpedoed the Jones.  There were seven officers and 103 crew members aboard the ship.  Eight minutes later, the ship sank, and 64 men  lost their lives.

--Cooter

The USS New York (LPD-21), The Twin Towers Risen

Earlier this month, I wrote several entries on the USS Green Bay (LPD-20).

I am currently writing about the sister ship of the USS Green Bay (LPD-21), the USS New York (LPD-21) in my Running the Blockade:  Civil War Navy blog.  This is in commemoration of 9/11 tomorrow.

Today's U.S. Navy ships  are given state names if they are submarines, but this surface ship was given the name New York to honor the New Yorkers who died twenty years ago.  This ship received the name because it is a primary ship used against terrorists and, in addition, has some of the World Trade Center in her.

September 2 Events: Atlanta, the 'Big Stick', George H.W. Bush, USS Missouri, Vietnam, Integration and the Titanic

From "On Sept. 2" from Sep. 2, 2021, Chicago Tribune.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1864--  During the Civil War, Union Gen. William Sherman's army occupied Atlanta, Georgia.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1901--  Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice:  "Speak softly and carry a big stick" in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1930--  The first non-stop airplane flight between Europe and the U.S. was completed in 37 hours.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1844--  During WW II, Navy pilot George Herbert Walker Bush was shot down by Japanese forces as he completed a bombing run over the Bonin Islands.  (Bush was rescued by the submarine USS Finback; his two crew members, however, died.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1945--  Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the battleship USS Missouri, ending WW II.

Also this date, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent republic.  And, we know where that led.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1963--  Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1985-- It was announced that a U.S.-French expedition had located the wreckage of the Titanic about 560 miles off Newfoundland.

--Cooter

U.S. Warships: USS Bowfin (SS-287)-- Part 2

Picture of the museum ship USS Bowfin taken on the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The Bowfin was not there at the time, but was launched exactly one year after the attack, December 7, 1942.

The crew of the Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN-776) man the rails aboard World War II museum ship USS Bowfin (SS-287) to shoot a spirit spot for FOX Sports to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

FOX Sports is returning to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to telecast four college basketball games live on December 6 and December 7.

Participants include the University of Hawai'i, University of California, Princeton University and Seton Hall University.

--Cooter

U.S. Warships: USS Bowfin, Pearl Harbor Museum Ship

From the Paralyzed Veterans of America April 2021 calendar.

This is a museum ship located in Pearl Harbor by the USS Arizona Museum.

************************************

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

BUILDER:  Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

LAUNCHED:  December 7, 1942

HOMEPORT:  Honolulu, Hawaii

DISPLACEMENT:  Approximately 1,525 tons (surface), 2,412 tons (submerged)

LENGTH:  312 feet

CREW:  63 enlisted, 7 officers

ARMAMENT:  Ten 21" torpedo tubes (6 forward, 4 aft)

24 torpedoes

One 5" /.25 caliber deck gun, plus various combinations of antiaircraft guns.

--Cooter

Another White Star Line Triple Survivor, Arthur John Priest-- Part 2: Also on the Titanic and Britannic (and Two Others)

The following year, 1912, Mr. Priest was on the Olympic's sister ship, the newly launched Titanic on her maiden run into history.  A massive layoff among  stokers caused many of his comrades to lose their jobs, but Priest was "lucky" enough to get a position deep in the bowels of the ill-fated ship.

He was one of the few lucky crew members to survive.

But, this wasn't the last time he nearly died on a shipwreck.

His World War I service saw him aboard the ocean liner turned armed merchant ship RMS Alcantara which was sunk by the German merchant raider Grief.  He survived that as well.  He later served aboard the sister ship of the Titanic and Olympic, the Britannica which had been turned into a hospital ship.  She hit a mine and sank in November 1916.

The following year, the luckiest unlucky sailor in history was  serving aboard the SS Donegal, a converted ferry that had become an ambulance ship.  She was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the English Channel.

He survived that one too, but that was his last ship.  After this one, he lived out his life on dry land, saying that "no one wished to sail with him after these disasters."  (I don't blame them.)  He also had the title "The Unsinkable Stoker."

I Would Figure.  --Cooter

Norfolk Naval Shipyard Turns 250

From the October 2, 2017, Virginia-Pilot (Norfolk)  "Ironclad Legacy:  Norfolk Naval Shipyard older than the nation and the Navy, turns 250."  Robert  McCabe.

You can see the famed Hammerhead Crane from 1940.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, is the Navy's oldest and largest shipyard turns 250 on October 15.

Today, it services highly-secured nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers by 10,500 civilians and 750 military personnel.

The carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and submarine USS Rhode Island are there right now.

Naval Station Norfolk is the world's largest Navy base and that turns 100 this year.

--Cooter

In Case You're Wondering About the Submarine at the Top of This Blog

From Wikipedia.

This is the German submarine SM U-118, one of 329 submarines Germany had during World War I.

It was commissioned in May 1918.  During the war, it sank two Allied ships.  With the surrender of the German Imperial Navy later that year, the SM U-118 was transferred to Fraallience and was to be broken up.  As it was being towed through the English Channel to Scapa Flow a storm was encountered and the towing hawser broke and the ship ran aground at Hastings in Sussex, England.

Attempts to get her off or destroy her failed.  The ship then became a popular tourist attraction.  definitely something you don't see that often on a beach.  Tours were made of the interior.

It was broken up between October and December 1919.  Part of the keel may still be buried in the beach.

Anyone Have a Shovel?  --Cooter

15 Military Weapons That Changed the World-- Part 1

I'd have to call them Weapons, though.

From the May 24, 2020, Hot Cars site"15 Military Vehicles That Changed the World. Go to the site to find more information.  I'm just listing here.

15.  Wright Military Flyer  (airplane)

14.  British Mark I Tank  (WWI)

13.  French Voisin III  (WW I airplane)  First true bomber

12.  USS Monitor

11.  HMS Dreadnaught  (WW I)

10.  HMS Hermes  (First designed aircraft carrier)

9.  U-boat  (WW I and WW II)

--Cooter

America's Long Line of Presidential Military Heroes-- Part 4: More World War II Presidents

World War II presidents, continued.

Richard Nixon, Navy,  began the war in Iowa, despite its lack of a coast, then was transferred to the Pacific where he never saw action either.  Gerald Ford was on an aircraft carrier and won ten battle stars.  Jimmy Carter was still a cadet at the U.S. Naval Academy during WW II and served on submarines and battleships in the late 1940s and 1950s and never saw action.

Ronald Reagan , who many thing never served, enlisted in the Army in 1942 but was classified 4F due to bad eyesight and remained stateside.

Of course, there was also George H.W. Bush, who flew planes off the USS San Jacinto aircraft carrier during the war and almost lost his life when he was shot down.  The other man in his plane did die.  Bush was rescued by a submarine.

--GreGen

Deaths: Charles Sanna-- Part 4: Parents Were Italian Immigrants, Served in WW II

Charles Albert Sanna was born in Philadelphia on Nov. 9,1917.  Both parents were Italian immigrants.  His father came to the U.S. at age 13 and later managed a dairy company in Philadelphia, and ice cream company in Washington and a gelatin operation in Chicago.

The family eventually settled in Madison, Wisconsin where Charles graduated high school and attended the University of Wisconsin and received a degree in mechanical engineering in 1939.  He joined the Navy two years later and rose through the ranks to become a superintendent of submarine construction at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine.

While there, he met Margaret "Peggy" McGee and they married in 1946.

After WW II, Sanna's father convinced him to join the family dairy business, then known as Sanna Dairy Engineers.  This proved crucial to the company as he designed a 60-foot-tall stainless steel dryer in Menominee  that powdered milk and died eggs.

Even though his postwar career was mostly involved with dairy, he never forgot the men who served on his submarines during the war.  I'll write about that in my Tattooed On Your Soul: World War II blog later today.

--Cooter

Deaths: Charles Sanna and His Swiss Miss Cocoa Mix-- Part 1: Built Submarines in WW II

CHARLES SANNA  (1917-2019)

From the April 5, 2019, Chicago Tribune  "He poured genius into Swiss Miss cocoa mix" by
Harrison Smith, Washington Post.

And, he was a builder of submarines during World War II and invented towering spray dryers.  But, he was best-known for his Swiss Miss cocoa mix.  I sure had a lot of that while growing up.

"Fiddling at his kitchen stove in the late 1950s, standing over a pot of creamer, sugar, cocoa and vanilla, Charles Sanna... was on the verge of a culinary breakthrough."

At the time, he was chief engineer at Sanna Dairies, a Wisconsin business founded by his father, an Italian immigrant who sold his own mozzarella and ricotta.  During the Korean War they had supplied the U.S. military with powdered sweetened whole milk coffee creamer.

To avoid penalties written into Army contracts for failing to make enough creamer, the company had overproduced the creamer and now had warehouses full of the stuff

Something  needed to be done with it and Charles decided to do something about it.

