IN MEMORIAM
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When the USS
BLOCK ISLAND (CVE-21)
was torpedoed six
men were lost. The demise of these shipmates depressed
everyone although each man was thankful that the casualties
in so great a disaster were so few:
JAMES O'NEIL
FRANKS, COX, USNR
JAMES PETER KIBASH, MM3c, USNR
PETER TYCH, S1c, USN-1
HENRY ALFRED MEYER, EM2c, USNR
JAMES BYREL OWEN, AMM1C, USNR
JOHN J. SCHLINKER, S1c, USNR
Six fighting
planes were in the air at the time their carrier was
destroyed. Having nowhere to land, they flew to the nearest
islands. Only two of the planes made successful landings
although when setting their planes down on Portugal possessions,
they knew the reception would not be cordial. They were rescued
as soon as possible by planes from Casablanca. To the four
aviators of the FIGHTING BLOCK ISLAND who were lost, we make
a final salute
LT. ROBERT
P. BUELL, USNR
LT. JG JULIAN L. PITTS, USNR
LT. JG ROBERT W. WYATT, USNR
ENSIGN ROBERT E. INNIS, USNR
Fifteen
other men were injured and taken to the U.S. Naval Base
Hospital at Casablanca, where they recovered and most of them
regained their full strength, returning to active duty in the Navy.
The USS BARR was
damaged by a torpedo in the same action. As a result of this damage the
following 17 crew members lost their lives.
| James Adams | Carl Bennett | Meredeth Brady |
| Carl Burdett | Robert Cook | Thomas Ellis |
| Michael Gorchyca | Gordon Haynes | David Jenkins |
| Clyde Johnson | Phillips Marion | Leland McCabe |
| William Roddy | James Rouse | James Simmons, Jr. |
| Jessie Strong | Thomas Williams |
During the
Pacific Ocean air activities, flying from the deck of CVE-106,
the following
US Marine
Corps personnel lost
their lives:
James Miles
(
*
)
=
Pilot remainder
Air Crews
E. Gunning
Robert Haire
*
Harold Harmer*
Robert Vaupell
*
F. Powlowski
Eugene Shute
Joe Survoy
Charles Harris
*
Gunter Hunricks
Albert Jones
Robert Maze
*
Douglas Herrin
*
Joseph L Butehorn
Ben Davis Cannon
Joseph Cordova
Jack Marconi
*
John D. Sykes, Jr.
Many of our shipmates have died since the end of WWII by other causes and they are surely missed. At this time the WEBSITE wishes to list only those shipmates who were lost in action while serving on the two carriers and the escort DE USS Barr serving along side CVE-21 when it was sunk.
"Never in the field of
human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Sir Winston Churchill
No one is ever gone from this earth as long as someone still has memories of them!
SPECIAL PLAQUE GIVEN TO THE WIDOW OF CHAPLAIN GORDON MACINNES WHO SERVED ABOARD BOTH THE CVE 21 AND 106
|
|
Chaplain Gordon MacInnes, CVE 21 and 106 during WWII |
This wonderful plaque encased in a frame was given to his widow, Mrs. Florence MacInnes (will be 100 years old in September) on December 18, 2005 by his Nephew, Bill MacInnes (Editor of CHIPS). Gordon’s Son, Gordon MacInnes, was by chance visiting his Mother at the time of the presentation.
Photo of Widow, Mrs. Florence MacInnes and her Son, Gordon, receiving plaque:
|
Chaplain Gordon with wife, Florence (Flossie) Taken about 15 Years Ago |
Mrs. Florence MacInnes with Plaque |
Gordon (Sandy) MacInnes with his Mother, Florence |
In the section of the Website "Ships Crews" you will find a Roster of all the personnel who served on the two Block Island Carriers from May 1944 until December 1945. Navy Records established the names of the survivors of CVE 21 on May 29, 1944 and upon CVE 106 in August 1945 just prior to the Japanese surrender. While there were hundreds of shipmates who served on the ships before May 29, 1944 and August 1945 those names were never published on the ships records or were lost in the Navy Records where "service number" were required to retrieve those names.
An article that appeared in the Providence Journal on June 1, 2007 actually is a memorial to all the living and deceased crew members of all the Sailors and Marines that served on both the USS Block Islands and the ships that sailed with her in WWII, the Korean War and the POWs that were rescued from Formosa that were held by the Japanese.
