PDF Daybook Reload-Volume 10-Issue 1-PDF Reload

1

The Daybook

HRNM Staff

Rear Admiral Stephen A. TurcotteCommander, Navy Region, Mid-Atlantic

The Daybook is an authorized publication ofthe Hampton Roads Naval Museum (HRNM). Itscontents do not necessarily reflect the official viewof the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense,the U.S. Navy, or the U.S. Marine Corps and do notimply endorsement thereof. Book reviews are solelythe opinion of the reviewer.

The HRNM is operated and funded by Commander,Navy Region, Mid-Atlantic. The museum is dedicated tothe study of 225 years of naval history in the HamptonRoads region. It is also responsible for the historicinterpretation of the battleship Wisconsin.

Call for information on the museum’s and Wisconsin’shours of operations. Admission to the museum andWisconsin is free. The Daybook’s purpose is to educateand inform readers on historical topics and museumrelated events. It is written by the staff and volunteersof the museum.

Questions or comments can be directed to theHampton Roads Naval Museum editor. The Daybookcan be reached at 757-322-2993, by fax at 757-445-1867, e-mail at [email protected], or writeThe Daybook, Hampton Roads Naval Museum, OneWaterside Drive, Suite 248, Norfolk, VA 23510-1607. The museum can be found on the World WideWeb at http://www.hrnm.navy.mil.

The Daybook is published quarterly with acirculation of 1,600. Contact the editor for a freesubscription.

About The Daybook and the Museum

Director Becky PoulliotCurator Joe JudgeExhibits Specialist Marta NelsonMuseum Tech./Librarian Ofelia ElboEditor of The Daybook Gordon CalhounArchitectural Historian Michael TaylorBattleship WisconsinOperations Manager Captain Mary Mosier, USN (Ret.)Special Events/Education Kathryn ShaffnerVolunteer Coordinator Thomas DandesPublic Relations Kathleen MartinHRNM OIC GMC (SW) Keith RyanCeremonies/LCPO NCC (SW) Lisa RobinsonGraphic Design LIC(SW/AW) Michael RobertsEducation ABE1 (AW) James CapassoDirector, HRNHF Rear Admiral Byron Tobin,USN (Ret.)

In This Issue...

Features

Vol. 10 Issue 1

The Museum Sage......12

The Local Arsenal of Democracy at St. Juliens.....................6

Cover Illustration: No military operates withoutweapons. At facilities south of Norfolk NavyYard-Portsmouth, workers at the St. Juliens CreekAnnex manufactured the weapons with greatprecision and safety that helped the U.S. Navywin two world wars. On the cover is a modernday map of the installation and views of theAnnex, including one of the 16-inch gun barrelsmeant for the battleship Kentucky (BB-66). Withnew information obtained from historicpreservation surveys, we present a new articleon the Annex.

The Director’s Column...............2

Book Reviews..............................10

Operation Holiday Cheer.......................................................3

Artifacts That Honor and Heal...............................................4

Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-BoatWar in the Atlantic edited by TheodoreP. Savas. Reviewed by Joe Judge

Resurrection: Salvaging the BattleFleet at Pearl Harbor by DanielMadsen. Reviewed by HowardSandefer

Putting St. Juliens’ HardWork to Work: A VisualLook at the Anti-AircraftGun Upgrade

Auld Lang Syne:New Year’s Hellos and Goodbyes

2

The Daybook Vol. 10 Issue 1

The Director’s Columnby Becky Poulliot

Moving? Change of Command?Let us know so you don’t miss out!

Send address changes to

Hampton Roads Naval MuseumDaybook Editor

One Waterside Drive Ste 248Norfolk, VA 23510-1607

Auld Lang Syne

I like the concept of a new year and newbeginnings; it is a time to revisit whatworks and what doesn’t and a chance to

even start all over again if something totallyflops. As a team, the museum opted to start2005 off just right with a sharpened focuson education, a push for more volunteers,and an emphasis on our core audience—theSailor, today and tomorrow’s. In keepingwith these goals that have been conceivedand adopted by the staff as a whole, we havemade some changes.

In education, we plan to partner withlocal military commands and will host ourpopular luncheon lectures on Norfolk NavalStation. Be on the lookout for the museum’sCalendar of Events 2005 with its listing ofprovocative speakers running the gamut oftopics covering the early Navy to today’shigh tech communications field.

Secondly, our staff recognizes that inorder to be successful, people have to knowabout us. Enter Kathleen Martin, themuseum’s public relations coordinator andnewest staff member. Kathleen is nostranger to the Hampton Roads area as shehas worked as a public affairs officer forboth Commander, Naval Base, Norfolk andCommander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic.Kathleen is truly a world traveler, havingworked as a public affairs specialist for

Commander NavalForces Europe inLondon, and in NASBermuda. Kathleen’smost recent adventurefound her at living forthe past three years inWeisbaden, Germanywith her husband (aHuman Resources Officer for the U.S.Navy) and three children. Kathleen bringsmuch enthusiasm, along with talent, to themuseum. Her number one goal is to getthe word out about us and to bring visitorsand volunteers in.

Our newest concept to get the wordout for the young audience, both in age andin heart, is our institution’s mascot“Bucky.” This badger figure is a take-offon the Wisconsin’s World War II cartooncharacter (as shown in the upper right) thatappeared in the official ship newsletter TheBadger. We hope to use Bucky in our off-site outings and in our Family Funactivities.

