Re: Dec 7, 1941 - My Dad
My Dad was in the Navy - went in 1942 on Destroyer DD213 USS Barker - then transferred to the brand new Destroyer Escort DE368 USS Cecil J. Doyle in 1944 - was honorably discharged while he was in Tokyo after the surrender.
Sharing with you 3 interesting pictures from my private family album ...
- The Cecil J Doyle on picket duty somewhere in the in the Atlantic circa 1944
- My Dad at 22 sitting center in the rear of photo under the fan .. in the Cecil J Doyle supply room (the good look'in guy!}- he was 1st Class Chief Petty Supply Officer - the "kid" on the right with all the cash payroll in his hands is Elton Haley his boss and Supply Chief.
- Fast forward - my Dad and Elton 68 years later! - both in there 90's
one year later they where both gone - passing of natural causes - part of the greatest generation that is no longer here but in my heart forever .... I was honored to know my father and to have been a part of their once in a lifetime reunion - when I witnessed my Dad regress right back to a 22 year old before my eyes....reliving crazy wartime adventures and hardships together - I've got 5 hours of recorded conversation to remember them by...
History of the Cecil J. Doyle from Wiki:
Namesake:
Cecil J. Doyle Builder:
Consolidated Steel Corporation,
Orange, Texas Laid down: 12 May 1944 Launched: 1 July 1944 Commissioned: 16 October 1944 Decommissioned: 2 July 1946 Struck: 1 July 1967 Fate: Sunk as target, 2 December 1967 General characteristics Class & type:
John C. Butler-class destroyer escort Displacement: 1,350 tons Length: 306 ft (93 m) Beam: 36 ft 8 in (11 m) Draft: 9 ft 5 in (3 m) Propulsion: 2 boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp; 2 propellers Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h) Range: 6,000
nmi. (12,000 km) @ 12 kt Complement: 14 officers, 201 enlisted Armament: 2 ×
5 in (127 mm)/38 guns (2×1)
4 ×
40 mm AA guns (2×2)
10 ×
20 mm AA guns (10×1)
3 ×
21 in. torpedo tubes (1×3)
8 ×
depth charge projectors
1 × depth charge projector (
hedgehog)
2 × depth charge trackscarried out her first mission while still in
shakedown, when she cruised on an
air-sea rescue station during the flight of Government officials to the
Yalta Conference. On 30 January 1945, she rendezvoused with
HMS Ranee, and guarded the
escort carrier through the
Panama Canal and north to
San Diego, California.
Cecil J. Doyle continued on to
Pearl Harbor and
Eniwetok, where she arrived on 28 March to join the
Marshalls-
Gilbert Patrol and Escort Group. Her escort duties took her to
Guam, and
Ulithi, where on 30 April she was transferred to the Carolines Surface Patrol and Escort Group. On 2 May,
Cecil J. Doyle's commanding officer became Commander, Screen, Peleliu, protecting the great anchorage in
Kossol Roads.
While on patrol,
Cecil J. Doyle several times rescued downed aviators, and on 27 May 1945, bombarded a bypassed
Japanese garrison on
Koror Island. On 2 August, she was ordered to the rescue of a large group of men in rafts reported at 11°30' N., 133°30' E., and bent on top speed to be the first ship to reach the survivors of torpedoed
Indianapolis (CA-35). Her commanding officer,
W. Graham Claytor Jr., approached at night and turned searchlights on the water and straight up on low clouds, lighting up the night and exposing his ship to possible attack by Japanese
submarines.
[2] Captain Claytor ordered his Communications Officer Lieutenant
James A. Fite, Jr. to inform command that they were rescuing the crew of the Indianapolis; this was the first definitive message of the Indianapolis's fate. She rescued 93 survivors, and gave final rites to 21 found already dead. Remaining in the area searching until 8 August,
Cecil J. Doyle was the last to leave the scene. While only 316 men were rescued out of the crew of 1,196 aboard the
Indianapolis, Captain Claytor's actions were widely credited by survivors with preventing an even greater loss of life.
From 26 August 1945, when she sailed into
Buckner Bay,
Okinawa, the destroyer was assigned to occupation duty. She sailed with
hospital ships to
Wakayama,
Japan, to evacuate released
prisoners of war, then screened
aircraft carriers providing air cover for landing of occupation troops. Through 12 November, she cruised on courier duty between Japanese ports, and after
drydocking at
Yokosuka, sailed for
San Francisco, California, arriving there on 13 January 1946.
She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Diego on 2 July 1946.
