Table listing air-line distances between the towns in Penobscot County, Maine. Also includes information about the population of Penobscot County towns, plantations, and townships in 1860 and 1870.
Atlas of Penobscot County, Maine. From Recent Actual Surveys & Records Under the Superintendence of W. A. Sherman. Published by Comstock & Cline, 27 Warren Street, New York. 1875.
Foreword: Between these covers is preserved a record, in pictures and text, of life aboard the U.S.S. Tate during her war-time voyages, and of her many ports of call. A good ship with a good crew, she carried us through many difficult situations and did her part with honor in a great war. We shall never forget her.
"It was the sixth of July in 1943, she had just been commissioned. Within the course of time she would be called many names, some spoken in anger, some in fear, some in pain; but now she was the U. S. S. Heermann (DD532.) The gods were pleased. The crew was like the country they served. They came from east and west, north and south. They'd been farmers, students, grocers, salesmen. They were of every color, every creed. We were lucky, there were a few old hands aboard to help build a fighting crew for a fighting ship. Then came the shakedown cruise. There is nothing under the sun like a shakedown cruise. It's indescribable but it gets results. After that period in San Diego we began to look as if we had "been born on the crest of a wave and rocked in the cradle of the deep." Shakedown gave us forewarnings of things to come and suddenly it became apparent that fighting a war was hard work and lots of it. On the first of October, after another brief session in the yard, the powers that be decided that the Heermann was ready to go out and win her spurs. So we headed out toward the islands. That last look at the Golden Gate Bridge always seems to be the one that hurts the most. All of us knew it would be many a day before we would be Stateside again, but we were ready-we had the finest ship in the Fleet and the finest group of men alive to fight it."
From The Ship's History: The writer of this history, neither an historian nor a member of the ship's company, has tried to make it an exercise in objectivity. Yet, in reading the logs and action reports, he has come to a certain feeling and conclusion. It is that the performance and accomplishment of DD663 may be directly linked to the performance and accomplishment of all her crew ... rather than to individual heroes. That her men unconsciously felt this may be seen in the name they called her with pride and a little awe. She was "Task Force 663"--a coordinated machine. To all who served in her, let that be high praise ... for DD663 herself let it be an epitaph.--Lt. William J. Colilan, Jr., U.S.N.R.
"On November 30, 1943, the destroyer Blue was launched in the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Staten Island, New York. She went into commission on March 20, 1944, in the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, with nineteen officers and 3 3 5 enlisted men aboard. The Blue was one of the first 2,200 ton super-destroyers to be commissioned in the navy, and was named after the 1,500 ton U.S. S. Blue (DD387), which was sunk in the Solomon Islands Campaign in 1943. The first Blue was named in honor of the late Admiral Victor Blue and his son, Lieutenant-Commander John Stuart Blue, who was killed in action in the South Pacific."
Foreword: This so-called War Diary is an honest attempt to record a brief chapter in the young life of a gallant ship. No effort has been made to glamourize her deeds; no claim has been made that she fought the war single-handed; no single incident or group has been intentionally emphasized or omitted. The Monty was a workhorse from the Solomons, through the Marianas, the Philippines, the Nansei Shoto, and into Japan proper--for thirty-six long months she successfully fulfilled her missions. So for posterity we preserve herewith her experiences, as seen from her decks and from her spotting planes. author unknown
The U.S.S. Westmoreland (APA 104) was commissioned a Navy vessel by Captain H. V. McKittrick, USN, representing the Commandant Third Naval District, at Hoboken, New Jersey, on 18 January 1945. Captain James "M" Hicks, USN, assumed command. The Westmoreland was named for the counties of that name in the States of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The latter county is the birthplace of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. The keel of the Westmoreland was laid on 7 December 1943 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, where she was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. for the U. S. Maritime Commission. After construction was completed, she was sent to Todd Shipyards, Hoboken, New Jersey, where she was converted to an APA (Auxiliary Transport-Attack) .
Introductory Note: World War II is now history. Volumes will be written about it, covering every phase of strategy, politics, logistics. Generals, admirals, prime ministers, presidents, and historians will all have their say. But for those of us who served aboard the Ticonderoga, the war was Reveille at 0315--mail call 7000 miles from home--a TBM in the drink--two cans of beer on "beautiful Mog Mog"--basketball on the hangar deck--and 21 January 1945. The simple purpose of this book is to preserve in pictorial form the scenes, the events, and the memories of the part played by our ship and our shipmates.
