CHAPTER 3

ARCHIVE INDEX

"The Korean War: Experiences and Lessons and other items." Background: I participated in two Korean War combat deployments. My first was as commanding officer MCGINTY (DE 365), Nov 1951-May 1952. The second as commanding officer UHLMANN (DD687), Sep 1952-March 1953.

During these two years fighting continued on land. the Navy devoting major efforts to supporting troops ashore and attacking enemy lines of supply with special attention to roads, rail lines and storage facilities. Wonsan: During my deployment, the siege was accomplished using two or three US destroyer types operating inside the harbor. We were always underway, steaming in no set pattern in condition III.

MCGINTY (DE 365): Getting MCGINTY in shape for her deployment was a hard pull and I cannot overstate my admiration for the officers and men of her crew. We re-commissioned MCGINTY....at San Diego on March 28, 1951....MCGINTY's crew was about 60% reservists on active duty for the Korean emergency, many recalled involuntarily.

UHLMANN (DD 687): I was detached from MCGINTY at Pearl Harbor on May 31, 1952 and took command of UHLMANN at San Diego on July 7, 1951. UHLMANN was an absolutely first class ship, a FLETCHER with all the latest modifications. Her crew was experienced and had one Korean combat deployment. In the late summer of 1952 we sailed DESDIV 152 for the far east.

Lessons Learned: People will always be the key ingredient to make a fighting ship and the Navy does its best to take care of its men. This must be. In the case of MCGINTY I believe we could have done a better job in on-board comfort for the crew considering the tasks given.

Parker joined the TRENTON in July 1940 when she returned from duty with the European Squadron. After work in the yard, she transited the Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. She was sent to PH to escort several transports carrying Navy dependents from China, then to the Canal Zone to search out and destroy German Q-boats off South America's Pacific Coast. When the war began, the TRENTON was taken into escort duty for the first advance base convoy to Bora Bora, and later escorted transports to Guadalcanal.

Parker left the ship in October 1942 for flight training at New Orleans. After earning his wings, he reported to Bombing Squadron 81 at Wildwood NJ in March 1944. VB-81 was sent into WesPac in late 1944 on board the carrier WASP, and Parker became the CO in February 1945.

Following this tour, he became CO of VB-74 assigned to the new heavy attack carrier MIDWAY on the East Coast. This lasted until 1947, when Parker went to assist with the ROTC Unit at the University of Illinois.

Parker returned to sea on the staff of CarDiv Two in the LantFlt in the carrier LEYTE and the CORAL SEA in 1949-51. After two years in OpNav, he went back to sea as Navigator of the KEARSARGE with the Pacific Fleet. After a WesPac deployment, he became CO, Carrier Air Group Two, at Alameda, in March 1954, and deployed again to WesPac in late 1954.

In the summer of 1955, he became the deputy director of Military Training at the new USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, and two years later he became aide to ComNavAirLant at Norfolk. In 1959, he returned to Washington as a student at Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

In the summer of 1962, he took command of the NROTC Unit at Dartmouth. He retired in 1965 to Colorado, became a real estate broker, and retired for a second time in 1986. He was active in public affairs, serving on the City Council and becoming mayor of Coronado in 1971-72.

Listing of service and civilian positions. Eye unsat 1940. USNR through WWII. Retired 1972.

Diary from 28 June 1941 to 8 July 1941. Photocopy.

USS PHILADELPHIA. Service and Civilian resume. Line listing of service and civilian careers. Retired 1959 as CDR. Retired civ. employment 1982; does volunteer work.

Had three post-war DD commands, one of which was 2100 tonner PRESTON (DD 795). (Copy of Peterson's Assig. 12 is enclosed.)

Series of 9 messages concerning the USS PRESTON-SS BallyEdward Collision with physical descriptions of damages on the SS BallyEdward. (6 PAGES.)

1941 USS PHILADELPHIA with 5 classmates: Dodane, Edwards, Englander, Graziano, Hawes. JDO and Turret Officer. Drills. Fueling at sea drill. Good salary for "liberty and dates." Transfer of ship to Atlantic, secretly. USS BRISTOL, Torpedo Officer, Oct. 1941. Newly instituted training teams visited ships to see to up-to-date procedure expertise. ASDIC. PH attack. Escorted DUKE OF YORK, with Churchill aboard, partway to Bermuda. Norfolk for Christmas.

Autobiographical statement of commands held by Commander Ernest R. Peterson, USN(Ret), USNA '40. Commands include: USS HELM DD 388, USS DAVIDSON DMS 37, USS PRESTON DD 795.

Search of hospital ship TACHIBANA MARU. Led search party. Ammunition and weapons found, and few patients sick. Removed Japanese officers from ship and escorted ship to Morotai, where prisoners disembarked. Peterson Prizemaster. Believes incident had most prisoners captured at one time.

List of documents found on TACHIBANA MARU. Secret. Original.