As stated earlier, a new year is a timefor hellos and goodbyes. As I write thiscolumn, I prepare to say goodbye to mydear friend and co-worker Captain AlPetrich, who died December 17, 2004. Forten years Al stood watch at the Hampton

Roads Naval Museum as a docent, as areenactor portraying a World War II U-boatCommander in the Battle of the Atlanticgallery, and then later on board theWisconsin. Al never refused a request towork. Never reticent, he was the first toassess a situation honestly, and give meguidance, moral support, and above allfriendship. I will miss the “Hello Sunshine”greeting so much, but I know that Al felt itwas time to leave. He forged his owndestiny his entire life from his beginningsas a boy leaving World War II Germany,to his arrival in America, and all the wayup the ranks of the Navy, becoming aCaptain and master aviator. Al, yours wasa life well lived. We will never forget you.

3


Wisconsin Visitor InformationGeneral Information757-322-2987www.hrnm.navy.milVolunteer [email protected]

Nauticus’ Wisconsin [email protected]

Wisconsin Project PartnersHampton Roads Naval Historical Foundationwww.hrnhf.org

USS Wisconsin Associationwww.usswisconsin.org

Battleship Wisconsin Foundationwww.battleshipwisconsin.org

Honor and [email protected] Information757-322-2993 or [email protected]

Museum ConductsOperation Holiday CheerOver the past few months, the

Hampton Roads Naval Museumhas been encouraging children

visiting the museum to create their ownholiday greeting cards for sailors on theUSS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). TheNorfolk-based aircraft carrier is currentlydeployed to the Mediterranean Sea andPersian Gulf and is not due back until Spring2005.

Entitled Operation Holiday Cheer, themuseum laid out construction material forthe children and they created cards with wellwishes for the sailors. Museum educatorand Navy wife Kathryn Shaffner, creatorof the program, stated that “the purpose ofthe program is get children thinking aboutwhat it means to make a sacrifice for one’s

country and to show their support for thesailors deployed overseas during theholiday season.”

CMDCM Clarence “Frenchie” Frye,Truman ’s command master chief,commended the program. “Being awayfrom home during this time of year isstressful for everyone, but the efforts oforganizations like the Naval Museum’s“Project Holiday Cheer” help to remind usof the support and caring we get from thosewe serve. The Sailors and Marines of theUSS Harry S. Truman thank you for yourlove and support this Holiday Season.”

Over 300 cards were sent out to theaircraft carrier in December in time forChristmas.

4


To Honor and Heal:Items From theUSS Cole Memorial

At Iowa Point at Naval Station Norfolk is amemorial to fallen sailors serving on theNorfolk-based USS Cole (DDG-67). The

warship was attacked by a suicide bomber onOctober 12, 2000 in Aden, Yemen. Since itsdedication, several items have been placed at thebase of the memorial by family and friends of thosewho gave their lives in the line of duty. TheHampton Roads Naval Museum is currentlypreserving items left at the memorial and will soonbe placing them on display. Pictured here are someof the items that have been collected and of thememorial itself. (All photos by Michael V. Taylor)

5


6

The Daybook Vol.10 Issue 1

The Annex at St. Juliens CreekA Look at the Region’s Arsenal of Democracyby Michael V. Taylorand Gordon Calhoun

St. Juliens continued on page 7

The local arsenal of democracy-St. Juliens Creek Ammunition Depot, 1943. The Navy first purchased the landin 1896 and slowly expanded the facility as the Navy’s ammunition requirements grew. All of the ordnancefunctions for the Atlantic Fleet have since been moved from St. Juliens to Yorktown Naval Weapons Station orhave been outsourced to private companies. (U.S. Navy photo)

A maintenance of way gang works on of the main railroad lines at St.Juliens. The Hampton Roads facility had an extensive railroad networkthat connected to the area’s major railroad lines to move supplies andcompleted ammunition. (U.S. Navy photo)

In one of his famous “fireside chat”speeches, President Franklin D.Roosevelt declared in 1940, “We must

be the great arsenal of democracy.” Longbefore Roosevelt made his granddeclaration, St. Juliens Creek Annex hadserved as one of the nation’s greatestarsenals. Since 1896, the Naval facility hasplayed an important role in the developmentof naval ordnance and delivered millionsof pieces of weaponry to the fleet.

Hidden approximately one mile southof the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, St. JuliensCreek Annex survives as one of the fewexamples of an intact military industrialcomplex from the first half of the twentiethcentury. The buildings at St. Juliens CreekAnnex give the entire facility a distinctivecharacter. They are organized in long rowsof large-scale, low-rise, widely spacedwarehouses and magazines. The road gridruns in a northwest to southeast pattern (seemap on page 7). The consistently alignedrows and other repetitive building typesgive the installation a town-like setting.The buildings are in general spaced at safedistances apart due to safety considerations.The earliest munitions-related buildings aremade from brick. Later munitionsbuildings were built out of poured concrete.Ordnance production structures werehoused in metal-framed brick clad

buildings with masonry firewalls. Theinteriors on most of the buildings exhibitconcrete and masonry walls, steel orwooden roofs with ceiling beams andtrusses. Floors are typically wood orconcrete.

Congress first gave life to the facilityon March 2, 1895 by authorizing a newweapons depot along St. Juliens Creek.The Congressional act appropriatedseventy-five thousand dollars for the

“Removal of a magazine atCraney Island in the harbor ofNorfolk to a more suitable andsafe locality”. Using thesefunds, the United States Navypurchased 47.7 acres of landsituated on the SouthernBranch of the Elizabeth Riverin Norfolk County from Mr.M. Watts of Portsmouth onJanuary 28, 1896. Mr. Wattswas paid $20,000 for theproperty.

In early 1897, the Navyestablished St. JuliensMagazine on the Wattsproperty to provide ordnance

storage for materials from the NorfolkNaval Shipyard. Considered to be a safedistance from the Naval Shipyard, the sitewas adjacent to South Branch of theElizabeth River and accessible to the localVirginia Railway and Power Companytrack railheads. Within its first year ofoperation, the Magazine saw theconstruction of two wharves, two wharfhouses, five magazines and two quarters.Almost immediately, St. Juliens Magazinebegan a continual process of expansionuntil the end of World War II.