Opening Passage of "History of the Takanis Bay": The tale of the U.S.S. Takanis Bay (CVE 89) begins long before the keel of Hull 89 was laid by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company. Like so many of the Casablanca Class carriers, the "T.B." was named for a peaceful little bay in Southeastern Alaska. Author: E.G. Hines, USNR
U.S.S. Saidor launched in March 1945 and was decommission in September 1947. The Saidor served as a photographic laboratory for the atomic bomb testing program, Operation Crossroads. This book chiefly shows photographs of the crew in action aboard the ship. Photographs are included of all the men aboard with their divisions.
Foreword: Bound in this volume is the history of your ship the U.S.S. Pasedena. This book has been written by the officers and men of the ship upon which you so gallantly served. The pictures cover the whole course of the war in which the Pasadena took part, including its launching and commissioning. The narrative is non professional and each department's History was written by one of its own officers or men. To those of you returning to civilian life this book will serve as an informal record of your service in the Navy.--Editors
On April 27, 1944, the escort carrier Makassar Strait (CVE 91), joined the United States fleet. The Navy had only recently started on the long road of island-hopping to Tokyo. On January 14, 1946, the same carrier sailed her "last mile" to a Tacoma pier, to be placed "in commission in reserve." The war had ended five months before; most of America's fighting men had been returned to their homeland. The "Mighty Mak" had completed her mission in World War II. The job was done--well done. In the twenty-and-a-half months between those two dates, the baby flattop had been called upon to serve in a great variety of assignments. She had fought in direct support of landings and invasions; given aerial protection to the vital life-lines of supply to a fleet operating far from land bases; ferried many loads of planes to vital outposts; given training to hundreds of pilots enroute to front-line carrier duty; served as an experimental station afloat; and, when the fighting was over, scurried back and forth between Pacific islands and the West Coast bringing veterans home on the "magic carpet." During this period, the Mak churned up a wake through more than 115,000 miles of Pacific ocean --a bout half way to the moon. Over fifteen thousand times Navy pilots had brought their Avengers, Wildcats, and Corsairs down on her sturdy flight deck. This was the record of the 10,000-ton box-shaped floating airfield ... This is the story of the "Mighty Mak."
From U.S.S. Herald of the Morning Log The U.S.S. Herald of the Morning built for the Maritime Commission as a C-2 cargo ship, and converted by the Navy into a medium-sized transport, spent most of her time as a Naval auxiliary in Pacific theatre amphibious operations during the war. This ship engaged in five amphibious operations, several re-enforcement runs into forward areas and was under enemy attack frequently but successfully eluded damage. Since the cessation of hostilities the Herald operated as part of the "Magic Carpet" and the Naval Transportation Service, evacuating Army and Navy personnel from the Pacific areas and carrying replacements to forward stations. Built by the Moore Drydock and Shipbuilding Company of Oakland, Calif., in the summer of 1943, she was named for the American sailing ship "Herald of the Morning" which was famous on both oceans in the second half of the 19th century as a fast and beautiful medium clipper. The new Herald made one trip to the Hawaiian Islands as a merchant cargo vessel before being taken over early in 1944 by the Navy for conversion into an auxiliary transport.
From The Log of the U.S.S. Benson DD-421: The U.S.S. Benson (DD-421), is one a class of thirty-two destroyers, known as "Benson Class of 1937-1940." The Benson is one of thirty destroyers built to Bethlehem-prepared plans. The Benson is named for Admiral William S. Benson, U.S.N., and was built at the Bethlehem Steel Company Plant, Quincy, Massachusetts--authorized March 27, 1934; keel laid May 16, 1938; launched November 15, 1939 and first commissioned July 25, 1940. Some of the characteristics of the Benson class are: square funnel caps and bases; uneven height of stacks. Destroyers of this class are ten tons lighter and eight inches narrower than destroyers of a later class, known as the "Livermore" type; otherwise they are similar. Both classes have four high-pressure boilers, geared turbines and twin screws. Cruising range exceeds 9,000 miles at 15 knots. The "Benson " class, DD-421 to DD-428 were originally armed with five 5-inch-38's, and ten tubes. A few still carry ten tubes. Light armor protects bridges and controls in all newer destroyers. Little has been written of the part that destroyers played in World War II, where they were called on to fulfill such a variety of missions that they were multi-purpose ships, engaging in any form of combat. Because we lacked suitable escort ships, destroyers were used to protect convoys, as well as to guard our combatant Task Forces. Destroyers were used to bombard enemy shore positions, and to carry bombs and aviation gasoline, and stores to Guadalcanal during the lean weeks, early in the campaign in those far-distant seas. By nature as well as by name, the purpose of the destroyer is wholly offensive Bantamweights in comparison with the great battlewagons, they pack a punch out of proportion to their size. They are triple-threat weapons, built to strike at the enemy on or over or under the sea. They are the "fightingest things afloat."
