Chapter IX

Port Director, Naval Transportation Service, Eighth Naval District

 

The District Port Director's Office was among the handful of activities in the Eighth Naval District during the year before the District was reactivated. On 3 November 1939 a commander reported in New Orleans to open the office of Port Director, Naval Transportation Service. Shortly thereafter he established an office in the Customhouse Building. At that time, his staff consisted of one Lieutenant Commander, as Assistant Port Director, one chief yeoman, one chief storekeeper, and one civilian stenographer. Under the direction of the Commandant, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Naval Districts, he performed the duties of Port Director as outlined in U.S. Navy Regulations.1

One of his first duties upon reporting was the compilation of data on the facilities of the Port of New Orleans for the information of the Chief of Naval Operations. As a member of the Joint Merchant Vessel Board, he was responsible for the inspection and recommendation for purchase by the Navy of certain types of vessels of less than 1000 gross tons designated by the President of the Board.

In September 1940 the Port Director's office was moved to the Canal Bank Building; in March 1941 the office was moved to the Eighth Naval District Headquarters in the New Federal Building, where it remained,

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Largely because of the accelerated program for the acquisition of small naval auxiliaries and the need for officer inspectors, Port Directors' Offices were opened in Port Arthur and Galveston, Texas, in June 1940. These offices were manned by one officer each for several months. Since they were the only Naval activities in their localities, these offices were called upon to perform many functions disassociated from their routine duties. One time-consuming function was the interviewing and assisting of merchant marine officers in applying for commissions in the Naval Reserve. Another duty in the beginning was the cataloguing of data on the oil terminal facilities and storage capacities in the Sabine-Neches district. This information aided the Chief of Naval Operations in planning intelligently the shipment of finished petroleum products to the fleet units. During the early period, these two officers were severely handicapped by lack of office facilities and transportation. Several weeks prior to the formal setting up of their offices, both Port Directors operated from their hotel rooms.

In September 1941 a fourth Port Director's office was opened at Mobile, Alabama. There had been a need for this office for some time because of the inconvenience of having to cover the ports of the eastern part of the district from the New Orleans office. The work load of the four offices increased very gradually from their establishment until the outbreak of war. Officer, enlisted, and civilian complements were correspondingly increased, but none of the offices had more than three officers on 7 December 1941.

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Coincident with the outbreak of war and the Navy's assuming control of U. S. shipping and foreign shipping within the areas of control, the responsibilities of Port Directors were greatly magnified. It was soon evident that more offices were needed in the District. Consequently, additional Port Director's Offices were opened at Corpus Christi, Texas, in December 1941; and at Houston, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Panama City, Florida, in March 1942. At that time the deep-water ports of the Eighth Naval District were under the control of the Port Directors' Offices as follows:

Port St. Joe, Fla. under jurisdiction of P.D., Panama City
Pensacola, Fla. under jurisdiction of P.D., Mobile
Gulfport, Miss. under jurisdiction of P.D., Mobile
Lake Charles, La. under jurisdiction of P.D., Port Arthur
Orange, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Port Arthur
Smiths Bluff, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Port Arthur
Port Naches, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Port Arthur
Beaumont, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Port Arthur
Texas City, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Galveston
Freeport, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Galveston
Baytown, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Houston
Harbor Island, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Corpus Christi
Ingleside, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Corpus Christi
Port Isabel, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Corpus Christi
Brownsville, Tex. under jurisdiction of P.D., Corpus Christi

Furnishing routings to ships in some of these ports that were at a considerable distance from the routing office was very inconvenient; however, when the volume of traffic was weighed against the expense of additional personnel entailed in the maintenance of offices at these ports, it was decided that additional Port Directors were not Justified. By way of alleviating matters somewhat, one officer each was assigned to Brownsville, Texas, and Gulfport, Mississippi, in April and July 1945, respectively. These officers were under the supervision

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of the Corpus Christi and New Orleans offices. Their principal function was to deliver routings and report arrivals and departures of ships. The Gulfport office was necessitated by the increase in shipping from the Naval Supply Depot Annex and the Advanced Base Depot. The reason for stationing an officer in Brownsville was that the delivery of routings and reporting of ships from Corpus Christi had never been very satisfactory because of the great distance involved. In order to avoid delaying the sailing of ships, the Port Director at Corpus Christi made use of the facilities of the Naval Air Station and Civil Air Patrol to fly routings to Brownsville and Port Isabel.

