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Unknown
Heroics
When
destroyer escorts first went into production during World
War II, Navy personnel from deck hands to admirals considered
them to be a waste of money. Though at $5 million apiece they
cost half as much as a carrier, Navy brass thought their small
size and unusual configurations (for speed and maneuverability)
would add little to the war effort. It was the determination
of Franklin D. Roosevelt (an experienced seaman), with the
support of Winston Churchill that pushed through a go-ahead
for them to be built; in early 1943, 563 destroyer escorts
entered the Battle of the Atlantic. And not a moment too soon,
says maritime author Robert F. Cross. “We were losing the
battle,” he explains. “America had very little experience
with submarine warfare, and the Nazis were very good at it.
Nazi U-boats were targeting convoy ships—they sank over a
thousand merchant ships—and they were cutting off commerce
between the United States and England.
They were so stealthy, Cross continues, that U-boats prowled
the coast of New Jersey and used the lights of American cities,
even the lights of the Coney Island Ferris wheel, to see the
silhouettes of ships and torpedo them. As the author describes
in his new book, Shepherds of the Sea: Destroyer Escorts
in World War II, these untested vessels, designed by a
man with no formal ship training and manned by teenage sailors,
turned the tide of the war by shepherding convoys across the
Atlantic and sinking some seventy U-boats.
The “nearly-forgotten story” of destroyer escorts and their
heroic crews hasn’t been forgotten in Albany, where the USS
Slater (DE 766) is docked on the Hudson River. Meticulously
restored as a museum and a World War II memorial, the Slater
is the only destroyer escort still afloat. On Monday, Cross
will give the keynote Memorial Day speech aboard the Slater,
followed by a book signing. Copies of Shepherds of the
Sea are available at the Slater gift shop, and book purchases
include free admission.
A former award–winning newspaper correspondent, Cross is the
water commissioner for the Port of Albany, which is where
he had his first experience with a DE. “When I saw the Slater
being towed to the port, it was just a rusted-out war relic,”
he says cheerfully. Cross joined the Slater’s board of trustees
shortly after, but it wasn’t his idea to write a book about
destroyer escorts. After he finished his first book, Sailor
in the White House: The Seafaring Life of FDR, a DE book
was suggested to him by board president Frank Lasch. Cross
wasn’t sure if there was enough material for a full-length
book, but after he started research, he says, he realized
he had one of the great untold stories of World War II. What’s
most extraordinary about the escorts, he says, is that they
were manned by inexperienced sailors, mostly 16 and 17 years
old, and commanded by officers who were not much older and
who were more accustomed to yachts than warships. They were
the Naval reserves the Navy didn’t want. And yet only 16 escorts
were lost in battle, despite their express purpose of taking
the brunt of sub attacks and, in the Pacific, fending off
Kamikaze aircraft.
Cross interviewed 91 crew members from 56 ships for Shepherds
of the Sea. “The thing is, these people never talked about
what they did in the war,” he says. “What a humble group of
men. I would hear their stories, and say, ‘You’re a hero,’
and they would say ‘No, I was just doing my job,’ or ‘No,
I had a lot of help.’” Slater staff members were instrumental
in tracking down the veterans, says Cross, and he was especially
lucky to have been put in contact with the grandson of a ship’s
pharmacist mate. After the mate died, his grandson found a
cache of photographs his grandfather had taken, a rare archive
since photography usually wasn’t allowed aboard ship. These
photographs, along with first-person accounts, give the book
a you-are-there immediacy.
The forward is by Christopher Roosevelt. “His father, Franklin
Jr., was a skipper aboard a DE that saw a lot of action in
the Pacific,” Cross says. Among the book’s “moving and thrilling”
exploits is the only capture of a Nazi U-boat, the barrier-breaking
efforts of the African-American crew of the USS Mason, and
eye-witness reports of Kamikaze planes dive-bombing close
enough for shipmates to see the pilots. As for the Slater,
it was entrusted with the retrieval of the captured U-boat’s
Enigma machine, torpedo, and top-secret documents—on the eve
of the Normandy invasion. “It was a goldmine for the Allies,”
says Cross. “We’re extremely fortunate to have this ship in
Albany,” he adds. “It’s a daily testament to that ‘greatest
generation’ of Navy veterans.”
Cross will speak briefly about the book and the veterans who
contributed to it during his appearance at the Slater’s Memorial
Day Commemoration at 9 am. A book signing will follow.
—Ann
Morrow
The
USS Slater (Broadway, Albany) will be open for tours on Memorial
Day (Monday, May 31), 10 AM to 4 PM. Admission is $7 adults,
$5 children over 5. Admission is free with a purchase of Shepherds
of the Sea. For more information, call 431-1943 or visit ussslater.org
 ONCE
MORE FOR TESS Comedian Greg Aidala (pictured) is one
of the many local artists who made Tess’ Lark Tavern a showcase
for his talents—and, through his Brew Ha-Ha professional comedy
showcases, the talents of other funny people. On Wednesday
(June 2), Aidala will present the fundraiser Laughs for
the Lark Tavern from 7-10 PM at The Linda (WAMC’s Performing
Arts Studio, 339 Central Ave., Albany). Aidala will host,
with performances by Bernadette Pauley (seen on Comedy
Central), Clayton Fletcher, the Knuckleheads,
Dave Cox, and with special appearances by WNYT’s Benita
Zahn and Channel 103.1-FM’s Jason Keller. Tickets
are $15 at the door, with no presales available; cash bar
with beer, wine and soda. Aidala wants you to know that “all
ticket proceeds will benefit Tess Collins and the Lark
Tavern.” For more info, visit gregaidala.com or wamcarts.org.
TANGO TIME This year, the Musicians of Ma’alwyck season
fundraiser is called Tango Magnifico. This gala entertainment,
to be held on June 5th from 7-11 PM at the Polish Community
Center (225 Washington Ave. Ext., Albany) will feature music
by the well-loved chamber ensemble and performance by professional
dance instructors from the Latham branch of the Fred Astaire
Dance Studios. The deadline for buying tickets is Monday
(May 31); tickets are $80 each, or $150 for two. Please call
377-3623 for tickets and information.
—Shawn
Stone
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