Report on Japanese Hospital Ship TACHIBANA MARU of 17 August 1945, from Medical Officer to CO. Secret. Original.

USS CHARRETTE Statement of LTCDR ER Peterson. 24 Aug. 1945, as Prizemaster of TACHIBANA MARU. Re capture of ship. Original.

List of Prize Crew members for taking of TACHIBANA MARU. Original.

"Diary of Ernest R. Peterson, August 1945, Prizemaster on board Japanese Hospital Ship, TACHIBANA MARU in Banda Sea" (Note: This is an extraordinary document. In it, Peterson explains how he took over the ship, discovered 88mm ammo on board, removed the Army officers, and dealt with what was an extremely tense situation. Peterson's reflections on the Japanese reaction to their predicament are insightful. He obviously found the situation as awkward as did his prisoners and handled it with great tact and professionalism. Good material for paper on difficulty of handling Japanese surrender in 1945.)

The CHARRETTE was assigned to TG 50.4 as one of the screening ships during the bombardment of Tarawa and Makin on 19 November and the landing on the 20th. The destroyer then joined Lee's BBS TG 50.8 for an attack on Nauru which was effected on 8 December. The CHARRETTE joined TG 37.2, a CV strike force, to attack Kavieng on the northernmost tip of New Ireland on 25 December 1943. (Note: Peterson's observations on his experiences during time he was getting the CHARRETTE ready for commissioning are the most instructive element of this narrative.)

Photographs and newspaper articles (all originals) from seizing of Japanese ship TACHIBANA MARU, a hospital ship carrying ammunition and soldiers who were not ill. Peterson led the search party on board. Aug. 1945. Postcard of TACHI MARU "in civilian use as passenger steamer" Eleven (11) photographs from incident: prisoners being taken, transported, and watched; search team members; weapons found; ship. Omaha, Neb. World Herald, Aug. 1945, article on CDR Peterson's leading of team to TACHI MARU and Peterson's account of their treatment and findings. Council Bluffs, Iowa Nonpareil, Aug. 1945, article on Peterson and ship search and seizure. (Peterson is from Council Bluffs.) Quotes of Japanese officers via Peterson.

Affidavits concerning captured Hospital Ship TACHIBANA MARU. 5 March 1946. Report on correspondence. Secret. Original. Document Affidavit of LTCDR Peterson re TACHIBANA MARU capture. 18 March 1946. Original.

USS CHARRETTE Action Report on 26 July 1945 to 17 August 1945. Interception, inspection, and seizure of Japanese Hospital Ship, TACHIBANA MARU. Original. Secret. Map of USS CHARRETTE track through S. Pacific to meet ship and take it to Morotai. Tracing paper, pencil. Original.

List of historically significant papers in the files of Cdr. Peterson. This is an inventory with description for 22 items.

Letter 15 Oct 1946 from Capt. R. H. Wilkinson, Commander Mine Division Three, USS QUICK (DM 32) Flagship, to Peterson.

Letter 13 May 1947 from C.R. Herms, Commander Mine Squadron 3 to Peterson.

This is a reply to Peterson's letter on the 5th and sending of personnel by Herms to USS DAVIDSON.

Letter 19 Feb 1947 from Capt. Wilkinson, USS QUICK to LCDR E. R. Peterson, USS DAVIDSON, stationed in Tsingtao, China, on exchange of Steward's Mate with Commander Dennet, CNOB Guam.

Document Aug 1947 on relieving of command, USS DAVIDSON (DMS 37). From Lieut. Commander Peterson to Chief of Naval Operations.

Letter 4 Dec 1946 from Capt. R. H. Wilkinson, USS QUICK (DM 32) Flagship, to Skipper on board USS DAVIDSON stationed in Tsingtao, China. Subject of letter: towing casualties of USS DAVIDSON and preventions arrived at by Capt. Wilkinson.

Letter 6 Feb 1947 from Capt. R. H. Wilkinson, USS QUICK (DMS 32), to Lieut. Commander Peterson aboard USS DAVIDSON (DMS 37) stationed in Tsingtao, China. Subject of letter: thanks for hospitality during Wilkinson's stay on board the DAVIDSON. Enclosed 50 cents in stamps for a carton of cigarettes from Supply Officer.

Ltr Capt. L. T. Stone, Commander Destroyer Squadron 24, USS PICKING (DD 685). To: Commander Neal Almgren. SUBJ: USS PRESTON - SS BallyEdward Collision with reference to Naval Supplement to the Manual for Courts-Martial United States, 1951, Chaps. III-V. This is Commander Peterson's copy. 2 page document.

Extract from USS PRESTON Deck Log Book on day of collision with SS BallyEdward

Statement made by Neil Gillespie, pilot of SS BallyEdward at time of collision with USS PRESTON. 3 page document.

