Two websites offer surprising interior views of the Patrick, pictures that showed it to be in a disheveled state but not nearly as decrepit as the Patrick’s fading and rusting exterior would suggest. Fort Mason appeared on our port side and the Patrick eased into one of its piers. She passed away in Brownsville, Texas in the summer of 2010. 19 Crossing the Dateline; March 1962. Acadia While sitting in the forward head, attempting to ignore fellow naturalists, one might read a book or daydream, perhaps contemplating the ship’s bow just a few feet away. Twenty-four hours of our lives—lost in the blink of an eye. Bay Bridge is in background; May 3, 2010 (Courtesy of David Walker as posted on Cruisepage.com on May 3, 2010) [xii] While others, like USNS General Patrick and a similar troopship tied up alongside, USNS General Pope, were in extremely poor condition. The biggest surprise for us was the eight inches of snow on the ground. By the time most GIs straggled out on deck the next morning, the General Patrick had resumed its westerly course and Oahu was far behind. A lot was happening on the other side of those steel plates. U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning IIs with the15th Marine Expeditionary Unit prepare to land on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island in the Indian Ocean, Dec. 18, 2020. The two rows occupied a raised platform and a channel of perhaps four inches deep ran down the center. One of the other guys, John Sebring, also rented a surfboard for a dollar more. Perhaps being in the army, a ground-pounder on terra firma, was not such a bad idea. I guess the hypothesis for those intellectuals following this line was that the crackers absorbed excess water in the stomach, thereby preventing the water from mimicking the wave action of the ocean outside the porthole, and keeping faces from turning green. Seeing the Patrick in this condition evoked a feeling of sadness that the old lady should be left to wither away at anchor; her usefulness and value to the nation only the stuff of memories. From the waist gun port of a B-24; May 2009. In Figure 46 tugs are pushing and pulling the Patrick through the narrow passage. This once proud troopship with its sleek lines and great speed-over-water had been consigned to the scrap heap, its days of glory long gone. The uniform definitely helped. )[vi], 37 Patrick turns to port and heads for BAE shipyard on April 15, 2010 (Photo by CAPT. Montford R. Tawes, USNR, in command. It was like the outside of the ship had totally disappeared into the night—a bit too inhibiting for this fighting man. But I wasted little time in reminiscing. On April 15, 2010, the ship was towed to ESCO Marine, Brownsville, Tx., for scrapping. Troops received the usual three meals a day in the mess hall—oops, make that the “galley”—but were grouped into specific meal times to minimize congestion. When nature made a calling which required a person to sit down, the soldier would make his way to this compartment. Wrecking crews with torches, wrenches and whatever it takes work from the top down at dismantling the ship piece by piece. It was the telltale clink of his zippo lighter that caught my ear. Its two anchor chains would be connected and a tow line fastened to them. Arrival time was important at Inchon, since the tides could vary by 30 feet. Even with all that, there was good news on the horizon: The ship would make a short stop at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I had fantasized about being on the Golden Gate Bridge, looking down as the Patrick passed under on her final cruise—decades after standing on her deck, looking up to see the Golden Gate slip by overhead. The remainder eventually makes its way back into the earth from whence we all came. That was when the bus returned to the Honolulu waterfront where anyone who wished could be dropped off at Waikiki. Afternoon duty was usually a piece of cake as most soldiers would leave the sleeping bay as soon as possible for the fresh air on deck. Armament, four single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts, four 1.1" quad-mount AA gun mounts replaced by four twin 40mm AA gun mounts, sixteen twin 20mm AA gun mounts It’s difficult to estimate the length of the island. Ten P2-SE2-R1 ships were ordered by the Maritime Commission in World War II. Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas Fleet Adm. C. W. Nimitz (3) Deputy Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas Vice Admiral J. H. Towers (15) Chief of Joint Staff Vice Admiral C. H. McMorris (107) BB 38 PENNSYLVANIA (Flagship) Captain C. F. Martin (427) We’d probably be required to stay on board, ogling all this from a distance while we shined our shoes and polished our brass. For a perspective of the Patrick’s size, see the person walking in the dry dock to the left of the hull in Figure 40. In a way, her life goes on in the pictures, stories and memories of those who roamed her decks. The list is in chronological order by departure date. The five ASA comrades took this option. Only eight ships were completed as troop transports for the U.S. Navy, with the last two ships canceled on 16 December 1944. The Patrick saw extensive service in the Pacific supporting the wars in Korea and Vietnam and also aiding the replenishment of forces during peacetime. After serving her country with distinction in several campaigns and winning many decorations she was put out to pasture in the Ready Reserve fleet in Suisun Bay, California. The ships were set side by side in rows that could exceed a dozen vessels. 