Tom's Naval Page

This Page will deal with both my Father and Father-in-law's 20 year Naval Careers.
The following pictures aren't in the best of shape. They're the only ones I have of
these ships. I working on fixing them up and obtaining others. I don't have a
complete listing of ships as yet.

Robert Harrison Pirtle, Hm1/c (Ret.)
1922 - 1969
1st photo taken May 1944 at Mt. Vernon, Washington.
2nd photo taken 1951 on board the USS Rendova(CVE-114)

The USS Chicago was the first ship that my father served on. The CL designation was changed to CA, 1 Jul 1931. It was torpedoed during W.W. II on 8-9 Aug 1942 (Battle of Savo Island) of which I have no information on. It was sunk by Japanese aircraft (Betty's from Rabaul) with aerial torpedoes in the Battle of Rennell Island, Solomon Islands. It was hit with 2 torpedoes on 29 Jan 1943 and hit with 4 more torpedoes on 30 Jan 1943 while undertow to Espiritu Santo and sunk. This happened off Rennell Island, (11 d. 25' S., 160 d. 56' E.), about 350 miles south of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. My father went over the side along with everyone else. He was a hospital corpsman then and lost all his personal property that was on board at that time. There were 6 Officers and 56 Enlisted men killed in this action. The ship was listed as being 9,050 tons at the time of the sinking. A report of the sinking is in the 17 Feb 1943 addition of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Vol. 68, No. 274 of which I have an original copy.
Type:	Heavy Cruiser (ex-Light Cruiser)
Class:	Northhampton
Displacement:	11,826 tons full load; 9,050-9300 tons normal
Dimensions:	600'3" x 66'1"x 16'8" (also listed as 500'3" x 66'1" x 24')
Propulsion:	Steam Turbines, 8-boilers, 4-shafts, 107,000 hp, 32.5 knots
Crew:	621 -- 45 Officers and 576 Enlisted (also listed as 1020-1155)
Armament:	3 (9)-triple 8"/55, 4 (8)-5"/25, 6-21" Torpedo Tubes, 3 planes
Armor:	3-3.75" belt, 1"-2" deck, .75"-2.5" turrets, 1.5" barbettes
Built:	Keel laid down 10 Sept. 1928 by Mare Island Navy Yard Vallejo, California
Launched:	10 Apr. 1930
Commissioned:	9 Mar. 1931
Sunk:	30 Jan 1943
Major Engagements:	Battle of the Coral Sea, 5-7 May 1942
	Guadalcanal Landing, 7 Aug 1942
	Battle of Savo Island, 9 Aug 1942
	Battle of Rennell Island, (south of Guadalcanal ), 29-30 Jan 1943

My father served on the Rendova in 1951 during the Korean Conflict. The ship was stationed off the coast of Korea for a period of time and I believe rotated back to Japan. It had one squadron of Marine Corps F-4U Corsair's of the VMF-212 at the time he was aboard.
Type:	Escort Aircraft Carrier
Class:	Commencement Bay
Dimensions:	525' x 75' x 30.5'
Displacement:	11,373 tons
Exterior:	557' x 105' x 30.5'; draft 32'
Propulsion:	Steam Turbines, 4 - 450psi boilers, 2 shafts, 16,000hp, 19 knots
Crew:	1066
Armament:	2-single 5/38, 3 quad, 12 dual 40mm AA, 20-single 20mm AA, 33 aircraft
Built:	15 Jun. 1944 -- Keel laid down at Todd-Pacific Shipyards Inc. Tacoma, Washington
Launched:	28 Dec. 1944 -- Completed at Williamette
Commissioned:	22 Oct. 1945 -- Decommissioned, 27 Jan. 1950
Recommissioned:	3 Jan. 1951 -- Decommissioned, 30 Jun. 1955
Status:	Stricken -- 1 Apr. 1971 -- Scrapped 1971

I don't have any information about LeGrand's time aboard this ship. On the back of the picture he wrote "This is my new Baby." This is around 1945-46.
Type:	Traditional Destroyer
Class:	US Gearing
Armament:	Usually 4"-5" guns, ASuW torpedo tubes, short range ASW rockets (Hedgehog) and smaller AA guns.
Orig. name:	Myles C. Fox
Orig. Num.:	DD-829
Orig. Class:	Gearing
Built:	14 Aug 1944 -- Keel layed down at Bath Iron Works Bath, Maine
Launched:	13 Jan 1945
Commissioned:	20 Mar 1945
Status:	Sticken -- 1 Oct 1979
Transferred to the Hellenic Republic
Transfer Date:	2 Aug 1980
Current Name:	Kriezis
Current Num :	D-217
Current Status:	Stricken -- Cannibalized for spare parts.

This picture was taken on 29 Jan. 1949 at Subic Bay, Philippines. On the back is a list of the crew members and they are as follows, left to right:
1. Pitt--Seaman
2. King--Fireman
3. Cannon--Seaman
4. Fritz--Em3/c
5. Kshimetski--Emc
6. Hansen--Bmc (my father-in-law)
7. Porter--Cook
8. Stout--Fireman
9. Barbee--Seaman
10. Barnett--Seaman
11. Miller--Seaman
Type:	Large Tug

If anyone has additional information or questions please drop me a line!
Tom Pirtle

U.S. Navy Home Page	Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
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Navy On Line Home Page	Robb R.Donaldson's USS Chicago Page