The first expansion in 1900 saw theconstruction of the railroads network withinthe Magazine and the acquisition of moreproperty. Twenty-five acres werepurchased from the Portsmouth Companyon March 29,1900. This new propertyaddition was authorized by an act ofCongress which had been approved onMarch 3, 1899 for improvements, quartersand the purchase of additional grounds.The Portsmouth Company was paid$10,713.90 in consideration for theproperty. On February 11, 1907, thePortsmouth Company sold an additional

7


St. Juliens continued from page 6


22.40 acres to the Navy for $22,000. In 1907, St. Juliens Magazine became

a stockpile site for explosive “D” whichwas used in projectiles. Also known asammonium picrate and picrate acid,explosive “D” was used as a burstingexplosive for the Navy’s armor piercingshells and bombs. It is a more stablecompound than other traditionalexplosives and is capable of withstandingstress and shock of a shell in motionwithout prematurely detonating. Still usedtoday, almost exclusively by the militarythough it is also employed in fireworks andas a solid fuel propellant.

Starting in 1908, two-man teams beganplacing the stockpiled “D” into 805 poundsshells used in the Navy’s new high velocityMk 6 12-inch rifles that made up the secondgeneration battleships’ main battery.Workers also assembled 6-inch shells usedin the battleships’ secondary guns. Thepowder bags accompanying the 12-inchshells each weighed about 305 pounds.Three years later, this manual method ofshell assembly was replaced by theintroduction of hydraulic presses. Eachprojectile was hand-loaded by the team thatcompacted the explosives by droppingweights into the projectile cavity. With the

new technology, workers weresupposed to be able to assemble fourbags per hour. This included not onlypour the powder into the bag, but alsoproperly sewing the bag safely.

On January 2, 1917, St. JuliensMagazine was designated as a NavalAmmunition Depot. Soon after theUnited States declared war onGermany, the American and Britishnavies planned a North Sea minebarrage as a method of combating theGerman U-boat campaign. HamptonRoads became the center for themanufacture of the Mk VI mine usedin the campaign. As there was nofacility anywhere in the United Statesto mass manufacture the number ofmines needed (estimated at over100,000), the Bureau of Ordnance andthe Bureau of Yards and Docksselected St. Juliens for the new facility.St. Juliens was both near other majornaval facilities and had experience inhandling dangerous goods.

To meet this goal and to meethigher ammunition demands, the Navyradically enlarged the newlydesignated Depot by constructingthirty-six permanent buildings and twolarge docks. Based on designsproposed by the Washington, D.C-based architectural firm of Boyle-Robertson Construction, work on thenew buildings began in late October1917. Ideally, the mine productionfactory was supposed to be up andrunning by the end of 1917. TheDepot’s production goal was toreceive, load and ship 1,000 mines perday. Traveling from a Navy builttemporary community of mobile

homes located between the Depot and theNorfolk Naval Shipyard, the 16 officers and525 enlisted men assigned to the Depotworked day and night on the project.However, a variety of factors delayedconstruction. Human resources was a majorissue. The new draft acts took manypotential construction workers away andwhat laborers that were available often wenton strike. The great winter of 1917-18 wasso cold in Hampton Roads the battleshipsof the Atlantic Fleet were iced in the YorkRiver, and construction ground to a haltuntil February 1918.

Of the thirty-six new buildings built

St. Juliens Annex is located just south of the Norfolk Navy Yard and armed the fleet in both World Wars. Thefacility has been designated an historic district. (1999 U.S. Navy historic survey map)

8



Who is St. Julien Anyway?

The Vatican recognizes twenty-five different saintswith the name “Julien” (“Julian” in English).Pictured in the middle of this stained glass windowat a cathedral in Rouen, France is St. Julien theHospitaler, patron saint of boatkeepers andinnkeepers. It is not known for sure whether or notSt. Juliens Creek and the Annex are named in hishonor or for a local person.


The Navy first opened St. Juliens as an alternative to Craney Island for ammunition storage. These concrete“igloo” type storage facilites are typical structures for storing ordnance. (U.S. Navy photo)

during the War, twenty-two of themwere for mine manufacturing. All werecompleted by March, including buildingsto manufacture and pour the T.N.T. used inthe mines and cold storage facilities wherethe mines were stored until ready to beshipped. Most of the new buildings built atSt. Juliens Creek Annex during the WorldWar I expansion were typical steel-frameand metal-clad structures, which hadreinforced masonry piers with masonryinfill panels. The warehouse complex waslaid out evenly spaced and in regular rowswithin a modified grid plan. These planswere based on concepts formed by theBoard for the Development of Navy YardPlans before the war. Additionally, railroadspur lines were laid with tracks being placedon the west side of the buildings they wereto serve. Loading docks dominate the sidesof many of the buildings.

With the buildings finished, theNorfolk Naval Shipyard and St. Juliensdivided the mine assembly labor. TheShipyard manufactured the casings for theMk VI and St. Juliens took the responsibilityto load the cases with 300 pounds of T.N.T.The Navy called up several hundred navalreservists to assemble the mines as the Navyrealized civilians could not be convincedto work under the harsh working conditions.The reservists were sheltered in substandardbase housing, worked through all hours ofthe night, and had to breathe in dust residuefrom the T.N.T. Nonetheless, despite allhardships (officially the Navy stated that thesailors worked “cheerfully”), the

mineworkers assembled and shipped over1,500 mines a day over a period of 50 days.Workers handled over 22,000,000 poundsof T.N.T. without one incident or accident.Of the 85,000 mines shipped overseas fromthe United States, St. Juliens manufactured73,000. Another team of 400 reservistscarefully loaded all of the underwater

weapons onto mine carrying vessels boundfor Scotland.