In order to attain more security for allied shipping, the Chief of Naval Operation, on 17 November 1942 directed that the issuing of hydrographic charts and publications by commercial agents be discontinued, and that this function be performed by U. S. Navy Hydrographic Distributing Office, which the District Commandants were to establish at required ports within their districts.2 Accordingly, such offices were set up in New Orleans and Galveston and were operated under the supervision and direction of the Port Directors in those cities. In September 1944, however, on the recommendation of the District Port Director, the Commandant, Eighth Naval District, requested of the Bureau of Personnel that the Hydrographic Distributing Offices be combined with the Branch Hydrographic Offices in New Orleans and Galveston, separate activities which were administered by the Hydrographic

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Office in Washington.3 The reasons the consolidation was desired were that the Manpower Survey Board had recommended it, that it would simplify transition from wartime activity to peacetime activity, and that it would simplify requirements in both office space and personnel. In compliance with the Commandant's request, the Bureau issued to the officers-in-charge of the Branch Offices additional duty orders as officers-in-charge of the Distributing Offices.

The District Port Director had Increasing responsibilities as the war progressed. Working through his staff at New Orleans and the subordinate Port Directors in other ports of the District, he had the task of coordinating the District's commercial and governmental shipping activities with currently effective Naval policy, procedure, and defense measures, informing other Naval Districts and commands as concerned. He and personnel under his direction administered, operated, and serviced all Naval Transportation Service and Navy allocated vessels operating in or through this District. They supervised the assembly and loading at District ports of Navy cargo destined for over-seas transportation, and also the assembly and embarkation at District ports of Naval personnel destined for overseas transportation. They maintained liaison with Army Transportation Service for interchange of transport information and mutual employment of ship space for cargo and personnel. The Port Directors inspected, inventoried, and accepted commercial vessels acquired in this District for the Navy.

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They provided pilots, tugs, and berthage when necessary for the harbor movements of Naval vessels under cognizance of the different offices of the Commandant.

As regards their control of shipping, the Port Directors issued routing instructions, necessary navigational information, and other pertinent instructions to all merchant, Army Transportation Service, Naval Transportation Service, and Naval vessels of other commands sailing from this District. They supervised the assembly, instructions, and dispatch of miscellaneous and special convoys. They were responsible for all route, arrival, and departure messages pertaining to merchant vessels and Naval auxiliaries. In connection with this function, communication and coding room facilities were maintained in all Port Director Offices except New Orleans, and these facilities were available to and were used by other Naval activities. The Port Directors supervised the dispatch and receipt of commercial shipping interests' overseas messages. They assembled and furnished to interested commercial and governmental agencies information on expected ship arrivals. They maintained liaison with the War Shipping Administration and its operating agents to expedite turnabout and employment of vessels used in the interests of the war effort. They maintained for information and for Naval distribution complete and currently effective files of harbor entrance instructions and navigational hazards. Their offices provided for Navy vessels and authorized for Army vessels all necessary Hydrographic charts and information through the Branch Offices maintained in this District. They authorized

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purchases by commercial interests of the required Hydrographic Office publications. The District Port Director's Office supervised the inventory and operations of the Hydrographic Distributing Officer in the District. The Port Directors issued communication publications, material, and supplies, and furnished personnel when necessary in order to provide adequate communication liaison with the Navy while at sea.

Another important branch of the Port Director's work was on merchant marine defense. The Port Directors supervised and inspected the maintenance and repair of all defensive ordnance and materiel, and arranged supply of all Title "B" and Title "C" Navy equipment placed aboard merchant vessels and Army transports for Armed Guard use. They supervised the quartering, placement, transfer, and leaves of all Armed Guard personnel aboard merchant ships, and their requirements for medical, dental, and recreational attention, including mail delivery. They received, audited, and forwarded Armed Guard reports and muster rolls as required by directives, and issued pertinent bulletins and directives to Armed Guard personnel afloat. When the Armed Guard was in its heyday, these duties consumed much time and energy. For instance, during the year 1944, the Mobile Port Director's Office transferred 95 officers and 913 men from ship to shore, and 157 officers and 2,261 men from shore to ship.

The number of officer personnel required to perform all the functions of the Port Directors varied in proportion to the volume of shipping and the multiplicity of duties to be performed. In

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general, there was a gradual increase in complement from the skeleton force of early 1942 to a peak of about eighty officers in the early months of 1945. These officers were distributed as follows:

New Orleans 17   Port Arthur 10
Mobile 14 Corpus Christi 7
Houston 12 Baton Rouge 5
Galveston 12 Panama City 3

In addition to these officers, the Communication Liaison Officer pool was under the control of the Port Director. This pool reached a peak of thirty-three officers in the summer of 1945, when the Chief of Naval Operations directed that a Communication Liaison Officer be placed on all troop transports capable of carrying two hundred or more troops.