Introduction: Naval Construction Battalion 103 was not among the first to go to war. World War II had been raging perilously for twenty-one months before our men mustered into boot camp. Yet this did not mean we were lax in responding to the battle call. For it was logical that the nation count on many of our kind to first build the industrial might by which we armed ourselves and our allies. Aircraft plants and planes, munitions plants and guns, shipyards and ships had to be built. Those who remained behind us had to be taught a multitude of artisan trades only the construction men could perform. Then, with the industrial potential leaping ahead, we put down our tools and tasks: We said goodbye to our families, children and friends, and solemnly shoved off for boot camp. By average, the men in this battalion, and those who followed, are older in years of experience. When we entered boot camp a new system of military training, based on modern battlefield conditions, awaited us. When we took aboard our gear for the big overseas job, we found it to be the best equipment man could make. This is a far different story than of our Construction Brothers who had gone on before. Ill-prepared, those men threw themselves before the yellow tide in the Pacific-and stopped it cold. Only a few bull dozers, a minimum of military training, and an amazing amount of guts did the trick. They diked up that yellow tide. Held it until we and others, well trained and well equipped, could move out into this war theater to secure and make ready the great offensive now launched from all quarters against the enemy. Naval Construction Battalion 103, to date, has seen only the backwash of war: Marine casualties returned from tough campaigns; a handful of enemy flushed out, like sewer bugs from dank and odorous caves; a city and villages blasted to rubble and ruin; natives carrying life-time scars of torture. These sights have a profound effect upon all of us. Impulsively we want to drop the hammer and saw, take up the carbine and press on to actual combat. That chance may yet come. We are on this tour of duty to build. We are here to construct the facilities by which the war progresses toward the unconditional surrender of the enemy. And we are bound to do these duties well for the sake of every man who came out here to fight and to build, but who will never see, with mortal eyes, his home again. The Seabees were conceived at a ghastly, agonizing hour in our history shortly after Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. They emerged as a surprise force, the one BIG NEW element in the waging of a surprise war, and have proven to be neither strictly sea goin', in the Navy sense, nor landlubbers. Rather their ranks boast of men of the sea and men of the soil alike. They have brought their pontoon causeways through rough surf and shellfire to establish beachheads; they have tilled the soil of these far off lands to raise crops for desolated natives. Yet their main task has been to construct forward bases from which a mighty Navy and Army press home the attack. Construction Battalion 103 is doing just that. And in this pictorial review of our tour of duty thus far, you will see a battalion of American men at work-and at play, too. For it is an American premise to see the lighter side, to fraternize with friendly people, to indulge in horse-play during those all too few hours of liberty.
The U.S.S. Fanshaw Bay (CVE 70) was commissioned December 9, 1943, at Astoria, Oregon, less than seven months after the keel was laid by Kaiser Company in Vancouver, Washington. Named for a bay in Southeastern Alaska, she is the first Naval vessel to bear that name. Like other Casablanca class escort carriers, the Fanshaw Bay was built from designs never intended for a combat vessel, yet she carried her crew through the longest operational period sustained by any escort carrier. Dedication Wherever the Fanshaw Bay shall sail again in the reminiscences of her old crew, she will carry with her the memory of those gallant men who have answered their last call to flight quarters. To the twenty-four men killed in action and to the fourteen missing airmen this history of the Fannie Bee is humbly dedicated.
Dedication: The purpose of this book is to tell a story--not just an ordinary story, a fictional creation of one man's mind, but a living, dynamic story. It is living and dynamic because it is the story of a life. In word and picture it depicts the life of her whom we affectionately call "Queen of the CVES"--the U.S.S. Hoggatt Bay, CVE 75. It is the story of the men who transformed her from an inanimate bulk of steel into personality endowed with life and feeling and courage, of the men who guided her through perilous waters, of the men who manned her guns to ward off the enemy, of the pilots who soared from her flight deck to search out and destroy the same enemy. In short, it is the story of the officers and men of the Hoggatt Bay who have lived, and fought--and died--that others might live in peace. To all of them, those still aboard, thos who have left us, and especially those pilots and aircrewmen, heroes all, who took off from her flight deck never to return again, this book is proudly and affectionately dedicated.