Several hundred mines went unusedduring the War and were subsequentlyshipped up to the newly establishedYorktown Mine Depot, now called theYorktown Naval Weapons Station, forstorage (see page 16 for an interesting viewof the storage facility). Many of thesesurplus Mk VIs were used in miningcampaigns against Axis navies duringWorld War II.

In addition to the mine-loading plant,St. Juliens Ammunition Depot assembled

numerous types of guns and became atorpedo storage center during WorldWar I. To accommodate the newresponsibilities, three land acquisitionsenlarged the Depot’s boundaries bypurchasing the Virginia Railway and PowerCompany tracks to the northwest, up toBlow Creek to the northeast, up to St.

Juliens Creek to the southwest, and up tothe Elizabeth River to the southeast.Additionally, C. S. Sherwood and his wifesold approximately 21.40 acres to the Navyfor $18,169.80 on January 15,1917. Then,Harry L Alexander and his wife sold theNavy 9.74 acres for $3,664.77. The final1917 addition of 88.05 acres was acquiredfor $38,164.99 from the PortsmouthCompany.

The facilities at St. Juliens CreekAnnex continued to expand during the yearsbetween World War I and World War II.

The Annex is named after the creekit is located next to: St. JuliensCreek (spelled consistently

without an apostrophe “s”). However, itis not entirely clear why a creek wasnamed St. Juliens.

One possible explanation is that itwas named for a Christian saint namedJulien (or Julian as it is spelled in English).The problem with this explanation isdetermining which one. The Vatican hasbeatified no less than twenty-five differentmen and women named Julien/Julian overthe years. St. Julien the Hospitaler isrecognized for setting up a hospital for

the poor in France in repentance foraccidently slaying his mother and father.He is the patron saint of boatkeepers andinnkeepers. Then, there is St. Julian Sabasthe Elder who was a fourth centuryevangelist in the Eastern Roman Empire.

It is entirely possible it is not namedfor a Christian saint at all. A localindividual, who happened to be namedWilliam Julien, appears frequently in localland records around the area where thecreek is located. Whether or not he was agood person that led people to label him asaint or was an evil person and given thelabel sarcastically has yet to be proven.

é

9


Cold Steel for a Hot War:Battleship Kentucky’sGun Barrels

Of all the items and relics at St.Juliens Creek Annex, it is difficultto miss six very large metal tubes.

These tubes are six huge gun barrels thatlay side by side in an abandoned field.They were intended for the main armamentbatteries on the sixth Iowa-class battleship,the Kentucky (BB-66). When constructionof Kentucky was canceled with the end ofWorld War II, the Navy still operatedIowa-class battleships armed with the sametype 16-inch/50 caliber Mark 7 naval guns.Through the years, the Navy stored theseextra barrels for use as replacements onthe Iowa-class battleships still on activeduty. Sometime in the 1970s, the Navymoved the barrels to what was then St.Juliens Ammunition Depot.

All six gun barrels still remain wherethey were off-loaded. Each barrel sits onwooden platforms made from railwaycrossties. The barrels are supported offthe platforms by large steel cradles that arebolted together in two sections. Eachcradle has large three-inch thick u-bolts,which were used as cable and craneconnections for hoisting the barrel during

transportation and during thebarrel replacement procedureson board Iowa class battleships.Thanks to what appears to be avery well compacted andprepared ground surface, these119.57-ton barrels have notsunk into the ground at all.Adjacent to the barrels, there arealso signs of the remnants of arailroad spur, which mightexplain how the gun barrelswere transported to their presentlocation.

Manufactured by thefamous Bethlehem Steelcompany in Pennsylvania andrifled at the Naval Gun Factoryin Washington, D.C., the barrelsare examples of Americanindustrial might at its height.They are over sixty-five feetin length and can firea one ton shell abouttwenty-three nautical miles(longer with modernammunition.) The Mk 7s were

the largest gun activelyused by the U.S. Navy. If the guns are everused, it will not be thefirst equipment meantfor Kentucky thatended up beingrecycled. The Navy took theboilers and engines manufacturedfor BB-66 and placed them in thefast replenishment ships USSCamden (AOE-2) and USSSacramento (AOE-1). A sectionof Kentucky’s bow was used torepair Wisconsin in the 1950s. Since USS Wisconsin (BB-64)is still listed as a mobilizationasset, the Navy continues tomaintain a large store of 16-inchammunition and 16-inch powderbags at the Naval WeaponsStation in Crane, Indiana. If

Wisconsin or any other Iowa-classbattleship are ever placed back on activeduty, there will also be a need forreplacement barrels. Until then, or untilthere is no longer a need for replacementbarrels due to the disestablishment of allIowas, the Navy will probably continue tocare for its Mk 7 barrels at St. Juliens CreekAnnex. If the decision is made to scrap orsell the barrels sometime in the future, themain problem will be moving them.Without a railroad spur leading to a majortrack line or pier, moving and transportingthe barrels will be problematic to say theleast.

Battleship Kentucky (BB-66), the sixth and last of the Iowa class,battleships, sits incomplete at Norfolk Navy Yard-Portsmouth, 1946.The Navy eventually launched her incomplete and scrapped her afew years later. The boilers for the ship were placed in the fastreplenishment ships USS Camden (AOE-2) and USS Sacramento(AOE-1) and a section of the bow was placed on USS Wisconsin(BB-64). (U.S. Navy photo)

Three views of the Mk 7 16-inch/50 gun barrels that sit quietly at St.Juliens. (HRNM photos by Michael V. Taylor)

10


Book ReviewsResurrection:Salvaging the Battle Fleetat Pearl Harborby Daniel MadsenReviewed by Howard Sandefer

Daniel Madsen. Resurrection:Salvaging the Battle Fleet at PearlHarbor. Annapolis: Naval InstitutePress, 2003. ISBN 1-55750-488-1.$24.95.

