James Harrie Wilkerson died September
19, 1994 in Nacadogches, Texas, he was 69 year old.
Since that day, my brothers,
Bobby, Tommy, and I (Rodney) have been researching dad’s service during World
War II. As boys growing up, all we knew
about dad's service was that he served as a merchant mariner aboard the Hospital Ship, Algonquin. We often "plundered" through boxes of old
photographs at Grandma Ione's where we saw
pictures of the ship dad served on, the crew he served with and the places he
had been. In the old wardrobe in
the front bedroom, dad’s dress uniforms hung for years without being touched, just like he had taken
them off. On the shoulders of the Khaki
Coat were two black shoulder boards with one gold bouillon stripe. Above the
stripe is the embroidered emblem of a ships wheel. We didn't know what they
meant then and today we still are not sure what they mean. We know that
the boards are that of a Junior Third Officer, however, we are not sure what the
ship wheel insignia means. We think possibly , deck officer. This
requires more research or maybe an ATS veteran can solve this one for us.
Along the way, we found that researching dads
service is no simple matter. But, with the help of several other
Merchant Marine Websites, we have developed in this short biographical
sketch
what we believe to be an accurate chronology of dad's service. Through our eyes, and using his old
photographs, his memories, and documents uncovered in our research we present
this document for all to view.
James Harrie Wilkerson was born and
raised in Norris, MS., located in Scott County, just south of Forest, MS. on
State Route 501. He attended
Elementary School just a stone throw away from his house, about ¼ mile down the
road. He graduated from Lake High
School in May/June 1943.
World War II was well under way and his
service was needed so in September 1943 James enrolled in the United States
Maritime Service in Birmingham, Alabama. He
would serve in various positions as a merchant seaman until his discharge in
June 1946.
Here-in lies the tangle, US. Maritime
Service, Merchant Marine, Army Transport Service, Army Transportation Service,
Army Transportation Corps. In which service did he serve? As it
turns out, a little of them all.
The following is a chronology of
James Wilkerson's service as transcribed from his official service record and
some assumptions on our part. I am
in possession of all of the records show here. They where give to Bobby by our stepmother,
Martha Wilkerson. All of the photographs
here-in are scanned images from originals, also in my
possession. Some of the 203rd Hospital Compliment photographs appear to be
duplicates given to the crew and hospital compliment on board. Some of the
same photographs I have are also photographs show to me by members of the
203rd.
On September 1, 1943, 18-year-old
James Wilkerson enrolled in the United States Maritime Service in Birmingham,
Alabama.
His Regular Enrollment in the United States Maritime Service began at the
US Maritime Service Training Station, ST. Petersburg, Florida on October 7, 1943 where
he attended Basic Training. The
photograph below of Price and W(ilkerson) was taken during his basic training in
ST. Petersburg.
Even though I do not know the exact
date that James completed Basic Training in St. Petersburg, documentation
suggest that he graduated on or about January 11, 1944 with a rating of
Ordinary Seaman. This is
supported by the fact that on January 11, 1944, two certificates were issued to
James H. Wilkerson. The first
certificate issued on January 11, 1944 was the Certificate of Efficiency To
Lifeboatman. The US Department of
Commerce, Bureau of Marine and Navigation issued this certificate with serial
number B255755.
The
second certificate issued on January 11, 1944 was the, Certificate of Service.
The US Coast Guard certifying that James was qualified to serve onboard a
merchant vessel of 100 tons gross and upward as an Ordinary Seaman issued
certificate number E493254.
While
in Basic Training, James received training that would prepare him to perform his
duties as a merchant seaman onboard a merchant vessel.
Below is a collection of photographs from James’ personal collection
that shows some the training that he would have received while at the US
Maritime Service Training Station, St Petersburg, Florida.
From
January 11, 1944 to 1 April 1944, the nature of James’ maritime service is
somewhat unclear. After reviewing the dates on the Certificate of Service and
the Certificate of Lifeboatman, I am convinced that he completed basic training
on or about that date. However, the first actual document I see with a confirmed
service date is the US Army Transport Service (ATS) Discharge.
The ATS Discharge shows his first ship movement date on 1 April 1944.
Among James’ personal documents were two certificates that suggest to
me that he continued his maritime training after basic training in St. Petersburg, Florida, but where? One
certificate is the U.S. Maritime Designation of Grade Certificate.
The other is the U.S Maritime Release from Active Duty Certificate.
Relatives remembered James attending training at Henderson Point in Pass
Christian, Mississippi but none remember what type training he took or when he
attended the training. Based on
family knowledge and based on the two certificates, I feel certain that James
attended Advanced Training at the U.S. Maritime Training Station at Henderson
Point in Pass Christian, Mississippi.
