Sinking of USS St. Augustine

[Music] more than 3 and a half million Personnel served with the United States Navy during the second world war aboard thousands of ships all over the world each ship and each crew had its own story during the war and they all face risks as the 62,64 officers and sailors of the Navy who died during the war can attest 115 of those served aboard a unique vessel the USS St August was not originally Built For War and her loss would represent the everyday risks faced by those who served it his history that deserves to be remembered George fiser Baker Jr was a banker and a finance year a chairman of the First National Bank of New York he sat on the board of some of the largest corporations in the nation General Electric United States Steel Atlantic Telephone and Telegraph General Motors Pullman the New York Central Railroad and the consolidated Gas Company of New York a 1937 article by the Associated Press described him as a medium-sized man with thin black hair spectacles and smooth shaven and said that he was very shy of public attention Baker Jr was the son of George fiser Baker senior a financier of the Gilded Age a president of the First National Bank of New York the senior Baker was often referred to as the dean of American banking the New York Times said of him that he helped to lay the groundwork for modern industrial America he was also at one time considered to be the third richest B in the United States after Henry Ford and John D Rockefeller thus when George F Baker Jr died in 1937 he was the AP root worth Untold Millions Baker died suddenly at age 59 of peritonitis in Honolulu hawwaii aboard his yacht the Viking when I say his yacht understand that this was the custom yacht of reputedly one of the world's richest men the Viking was built in 1929 at the Newport News shipping and Dry Dock company for a price described as well over a million dollar it was built under the supervision of new york-based Naval architect Theodore D Wells who had designed some of the most famous Yachts of the era and who had later work for the naval Department the Viking was everything you'd expect of a yacht built custom for one of the world's richest men a twin screw steel hold steam vessel at 272 2 in long Viking was described as one of the largest of the American yachting Fleet and as the first turboelectric drive yacht to be built after bier's untimely death the yacht was purchased by another multi-millionaire Norman B Woolworth of the five and dim store family Woolworth renamed the yacht Napo playing the names of he and his children it was among the yachting crowd a famous vessel described as palacial and according to the Vancouver son one of the most beautiful vessels ever seen in the port of Vancouver it was an extraord ordinary vessel and unique it had no sisters the only one of its kind it represented the lives of the world's most wealthy and Elite a ship of Elegance and Beauty if also of extravagance it was not however built as a ship of War but things change by 1940 it was clear that the war was on the horizon and that the United States Navy needed to grow the 1940 Naval Appropriations act sought to increase the size of the fleet by 1, 325,000 tons among the provisions of the act the president of the United States was authorized to acquire and convert or to undertake the construction of 100,000 tons of auxiliary vessels of such size type and design as he may consider best suited for the purposes of National Defense retired US Navy Captain Richards T Miller writes in the US Naval Institute press in 1999 in 1940 his evidence mounted that the United States would become involved in World War II Navy planners began to remedy the lack of brown water green water water and short Seas vessels suitable Yachts were purchased by the dozens for conversion to patrol craft while many Yachts required at the Patriotic sum of just $5 ww worth ask a tad more for the Naro originally built at the cost of well over a million dollar on December 5th 1940 nepo was sold to the United States Navy for $180,000 the paper boating World explains the transition from luxury yacht to Naval warship the Naro mored at the Tim's Shipyard New London Connecticut would be transferred to Boston for conversion after the Naro was converted to a gunboat at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation Yard in Boston Massachusetts she received her new designation as PG meaning Patrol gunboat 54 her luxury appointments removed she was armed with three 3-in guns four 50 caliber machine guns and was equipped with two death charge racks to combat enemy OTS in 1939 Harold kohy president of the Florida State Chamber of Commerce proposed that a new us Navy Cruiser be named for the Florida city of St Augustine the oldest continually inhabited European established settlement in the United States however all the Cruisers under construction had already been named on the 9th of January 1941 the newly converted luxury yacht was officially renamed USS St Augustine the boat was commissioned on the 16th and assigned to the first Naval District patrolling from the port of Boston until 1942 when she was transferred to the Eastern Sea Frontier for which she escorted convoys between New York and various Caribbean ports the Nashville Indiana Brown County Democrat wrote in 2022 the Eastern Sea Frontier was the designated Duty area for the St Augustine which encompassed the eastern coast of the United States in the Caribbean Sea during World War II was very much a part of the battle of the Atlantic the longest Battle of the war