D ramatic movies of Marinesinvading the Pacific islands takenduring World War II usually show

pictures of clipper-bowed battleshipsproviding naval gunfire support for theinvading forces. These battleships are ofeither the California or Colorado classes,but they were not supposed to be there. Allof both classes were sunk at Pearl Harbor.The process that made the ships availableis the focus of this book. The Japanese attack on the Battle Fleetat Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 wasperhaps the most traumatic event of the 20th

century for the United States. Severalofficial investigations and numerous books

were written about the attack, andinnumerable conspiracy theories weregenerated. It captured the attention of thenation. Can anything new be written aboutthe occurrences at Pearl Harbor, given theintense examinations of the past? DanielMadsen has found something new: theresurrection of the battle fleet in the darkdays of danger and defeat. Madsen begins the book in themoments after the final attack wascompleted. Fires were burning, whichcontinued to burn for several days. Shipshad exploded and sunk. Several ships hadcapsized. Sailors and Marines had died inlarge numbers. Uppermost in the minds ofthe commanders at Pearl Harbor were thepreparations necessary to repel a repeat airraid, or possible amphibious landings.Above all else, the salvage of the sunkenships had to begin.

Officers were quickly assigned, notbecause they had any experience in this kindof catastrophe, but because they wereavailable. No one in the U.S. Navy hadexperience in this magnitude of casualty. Theofficers so assigned set to work. They weretasked with the salvage of the damaged andsunken ships. They had to arrange everythingfrom secretarial support, to caring for thewounded and dead, to determining prioritiesfor rescue and salvage work. Berths had tobe cleared, and this consideration becamemore important as new units joined the fleet.Accommodations had to be made for the menwho supplied the labor, many of whom werecrew members of the sunken ships. It was adirty, back breaking, totally exhausting anddangerous task. The hours were long, thework dirty and filthy in mixed oil and saltwater. The personnel concerned had noprevious experience in dealing with suchextensive devastation and death. New procedures were required for suchevolutions as rolling a capsized hull back tothe vertical after the damage. Searchprocedures were hastily devised to search forsurvivors in the damaged and capsized ships.Provisions had to be made for the collection,identification and burial of the personnelcasualties of the attacks. Perhaps the most courageous men, in apopulation loaded with courage, were thedivers who entered unstable ships in totaldarkness with little or no visibility. They werealways in danger of being trapped by itemsin the hulls they were exploring, and severaldied in this dangerous work. The salvage effort was driven by thenecessity of repairing the least damaged shipsto get them in the war. Some, like USS Oglala(CM-4), had sunk in the worst possible place,and were blocking much needed berthingspaces for the fleet. The salvagers used triageto determine which of the sunken anddamaged ships were the best candidates forsalvage.

The salvage effort continued untilMarch 15, 1944, when all divingoperations were stopped. Of thebattleships sunk, only Arizona (BB-39)and Oklahoma (BB-37) were completewrite-offs. Utah (BB-31/AG-16), a targetship and former battleship, was amemorial like Arizona. The cruisers anddestroyers were salvaged. Of the others,Nevada was one of the Naval GunfireSupport ships off Normandy. Colorado(BB-45), California (BB-44), WestVirginia (BB-48), Maryland (BB-46), andPennsylvania (BB-38), all providedgunfire support off the Pacific Islands, andexacted revenge at Suriagao Strait.

There are some minor technicalglitches in the book, such as incorrectlabeling of naval weapons (5-inch/.25 gunand 3-inch/.50 AA guns for example), butit does not distract the reader from theoverall purpose and clarity of the work.This book is an obvious tribute to a largenumber of men who answered a challengewith determination and competence. Theyhave been unrecognized generally, andthe author can just scratch the surface oftheir heroism and abilities, but it is a well-deserved tribute that reminds us of theother unrecognized heroes in our midst.It is well to remember that heroes comein all sizes, shapes, jobs, and colors. Welive among them without knowing theirstories, and it is well that this book helpsremind us.

11


Hunt and Kill:U-505 and the U-boat Warin the AtlanticEdited by Theodore P. SavasReviewed by Joe Judge

Theodore P. Savas, editor. Hunt andKill: U-505 and the U-boat War in theAtlantic. New York: Savas Beatie,2004. ISBN 1-93271-401-4. $32.95.

The capture of U-505 is one of themost dramatic stories in Americannaval history. American sailors and

airmen from Task Group 22.3 (homeportedin Norfolk, Virginia) succeeded incapturing the German submarine U-505 offthe coast of Africa in 1944, just before D-Day. The Navy accomplished thisremarkable feat with the combination ofdecoded German radio messages (thefamous ULTRA project, for many years asecret) and the superb training and braveryof the U.S. sailors. U-505 is today anartifact of the Museum of Science andIndustry in Chicago, Illinois.

In the years immediately after the war

the U-505 story was dominated by the navalofficer who commanded the task force, theaudacious Daniel V. Gallery. In his bookslike U-505 and by his effort to place thecaptured boat in a museum, Gallerydramatized the event and the Navy’sAtlantic campaign. In more recent years theBattle of the Atlantic has received a greatdeal of attention from filmmakers, scholarsand museums, and U-505 is usuallyrecognized in many of these accounts.