The first convoy, consisting of two troop transports, sailed from New Orleans for Aruba, D.W.I., on 6 February 1942. Because of the increased activity of enemy submarines in the Gulf of Mexico in the spring and summer of 1942, the Commander, Gulf Sea Frontier established Convoy Control Offices at Pilottown, Louisiana, and at Galveston, Texas, in July 1942, with the Port Director at Galveston having additional duty as Convoy Control Officer. Both offices, which were subsidiaries of the Gulf Sea Frontier Convoy Control Center at Key West, Florida, were under the administrative control of the Port Director, Eighth Naval District. The Commander, Gulf Sea Frontier assigned to both Convoy Control Offices some personnel who were maintained as Gulf Sea Frontier personnel apart from the Eighth Naval District personnel in these offices. Ships from adjacent ports were routed independently or with escort to these two centers to join convoys.

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The first Galveston-Pilottown convoy (GM), on 30 July 1942, was notable as the first regularly scheduled convoy operated by the Gulf Sea Frontier in its own limits.4 On 30 September 1944 plans were made to consolidate the office of Port Director and Convoy Control Office at Galveston - a move which reduced the number of rating aboard from forty-four to thirty-two.5 On 6 August 1945 the Convoy Control Center at Pilottown was disestablished.

The Gulf Coast ports contributed materially to the prosecution of the war by the dispatch of men and the materials of war to the various battle fronts. The tempo of shipping showed a gradual increase from the start of hostilities until the end of the war with Germany, and then an accelerated increase with the shift of the war emphasis to the Pacific.

The export of refined petroleum products was a major activity of the ports of Baton Rouge, Port Arthur, Galveston, Houston, and Corpus Christi. After the defeat of Germany, plans were made to furnish from these ports almost fifty percent of the petroleum products for the war against Japan. The amount of petroleum shipped from these ports in July 1945 is indicated below:

Baton Rouge 1,219,343 bbls.
Galveston 1,839,600 bbls.
Port Arthur 7,519,608 bbls.
Houston 6,545,316 bbls.
Corpus Christi 5,628,807 bbls.

In August 1945 a Tanker and Petroleum Coordinating Office was opened in Houston, Texas, under the jurisdiction of the Port Director, Eighth

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Naval District, the primary purpose of the office being to expedite the movement of oil by decreasing the turnaround time of War Shipping Administration tankers allocated to the Navy. (This office was disestablished on 1 October 1945.)

During the course of the war, many problems were encountered by the various Port Directors. First, the natural antipathy of shipping interests and masters to Naval control of shipping had to be overcome. As time passed and understanding increased, the cooperation became much better. Another problem was obtaining a correct estimate of the time of arrival of ships in order to avoid waste of manpower and facilities in planning the discharge or loading of ships. This problem persisted until the Atlantic Ocean was declared a non-combat area and ships were directed to transmit by radio their estimated time of arrival. A minor problem arose then in that the masters of some merchant vessels, although instructed to send their estimated time of arrival via the Navy, sent it directly to the commercial agent. The situation improved after the agents assumed the responsibility of passing these reports on to the loading docks and to the pilots who were to bring the ships in.

Another recurring problem at various ports was the accurate reporting of the actual arrival and departure of ships. The Port Directors had to depend on pilots or other Naval activities for this information. A more positive control in this matter would have been beneficial.

When convoys began assembling in Bolivar Roads, a controversy arose between the Houston Pilots Association and the Galveston-Texas

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City Pilots Association as to which association should pilot ships that anchored merely to await convoy sailings. Acting as mediator, the Pert Director at Galveston effected a temporary compromise whereby the two associations alternated in handling these ships. The dispute continued and was the subject of extensive litigation. At those ports where there was extensive traffic of Navy ships, berthage was a problem. To a great extent, the Port Directors had to obtain berths for these ships from dock boards or private owners, Navy-controlled piers being either inadequate or totally lacking. It is believed that a more satisfactory arrangement could have been reached by the Navy's leasing sufficient wharfage to accommodate Navy ships.

In July 1943 a severe hurricane struck Galveston and caused considerable damage to Navy property and ships. The severity of the damage was due partly to inadequate preparation and insufficient warning of the approach of the storm. In each subsequent case, excellent information was furnished on all tropical disturbances.

During the entire period of its existence, the Port Director's organization operated with a minimum of personnel. The personnel requirements were maintained at a low level by close liaison with the War Shipping Administration and other governmental activities so as to avoid duplication of work.

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FOOTNOTES

1. U. S. Navy Regulations, Article 663(6).
2. CominCh and CNO ltr., Ser. 5300, dtd. 17 Nov. 1942.
3. ComEight ltr. to BuPers, Ser. 24608, dtd. 26 Sept. 1944.
4. History of Gulf Sea Frontier, Chapter 5.
5. History of Gulf Sea Frontier, Appendix 2.

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