United States Merchant Marine Academy - Midships Yearbook (Kings Point, NY)

Page 19 text:

No story about Kings Pointers at war would be complete without mention that about the time they ceased to re- ceive DSMs, Cadet Corpsmen who died in service began to be honored in a different way. This was the assign- ment of their names to Liberty Ships, which by rule could only be name for deceased persons important in this country's history. Five cadet-midship- men and at least two graduates were so commemerated. The fabled Liberty Ships of World War II, are remembrances of an era that has passed. Today these memorial Lib- erty Ships have all gone to join the namesake Kings Pointers who gave their lives on other Liberty Ships. Like the Battle Standard, however, the ship registers of the forties and fifties still bear silent witness that they served and died. In the history of human institutions, changes of direction have a way of coming about very quietly, almost sur- eptitiously. It is doubtful whether any cadet-midshipmen at Kings Point, or for that matter, any officer noticed any differences between the Academy of October 1 and the Academy of Sep- tember 29, 1943. Nothing had really changed by the official announcements of the Dedication on the 30th. Yet, a virtual 180° course change was taking place. All effort had gone into making Kings Point a sea college to create what the Academy has become today. Em- ' phasis was placed exclusively on devis- ing and perfecting a stripped-down, high speed instructional machine. The Sea Project, which was intro- duced in late 1942, was a self study course, deck or engine as appropiate, which supplanted the correspondence courses of prior years. It replaced the theoretical approach and treated the ship to which the student was assigned like a laboratory in which he could truely learn by doing. Clockwise from left: Cadet Edwin J. O'Hara. Capatin J.H. Tomb, Superinten- dent, addresses guests at USMMA Dedi- cation Day ceremony. Getting help with the Sea Project. Cadet with blue print traces out lines. The American Mariner enroute to Kings Point for live storage; the only liberty ship completed for use as a training ship. Battle scene from Ac- tion in the North Atlantic; the story of Cadet Edwin J. O'Hara. Survivors flee a sinking ship.

Page 18 text:

Perhaps, the most famous cadet, lost during the war, was the Acade- my's second winner of the Distin- guished Service Medal, and the first to give his life in winning it. Edwin J. O'Hara, an engine cadet from Cali- fornia, had completed his basic training at San Mateo before being assigned to the Liberty Stephen Hopkins. He was never to return for his advance license training. His ship was westbound alone in the South Atlantic September 27, 1942, when she sighted what ap- peared to be two stopped cargo ves- sels but were actually the German commerce raider Stier and her blockade running supply ship Tan- nenfels. The latter was lightly armed, but the Stier's firepower included a battery of six 5.9 inch guns plus nu- merous smaller weapons, and two torpedo tubes. Stephen Hopkins had a 4 inch gun at the stern, an anti- aircraft mount, and five machine guns. Predictablly, Stephen Hopkins was smashed and sinking in twenty min- utes. But astonishingly, the raider too was mortally wounded thanks to the seamanship of the master. Paul Buck, the marksmanship of Ensign Kenneth Willett and the courage of O'Hara. When the ship's magazine had been blown up and Willett, seri- ously wounded at the start of the action, finally collapsed dead among his crew, the 18-year old engineer- ing student ran to the shattered gun tub and singlehandedly fired the five remaining shells, hitting both Nazi ships. O'Hara's medal was posthu- mously presented to his mother, March 15, 1943. Each cadet was required to send a detailed factual report to his Super- visor describing the action as he ob- served it, with particular attention to the time and places, enemy craft ob- served, casualties, damage sustained, lifeboat voyages, rescue, and acts of bravery. He was also encouraged to voice his opinion of the effective- ness of standard and ad hoc operat- ing procedures. The surviving files, though disorganized and certainly incomplete, contain reports of at- tacks on 250 ships, including 220 losses by 450 cadets. All of which were recently declassified and re- leased to the public. Since somewhat more than 700 large American mer- chant vessels were destroyed during the war, many not under War Ship- ping Control, or lost with all hands, it may be presumed that these letters contained most of the stories of ca- det-midshipmen who lost their ships, and lived to tell about it. 14 Opening

Page 20 text:

Sea Year has seen a few changes as the Academy has grown over the years. The original four year curriculum has changed from three years at sea to one year at sea. After spending one year learning the basic fundamentals. Third Class year came around. All Third Classmen were sent out to sea, some aboard the multitude of commercial merchant vessels, a few onboard Academy training vessels. Vessels like the TV Kings Pointer or the TV Verna hold many memories for graduates who sailed upon them. During their shortlived service as fully operated training vessels, they called on such exotic ports as Halifax, Rio de Janerio, and many more. In April and August 1942, the other points officially opened. Pass Christian in Mississippi and San Mateo in Cali- fornia were the offspring of the Gulf and Pacific Coast Re- ceiving Stations. When they finally opened in 1942, they were designed to give basic training to incoming plebes. Both facilities flourished and peaked in the Fall of 1944, when the Cadet corps numbered 4000. Each was its own entity, San Mateo was declared an outstanding example of recent American architecture by the Museum of Modern Art. It lay in the shadow of Hollywood and prominent actors and radio personalities frequently visited and performed. Pass Christian Cadets contented themselves to entertain young ladies from a nearby college. At the end of the war the need to maintain two Cadet Basic Schools on either coast began to wane. The budgetary sword of Damocles hung over the heads of the Cadet Schools. San Mateo saw its end at the close of Fiscal year 1947. Its end came very quietly, neither San Mateo's Bear- ings or Kings Point's Polaris took advanced notice of it. Polaris' September issue reported the arrival of 122 fourth classmen transferred from San Mateo. The Coyote Point base reverted to the original donors and today is known as Coyote Point Park. The only remaining evidence of the school is a monument erected by Kings point's San Francisco Alumni Chapter. Pass Christian survived. But its survival only turned out to be a stay of sentence. As its Battalion was preparing for a half-holiday September 18, 1947, to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Dedication Day, it was warned of the approach of a hurricane. The celebration was cancelled and all possible efforts were taken to secure the school. A tidal wave swept over Hendersons Point making it a total con- structive loss. After spending a wretched night among the soaking debris, five army trucks rolled into the Point, loaded the refugees and a few salvaged possesions, and started them on their way to Kings Point. On September 2, 1948, a cadre of sixty-six Kings Point Cadet-Midshipmen arrived at Pass Christian to start clearing the wreckage. By November of that year the school was able to re-open, on what many felt was borrowed time. Time came to an end on March 1, 1950. On March 21 the school would detach its last class of gradu- ates at sea, the remaining plebes would travel to Kings Point. This time there would be no return. Third Class year came to an end in 1954 when the split Sea Year was introduced. Now, half of the second and third class went out to sea for the first half of the year. When they returned to the Academy for further training the remainder of their class ventured out to sea.