Hunt and Kill is a new volume of essaysdevoted to U-505. Editor Theodore P.Savas has assembled several historians toexamine different elements of the story. Mr.Savas claims that U-505 is “only cursorilyunderstood by most readers – even thosewith a deep interest in World War II navalhistory.” The reason, he goes on to say, isthat “Most accounts of the capture of U-505 are written from the Allied perspectiveas related through the words and eyes of

Daniel V. Gallery.” The result of Savas’belief in previous one-sided coverage is avolume that focuses on the German side ofthe story, with the exception of the longfinal essay that deals with the boat’stransition from captured enemy vessel tomuseum display.

The book is intelligently organized,beginning with Eric Rust’s examination ofType IX U-Boat strategy in World War II.(U-505 was a Type IX boat, larger than theType VII’s that were the workhorses of theGerman undersea fleet). From there, essaysby Timothy Mulligan and LawrencePaterson examine the crew of U-505 andthe boat’s combat patrols. Paterson inparticular provides a harrowing account ofthe on board suicide of one of U-505’scaptains, Peter Zschech, after an intensedepth charge barrage in 1943. Other essaysexamine the role of intelligence in capturingU-505, the cat and mouse decisions of theAmerican task force and the Germansubmarine that lead to the fateful captureand the decisions that faced the Germancrew when she surfaced and confronted theU.S. Navy. There is lots of drama to the U-505 story and these essays all strive tocapture it in different ways.

The longest essay in the book is byKeith Gill, curator of U-505 at Chicago’sMuseum of Science and Industry. Itdescribes the politics and problems of thesubmarine’s journey from capture tomuseum exhibit. Necessarily, this lacks thedrama of life and death underwater combatand boarding ships on the high seas, but itis instructive for local, national and Navypolitics. Gill assesses early efforts to movethe submarine to Chicago with the words,“It was becoming clear the Navy, restrictedby law in what it could do financially, wasnot going to pay for any of the servicesrequired to get U-505 into shape. Thecourse the committee had been following,however, was all about getting someone

else to foot the bill instead of digging in toaggressively raise the necessary funds.”

Hunt and Kill is really two books. Thefirst, comprising six essays, should havebeen entitled “U-505 : The GermanPerspective.” Battle of the Atlanticenthusiasts will enjoy this part of the book,recognizing that its focus is not intended tobe a global examination of the U-boat warbut rather a close-in look at one particular,famous submarine during the war. Acomplete bibliography regarding U-505would have been a helpful addition.

The second part of the book is Gill’sthoughtful and honest essay about thecomplicated, expensive and ultimatelysuccessful transfer of U-505 to Chicago.While the military history enthusiast willfind this section of lesser interest, it is goodthat a well documented record has beenmade of the political blood and treasure thatcommunities are willing to spend onrecording their history.

Hunt and Kill , an interestingcompilation, must still be read with DanielGallery’s works; with Clay Blair’smagisterial Hitler’s U-Boat War; withCaptain John Waters Bloody Winter andwith David Kohnen’s Commanders Winnand Knowles: Winning the U-Boat Warwith Intelligence 1939-1943.

12


The Museum Sage

Putting St. Juliens’ Hard Work to WorkO ne of St. Juliens’ main roles in

World War II was themanufacturing of shells used in

light antiaircraft guns. There was a highdemand for antiaircraft gun shells,especially after hard earned lessons fromPearl Harbor and other early World War IIbattles forced the Navy into rethinkingantiaircraft gun batteries on its warships. Asa solution to the air threat, the Navy switchedover to large numbers of European-designed20 mm and 40 mm guns. With the adoptionof these new guns, St. Juliens switched overto assembling these shells.

These little guns get some respect, butnever their full credit. The battleships arerespected and worshiped because of the 14-

inch and 16-inch rifles that make up theirmain armament. We tend to forget,however, that they were also armed to theteeth with smaller guns. The battleship inparticular was found to be a very goodantiaircraft platform. This, of course, isquite ironic and goes against the notion thatPearl Harbor instantly made the battleshipsobsolete. What the air raid on Pearl Harbor,and subsequent battles, did teach us was thatthe battleships needed better antiaircraftprotection.

At right are “before and after”diagrams of the battleships USS Nevada(BB-36) and USS South Dakota (BB-57)and their antiaircraft mounts as drawn bythe Bureau of Ordnance. There are farbetter discussions on the antiaircraftupgrade package than can be presented here(the works of Norman Friedman and Robert

USS Nevada (BB-36)(1954 Diagram by Bureau of Ordnance)

USS South Dakota (BB-57)(1954 Diagram by Bureau of Ordnance)

Sumrall in particular). But at the very least,the diagrams will give you a visualpresentation of just how under-gunned thebattleships were at the beginning of the warand what the Navy did to fix it.

For the record, Robert Sumrall in hisresearch discovered that Wisconsin wasoriginally supposed to be equipped onlywith its original twenty 5-inch dual purposeguns, four quad 1.1-inch machinegun

mounts and twelve .50 machinegun mounts.The Navy upgraded the ship mid-construction to twenty 5-inch guns, twenty40 mm quad mounts, and forty-nine 20 mmsingle mount Okerlins, two (with six moreadded later) 20 mm dual mount Okerlins.This of course resulted in the ship’sinfamous overcrowding as hundreds of extrasailors had to be added to accommodate theextra sixty-five guns.

13

The Daybook Vol. 10 Issue 1St. Juliens continued from page 8


A fully assembled Mk VI mine awaits to be loaded onto a minelayer at a depot in Scotland, 1918. St. Juliensassembled and loaded over 73,000 of the sphericalexplosives in just fifty days. They were then sent toScotland for final assembly and arming. An unarmedMk VI is in our museum gallery. (U.S. Navy photo)

The Portsmouth Company sold the Navyan additional 228.32 acres in two parcelsfor $80,280 on January 31, 1929. Right-of-ways were also secured from theVirginia Electric & Power Company, theNorfolk & South Belt Line RailroadCompany, and the Virginia RailwayCompany.