The U.S.S. Mobile, CL-63 Authorized at a time when hostilities in Europe were arousing keen concern over our own naval shortcomings, the story of the Mobile corresponds closely with the development of our naval strength in the Pacific. Only one other ship has borne the name: she was a small warship operating under the Union colors with Admiral Farragut's fleet during the Civil War. The keel of the new Mobile was laid on April 14, 1941 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and on May 15 of the following year the hull of CL 63 slid down the ways. The sponsor was Mrs. Harry T. Hartwell, wife of the president of Mobile's city commission. On March 24, 1943 the commission pennant was raised with appropriate ceremony and Captain C. Julian Wheeler took command. After a short period of training in the Chesapeake Bay and a brief visit to Casco Bay, Maine, the Mobile turned toward the Pacific, leaving the Canal a stern on the 20th of June. With eleven "Battle Star" operations to her credit the story of the "Mighty Mo" is told by the record of her achievements, by the accomplishments of the fleets in which she worked, and, in part, by the pictures which follow.
Introduction: As the sunrise dispersed the chill early morning mists from over Camp Peary, Virginia, on the morning of 15 November, 1943, a momentous event was in the making. Old Doc Stork circled thru B-10 area, hopped into Replacement, dipped thru Ship's Company area, and laboriously dumped his mountainous load with a resounding thud into Area A-7. The 145th Naval Construction Battalion was born. Little did the infant suspect the experiences on the long rough road ahead of it ... a journey that would occupy two years and would take it to Japan's front door and back. And so it was with a naive and strictly Gl "Here Sir" that we answered our first muster at Camp Peary. It was with the enthusiasm of the uninitiated that we marched to the trains in tempo with a band, and set out on November 20, 1943.
Foreword: This book was prepared for the members of the 411th Engineer Base Shop Battalion, as a pictorial record of its achievements in "The Land Down Under" during the period from 1943 to 1944 in the war against Japan. Although the book deals principally with the construction of power barges, the powerful influence of Australia is strongly felt in the background. During the early stages of the war against Japan, when port facilities in the South-West Pacific Area were practically non-existant, and the problem of supplying troops in forward coastal areas of New Guinea posed a critical problem, the Engineer Amphibian Command was formed at Camp Ed wards, Mass. One of the organizations in this command was the 411th Engineer Base Shop Battalion. Although the members of the 411th were selected for particular technical skills, further specialized training occupied the rest of the year. Some of the men were sent to various schools and industrial plants, principally in New England and the Middle West. In the fall of 1942 Company A was ordered to Caribelle, Florida, for training, and Companies B and C were sent to New Orleans, La., for a period of intensive training at the Higgins plant. By December of 1942 all the companies of the 411th had made the trip to the Pacific coast and were located at Ford Ord, California, awaiting orders to proceed overseas. Company C had the distinction of preceding the remainder of the Battalion to service overseas; but on January 7, 1943, the 411th passed under the Golden Gate aboard the Dutch ship "Tabinta." Irresistably the great ship plunged into the gathering darkness, symbolic of the uncertainty; but confidence which we felt. Now we were told. We were bound for the mysterious Island Continent of Australia, and our new home was to be at Cairns, in the tropical north. Our job was to build the LCV landing barge. Let us see just what happened.
"In the course of 20 months overseas the 20th handled every conceivable type of cargo from eggs to two-ton bombs. By late July 1945, the battalion had handled well over one-half million tons of cargo. For their continual good work under adverse conditions, the 20th Special received numerous commendations from high ranking Naval Officials. Following the end of the war, an increasing number of men of the battalion began the long-awaited trip to the United States. On October, 22, 1945, the battalion received the welcome orders to begin inactivation. On November 3, 1945, the battalion was officially decommissioned. To help recall the days on Manus the battalion is publishing this book. On this and following pages you will find many pictures which record far better than words, the humor, thrills and boredom shared by all during duty with the 20th Special Battalion. Every effort has been made to minimize the amount of copy and captions, in order that each man may relate his own personal story for every picture. So, proceed, Mr. Civilian, the history of the 20th Special U. S. N. C. B. lies in your hands."
At 1500 February 23, 1944, the U.S.S. Richard P. Leary (DD-664) was placed in commission by Captain R. C. Grady, USN (Ret.), in Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts. Commander Frederic S. Habecker, USN assumed command. This vessel was named for the late Rear Admiral Richard P. Leary, USN and was built at the Navy Yard, Boston Massachusetts, the keel having been laid on 4 July 1943. The launching took place on 6 October 1943.
