Photo #: NH 95582 (complete caption)
USS Ward (APD-16)
Crewmen pose with their ship's battle "scoreboard",
soon after the Biak Invasion, circa June 1944. Nearly all of
these men had served in Ward since the beginning of the
War, and were present when she sank a Japanese midget submarine
just outside Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941.
The original caption, released by Commander Seventh Fleet on
4 August 1944, reads: "Sansapor, Dutch New Guinea, falls
to the Allied Forces, July 30, 1944. One might almost say - Sansapor
falls to the boys from St. Paul, Minn. - as all but two of these
men come from that city and the entire group has shipped together
since Pearl Harbor, with the actions and results shown on their
banner. As a matter of fact, they are believed to have fired
the first offensive shot of the war in the Pacific, while on
patrol against Japanese subs. They are L/R: (bottom row) J.L.
Spratt, MM2/c; A.J. Fink, CM2/c; O.S. Ethier, MM1/c; C.W. Fenton,
BM1/c; D.R. Pepin, SM1/c; J.G. LeClair; SOM2/c; F.V. Huges, SOM2/c.
(Top Row) R.B. Nolde, SF1c; W.G. Grip, BM2c; H.F. Germarin, S1c;
H.J. Harris, MM1c; H.K. Paynter, CMoMM; J.K. Lovsted, CMMM; W.H.
Duval, CCS, (of San Diego); I.E. Holley, CSK (of Los Angeles);
W.S. Lehner, SC1c; F.J. Bukrey, CM1c; and F.L. Fratta, MM1c."
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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