Duncan (DDR 874) - Naval Cruise Book

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Lieutenant W.O. Chartier, the son or Mr. ancl Mrs. W.J. Cnartier or San Diego, Calirornia, was born in August or 1919 at Manistique, Micnigan. Attending Saint Nornert ' s College in DeFerc, Wisconsin, Lt. Cnartier enlisted in tne naval reserve at Green Bay, Wisconsin as an apprentice seaman, ana was ordered to active duty in April or 1941, a result of tnc impending war. Serving as a seaman anoard tne U.S.S. ARCTIC, (AF-7), lie was sparea tlie terror or tlie Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, as tke ARCTIC cleared ber assigned bertb nineteen bours before anotber sbip, tbe U.S.S. OGLALA, (AM-4), was sunk while moored at the bertb previously occupied by the ARCTIC. Tbe early part of World War II found Lt. Chartier aboard tbe U.S.S. ZEILIN, (APA 3), at tbe initial and sustaining assaults on Guadalcanal, for which action the ZEILIN was awarded tbe Naval Unit Commendation, and tlie initial assault upon Attn in tbe Aleutians. Armistice Day of 1942 the ZEILIN was crippled by Japanese divebombers as it reinforced tbe Marine divisions entrenched on Guadalcanal. The most notable of Lt. Cbartier ' s wartime experiences was duty aboard one of the Navy ' s first LSMR ' S at Okinawa. His ship, the LSMR J93, on picket station in company with the U.S.S. HADLEY, (DD-774), and the U.S.S. EVANS, (l)l)-552), withstood an all-out assaiut ot some one bundred-lilty Japanese suicide aircraft, absorbing seven crippling bits while accounting for forty-three enemy aircraft. Lor this action, Lt. Chartier was awarded tbe Bronze Star with Combat Clasp, and bis ship the Presi- dential Unit Citation. In 1943, Lt. chartier, then a Yeoman, First Class, was recommended for, and commissioned as Oin unrestricted line Ensign. Accepting a regular navy commission in i Liy of 1947, Lt. Chartier served twenty-three months aboard tbe L ' .S.S. CLNLMAR- RON, (AO-22), on tbe Arabian oU run, followed by an eighteen-month tour aboard tbe U.S.S. RICHARD B. ANDERSON, (DD-786), as Operations and C.I.C. Officer. It was during this tour, in May of 1949, that he as promoted to this present rank. The ANDERSON was awarded the BATTLE EFFICIENCY PENNANT in 1950, as top destroyer type in tbe I ' acific, and most noteworthy, her Operations Department was designated by COMCRUDEI ' AC as Outstanding. This assignment was followed by successive tours of duty as C.I.C. Observer Instructor with the FLEET TRAINING GROUP, San Diego, student at Marquette University under the Navy five-term program, and as a General Line School student at Monterey, California. Lt. Chartier reported aboard tbe DUNCAN in March of 1954, relieving Lieutenant Commajuler James L Ashley, Jr., as Executive Officer, (wgc)

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Y .,,„,.,„., „.y (f y - . r ,V. i2Lx. «v , f S ' S). S 4 ConinianJer E.E. Coiiraa was torn in Saint Louis, Missouri, in IQl-i. Following his graduation from higli scnool, lie attended Saint Louis University from 1932 until 1934, tlie year of liis entry into tlie U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY, at Annapolis, Maryland. Receiving Kis commission as Ensign in June of 1938, Commander Conrad was assigned to tlie. U.S.S. OMAHA, (CL 4) , where lie performed tlie general duties assigned to junior officers, as tlie OMAHA cruised tlie waters of tlie Mediterranean for a period of two years. Transfer orders from the U.S.S. OMAHA to tlie U.S. NAVAL SUBMARINE SCHOOL, New London, Connecticut, in 1940, proved to he a turning point in his career, as it marked a temporary end of his ahove-sea duties. !n the fall of 1940, following his graduation from the U.S. NAVAL SUBMARINE SCHOOL after a three-month course, Cdr. Conrad was ordered to the recommissioning detail of the U.S.S. S-11, (SS 116), soon to rejoin the active fleet. During 1941, the first year t)J: a twt. year tour ol cuity ahoard the SS-11, he received his promotion to Lieutenant (j.g.), while serving in various departments. J lie second year, lie assumed the position of Executive Officer of the SS-11, which was statitmed in Panama at the outhreah of the hostilities now known as World War II. Toward the end of his cruise in the SS-11, he was promoted the grade of Lieutenant, in June of 1942. When the U.S.S. HAKE, (SS 256), was commissioned in the fall of 1942, Cdr. Conrad found himself ahoard as Engineering Officer, and during the HAKE S wartime patrols in the European and Southwest Pacific Areas, he again filled the herth of Executive Officer. Prom 1944 to 1946 he continued his undersea service, predominantly in the Pacific area, serving as Executive Officer of the U.S.S. TORO, (SS 422), from 1944 to 1945, and as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. DENTUDA, (SS 335), from 1945 to 1946, and receiving promotions to Lieutenant Commander and Commander in the interim. In 1946, with the receipt of orders to the U.S. NAVAL POSTGFADUATE SCHOOL, Annapolis, Commander Conrad ' s naval career again took an important turn in a new direction, as his studies were centered in the field of Nuclear Power Engineering. After spending two years at the POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, his duty assignments carried him to the OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and to the KNOLLS ATOMIC POWER LABORATORY, General Electric Company, in Sclienectacly, New York. Upon completion or tnese assignments lie was awarclecl a Master oi Science decree ty the U.S. NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL. Commander Conrad again returned to sea in 1949, as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. CORPORAL, (SS 346) , hased in Key West, Florida, and operating in the Atlantic area. Following this assignment, he reported to the PENTAGON BUILDING, ■ Washington, D.C., in 1951, for duty as ADMINISTRATIVE AIDE TO THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. In 1952, having completed this dutv, he undertook the task of OFFICER-IN-CHARGE, NUCLEAR BRANCH, TECHNICAL TRAINING GROUP, ARMED FORCES SPECIAL WEAPONS PROJECT, located in Alhuquerque, New Mexico. On Sejitemher 6, 1954, Commander Conrad reported to the U.S.S. DUNCAN, at Sutic Bay, Philippine Islands, to relieve Commander Roher E. Lawrence as Commanding Officer. Commander Conrad now resides in Coronado, California, with his wife, daughter, and three sons.

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DEPARTMENT HEADS LTJG M. H. LASELL, Gunnery Officer LTJG J. P. WISE, Operations Officer LTJG J. P. GILLETT, Supply and Disbursing Officer -, LTJG W. W. O ' DELL, JR., Engineering Officer