Various U.S Maritime Service documents and other publications including
the WWII Merchant Marine website
http://www.USMM,org
document that Henderson Point, Pass Christian, Mississippi was one of many US
Maritime Service Training facilities during WWII.
I believed that James began training at Henderson Point in mid January
1944 and completed the training on or about 23 March 1944.
This assumption is supported by the issuance of the US Maritime Service
certificate, Designation of Grade, dated 23 March 1944 designating James a
Seaman 2nd Class. This
promotion would be in keeping with the successful completion of a service
school. These dates also fit into
the logical sequence of dates between James’ basic training, 7 October 1943,
and the date he first sailed onboard the Algonquin on 1 April 1944.
Logical
Sequence of Training and Service
01
September 1943 Enrolled in US Maritime
Service
07 October 1943
Regular Enrollment Began at Basic Training, St. Petersburg, FL
11 January 1944
Certificate of LifeBoatman issued, Completion of Basic Training
11 January 1944
Certificate of Service issued, Completion of Basic Training
Mid January 1944
Advanced Service Training, Henderson Point, Pass Christian, MS.
23
March 1944
Certificate, Designation of Grade Issued, Completion of Advanced
Training, Henderson Point, MS
01 April 1944
Certificate, Release from U.S. Maritime Service, Charleston, SC
1 April 1944
Active Duty with the US Army Transport Service (ATS)
Figure
10:
Designation of Grade, US Maritime Service, 23 March 1943
On April 1, 1944, after his promotion
to Seaman 2nd Class and completion of the US Maritime Service Advance
Training School at Henderson Point, Pass Christian, MS., James was Released from
Active Duty, by certificate, from the US Maritime Service on April 1, 1944.
I
believe that James was released from active duty from the US Maritime Service
because, while in Basic Training, he was selected or volunteered for service
with the Unites States Army Transport Service (ATS), later called the United
States Army Transportation Corps. The
ATS, like the U.S. Maritime Service and the Navy, operated thousands of ships in
support of the war effort. The ATS
needed qualified and trained merchant seaman and the US Maritime Service
Training Stations were designated by the War Shipping Administration as the
agency to provide trained seaman for the ATS who would serve as civilian
merchant seaman. The ATS ship James would serve aboard was the US Army
Hospital Ship (USAHS) Algonquin.
US
Army Transport Service Begins on the USAHS Algonquin
The Algonquin was initially chartered
by the United States as a Troop Transport Ship.
However, in July 1943 she was acquired by the United States Army for
conversion to a Hospital Ship operated by the US Army Transport Service (ATS).
The ship was sent to the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company in
Mobile, Alabama in July 1943 and the conversion was completed in January 1944.
About the same time that James
completed basic training and was beginning his USMS Advanced Training School at
Henderson Point in January 1944, at the end of January 1944, the US Army
Hospital Ship (USAHS) Algonquin, with a full crew of seaman and medical
personnel from the 203rd Hospital Compliment on board, the ship departed New
Orleans, Louisiana for Gibralter. Upon
arrival, the ship was cleared to sail to Oran, Bizerte, then finally to Naples,
Italy before returning to Charleston, South Carolina on March 28, 1944.
Because of problems identified on this first voyage, the Algonquin
dropped down to the Merrill Stevens Dry-dock and Repair Company in Jacksonville,
Florida for repairs. The ship spent
the most part of April 1944 at the shipyard.
Once repairs were completed, the ship returned to Charleston, South
Carolina, her designated homeport.
James Wilkerson began his service
with the US Army Transport Service (ATS) on April 1, 1944.
Service related documents shows that he was Release From Active Duty from
the US Maritime Service the same day. His
record of service with the US Army Transport Service and the USAHS Algonquin is
first documented on his US Army Transport Service (ATS) Certificate of Discharge
dated 3 July 1944. This discharge
certificate documents his first ATS active duty service period as 1 April 1944
to 3 July 1944 aboard the US Army Hospital Ship Algonquin in Charleston, SC as
an A.B. Seaman. This date would
imply that James’ first trip with the ship was to the shipyard in
Jacksonville, Florida then back to Charleston for his first overseas voyage.
Here, as an AB Seaman, he would perform routine shipboard task and
maintenance, storage, rigging, etc…Below are some photographs of what I
believe are James and other crewmembers as AB Seaman.
James’
First Voyage
In early May 1944, after repairs had
been made to the ship in Jacksonville, Florida, the USAHS Algonquin again set
sail for Gibralter and Bezerte then returned to Charleston in late May 1944.
The Algonquin made a similar trip to Gibralter and Bezerte in June 1944,
however, this time she sailed on to Naples before returning to Charleston, SC in
late June 1944. James' discharge
certificate documents his active duty time as 1 April 1944 to 3 July 1944 aboard
the USAHS Algonquin, Charleston, SC. His
rating was Able Bodied Seaman. It
was common practice for the merchant seaman to be discharged voyage was
completed. This meant that the
seaman were not eligible for pay or benefits except during the actual voyage
time.
