U505 in the fo reground with a US Navy salvage crew on the bow. USS G uadalcanal is in the background, while one of the carrier's bombers p rovides air cover.
My ship, USS Kennebec (A0 -36), was originally built as an Esso tanker named the Corsicana, taken over by the Navy in 1942 and renamed for the Kennebec River in Maine. (M any T2 tankers were named for American rivers and lakes.) She carried a crew of nearly 300 officers and men. We stood gun watches (half of the armament was manned 24/7), and when fueling we ofte n had two alongside at once. It was not unusual to operate in rough seas with 40 to 80 ships in a convoy. The N avy's fleet oilers sure were working ships and participated in quite a few convoys in the N orth Atlantic. We used to say, "The G ravy was in the N avy-the Atlantic was Romantic-and the Pacific was Terrific!" After Japan surrendered , we ended up fuelin g Japanese minesweepers.
I read Sea H istory cover to cover and get much enjoyment from all the good work you are doing in preserving our nautical heritage. ROB E RT
J.
MILLER
Ambler, Pennsylva nia Fro m the editor: U 505 was captured by T G 22 .3 and towed to Bermuda, eventually ending up in the Portsmouth N avy Yard. In 1954 the U- boat was donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (www. msichicago.org) , where you can visit her today. We were much intrigued by Mr. Miller's letter and have reached out to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago to help us make this happen. Look for an article on this dramatic event in an upcoming issue in 2017.
OWNER'S STATEMEN T: Statement fi led 9/3 0/ 16 required by rhe Act of Aug. 12, 1970, Sec. 3685, T itle 39, US Code: Sea History is published quarterly at 5 Jo hn Walsh Blvd. , Peekskill NY 10566; m inimum subscri ption price is $ 17.50. Publisher and ed ito r- in-chief: No ne; Ed itor is D eird re E. O ' Regan; owner is National Maritim e Historical Society, a no n-profit corporation; all are located at 5 John Walsh Blvd ., Peekskill NY 10566. Du ri ng the 12 months preced ing O ctober 20 16 the average number of (A) copies pri nted each issue was 25 ,3 14; (B) paid and/or req uested circulatio n was: ( l) outside co unty mail subscriptions 6,880; (2) in-cou nty subscri ptions O; (3) sales th ro ugh dealers, carriers, counter sales, other non-US PS paid d istribution 6,556; (4) ocher classes mailed thro ugh US PS 380; (C) total paid and/or reques ted circu latio n was 13,8 16; (D ) free distributi on by ma il , samples, complimentary and other l 0,2 1O; (E) free discriburion outside the mails 3 13; (F) total free discributio n was 10,679; (G) total discribu cio n 24 ,495 ; (H ) copies nor d istri buted 8 19; (I) total [of 15G and HJ 25,3 14; OJ Percentage paid and/or requested circulatio n 56% . Th e actual numbers fo r the single iss ue preced ing October 201 6 are: (A) total nu mber pri nted 25,031 ; (B) paid and/or requested circulation was : (I ) outside-coun ty mail subscri ptio ns 6,85 0; (2) in -county subscriptio ns O; (3) sales through dealers, carri ers, co unter sales, orher no n-US PS paid d istribution 7,463 ; (4) o ch er classes mailed through US PS 304; (C) to tal paid and/or requested circulatio n was 14, 6 17; (D) free d istributio n by mail, samples, co mpli mentary and ocher 9,125; (E) free discribuci on o utside the mails 450; (F) total free d istribution was 9,575; (G) total d iscribucio n 24, 192; (H ) cop ies not d istributed 839; (I) total [of 15G and H J 25 ,03 1 (J) Percentage paid and/or req uested circulatio n 60% . I certify chat rhe above srarements are co rrect and compl ete. (s igned) Burchenal Green, Executive D irector, National Maritime Historical Society.
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Corrections The article on the seafaring brothers, Captains John , Asa, and Oliver Eldridge (Sea H istory 154, p. 38- 41), includes an image of a lithograph depicting the US Mail Steam ship Pacific rescuing the crew of a sinking barque at sea in 1852. The caption misidentifies the captain of the Pacific and misspell s the nam e of the barque. The doomed ship was the barque Jessie Stevens (not Jesse), and the captain who affected the daring rescue was my great-grandfather, Captain Ezra Nye (1 798-1 866), who was a distinguished captain for the Collins Line ofNew York. According to the Nye Homestead and Museum in Eas t Sandwich, M assachusetts, "Fo r this he gained national
Captain Ezra Nye
recognition in this country, and the gratitude of the British admiralty and Queen Victoria, who presented him with a gold chronometer. .. and a beautiful gold medal." N E ILS O N AB EE L
Portland, Oregon From the editor: Several readers alerted us that our conversion calculations for the US dollar to the Euro were off by a factor of ten, as noted in the article regarding the the res toration plans for barque Peking, currently ow ned by South Street Seaport Museum in New York (Sea H istory 156). Germ any has allocated $30 million Euros to the project, which is approximately $33 million US dollars, not $3.3 m illion USD, as erroneously printed in the article.
SEAHISTORY 157, WINTER2016- 17