29 Battleship USS Iowa-one of the few combatants in the Mothball Fleet; May 2009, 30 Stern of Patrick (4th ship from right), laid up beside Gen. Pope (3rd from right); May 2009, 31 Stern of Patrick and bow of Gen. Pope; May 2009, 32 Enhancing the image draws out the Patrick name and reveals extent of rust; May 2009. The Patrick spent a couple of weeks at the BAE facility shedding all those accumulated barnacles and loose paint. On the other side of those steel plates, where port and starboard sides meet, the, The back page of the newspaper contained a Master’s Report giving statistics such as the ship’s position, average speed, and distance to arrival. The Patrick headed west following the late afternoon sun as perhaps 1,500 of us filled its grey decks and cabins. Your business was your neighbor’s business also. It was Thursday, March 8, 1962 as I stood on the deck of troopship USNS, The army contingent on the ship consisted mostly of infantry troops. The grey lady is now part of the past. The second and third bunks in the stack were the most desirable and the first to go when the boarding started. Edwin Daviess Patrick, born 11 January 1894 at Tell City, Ind., entered the Indiana National Guard 11 February 1915 and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Infantry 21 March 1917. 1942 World War II Troop Ship Crossings Crossings - July Through December If you have information about a crossing, please submit your information. When the General Patrick arrived at Inchon on that March morning in 1962, there must have been very few soldiers who did not welcome the return to solid ground. United States Navy USS Independence CV-62 Aircraft Carrier Ship Emblem Patch Hat Navy Blue Baseball Cap. On the Patrick, our bunks were stacked four-high, down both sides of each passenger bay. Scrapping was completed on January 25, 2011. The core of these pages devoted to Troopships of World War II are the records of crossings made during the period 1941-46, which is maintained by Wesley Johnson at the Dad's War web site. But oddly enough, the highlight of our tour occurred when it ended. Selected Troopships of WWII - Scroll down to see total list. Edwin D Patrick and her sister ship, U.S.N.S. Over the last half dozen or more years there has been considerable clamor and concern expressed by environmentalists, marine biologists, and others about the damage the decaying ships of the Mothball Fleet were causing to the waters of the bay and the resultant detrimental effects on marine life. At Honolulu, from the 75th Station Hospital, 69 nurses; 1563rd Engr., 7 officers and 191 enlisted men; 3024th QM, 1 officer and 55 enlisted men; 3020th Engr., 4 officers and 103 enlisted men. Although the sky was overcast, the early sun was fighting its way through the clouds and over the mountains as we stared across at hotels, palm trees and beaches. Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG (Ret.) Also on the agenda was a visit to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific—the Punchbowl—the final resting place for vets of WWI, WWII and Korea. Even so, I had no inside knowledge of just when this would occur. $4.99 + $1.00 Shipping. The Lucky Seven were assigned to the 508, On being ferried ashore at Inchon on that Saturday morning, I looked back at the grey hull of the, By the time I left Korea 12 months later, most troops were traveling back to the states in aircraft of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). Staring at the ocean also absorbed lots of time. In photos of September 2010 I could make out the rows of ships but not enough to identify specific vessels. Early on Tuesday, March 13, 1962 the General Patrick approached the Island of Oahu from the east, keeping the Island of Molokai off the port side. I held fast to the ladder and hoped for the best. It loomed foreboding and uninhabited, with sheer, dark brown, rocky cliffs, perhaps 150 to 200 feet high, rising sharply out of the sea. That’s when I ran across Peter Knego’s article of May 7, 2010 “Pursuing the U.S.N.S. The mystery of the, (According to NavSource Online (http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22124.htm). There I’d take out paper and pencil and begin writing a few lines…Hello Honey, it’s 2:30 in the morning and all is quiet on the Patrick. The aromas were not all that bad, so I assume we were not sitting under vents with a direct connection to the head (ship’s toilet). If you have information about a crossing, please submit your information.. Our group spent about an hour enjoying the warm Pacific waters of Waikiki—quite a change from the cool and foreboding Pacific of San Francisco. Perhaps it was too early for hula girls. On one occasion during that early morning shift, a soldier in a third-level bunk woke up and casually lit a cigarette while lying back on his pillow. One major change for those aboard was the introduction of powdered milk and eggs. It didn’t matter how fresh they were; they sure tasted good. This was going to be a nice day. L-R: Jim, Ed, Ray, Jack, Gary. And so this tale comes to an end. Peter Knego then chronicled the movement of the Patrick out of the BAE shipyard and its exit from the San Francisco Bay in the late morning hours of May 3, 2010. 15 Punchbowl Memorial Cemetery, Honolulu; March 1962, 16 Punchbowl Memorial Cemetery; March 1962. As it reached the crest and the wave passed under, there was a sense that the entire forward section of the ship was out of the water. 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