from 1939 to 1945 she would once again be visiting familiar Waters along the Eastern Seaboard as well as tropical climbs in the Caribbean but now featuring an array of deadly weaponry and a crew approaching 150 Sailors and officers rather than the 23 individuals that had catered to all the wishes of the Woolworth family as the war went on the Navy expanded and the ubot Menace was greatly reduced the St Augustine continued to serve the Brown County Democrat wrote about the men who served aboard the former yacht they were still crammed aboard the Aging St Augustine their hopes of being transferred to one of the many new escort chips being launched just never materialized on the morning of January 6th 194 44 St Augustine left New York escorting Convoy NK 588 Bound for guantan Bay Cuba the Convoy consisted of a single oil tanker was escorted by the St Augustine and two Coast Guard thus class Patrol vessels US Coast Guard Cutter Argo and US Coast Guard Cutter thetus they left in a gale with Winds of nearly 40 mph waves as high as 20 ft St Augustine was the command vessel for the Convoy Captain by 47-year-old us naval Reserve Lieutenant Parker Crosby hatch on board also was 53-year-old commander Archer EMT King Jr a 1915 graduate of the United States Naval Academy King was the Commodore and overall command of the Convoy as per wartime regulations the ships of the Convoy were running darken ship all lights were either extinguished or covered a precaution against OTS at about 10: that evening the Convoy Escorts made radar contact with an unidentified vessel headed towards the Convoy historian Jim Watkins writes in the Brown County Democrat at 10:20 p.m. off Cape May New Jersey the ship's radar man reported a new blip on his radar screen Friend or Foe the St Augustine flashed its signal lights the unrecognizable blip kept coming the St Augustine Skipper turned across the invader's path to protect the Convoy and also with hopes the maneuver would divert the Intruder William H th historian at the Coast Guard Atlantic area writes that Lookouts aboard the cutter Argos could see the Silhouettes of the vessels in the distance the writes within a few short minutes argo's officer of the day observed the bow of the 300 foot St August rise up out of the water at an odd angle and fall back into the water and disappear given the state of the stormy seas he and the others on the bridge thought the escort had rid up a large wave and dropped back into the accompanying trough however the men on argo's bridge had actually witnessed the demise of the patrol gunboat the unidentified vessel was the American liquefied natural gas tanker SS Camas Meadows 5502 ft long and over 10,000 gross registered tons the Camas Meadows dwarfed the St Augustine she struck the gunboat a midship Warren Harris a yman second class from Danville Ohio was asleep below decks he told the Mansfield Ohio news journal in 1984 that he was awakened by the cryptic message stand by for Collision har said that he hit the floor and muttered a prayer Lord it's up to you as the tanker ripped into the St Augustine I could have reached out and touched the dumb thing haris said steaming unescorted out of Delaware Bay under blackout conditions the writes that the master of the tanker had taken ill to his cabin leaving the third mate to serve as officer of the deck or o OD the ship had a green crew and no one on the bridge knew how to send a receive blinker signals the writes that miles away from the scene of the disaster Argo officer of the day asked his radio man if he still had St Augustine on the screen the raadar man indicated he no longer had a contact for the patrol gunboat Coast Guard Cutter thus tried to raise the St Augustine by voice radio with no success so argo's officer of the day tried to contact the vessel by their talk between ship system Argo o OD feared the worst called Captain Winslow of the thetus for assistance and ordered argo's crew to General quarters the news journal writes that the gunboat sank within 3 minutes as Harris and his mates hit the water wearing their oversized May West life jackets that had small red lights at first Harris recalls scores of small red lights from the May West jackets could be seen signing across the Atlantic Waters within a few minutes however Harris was all alone the Brown County Democrat writes that some life rafts were deployed but the sh ship sank so quickly that only a few were available and they were overcrowded with some Sailors clinging to the sides the Miami Florida news wrote 3 days after the accident survivors told of young Sailors swimming off into the darkness to almost certain death to leave room on crowded rafts for their fellows who could not swim the waves are so high the boats often disappear from sight from each other AF Frizzle an 18-year-old Sean second class from Chicago told of watching his buddy drown after he gave his life preserver to another injured sailor 18-year-old she in second class Stanley mchi told the Philadelphia inquir that the St Augustine took on water after the crash and then plunged straight down within a short while after the order was given to abandon ship metki credited one of the coties 18-year-old Rosco Jones of the Argo for saving his life I had been in the water some time holding on to the ropes of a life raft but finally lost my grip and went down just then the rescue ship came up and Jones dived in managed to collor me and hul me back to the vessel the writes that the Kos Meadows came to a stop and turned on all of its running lights an act prohibited during wartime