Editor’s note: the Seafarers LOG reserves the right to edit letters for grammar as well as space provisions without changing the writer’s intent. The LOG welcomes letters from members, pensioners, their families and shipmates and will publish them on a timely basis.Learning the Ropes
With Help from SIU Hall
Over the past several months, I’ve wanted to share this information with my fellow shipmates via the Seafarers LOG. After having signed off the USNS Effective last September, I was unaware of the vital importance of registering with my local union hall as soon as I hit the beach.
Two days later and in the middle of Nevada, I had some sort of inclination to check in with my union rep in Port Everglades (Fla.). Ambrose Cucinotta informed me of my need to register, but where was the closest union hall to Winnemucca, Nevada?
After doing my homework and making a few calls, I was directed to the Wilmington, Calif. hall. Even over the phone, I knew by the way I was being taken care of by the entire staff that my decision was richly rewarded. Not only did I find an awesome port agent in John Cox, I reconnected with a wonderful friend. L.A. never looked better.
The point here is that I was treated with the utmost respect and patience by Cox and his associates. They took total charge of expediting all my documentation, assisting me in obtaining an STOS upgrade, making sure all my paperwork was current, and then placing me on a Watson Class LMSR vessel.
Stephen A. Gardner III
USNS Watson
Randall in Area of
Indianapolis Sinking
During World War II, I served on board the merchant vessel named for Richard Randall. This vessel was constructed in Brunswick, Ga. at J.A Jones Construction Co. for WSA and was contracted to Isbransen Steamship Co., F.E. Holly, Master.
On the fateful night of July 30, 1945, at 12 minutes past midnight, the Randall was within sight of the cruiser USS Indianapolis [one of the vessels that carried parts and nuclear material to be used in the atomic bombs which were soon to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The ship was topedoed that very night by a Japanese submarine and sank quickly. Captain Charles Butler McVay III, commanding officer of the Indianapolis at the time of the sinking, was court marshaled for the loss of his ship. He was the only American captain to be court marshaled for the loss of his vessel due to enemy action during World War II. In 2000 legislation was passed to exonerate McVay for his loss of the Indianapolis and those crew members who were lost].
We were due south, heading for Eniwetok, Marshall Islands. We were on our return voyage, in ballast, homeward bound after serving in the southwestern Pacific theater of operations.
In viewing historical documents, I have yet to see any mention of any merchant vessels being in that area on that night. I have in my possession a copy of the ship’s official log for this voyage, obtained from the archives in Ft. Worth, Texas—verification that there was, indeed, a vessel in that area—the Richard Randall.
Walter C. Foster
Blackshear, Ga.
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