NAV EX 1st QTR 2018 NavEx 1st Qtr 2018 - Draft 7a | Page 36

Liberty unfortunately was not given to the men
very often because there were no places to go or visit.
The men and I would get liberty in the Panama Canal
zone and when we proceeded to New York in January
of 1945 we got liberty there.”
We asked Warren James to tell us a little about
the places he had been to during his tour of duty.
“I visited Cuba on the Coast Guard Cutter Mistletoe a
Buoy Tender. Our mission was to tend buoys, assist in
building sea plane bases and anti-submarine PBY bases
in Cuba and the Bahamas. A PBY is a type of aircraft
that searches for submarines. We were building PBY
bases where the reconnaissance aircraft are parked and
could tackle the German Submarines. I also went to
Miami and operated out of Fort Pierce for about eight
months in 1942.
On the USS Eugene, I served in Australia, New
Guinea, and then in the Philippines. Later I was on
the USS Lansing DE 388, and took a convoy to North
Africa, and while doing that, to the crew’s surprise, a
German submarine surrendered to us. The German
sub surfaced right in front of the convoy a couple of
days after the war was over in Europe. I and a few
shipmates got some photos of the U Boat.
Conning Tower hatch off. Without a hatch the sub
could not submerge anymore which rendered any
escape attempt futile. Warren found this to be a bit
humorous and one of the more unusual events that he
experienced during his service.
One of the most harrowing experiences of
Warren‘s time in the service was when he was serving on
board the USS Eugene. The ship caught fire while in
the Pacific. “We think it started in the Battery Room”,
says the quartermaster. A fire is one of the worst things
that could ever happen on board a ship and Warren
and the crew vigorously fought the fire for five hours
and got it put out. Unfortunately it was not without
cost. On board the ship were a few pet monkeys
that were kept secure in a wire mesh location in the
vessels laundry room below deck. Many of the men
who served in the Philippines bought pet monkeys to
take home to the states. The monkeys were overcome
by smoke inhalation and all but one died. They were
thrown over board. “As we were throwing them off the
ship my friends and I realized that there were sharks
in the water. Thankfully we were able to put the fire
out. We didn’t want the ship to go down in shark
infested waters.
The German U boat U873 surrenders to the U. S. S. Vance
during a convoy to North Africa.
We noticed that the crew members were very
young on board the submarine. The German Captain
did not want to surrender. He was a die-hard Nazi.
To my knowledge he later killed himself in prison in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The German submarine
was the U-873. The Convoy Commodore warned the
Escort Flagship to, “Not cross its bow or it’s stern”.
Stay alongside of it”. That was in case there were still
torpedoes in the tubes which could be fired if someone
was hiding on board. It was not unusual for enemies
who surrendered to sabotage the equipment they were
leaving behind. Some of the crew were sent over to
board the submarine with a cutting torch and cut the
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Quartermaster Warren James upon return from the Southwest
Pacific in February of 1945.
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