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, JUNE 1, 2007
Memories of Block Island
01:00 AM EDT on Friday, June 1, 2007
Dozens of veterans yesterday visited the sun-splashed namesake of the aircraft carrier that served as their home during World War II: Block Island,R.I. USA
They were greeted by cheers and waving flags as they made their way off the high-speed ferry, some in wheelchairs and clutching canes. All were worn by time but filled with vivid recollections of their wartime experiences. Many had survived the sinking of the carrier Block Island (the first vessel of that name) off the coast of North Africa on May 29, 1944. Three torpedoes launched by a German submarine had sent them plunging into the water at dusk. Others had served aboard the five destroyer escorts that pulled the men to safety.
The Providence Journal/ Bob Thayer
“It brings chills to me,” said Dan DiBono, a naval electrician aboard the Woodrow Wilson Barr, a destroyer escort that plucked the sailors from the oil-filled waters.
For many, it was their first trip to the island and they were treated to an exhibit honoring their service put together by the Block Island Historical Society. Inside the American Legion post set near the Great Salt Pond was a wristwatch frozen at just after 8:30 p.m., when its owner abandoned ship. A pair of skivvies was on display, brown with the oil of the sinking aircraft carrier.
A bell — taken from the second Block Island vessel— was rung for the six men who died aboard the carrier that day and for the four pilots who did not make it to safety after their landing deck went under. Also honored were the 17 who died when the Barr was struck in the same attack, as well as the 1,500 prisoners of war brought to freedom by some of the crew.
“We offer a handshake of gratitude and say welcome home,” said Ben Hruska, historical society administrator and organizer of the event.
“It’s a bit overwhelming,” said Cecil Clarke, 85, who spent 3½ years enduring forced labor and food deprivation as a British prisoner of war of the Japanese in Formosa, now Taiwan. Clarke, who weighed 70 pounds upon his release, traveled from England to attend the ceremony, but was so moved he was unable to address the crowd.
The first Block Island vessel was a converted tanker put to sea in 1943. First used to shuttle war materials from Brooklyn to Belfast, it later went on “hunter-killer” missions seeking German submarines that had been targeting naval convoys that supplied the troops abroad.
Accompanied by five destroyer escorts, it sought out German U-boats in the Atlantic.
The men were waiting for a submarine to surface when the Block Island was hit, said William H. Davis, 85, of San Diego, who was in his bunk at the time.
“We were told, ‘If you get hit, get off in a hurry because they’ll sink fast,’ ” Davis said.
Davis — who had also survived the sinking of the aircraft carrier Lexington — climbed down nets to the water; others jumped.
Otis Long, just 16 years old at the time, had been playing cards. He leapt from the flight deck after watching a doctor cut a man’s injured leg off with a pen knife.
“A lot of prayers were said in that water,” said Long, of Richmond, Va.
All he could see were the whites of his shipmates’ eyes because they were so covered in oil.
A single torpedo from the same sub plowed into the Barr.
“It was the greatest noise I ever heard,” said DiBono, a retired teacher from outside Philadelphia. “My whole life went through me — everything I ever knew or learned.”
DiBono and his partner were knocked unconscious, and DiBono feared, when he came to a few minutes sooner, that his friend had died. DiBono laments the loss of his shipmates, particularly William Roddy, a Bostonian whose family attended yesterday.
“I hate war. I think it’s crazy,” he said. “He’d be a grandfather, like me. That’s the tragedy of war. To me, it’s the stupidity of man.”
In all, 951 Block Island crew were pulled from the water and taken to Casablanca, where they stayed in camel barns.
Many of the survivors went on to serve on the second Block Island, which was the first naval vessel to have a Marine fighting wing assigned to it. The Marines provided aid to troops in Okinawa and assisted the Allies in the Pacific.
At the war’s close, the Block Island sailed to Formosa and carried more than 400 POWs from the United States, England, Australia and Holland on the first stretch of their journey to freedom.
After serving as a Navy training vessel, it was eventually sold for scrap metal, though its bell found its home outside the American Legion on Block Island on May 31, 1971.
The USS Block Island Association, comprising crew members and families from both carriers and the destroyer escorts, has been holding reunions since 1963 to mark the ship’s sinking. It has about 800 members, 135 who participated in yesterday’s ceremony, association president Walter R. “Smiley” Burnette said.
But its numbers are dwindling. Tomorrow, the group will hold a memorial service for the 37 members who died in the past year.
Beginning on Wednesday, the Block Island Historical Society’s exhibit “Valor and Courage: The Story of the Two USS. Block Islands” will be on display at the American Legion on West Side Road daily from 12 to 2 p.m. through this month.