The purchase of the land from railwaycompanies went to expand the facility’srailroad system. Abandoned today, thesystem was comprised of conventionaltracks with steel rails resting on wooden tiesand a gravel bed. The main St. JuliensCreek Annex track connected with theVirginia Railway and Power Companytracks to the northwest of the original landparcel purchase. As the facility grew,additional spurs were constructed adjacentto newly built buildings. Most tracks andspurs were placed to the west of thebuildings they were meant to serve. Withso many spurs operating in such a smallarea, the connecting tracks required theinstallation of a series of switchers. Theswitchers were small metal levers thatallowed for the movement of tracks so that

trains could change to different tracks. Inmost cases, the switchers were found nearspur junctions. After World War II, therailroad system became obsolete and wasabandoned. Today, railroad tracks onlysurvive in sections located along roadwaysand adjacent to vacant buildings.

In addition to transportationimprovement, St. Juliens received addedsecurity and safety measures during thisinterwar period. Among the securityinitiatives, on August 12, 1935, all air spacesover the station were restricted to militaryaircraft only by the Secretary of the Navyunder the provisions of Executive Order No.7138.

One of the more important safetydevelopments during this interwar period atSt. Juliens Creek Annex was thedevelopment of the Lightning ProtectionSystem. Before the construction of thissystem, workers would have to stopworking on shell and power bag assemblyduring a thunderstorm. At least one officerwas brought up on charges for violating thispolicy. The Lightning Protection System isa network of steel masts connected by and

underground grid system that isalso bonded to railroad tracksand water hydrants. Conceivedin 1929, but not executed until1934, the system providedgrounding for electrical chargesassociated with lightning thatmight have ignited the manyvolatile chemicals andexplosives used at St. JuliensCreek Annex.

The steel masts ranged inheight from seventy to eight-six-and-a-half feet. The mast’sdiameter at the base was two-feet-one-inch. Each mast waspainted with zinc primer and awhite finish coat. Taperingtoward the top, each mast wasdivided into sectionsapproximately twenty feet long.Top sections ranged from ten-and-a-half feet to twenty feet.Some of the top sections on thefour types of masts werecrowned with a sphere. Themasts are set approximately 200feet apart throughout the entirefacility. They were attached tothe docks on the waterfront and

adjacent to most of the buildings.The system’s foundations consisted of

steel casings filled with poured concretethat extended six inches above the ground.Metal cables connected the mastsunderground. Additional cables connectedthe masts above ground to each concretefoundation. Metal rods dug into the groundare also attached to the cables. The cablesystem were also connected to the railroadand water hydrants. All cables wereattached by welding.

With America’s entry into World WarII in December 1941, St. Juliens CreekAnnex once again played a major, butlittle-known, role in winning the war.When the United States officially enteredWorld War II, St. Juliens was already oneof the largest ammunition depots in thecountry. Ammunition production at theDepot focused almost exclusively onsmaller caliber gun ammunition. Criticalroles such as shell filling and ordnancetesting also continued.

Of particular importance, St. Julienswas the main assembly plant forammunition for the highly successful 20mm Okerlin antiaircraft gun. Later in thewar, the Depot opened a new line tomanufacture shells for the 40 mm Bofferantiaircraft guns. Before the war was over,

While many military facilities in the United States made preparationfor a surprise attack from a foreign air or naval raid, St. Juliens madepreparations in the 1930s against a more likely enemy: Mother Nature.The Navy assembled a series of tall poles as part of the LightningProtection System throughout St. Juliens to ensure a thunder stormdid not ignite stored ammunition. (U.S. Navy photo)

14




Along with the assembly of ammunition, St. Juliens was a major storage facility until loading teams could placethem on board cargo vessels, usually Liberty ships. (U.S. Navy/ Bureau of Ordnance photo)

the Bureau of Ordnance estimated that theNavy manufactured over one billion 20 mmbullets. As a result of the high demand,even a facility such as St. Juliens could notkeep up, and much of the 20 mm shellassembly was outsourced to privatecontractors.

Even with some of the assemblyoutsourced, St. Juliens remained one of thefew facilities able to load the ammunitionon to cargo ships. Before the constructionof other East Coast Navy facilities in 1940s,St. Juliens was the only depot along theAtlantic coast that had the wharf spaceavailable for ammunition loading onLiberty ships.

The Bureau of Ordnance decided toimprove the Depot’s port facilities andawarded a contract on March 15, 1944 forthe construction of a deep-water marginalwharf. Projections called for twenty-fivethousand tons of ordnance to be shippedmonthly with the improvements.Numerous other new buildings andstructures were also constructed to meet theincreased wartime demands on the Depot’scapabilities. Barracks, for the large numberof U.S. Naval personnel assigned to St.Juliens Creek Annex, continued to beconstructed throughout 1943.

Other improvements includedtechnological upgrades, keeping the facilitya center for Naval ordnance activitiesthroughout World War II. Among thetechnological improvements introducedwere a power driven defusing anddeplugging machine for disassemblingordnance, explosive “D” removal lathes fortaking explosives out of shells, and tank

rolling machines. In all, new magazines forordnance storage, a “D” explosive loadingplant, a barracks, support structures andninety-two structures for shell-filling,storage and shipping were built duringWorld War II.

The loading buildings for explosive“D” in particular required the constructionof special equipment and buildings so thatit could be loaded in bulk after being siftedand screened to rid it of foreign matterbefore it was used. Some older buildingswere also converted to serve as 20 mmcartridge filling houses. By the end of WorldWar II in 1945, the Depot had reached itsapproximate current size of over 489.5acres.

