Hawes (FFG 53) - Naval Cruise Book

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men ready for action. Then, returning through heavy fire, PIGEON hauled the submarine SEADRAGON which later went on to sink more enemy tonnage than any other submarine in World War II. For her heroic actions in saving SEADRAGON, PIGEON received the first Pesidential Unit Citation awarded a ship in World War II. By the end of December, Hawes' valiant sailors earned a second Presidential Unit Citation for their fight. ing ability, and LT Hawes was awarded a second Navy Cross. In june 1942, Hawes was recalled to Washington where he played 3 major role in designing and building the USS CHANTICLEER CASR-75, a submarine rescue vessel. It was the first such vessel of its type, and Commander Hawes subsequently became its first Com- manding Officer. He exhibited such ingenuity in effecting repairs to the submarines assigned to his ship for refit that he received a letter of commendation from Commander, 7th Fleet. The final ship Rear Admiral Hawes commanded during World War II was the submarine tender USS ANTHEDON QAS-241. He received a Bronze Star for the leadership of his crew which repaired and refitted 34 submarines in addition to making emergency repairs to a dozen others. In all, Rear Admiral Hawes commanded three ships during World War II, participating in heavy battle action at Cavite, Subic Bay, and off the Australian coast. VVhen he retired in December, 1952, Admiral Hawes had won most of the medals and ribbons awarded by the Navy. In addition, USS PIGEON was the only surface ship to win two Presidential Unit Citations during World War II. One of the nation's most gallant Naval heroes, Admiral Hawes died in 1968. I 1 I I

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Richard Ellington Hawes was born in Thomason, Georgia, on :bruary 12, 1894. A very talented athlete, he attended first the niversity of Georgia on a baseball scholarship, then Mercer Uni- -rsity where he played both baseball and football. While at Mer- sr he completed his requirements for a law degree but decided play professional baseball instead. World War I interrupted his Tief baseball career. In 1917, he enlisted as a fireman and :ceived orders to the battleship, USS OKLAHOMA CBB-375 ecause of his law degree, he was awarded a reserve commission . 1918. At the close of the war he reverted to the rank of War- int Boatswain and worked on several fleet tugs and submarine :scue ships. Hawes received his first Navy Cross for distinguished :rvice in the raising of the sunken submarine S51 QSS162D in 926. He was again commissioned an Ensign by a special act of ongress in 1929 for his part in the salvage of the sunken subma- ne S4 QSS109j the previous year. During the Depression, the iilitary was forced to cut back severely on manpower. Many of me older officers and 'fmustangsv were forced from the service or .Ven undesirable jobs, and LTJG Hawes was no exception. He as placed in charge of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in 'ew England with an exceptionally poor record. He instilled his nit with swelling pride and soon earned credit for having the leanest and most improved camp in the nation. In 1935, Hawes iturned to his specialty of submarine salvage with assignment to ie USS FALCON QASR-25 as Commanding Officer, after this suc- essful tour, he returned to shore training duty but did not emain there long. In January 1940, LT Hawes took command of tie submarine rescue ship USS PIGEON CASR-61 which conduct- d salvage and rescue operations throughout the Pacific as a nember of the Asiatic Fleet. The ship also participated in the vacuation of the 4th Marines and ships of the Yangtze River Hatrol in November 1941. Then on December 10, 1941, as USS 'IGEON was docked at the Cavite Naval yard in Manilla Bay epairing her steering gear which had been severely damaged luring a typhoon, the japanese launched a massive surprise air aid. The japanese attack came fast and furious, and even though 'IGEON's four machine guns were no match for the enemy, USS 'IGEON still managed to clear the .docks using tiller ropes for teering. Knowing the fate of the sleeping fleet at Pearl Harbor, Iawes had relieving tackles rigged, steam at the throttle, and his USS HAYVE FFG- 1

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COMMANDING OFFICER CDR Robert Liggett Only a seaman realizes to what extent an entire ship reflects the personality and ability of one individ- ual, her Commanding Officer. To a landsman this is not understandable, and sometimes it is even difficult for us to comprehend - but it is so. A ship at sea is a distant World in herself and in consideration of the projected and distant operations of the fleet units, the Navy must place great power, responsibility and trust in the hands of those leaders chosen for command. In each ship there is one man, who, in the hour of emergency or peril at sea, can turn to no other man. There is one who alone is ultimately responsible for the safe navigation, engineering performance, accu- rate gun firing and morale of his ship. He is the ship. This is the most ,difficult and demanding assign- ment in the Navy. There is not an instant during his tour of duty as Commanding Officer that he can escape the grasp of command responsibility. His priv- ileges in view of his obligations are ludicrously small, nevertheless command is the spur which has given the Navy its great leaders. It is a duty which most richly deserves the highest time honored title of the seafaring world. - CAP- TAIN,'. JOSEPH CONRAD ,mal 3