| Notes |
- Durward Belmont Franklin served in the U.S. Navy during WW I from June 26,
1918 to August 5, 1919. He was released from the U.S. Navy on September
30, 1921 with an Honorable Discharge. He enlisted at the Navy Recruiting
Station, Cincinnati, Ohio on June 26, 1918 as a Seaman 2nd Class. His
physical description on his enlistment paper is as follows:
Age: 20 years 4 months Height: 5' 6" Weight: 127 lbs.
Eyes: brown Hair: brown Complexion: ruddy Personal
characteristics: No vaccinations, scar on left eyebrow, scar on right
eyebrow, mole on front of neck, scar on right knee.
On July 11, 1918 he reported for active duty. On August 2, 1918 he was at
the Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Ill. On August 20, 1918 he was
assigned foreign detail at Philadelphia. On September 8, 1918 he was
assigned to the USS Charles. On March 31, 1919 he was stationed on the
USS Yale. On August 5, 1919 he was at the Navy Demobilization Station,
Pittsburgh.
----- USS Charles:
AP: t. 3,737; l. 403'; b. 51'3"; dr. 19'; s. 22 k.; cpl. 211
Charles (No. 1298) was built in 1907 by Delaware River Shipbuilding Co.,
Chester, PA as Harvard; commandeered by the Navy 21 march 1918 (purchased
28 August 1918); outfitted as a transport at Mare Island Navy Yard; and
commisisoned 9 April 1918, Lieytebabt Comander M. F. Tarpey, USNRF, in
command. Two days later she was renamed Charles. Reaching Hampton Roads
from Mare Island 26 June 1918, Charles loaded troops and sailed from
Newport News for Brest, France, 10 July. She arrived 21 July and on 27
July reported at Southampton, England, for duty as a cross-channel ferry
for troops. Charles made about 60 voyages between Southampton and Le
Havre or Boulogne, carrying troops of all nationalities, bound for action
at the front, or for accupation duty, until 5 May 1919. Charles embarked
passengers for transportation to the United States at Rotterdam and Brest,
and on 15 June 1919, arrived at New York City. Her support of Army
operations in Europe at an end, the transport sailed into the Philadelphia
Navy Yard 24 July, and there was decommisisoned 10 June 1920. Renamed
Harvard 29 July 1920, she was sold 14 October 1920.
USS Yale :
ScStr: dp. 5,200 (n.); l. 403'; b. 63'; dr. 19' (mean); s. 22.4 k.; cpl.
213)
The Yale (Id. No. 1672) - a screw steamer built in 1906 by the Delaware
River Steamboat Co. - was purchased by the Navy on 13 March 1918 adn
commissioned at teh Mare Island Navy Yard on 25 March 1918, Lt. comdr.
Richard C. Brennan, USNRF, in command. After being fitted out for naval
service at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Yale put to sea on 20 May, bound for
Nicaragua carrying a detachment of marines to duty at the legation at
Managua. Steaming via Acapulco, Mexico, she arrived at Corinto,
Nicaragua, on the 27th, landed the marines and some mail, and then headed
on to the Panama Canal. She transited the canal on 30 May and continued
her voyage to Norfold, where she arrived on 3 June. She operated in the
Chesapeake Bay area until 10 July when she departed Newport News, VA, in a
convoy bound for Europe. On 21 July, the convoy arrived in Brest, France;
and Yale was assigned duty as a cross-channel transport. During the war,
she made 31 uneventful, round-trip voyages carrying troops between
Southampton, england, and the French ports of Brest and Le Havre. She
continued that service after the end of hostilities on 11 November and
made another 54 round-trip voyages carrying passengers and supplies. On 6
May 1919, she departed Brest for the last time and set a course - via the
Azores - to the United States. She anchored off Weehawken, NJ, on 22 May
and disembarked passengers. Through the summer of 1919, she steamed up
and down the east coast shuttling passengers between Norfolk and Hoboken,
NJ. On 3 September, she moored in Back Channel at Philadelphia and
remained there until sold. Yale was decommissioned on 10 June 1920. She
was subsequently sold to the Harvard-Yale Syndicate which reconditioned
her and put her in passenger service between San Pedro and San Francisco.
After 15 years of fast passenger service along the west coast, Yale was
laid up in 1935; in 1940, she was moved to Sitka, Alaska, where she served
as a worker's dormitory. She was again acquired by the Navy on 30 April
1943 and commissioned on 8 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. W. N. VanDenburgh in
command. She was renamed Greyhound (IX-106) on 19 August 1943. AFter
brief service, Greyhound was decommissioned on 31 March 1944 adn began
duty as a floating barracks for personnel at various Puget Sound training
schools. She was placed out of service on 9 March 1948, and her name was
struck from the Navy list on 18 June 1948. She was turned over to the
Maritime Commission on 12 November 1948 and placed with the National
Defense Reserve Fleet at Olympia, WA, until 5 June 1949 when she was sold
for scrapping.
|
1898 - 1978 (79 years)
