USS Whetstone a saga of epic proportions
By: Robert W. Hager, RD2 1951-54.
Marion.. My cousin, who I mention several times in this narrative had asked me to recount as best I could my navy experiences. He wanted to put together the Hager’s navy history so this was my contribution towards that effort. This is very rough and needs lots of work to make it readable. If you think it might be something that you could use, please do so. If anything requires clarification give me a holler.. Keep in mind that this was written to my cousin who had no prior knowledge of the Whetstone.
Well you are asking me to dredge through rather cob webby sections of my brain.. and in all likely hood will not remember all details with any degree of clarity.. but what the heck.. give it a shot.. and see what lies I can come up with..
Enlisted in the Navy the middle of January 1951 and was discharged at TI SF on the 6th of January 1955 around 2 in the afternoon... give or take a couple of minutes.. (for you newer types.. TI = Treasure Island naval base.. which has been deactivated for a number of years now)
Note... my enlistment was motivated by my desire not to be a ground pounder.. would have been drafted had I not enlisted and a one way ticket to Korea. As it turned out had lots of tickets to Korea but they were round trips.
Well I was assigned to the USS Whetstone LSD 27 right out of boot camp.. spent several months trying to catch up with her.. (by way the "Stone" was decommissioned in the late 60's to mid 70's and after spending a number of years in Suisun Bay, was sold to scrap dealers in Taiwan, returning to the US as automobiles..
Went to Seattle to catch her but nope she had sailed south.. then went to San Diego but she had gone to Japan.. then was sent to TI.. (see above for definition) where I vegetated for a month or so before being dumped on the USS Gen. Brewster..around late April/early May.. Two weeks later we arrived at Yokosuka.. but no Whetstone.... Then I was put on a train and headed south to Sasebo.. but no Whetstone.. she was in Korea.. so I was stuffed on an old Liberty ship in Sasebo harbor which had been converted into a receiving station.. I wish I could remember the name of that ship... what a hell hole.. racks were in the ships hold.. about ten high.. no a/c.. and very poor ventilation.. it was a motley group of transient sailors.. Recall that there were a number being returned to the states for discharge.. for sexual orientation.. and they played grab ass all night long..
Couldn't take a shower... didn't have any. and besides if I did you would have to be careful who was taking a shower next to you.. Water, for personal use, was heated by sticking a steam pipe in a copper basin and leaving it on until the water got hot..
Finally the Whetstone showed up in Sasebo. It was a dark and stormy night, well maybe rainy and cold, when I was driven to the quay where the LCVP was to pick me up. Picture me lugging my seabag down these slippery concrete stairs, very little light for illumination and being scared shitless. Expected Sidney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart to pop out of the shadows at any moment. Well anyway the boat crew knew where the Stone was anchored and off we went..
After being assigned a berth the first thing I did was to take a shower kind of stunk about that time..
Well lets see, I was in the deck force think it was A division.. for about four months during which time I did my best to get transferred to C division.. (Radar, radio, and quartermaster division) I was eventually successful in getting the transfer and spent the rest to my time in the Navy as a radarman eventually attaining a second class rating..
Ok so much for that stuff.. The ports of call in 1951 were Sasebo, Inchon, Pusan and Wonsan.. The folks in Wonsan were not happy to see us so we never pulled liberty there.
Returned to the states in late fall of '51 where we played combat/beach landing exercises with the marines from Pendleton, did the exercises off Coronado.. ..
Would pull an overnighter liberty once in a while so would hitch hike up 101.. no freeway then.. to visit relatives.. in Temple City and Duarte.. do recall seeing a snot nosed little kid in Duarte.. wonder whatever happened to him?? Turned out to be a captain in the navy.
Lets see.. what else did we do. In '52 we went up to Seattle (Bremerton) for some yardwork.. Made a trip or two to Vancouver..me not the ship.. where we terrorized the local ladies..
Went to radar school at TI..(see above for def.) so missed returning to Japan with the "Stone. After completing radar school.. Hopped on the Gen. Walker (why are all transport ships in the MSTS named after Generals? This time when arriving in Yokosuka I was assigned to a nice quanset hut until time to hop a train ride south to Sasebo.. Actually the train went to Fukuoka and we were bused to Sasebo..
Any one remember the aroma from the fields in Japan? It is an aroma that will never leave me for the rest of my life. The closest aroma to it in the states is the salt grass on the Texas coast..
Were in Wonsan in July of '53 when the cease fire was announced.. Remember that vividly because I was on watch in CIC and listening to the TBS radio... (Talk Between Ships) Had a battleship on station with us.. and when the order was given to unload all ordinance the commander of the battleship, think it was the New Jersey, ordered that the guns be unloaded thru the barrel
Oh this was another time think it was ‘53 also in Wonsan we were just coming on station late at night, had mail we brought up from Sasebo for the ships stationed in the area. Again I believe the battleship there at the time was the New Jersey, but whatever, its voice call was Jehovah well when our captain announced that he would transfer the mail in the morning, he got a response on TBS. This is "Jehovah" and you will transfer the mail NOW!! Of course we did.
Let me go back to '52... I think that we made a trip up to the Aleutians to deliver something to one of the islands.. Aleuts but darned if I can remember what it was we delivered know that it was cold and dreary..
Back in '53 we returned to the states around October with a stop in Kwajalein dropped off some stuff for the marines stationed there but again my memory escapes me as to what it was. Do remember seeing the movie Moulin Rouge in an outdoor theater.. Beautiful... watching the movie and looking at the sky full of stars. Also part of the ships company got into an altercation with the marines. Oh my, Whetstone sailors getting intoxicated and getting belligerent, would you ever believe..
(Hager Whetstone Saga continued on Page 11)