The photograph below
documents James’ service as an Able Bodied (AB) Seaman aboard the USAHS
Algonquin. Figure 14 below is inscribed on the back of the photograph, Dalton,
Ferd B. (right), Wilkerson (second from left), Brock, Kooin (?), Niskoni.
Figure
15:
James Wilkerson A.B. Seaman
From his records, it appears that James was promoted to
Deck Storekeeper at the end of his first voyage.
He took leave and traveled home to Forest, Mississippi where
the pictures in Figures 16-19 were taken of him as a Deck Storekeeper.
The photograph in Figure 20 was taken of James after he was promoted to Deck
Storekeeper. This photograph
appeared in the Scott County Times, Tribute to Veterans, December 1944 Issue.
Figure
16: James
and Pauline Figure 17: James and Ellie Figure 18:
James and Pansy
In late July 1944, the Algonquin
again sailed to Oran where it would shuttle back and forth to Naples several
times. On August 15, 1944, the
Algonquin along with eleven other hospital ships, Acadia, Chateau Thierry, John
L. Clem, Ernest Hines, Marigold, John J. Meany, St. Mikiel, Seminole, Shamrock,
Thistle, and Emily H. M. Weder were involved in the invasion of southern France.
It was during this assignment a bomb exploded a few yards away from the
Algonquin however, the ship was not damaged.
James was originally scheduled to sail on this voyage with the Algonquin
as a Deck Storekeeper, however he was hospitalized in Savannah, Georgia.
His service record shows that he was a hospital patient at the Marine
Hospital in Savannah, GA from August 1, 1944 to September 21, 1944.
The reason for hospitalization is unknown.
The Algonquin arrived back in
Charleston sometime in mid September 1944.
James' service record shows he was discharged from the hospital on 21
September 1944 and was back onboard the Algonquin on 22 September 1944 when the
ship set sail again to Oran and Naples then back to Charleston.
Upon her return from Naples and Oran, the Algonquin immediately departed
Charleston for Casablanca. Once
there she would operate out of the port to Oran, Naples, Leghorn, Tripoli, and
Marseille in France. She would not
return to Charleston, SC. until February 22, 1945. His discharge certificate dated 3 March 1945 shows his period
of active duty from 22 September to 3 March 1945 with a rating of Deck
Storekeeper.
On April 18, 1945 James is again
admitted to the Marine Hospital in Savannah, Georgia.
He would remain there until his discharge on May 21, 1945.
Figure
23:
Certificate of Discharge # 2 , Marine Hospital, Savannah, GA 21 May 1945
After
discharge from the hospital, on 29 May 1945, James again sailed with the
Algonquin and would remain aboard until December 1945.
During this period until September 1945, the Algonquin made four more
quick trips to Europe and back to Charleston.
However, on her last return in September 1945, she began returning to New
York, Stapleton Pier 16, Staten Island. From
the new homeport in New York, the USAHS Algonquin would make two more trips to
Naples, Leghorn, and Marseilles in late 1945. It was on this voyage on August
16, 1945 that James was promoted to Boatswain.
I believe all of the photographs below are of James as a Boatswain
between August – December 1945.
Figure
27:
Below, Certificate of Discharge # 4, Army Transport Service 14 December
1945
December 1945 saw the end of service
for the Algonquin as a Hospital Ship. When
she returned to New York on 14 December 1945, she was dry docked and altered to
carry either troops or military dependents.
By early January 1946, the work was
completed and the US Army Transport Ship (USAT) Algonquin was back in the
Atlantic on 5 January 1946. James
was again onboard, this time as a Junior 3rd officer.
The USAT Algonquin made two back-to-back trips to Naples to bring Italian
war brides to the United States. Many
other trips were made during 1946 for the same purpose, including one short
voyage to Bermuda.
This photograph shows Captain
Gearhard, Ships Master and James H. Wilkerson, Junior 3rd Officer
docking the ship in what appears to be Pier 16, Staten Inland, NY.
James’ official discharge dated 29
June 1946 shows him re-rated to Junior Third Officer on 5 January 1946. However, two items of evidence suggest that James receive one
additional promotion that may never have been documented.
In a photograph at a fair at Coney Island, James is with other officers
and crew of the Algonquin. James is wearing an officer hat with gold band and he
is also wearing the shoulder boards rank insignia of a Third Officer.
In addition, the actual shoulder board insignia from his Khaki uniform is
that of a Third Officer and not a junior third officer. The stripe measures ½ inch wide while that of a Junior Third
Office would measures only ¼ inch wide. I
believe that James was promoted to Third Officer at some period between January
and June 1946. However, this
promotion was never properly recorded in his official USATS record because he
was immediately discharged upon completion of the voyage on 29 June 1946.