in newo infested waters Argos headed for the tanker using signal lights to ask what happened after several queries the tanker blink back survivors to the left of you Argos had to seam through Heavy Seas to reach the location of the accident the news journal reports that for 2 hours Harris bobbed up and down like a cork as the wind blown waves reached up to 30 ft high he felt his body slowly getting numb in the bone chilling Waters he kept swimming but thought the end it might be near the next thing I saw was a faint light sweeping over the ocean and it fixed on a raft how I got over to the raft I have no idea put my arm through the rope and that's the last thing I remember Harris said that all of the ship's crew had escaped the sinking ship but most died before the rescue ships came to the scene when doctor took me aside he said he wanted me to explain what happened from beginning to end according to the temperature of the water and the time of year I wasn't supposed to be alive the Brown County Democrat recalled Brown County resident Homer Allan Powell just 19 years old pal had two brothers also serving in the Navy a gunner made third class the Democrat speculates that pal would have been at his battle station on Deck when the accident happened the paper continues there were 30 survivors but Hummer was among those without a raft and could not have survived more than a short time in the cold Atlantic Waters there were 115 fatalities word of his death reached his parents the next week the Brown County Democrat reported the Navy's description of Homer Powell he was a quiet and friendly young man his was a character of Stead fastness and friendly loyalty he was held in high esteem by his Shipmates and his Superior officers also missing was Rowan Oak Virginia native Roy W Carter the ranu world news reported on January 26th 1944 that the wife of the Seaman second class had been notified that he had been missing since the ship sank in 1998 the ranok times reported that one of the survivors told Carter's Widow that he saw the Mast fall hitting Carter on the head his body was never recovered in 194 before the times quoted his widow Lois Roy was handsome happy go-lucky and loved life he loved working for the railroad he loved to play his guitar and sing also missing was Lee Ed anderton a sigan second class age 20 Florence Alabama Herald reported on June 2nd that his father the Reverend Lee Anderson had received the telegram from the Navy Department it is with regret you are now advised that a certificate of death has been received in this Bureau which states that your son lost his life on January 7th although his body was not recovered the Judge Advocate General of the Navy in reviewing the available evidence has held that the circumstances surrounding his loss lead to a conclusion of death anderton haded listed just after Pearl Harbor on December 19th 1941 of the crew of 145 30 were rescued 23 by the Argo and seven by the thetus 76 bodies were recovered the rest were lost at sea including the skipper Parker Crosby hatch married with three daughters the website line of duty reported that survivors have told us of his unselfish and heroic work in saving the lives of others when he might have escaped with his own his classmates at Princeton University wrote to his widow if there is any compensation for such things it may perhaps be found in the fact that the skipper was serving the country he loved in the way he loved at Sea it is unclear exactly what happened in the last moments especially why the St Augustine decided to turn into the freighter path Harris noted that all of the boats commanding officers were killed so it's unknown exact why the gunboat and the tanker collided much of what happened was Kept Secret due to wartime restrictions historian Mae gray noted in a July 2000 edition of the Tallahasse Florida Democrat that his second cousin Oley Lee Scarboro died on the St Augustine he writes when Scaro ship went down the Navy sent an officer to tell his family but it was Wartime the officer could give no details of the accident the family heard rumors that the ship was torpedoed that there were no survivors he continues several news newspapers carried articles about the accident but offered no insight into its cause a joint Navy Coast Guard investigation was conducted but the records were reportedly lost in the 1970s fire at the Navy's records Warehouse the story of the sinking of the USS St Augustine like many things during the second world war is incomplete essential information is lost to history the loss of what was once one of the world's most elegant Yachts is a reminder of the dangers faced by service members everywhere their job was just as important as the fight they kept the supply lines opened gray argues here are5 men who died for their country shouldn't their sacrifice be recognized I hope you enjoyed watching this episode of the history guy and if you did please feel free to like And subscribe and share the history guy with your friends and if you also believe that history deserves to be remembered then you can support the history guy as a member on YouTube a reporter on our community at locals or as a patron on patreon you can also check out our great merchandise shop or book a special message from the history guy on [Music] [Applause] [Music] cameo [Applause] [Music]

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 73,216

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy

Id: V6-_EeW_EHY

Length: 16min 37sec (997 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 02 2024