Former crew members, or families and friends thereof, are invited to email the members name, rank or
rate, contact information and the years they were on the ship. Photos or text documents
(*.txt) will also be accepted if of reasonable length. |
| The Memories of George E. Smith BTC (USN.Ret) George is on the
right. December 1943, I first saw the USS Babbitt when I
was walking down the dock in the Brooklyn Navy Yard reporting aboard with my newly typed
orders. I had been transferred from a new destroyer commissioned just a year
before. Since then we had depth charged a German submarine in the Windward Straights
and ran numerous fast convoy escorts to England. At the invasion of Sicily we were
bombed by the Luftwaffe day and night, losing the destroyer Maddox,some Auxiliarys and
Landing Craft. On a convoy in the Mediterranean, we had been fired at by radio
controlled glider bombs and torpedoes from the German Luftwaffe, losing several transports
and the destroyer Beatty. All this happened in just a few months.
Here I was a newly promoted Chief Water
Tender, full of vim and vigor, going to my new assignment with all expectations of doing
well. And what did I see as a walked toward the ship's gangway. Hoses and
shore lines strung all over the structure of the ship, Navy yard workman going about
there business of making racket ,as they are noted for, and nothing getting done until
just before the ship's departure. The Babbitt was commissioned the same year as
myself and as a matter of fact I was five month's older. So I was not impressed with
what I saw. After getting stowed away in the living quarters, I went down into
the forward fireroom and it seemed like I was back to the age when the wheel was
invented. What a difference from what I had been used to. Prior to this, I had
been on three cans, all commissioned after l935. The Babbitt was the Ford Model T of
destroyers. Well I was at one time the proud owner of a 1928 model
T Ford before enlisting in the Navy, so from past experience, I had my work cut out for
me. I introduced myself to the gang in the
fireroom and I asked the first class, in order to break the ice, to show me around.
He said that he was working on the fuel pump. At first I didn't believe what I
saw. It was a reciprocating Fuel Oil Pump, used to pump oil from the fuel oil tank
to the boiler burner manifold, where you had to have constant pressure. He said, to
keep it working underweight, some times the watch had to tap it with a wrench to keep it
running. It was always sticking Well that was one little thing that had to be
corrected before we got underway again. Something interesting that I hadn't noticed
at first. Usually the older cans are referred to as four stackers which includes the
Babbitt. But the Babbitt only had three stacks. The after stack and boiler had
been removed and replaced with an extra fuel oil tank where the boiler was formerly
located. It gave the ship more fuel and a longer cruising range. Well that was
one less boiler I had to worry about. During our stay in the yard, it was at this
time that Lieutenant W.J.Caspari, USN relieved, Commander S. Ouarles, USN as the
Commanding Officer of the Babbitt. On December 29, l943 we steamed out of the
Brooklyn Navy Yard with some apprehension on my part. When we got to open sea she
steamed along gracefully like she had been doing all those year before my arrival. We
headed for Newport News, to escort a mystery ship for the Azores with two other
escorts. We developed engine trouble after being relieved by another escort, and
limped back into the Navy Yard with main engine trouble. In early January we left the Navy Yard
and went to Casco Bay for a training period which ended in early February 1944. We
went to Boston and escorted the USS Nevada to New York City. We stayed in New York
until we left for Norfolk where we arrived the 22nd of February. I have
pleasant memories of New York. We continued escorting ships and convoys,
uneventfully going to ports in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Eastern Sea
Board. Finally the 5th of September 1944, events
took a turn. The Babbitt set course for Boston with the USS Yukon, a supply
ship. From Boston we sailed to Argentina and remained there long enough to
fuel. The next stop was a place further north called Angmagaslik, Greenland.
On the way up the water was calm and serene, with a few ice bergs scattered here and
there. They made you feel a little uncomfortable, for them just being there and
realizing what could possibly happen if we accidentally brushed against the four fifth
part that is out of sight underwater. We were cruising along and the sonar picked
up a whale, and about the same time the ship gave a slight soft lurch and at first
everyone thought it was an iceberg, but if it had been the lurch wouldn't had been that
soft. So the conclusion was that we had struck a whale. We checked all peak
tanks, compartments, etc. No damage done to us, so we continued on our way. The closer we got to Angmagaslik, the
bigger the bergs got. It was like being in Times Square in New York with all
the tall buildings around you. The Yukon went into Angmagaslik and we keep company
with the ice bergs till she off loaded and rendezvoused with us and the enormous ice
bergs. There was an ever present danger of colliding with them at night. We
left that area 20th Sept 1944 for Rekjevik, Iceland. We proceeded to Rekjevik, and at the
channel entrance the Yukon broke off and went ahead of us. All of a sudden there was
a tremendous explosion. The Yukon was struck in the bow by a torpedo. One
crewmember, who was forward to routinely sound the peak tanks, was blown over the
side. The Yukon's entire forward compartment was flooded but she was able to make it
into port. We attempted to pick up the sub on sonar but were unsuccessful. An
attempt to find the crew member was successful. When we picked him up, he was nearly
unconscious. We put him in a spare bunk in the Chief's Quarters, plied him with Doc's cure
all ,and when we pulled alongside the Yukon, he was inebriated, but able to return back to
his ship. On 1 October, the Babbitt received orders to return to New York. The ship arrived in NY the 10th of October, where we remained until the 27th. We then left for Quonset, Rhode Island to work with carriers in training Naval pilots in making carrier landings. On December 2 the Babbitt reported to the Boston
Navy Yard where she had a complete overhaul and some experimental sound gear
installed. She reported Feb. 2 1945 to the US Naval Underwater Sound Lab at Fort
Trumbull, New London, Connecticut for duty, in connection with experimental sonar
work.
At that time I was transferred to new
construction on the west coast at San Pedro, Calif. |
You can e-mail George at mailto:geoliz12@gateway.net . |