With his service complete, on June
29, 1946, James was discharged from the Army Transport Service for the final
time. His work complete, he
returned home to Mississippi. The
Algonquin was laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet.
She would remain there until 1956 when she was sold for scrap.
The following is a chronological of
James H. Wilkerson’s Maritime and US Army Transport Service.
These dates are transcribed from the original documents of James' service
record.
09/01/1943
Original Enrollment, United States Maritime Service, Birmingham, Alabama.
10/07/1943
Regular Enrollment, United States Maritime Training Station, ST.
Petersburg, Florida
01/11/1944
Completion of Basic Training, USMS, ST Petersburg, Florida, rating,
Ordinary Seaman,
01/11/1944
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Marine and Navigation Issued
Certificate of Efficiency To Lifeboatman, Certificate Serial Number: B 255755
US
Coast Guard Issued Certificate of Service to serve onboard a merchant vessel of
100 tons gross and upward as an Ordinary Seaman.
01/11/1944
–
03/23/1944
Attended USMS Advanced Training School at Henderson Point, Pass
Christian, MS.
03/23/1944
Promoted to Seaman 2nd Class, USMS
04/01/1944
Released from Active Duty, United States Maritime Service, Rating, Seaman
2nd Class and placed in inactive status, United States Maritime Service.
04/01/1944
Shipment, US Army Transport Service, Charleston, SC, USAHS Algonquin,
Rating at beginning of voyage, AB Seaman
07/03/1944
Discharge, Army Transport Service, Charleston, SC., Rating, AB Seaman
Late
July 1944
The Algonquin sailed again to Oran, I believe that James was Promoted
Desk Storekeeper and was scheduled to sail on this voyage. But, for some reason,
he was hospitalized instead.
08/01/1944
Patient, Marine Hospital, Savannah, GA to 9/21/44
09/21/1944
Discharged Marine Hospital, Savannah, GA
09/22/1944
Shipment, Army Transport Service, Shipment, Charleston, SC, Rating, Deck
Storekeeper
02/23/1945
Returned to Charleston, SC
03/03/1945
Discharged Army Transport Service, at own request, Charleston, SC.
Rating, Deck Storekeeper
04/18/1945
Patient, Hospital, Savannah, GA to 5/21/1945, Merchant Seaman
05/21/1945
Discharged, Hospital, Savannah, Ga
05/29/1945
Shipment, Charleston, SC., USAHS Algonquin, Rating, AB Seaman
07/11/1945
Rating, Re-Rated Deck Storekeeper
08/16/1945
Re-Rated (Promoted) Boatswain, USAHS Algonquin
12/14/1945
Discharged ATS, New York at own request, Rating, Boatswain, (reverse side
of discharge) employed AB Seaman, Charleston, SC, 29 May 1945
Re-rated, Deck Storekeeper, NY, 11 July 1945
Re-rated, Boatswain, Charleston, SC, 16 Aug
1945
01/05/1946
Army Transport Service, Shipment, USAHS Algonquin, New York, NY., Rating,
Jr. 3rd Officer
Date Unknown
Promoted Third Officer
06/29/1946
Discharged Army Transportation Corps, New York, Rating, 3rd Officer
(Never Documented)
07/18/1946
Certificate establishing US Merchant Marine service from 10/6/1943
Chronology
of Ratings:
04/01/1944
- 05/29/1945
A.B. Seaman, Charleston, SC
07/11/1945 - 08/16/1945
Deck Storekeeper
08/16/1945 - 01/05/1945
Boatswain
01/05/1946 - 06/29/1946
Jr. Third Officer
Unknown Third Officer
James
Wilkerson Joins the Army Air Corps
In May 1947, James and a friend, Hoyt
Duckworth joined the US Army Air Corps. James
was later discharged on September 3, 1947, reason unknown, official record,
shows For Convenience of the Service.
05/01/1947 - 09/05/1947:
Service, Army Air Force
09/03/1947 - 09/05/1947:
Released to home 3 days leave before discharge.
Last duty station AFTRC 3543 AAF Base Unit, San Antonio, TX, Private, #
RA14258510 (possibly a service number).
USAHS
Algonquin Officers and Crew
Figure
33: USAHS
Algonquin, Captain Paul G. Gerhard, Ship Master
USAHS
Algonquin Crew
Figure 39:
Crewmembers
Figure
41:
Crewmembers (Inscribed on back, Troy McCurley, S.C.)
Figure
42: James
(top) and Shipmate
Other
Photo's of the USAHS Algonquin
Figure 46:
At Pennols Warf, Bermuda
Figure 47 Ship at Sea
Figure
50:
Unknown sunken ship
Figure
52: Shore
Leave Pass for James Wilkerson
Figure
53:
War Shipping Certificate of Service