Cost for expanding the facilities at St.Juliens continued to risethroughout World War II.From December 1941 untilSeptember 1943, a total of$4,200,000 was spent onequipment and rolling stockfor the Depot. Sevenhundred and seventy-seventhousand dollars was spentfor the construction oftwenty-two new magazines.Other constructionexpenditures included$212,000 for the explosive“D” loading plant, $203,000for a dock storehouse,$21,000 for a locomotiveshed, $122,000 for 1.1-inch

tracer bullet loading and 20 mm shellloading building, $65,000 for a powderstacking and filling house, $65,000 for agarage and fire station, $36,000 for adispensary, $84,000 for a Marine barracks,$73,000 for a new Bachelor Officer’sQuarters and $103,000 for the constructionof seven new mess halls.

Occupying and working in the newbuildings was an increasingly large numberof civilians. The number of civilians neededto run the Depot increased throughout theentire World War II era. Starting with 1,059civilian employees in December 1941, theDepot’s expanded mission resulted in over2,128 civilians being employed by July 31,1942. Of these, 29% were African-American. Two hundred twenty-eightwomen were also employed. In October of1943, over 44% of the workers wereAfrican-American and 34% women. Thetotal payroll during this period was 3,540workers. Additionally, African-Americansailors were assigned to the Depot inincreasing numbers. Five of the newbarracks at St. Juliens quartered African-American enlisted men. African-Americanenlisted men were used in the handlinggangs throughout the Depot, while civilianlabor worked in the filling operations.

After World War II, NavalAmmunition Depot St. Juliens continued tofunction as a shell-loading plant and as theprimary test-loading facility for new gunammunition models. An explosion in 1970

This seemingly nondescript building is where Explosive D was handledand manufactured at St. Juliens. Explosive “D,” or ammonium pictrate,was used as a bursting charge for armor piercing shells and as a solidfuel propellant in rockets. (U.S. Navy photo)

15

The Daybook Vol. 10 Issue 1St. Juliens continued from page 14

An African-American sailor is shown here at the loading piers at St. Juliens. African-Americans worked asammunition handlers at the Annex and many of the Navy’s ammunition handling and manufacturing facilitiesduring World War II. (U.S. Navy/ Bureau of Ordnance photo)

convinced the Navy that St. Juliens CreekAnnex was too close to residential areas forsafety. On January 1, 1970, the NavalAmmunitions Depot, St. Juliens wasredesignated as an Annex of NavalWeapons Station, Yorktown and renamedSt. Juliens Creek Annex. Five years later,all ordnance production, handling andstorage activities were transferred to theNaval Weapons Station, Yorktown.Since the 1980s, many of the buildingsat St. Juliens Annex have been used aswarehouses. Numerous buildings arevacant while others have been taken overby “squatter” commands. Currently, St.Juliens Creek Annex houses buildingsused for technical libraries,administrative duties, Naval Sea SystemCommand support, storage, cryogenicsschools, repair shops, warehouses andlabs.

St Juliens Creek Annex is currentlylisted as an Historic District in the NavyRegion Mid-Atlantic ProgrammaticAgreement for the Navy’s HistoricBuildings in Hampton Roads, which wassigned by the Commander, Navy Region,Mid-Atlantic in November 1999. While St.Juliens Creek Annex meets the NationalRegister of Historic Sites Criteria A and C,it has not been listed on the Register, norhas it been nominated for listing. The Mid-Atlantic District has given St. Juliens CreekAnnex a Historic District Preservation

Shown above is one of the many assemblybuildings at St. Juliens. Plain in nature, thebuildings manufactured millions of shells andweapons used by the Navy in both World Wars.During World War II, the Navy hired severalhundred women, like the ones shown at rightworking at an Army facility, to assemble 20 mmand 40 mm ammunition. (U.S. Navy photo, top,U.S. Army photo, left)

Priority Rating of Category 2.A Category 2 historic preservation

priority rating indicates that the districtretains good, but somewhat compromised,integrity of features that define its sense ofplace. A Category 2 historic preservationpriority rating also means that the districtwarrants active preservation efforts if suchpreservation efforts does not seriouslyimpede an installation’s activities ormission. Currently, the Navy and the

Virginia State Historic Preservation Officeare working together to develop a workablepreservation strategy for this importantcultural resource.

There are several sources for moreinformation about St. Juliens Annexincluding several historic preservationsurveys open for public viewing. All ofthese works may be found at the museum.They include:

Programmatic Agreement for the Navy’sHistoric Buildings in Hampton Roads,Commander Navy Region Mid-Atlantic,Nov. 1999.

HABS Level III – Type Documentation,Buildings 13, 20, 64, 65, 66, 67, 96, M-2,St. Juliens Creek Annex, Chesapeake,Virginia, Feb. 2004. Prepared by Sadler &Whitehead Architects, PLC, Richmond,Virginia.

Federal Owned Real Estate- Under TheControl Of The Navy Department, 1942.Issued by the Bureau of Yards and Docks.

Building the Navy’s Bases in World WarII, History of the Bureau of Yards and Docksand the Civil Engineer Corps 1940 – 1946,Volume I, 1947

16


�

�

In The Next Issue...

A Near Disaster

The Navy stored thousands of mines out in the openduring World War II at what is now known as theYorktown Naval Weapon Station. This particularphoto was taken on November 16, 1943. Notice the crater and burnt trees at the topof the photo. Additionally, notice the number of mines that have been knocked offtheir stacks (inset photo at right). Fortunately, none of the mines exploded. (U.S.Navy photo)

Keeping the Peace: Cumberland’s Second and Third Cruise to the Mediterranean

Book Reviews: Stephen Decatur: A Life Most Bold and Daring and Rage ofHonor: A Biography of Stephen Decatur

Documents

PDF Daybook Reload-Volume 10-Issue 1-PDF Reload