USS Fulton (AS-1)-- Part 3: Service By the Panama Canal

I have been writing about the USS Fultons that have been in the U.S. Navy over the years, starting with the first one at the end of the War of 1812 in my Not So Forgotten blog, the second one which was in the Civil War in my Running the Blockade blog and the third one here in this blog.

There was also a 4th Fulton that served in WW I  and the fifth and last one served in World War II and during the nuclear submarine age.  I'll be writing about the fourth one in this blog and the last one in my WW II blog.

The USS Fulton (AS-1) was the first navy ship specifically built to take care of submarines in 1914 as that branch was growing.

During this time, the Fulton took part in maneuvers and war games  and served as station ship in New London.  In 1923, she was reassigned as a tender to the submarine fleet at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone. During he next years, the Fulton took part in exercises off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the canal.  It returned to Philadelphia in 1925, was decommissioned and placed in reserve.

--Cooter

USS Fulton (AS-1)-- Part 2: Sponsored By the Granddaughter of Robert Fulton

Laid Down 2 October 1913, launched 6 June 1914,  commissioned 7 December 1914, decommissioned  5 October 1925, recommissioned 2 September 1930, reclassified as a gunboat (PG-49) and decommissioned  12 May 1934.  Scrapped 1934.

226.6 feet long, 35 foot beam,   complement 6 officers and 129 enlisted.  Armament two 3-inch and one 1-pdr. antiaircraft gun.

Originally to be named the USS Niagara, but renamed  Fulton 10 Feb. 1913.  Launched  6 June 1914 at New London Ship and Engine  Company, Groton, Connecticut.  The ship was sponsored by Mrs. A.T. Sutcliffe, granddaughter of Robert Fulton, for whom the ship was named.

During her first six months, the Fulton tended submarines in Norfolk,  Charleston, New York and  Newport, then, after overhaul, arrived in New London on 2 November 1915 and became  the base ship for the newly-formed Submarine School in 1918.  Through 1922, this was her main base of operations with submarines along the U.S. east coast.

--Cooter

USS Fulton (AS-1)-- Part 1: The Third USS Fulton 1914-1934

From Wikipedia.

I have been writing about the first USS Fulton in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog.  It was originally named USS Demologos and was designed by Robert Fulton.  When he died, the name was changed in his honor.  It did not see much service.

The second USS Fulton was launched in 1837 and was destroyed during the Civil War and I am writing about that in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Naval Blog.

Well, this i the third USS Fulton, so I figured to go ahead and write about it in my Cooter's History Thing blog, so here goes.

The USS Fulton (AS-1) was a submarine tender launched in 1914 in the early years of the submarine service.  It was reclassified as a gunboat (PG-49) in 1930 and decommissioned in 1934.  It was teh first U.S. Navy ship designed specifically for tending to submarines.

--Cooter

USS Grebe (AM-43)-- Part 2: Sinking A Sub, Hurricane Work and Towing the USS Constitution

Continued from April 23, 2019.

The Grebe's next duty was to depth charge target submarine G-1 (SS-19 1/2) which she did on June 23.  The ship was involved in other operations along the U.S. East Coast until  decommissioned in 1922.  Near the end of the year the Grebe was recommissioned and stationed in the Caribbean.

Hurricane Rescue Work

In 1930, the Grebe rushed to the aide of the Dominican republic where a hurricane had caused much destruction  Carrying trained medical men and emergency supplies, she was the first ship to reach the island where she remained for two weeks.

Towing the USS Constitution

This is where I talked about the Grebe in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog.

The Grebe returned to Boston in 1931 and on 12 July took tow of the historic sailing frigate USS Constitution.  A long campaign had been waged to provide financing to restore the historic ship to her original condition and the Grebe spent nearly the next three years as her tender and towing ship.

They visited nearly every  major American port on both the East and West Coasts.  Millions of Americans thrilled to the sight of the "Old Ironsides."    Some of the stops were in New York City, Washington, D.C., Norfolk, Key West Galveston, Guantanamo,   Los Angeles, Seattle, Bellingham, Portland and the Panama Canal Zone.

After that, the Grebe was transferred to the West Coast.

It was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and I will write about the Grebe's experience there and in the rest of WW II in my Tattooed On Your Soul World War II blog next month.

--CootTowing

WWI, September 30, 1918: USS Ticonderoga Sunk

SEPTEMBER 30, 1918

The USS Ticonderoga is sunk in the mid-Atlantic by the German submarine U-152, killing 214 men (113 sailors and 101 soldiers).

--Cooter

WW I Sep. 26, 1918: C.G. Cutter Tampa Sunk

SEPTEMBER 26, 1918

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa is torpedoed and sunk in the Bristol Channel, off England.

115 American lives are lost.

--Cooter