My Grandfathers Military Records

I have been sitting on my grandfathers military records for about a month and a half, just going through everything and trying to sort out a large piece of his life that encompased the years of 1939 through 1946.

When I had written the N.A.R.A., I had only hoped to get information on the ship that my grandfather was on during the attack on Pearl Harbor, as no one in the family seems to remember exactly what ship it was. Instead I recieved a rather large envelope with all of his records for the six years that he was enlisted in the United States Navy. Included were the names of all the ships he was on as well as his ranks during service and transfers from base to base and ship to ship. I also now have copies of his enlistment and seperation letters with the U.S. Navy.

For the purposes of this post, I will list the ships he was on, along with the pictures I found online of the boats, as well as the dates that he was on each ship. If you come across this site searching for these ships and information on them and you (or a relative of yours) were on the same ship as my grandfather at the same time as he, please feel free to write me at bmc1069@gmail.com or leave a comment at the bottom of this post as I would love to hear from you. Maybe you can help me fill in more detail from my grandfathers life as a Navy Seaman during World War II.

* * * *

U.S.S. Boggs
(July 29, 1939-December 13, 1940)




* * * * *

U.S.S. Argonne
(December 13, 1940-October 20, 1941)




* * * *

U.S.S. Antares
(October 20, 1941-March 28, 1942 and October 2, 1942-November 26, 1942)

This was the ship that my grandfather was on in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate an actual picture of the ship itself, so I have included a picture of a model of the ship that I found. If I happen to run across a better picture, I will put that up in this ones place. After the picture, you will find a ships log from the Antares after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and The Antares role in that area.






U.S.S. Antares


AKS3/A16-3(0661)




Pearl Harbor, T.H.
December 10, 1941.

From:
The Commanding Officer.
To:
The Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Subject:
Air Raid on Oahu December 7, 1941; Report on.

Reference:
(a) CINCPAC despatch 102102 of December 1941.
In compliance with reference (a) the following report concerning the activities of this vessel on the morning of December 7, 1941, is submitted.

"At 0630 the Antares arrived off Pearl Harbor entrance from Canton and Palmyra Islands with a 500 tons steel barge in tow. It was expected to transfer the two to a tug at the above time and then enter Pearl Harbor. As the tug was not in sight at 0630 the ship was turned slowly to the east at which time a suspicious object was sighted about 1500 yards on the starboard quarter. This object could have been a small submarine with upper conning tower awash and periscope partly raised but it could not be positively identified as such. The U.S.S.Ward which was the inshore patrol ship in the vicinity was notified and proceeded to investigate. At 0633 a navy patrol plane circled and dropped two smoke pots near the object.

At 0645 the Ward commenced firing and ceased firing at 0647. At this time either the patrol plane dropped bombs or the Ward three depth charges over the object, which disappeared.

At 0715 the Keosanoua arrived to received the tow and it was passed at 0835. At 0758 explosions were observed in Pearl Harbor and Japanese planes were seen delivering an attack. At 0800 this vessel was under machine gun fire from a Japanese plane, the topside being hit in a few places by approximately thirty calibre bullets. Several bomb and numerous shell fragments continually fell in close proximity and the ship was severely shaken by either bomb bursts or depth charges. As this vessel is not armed, no effective offensive or defensive tactics appeared possible. After passing the tow the ship was maneuvered, zigzagging and turning to a position between the Pearl Harbor restricted area and Honolulu entrance, inshore of combatant ships. As it was apparent that the continued presence of the Antares off shore was placing the ship and personnel in constant jeopardy, authority was requested to enter Honolulu Harbor. This was received from the Harbor Control Officer at 1054 and at 1146 the ship was moored to Berth 5-A, Honolulu Harbor.

No casualties to personnel or material were received. Personnel reacted to the emergency in an exemplary manner. Men disconnecting the tow and others on exposed stations were calm and steady. "

[signed]L.C. GRANNIS.


* * * * *

U.S.S. Prometheus
(November 26, 1942-August 21, 1944)




* * * *

You might notice parts that seem missing in his dates of service. What I have listed here are just his records at sea. On April 7th and 8th, 1939, my grandfather was stationed in San Francisco (Mare Island which is technically Vallejo, California). He left San Francisco for training down in San Diego from April 8th, 1939 through July 29, 1939. After that, he was then stationed on the U.S.S. Boggs.

After his service on the U.S.S. Prometheus he went back to San Francisco from August 21, 1944 through November 16, 1944. He was then sent back down to San Diego through March 15th 1945 and discharged from service on that date on Mare Island in Vallejo, California.

* * * * *

When I have a little more time, I will post more information about his time with the U.S. Navy.