Letter E. B. Hayes, Admiralty Counsel, USN, Office of the Judge Advocate General, Washington, D.C. TO: E. R. Peterson, Commanding Officer, USS PRESTON (DD795). SUBJECT: USS PRESTON SS BallyEdward Collision, River Foyle, North Ireland, 26 Jan 1955. Copy of statement by pilot of BallyEdward at time of collision is enclosed. Statement of Commander Ernest R. Peterson on USS PRESTON SS BallyEdward Collision. Attached is a 3 page hand-written statement prepared by J. G. Jungens, ENS, USN. (Not dated by Jungens.)

Effects of world unrest on Navy during 1930s. Historical background: armament and invasions in Europe, reaction of US of building up and consolidating naval resources. Declaration of limited emergency, Sept. 1939. Two Ocean Bill strengthening Navy. Lend Lease. Impressions of Peacetime Navy July 1940-Dec.

Undated" Experiences and Lessons Learned, 1943" Peterson was detached from the destroyer DAVIS in Jan 1943, served briefly in Recife, Brazil, and then took the Gunnery Officers Course at the Fire Control School in Washington before reporting to the new destroyer CHARRETTE in Boston as Gunnery Officer. Peterson discusses his experiences in Boston and at the shipyard while getting the ship ready for commissioning. Peterson observed that the CHARRETTE was "well-constructed, fitted out and commissioned without major difficulties," and that "she reflected the high state of efficiency that had been developed in the shipbuilding industry by this time."

The CHARRETTE put to sea on 5 June for a shakedown cruise off Cuba and gunnery training at Casco Bay, Portland, Maine. She was then assigned to the BBS NEW JERSEY on her shakedown cruise to Trinidad. In September 1943, the destroyer joined the destroyer HALE and the light carrier MONTEREY off the Delaware Capes, entered the Panama Canal, and steamed into the Pacific. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 18 October. Peterson observed that the Pacific was considered more dangerous than the Atlantic, with "a Jap sub might be lurking behind every wave." "After the initial period of nervous reaction to the threat of Jap sub attacks, it became routine that all ships went to general quarters on departing harbor, and then settled into a Condition Three watch while in war areas."

Encl: 1. Eleven pp. narrative and one page sources on 1944.

2. DD CHARRETTE, Action Report, Combined Surface Sweep and Shore Bombardment, Bonin Islands, 4-5 August 1944, dtd. 6 August 1944.

3. DD CHARRETTE, Anti-Aircraft Action Report, 12,13,14, October 1944, dtd 15 Oct 1944.

4. DD CHARRETTE, Action Report, 15 to 24 Oct 1944, dtd. 25 Oct 1944. Peterson's typewritten account is a detailed narrative of his service as the Gunnery Officer in the destroyer CHARRETTE in 1944 that provides insights into destroyer service during several important actions. Peterson's ship served lifeguard duty, screened the heavy task forces, and seems to have participated in just about every major action in the Central Pacific in 1944. Peterson's description (p. 11) of reactions of men in battle and the element of fear in combat is especially moving. (Note: This is a particularly good memoir for research on the role of multi-purpose destroyers in World War II. A little bit of everything is involved, including anti-aircraft action, screening operations, etc. The accompanying After Action Reports are very helpful to understanding the complexity of the operations under consideration.)

Nov 1945 Memo from J. S. Conover, Asst. Operation's Officer, Eleventh Naval District, San Diego, to Lieut. Commander Peterson, USS HELM (DD 338), which accompanied copies of dispatch and reply from Congressman Wilson and the Commandant.

1956 letter from Commander Peterson to Office of the Judge Advocate General, USN, on USS PRESTON-SS BallyEdward Collision. This is comments made by Peterson on the collision statement provided by pilot Neil Gillespie of the SS BallyEdward.

1942 USS BRISTOL. NY. Portland, Me. Ready duty, Escort duty. Feb., Caribbean. March, Newfoundland. Found a body in the oily water. Convoy. Londonderry. Convoy to Halifax, NS. Picked up survivors from WEST IMBODEN. USS DAVIS. Gunnery Off. and 1st LT. LTJG. June, West Indies. July, Trinidad.

Recife new home base. Patrols to Canary Islands. To catch German ships that had been out when war was declared. Full LT.(Excerpts from a diary in Newfoundland included in narrative.)

7 Aug 1947 Subject: recommendation of DMS Engineering Board on design defect Noted in Engineering Board Ltr. DMS 37 Serial 156 of 21 July 1947. From Peterson to Commander Mine Squadron THREE.

Diary entry on search and seizure of TACHIBANA MARU in August 1945. Personal impressions.

Hometown: Iowa. January 1987 Diary from USNA years, covering June Week 1939 and First Class Cruise. Much of it in rhyme. Photocopy. Cruise book, "the PRESTON and her Med Cruise, 1955 "

Large, brown folder, "Personal File of E. R. Peterson, 1940-1959". The file includes official orders, travel orders, claims, certificates, schools, etc.