SWPA Stories

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This page contains original accounts sent to me by people who knew the ships and men of the Southwest Pacific Area. They may reflect an initial contact and response to questions. They are edited only to combine and organize separate messages into the single story, italicize ship names and correct obvious mispellings. Any comments I have added for explanation will be shown in the customary [comment] form. My introductory text and end notes will be in lighter font following this section.

Contents

The Jeremiah M. Daily - "A suitable ship to carry us into battle" - James Flaugher

35th Transportation Service Group - Tom Field

Timber Ship to Ocean Lighter - Keith Oliver of Australia

The following is composed of original text from two e-mail messages. I've only placed what is now the second paragraph appropriately from the second message that was a bit more in explaining the search for a ship. I think it is particularly interesting as it shows a means of obtaining overseas transportation in a way that is seldom mentioned.

It does not deal with an "Army ship" in the formal sense. It does illustrate how some ships became "temporary Army ships" and part of MacArthur's Navy. Apparently it was not all that uncommon in the active war zones and particularly when forces in SWPA needed to move for men to simply go in search of "a suitable ship to carry us into battle."

The Jeremiah M. Daily
"A suitable ship to carry us into battle"

You have my permission to use my story for your Army Ship pages if you wish.

I have a Liberty Ship story from the SWPA. In 1944 I was a sergeant in an Ordnance unit based in Brisbane, Australia, which was destined to be part of the invasion of the Philippines scheduled for that October. I have just read your comments about the Liberty Ships and how the Army commandeered them for use in the SWPA. That is exactly how it happened with us. Our company commander, myself, and another enlisted man searched the Brisbane docks for a suitable ship to carry us into battle. We eventually chose the Daily, which had just come in to Brisbane empty after discharging a cargo of bombs at Calcutta.

It was not the first ship we looked at along the Brisbane docks. Several days before we had gone down and looked at a British tramp, about the size of a Liberty, with a Malay crew. Our CO was a little hesitant about the Malay crew, but I assured him they were among the world's finest seamen and had served on British ships for generations. The real reason we did not choose the British ship was that the crew kept a large pen of goats on the afterdeck for butchering and we were going to need all the deck space we could get for our equipment.

At the end of the 3,700-mile, three-week voyage from Brisbane to Leyte, via New Guinea, where we picked up additional troops, the Daily was kamikazed on the morning of our arrival off Leyte. The Japanese had just begun suicide missions and, because of the outcome of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in which we lost air support from the baby carries guarding the beaches, we were surprised and unprotected. Out of about 500 on the Daily, more than 250, or half of the ship's crew and soldiers aboard, were killed, wounded or missing. The ship's master, chief officer, third engineer, radio operator and the Armed Guard lieutenant were among them.

Rather than resent us, the officers and crew of the Daily did all they could to make our situation a little more bearable. For example, we were allowed to file through the port alleyway (as long as we did not clog it) and drink from the water cooler there. This was the only chilled water on the ship. We were also allowed to use the radio room as our office. This was the only air-conditioned space on a Liberty ship. The radio operator gave me permission to come in at any time and listen to radio broadcasts. As a final act of kindness toward their soldier-passengers, on the morning after the attack, the galley shared what prepared food they had with us. The army field kitchens, on which we depended for our meals, had been destroyed in the attack. I have been on both Army and Navy troop transports during my years in the Southwest Pacific, but I never again encountered the real feeling of comradeship that manifested itself between the soldiers and the ship's crew on the Daily.

James Flaugher

The report of the attack on Jeremiah M. Daily is now presented by the U.S. National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) in an image reference on line.

Serial 0138, Enclosure A: Summary of Statements by Survivors of Enemy Attack on (SS Jeremiah M. Daily by Japanese suicide planes, Leyte Gulf, Phillippine Islands) (NRHS-181-12NDGC-A16(3)QS1-138DAILYSURV).

Images at NARA are on three pages. Click to view.

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

The message from Tom Field illustrates the way in which things had to be put together in the wake of the Japanese sweep through Southeast Asia and the islands of the Western Pacific. Vessels from as far as Singapore, even China, moved through the Dutch East Indes and Philippines to reach hoped for safety in Australia. Australia was in danger until the Battle of the Coral Sea stopped the Japanese advance. The refugees, ships and men, were the core for striking back.

35th Transportation Service Group

I served in the South Pacific and was a member of the 1st Ship & Gun Crew Command. This started with 2 survivors of Corregidor and at the end of the war was the 35th Transportation Service Group. I have never been able to track down any information, but we operated many ships with crews, gun crews, and radio operators. I served on the SS Hanyang a British freighter that operated out of Hong Kong prior to the war. I also was on the TP 101 and LT530 [Army Large Tug] both tugs. The TP 101 lies at the bottom of Marivelies harbor - we went thru the typhoon of 1944 and made it safely back then the old 101 just gave up the ghost. However, the outfit ran freighters, oilers, refrigerator ships, tugs, landing craft, patrol boats- you name it.

Tom Field

Keith Oliver's message mentions standard U.S. Army ships (Y class tanker) and the Small Ships that were built locally. Those include tugs, but of particular interest is the "OL" type, a steel, twin diesel/screw, motor Ocean Lighter (120x24x9 ft) designed by the Australian Shipping Board and built locally. They were used by both Australian forces and U.S. Army Small Ships.

Timber Ship to Ocean Lighter

I've considered your kind invitation to record my experiences in some of the USAT ships on which I served. For your information my maritime background started in November 1939 when I joined the British Merchant Navy in New Zealand. From there I served in the Pacific, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, East Indies and New Guinea.

In brief, I served in the USAT ships in New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Dutch New Guinea and the Philippines from 1943 to 1946 as firstly 1st. officer and finally as Master. All ships were below 1,000 tons, some were built in Australia and New Zealand and others in the USA. The USA ships were general cargo FS class and a tanker of Y class and all built during WW II, the only exception was USAT Davenport of massive timber construction, built by Kruse and Banks for the Pacific Coast lumber fleet in 1912. I was a survivor from her sinking off Newcastle in 1943 and recently when trying to trace her early history, the National Park Maritime Museum informed me that she was still sailing in the US in 1946!!

In September 1943 I joined the USAT in Melbourne. At that time it was officially known as UNITED STATES ARMY SERVICE OF SUPPLY South West Pacific Area, Transportation Service, Small Ships Section. It operated under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. My first ship was the USAT Davenport which I joined in Newcastle. She had just arrived from the US and was on her way to New Guinea. Unfortunately she never got further than Newcastle which is where she ended her days. I have a story to write about her, how I almost shared death with her a few miles off the Australian east coast, and later a brief involvement in the subsequent Army court hearing.

After that ship I served in New Guinea, based at Milne Bay. As the Allied troops advanced so did our bases. I served in a USAT Y class tanker carrying Hi-octane fuel for the Army Air Corp at Nadzab from which base they were bombing Rabaul and Cape Gloucester in advance of the invasion of New Britain at Cape Gloucester. Later, based at Finschafen I served on a USAT OL class vessel which occasionally carried Army metal coffins containing dead soldiers for transshipment to larger ships returning to the US.

I was then transferred to what was known as the New Zealand Delivery Crew. Our task was to fly to Auckland and deliver NZ built tugs to US Army in Brisbane. From memory we delivered about 8 tugs. Quite a memorable experience taking 75 foot tugs across the Tasman Sea. From that I moved into FS class ships and then on to Tacloban and finally up to Manila. We then operated from Manila to as far south as Jolo in the Sulu Sea carrying general war materiel to bases throughout the Islands and occasionally Japanese POWs from Mindanao to Manila.

I left the service in November 1946. My service was recognised by the US as I was awarded the Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States of America, with full entitlement to the benefits administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs; additionally I received the Pacific Zone medal, Philippine Liberation medal, Victory medal, Presidential Testimonial Letter and Honorable Service Badge.

I have given you some idea of my service. if you feel it is of interest I will prepare my account of the USAT Davenport.

Keith Oliver
Australia

Unfortunately, I haven't heard from Keith on Davenport.

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