The Past is Prologue

Words by Captain Paul Creighton

Submarine Chaser USS PC-1264

            Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the NAACP urged the U.S. Navy to permit African-Americans to serve in the Navy in positions other than messman.  The Navy took some time and little prodding to reach a decision and to recommend a program to the President, but the order was issued on 7 April 1942 to allow African-Americans to enlist in the U.S. Navy for general service beginning in June of that year.

Illustration 1: PC-1264

Submarine chasers are a smaller type of naval craft, that are quicker and less expensive to build.  Their smaller crews allow many more of this type of craft to be operated by the same number of officers and men than larger vessels like destroyers and escort destroyers.  Designed to engage enemy submarines, the submarine chaser was well suited for both coastal patrol and convoy escort duty.

            Laid down on 7 October 1943, PC-1264 was launched on 28 November 1943 and commissioned 25 April 1944.  At the time of her commissioning, PC-1264 was crewed mostly by African-Americans, only the officers and the eight petty officers on board were white.  The intent was to keep the white petty officers on board until the African-American sailors could gain the expertise and knowledge to be promoted to those positions.  This plan was realized in November 1944, making PC-1264 the first ship in the U.S. Navy to be crewed entirely by African-Americans.

Illustration 3: Crew of PC-1264 Salutes Flag at Commissioning Ceremony

           The  PC-1264 earned a good reputation throughout her service.  The ship was welcomed in many Northern ports as something of a curiosity.  At the same time, the crew received unwelcome attention in some Southern ports.  While in Miami at the Submarine Chaser Training Center, the African-American crew was subjected to extended inspections of their IDs and passes by the civilian guards at the gate.  There was even  an incident in local bar where civilians were overheard planning to go to the docks to shoot up the PC-1264.  These plans were overheard by the white crew of another submarine chaser at the Submarine Chaser Training Center, which intervened by drawing arms and manning the gate for a time.  After that, the civilian guards at the gate no longer lingered their inspections when the crew of the PC-1264 needed to pass.

Illustration 4: Crew of PC-1264, including Ensign Gravely seated at left

            The PC-1264 also managed to become the first fighting ship in the U.S. Navy to have an African-American officer serve on board.  Ensign Samuel Lee Gravely came aboard on 2 May 1945.  Ensign Gravely would continue his career to become the first African-American to command a Navy ship, the first to command a fleet, and the first flag officer, retiring from the Navy with the rank of vice admiral.  While serving on board PC-1264, Ensign Gravely was involved in an incident with a member of the Shore Patrol who incorrectly assumed that he was impersonating an officer.  As Ensign Gravely accompanied the Shore Patrol to clear up the matter, several African-American sailors came to his aid, but Ensign Gravely tried to defuse the situation and calm the sailors, ultimately, when Ensign Gravely's commanding officer, Lieutenant Purdon arrived at the offices of the Shore Patrol, he found the commander of the Shore Patrol issuing an apology to Ensign Gravely.

Illustration 5: Decommissioning Ceremony of PC-1264

            The PC-1264 served in the capacity of convoy escort, at one point being the lead escort vessel, as well as independent anti-submarine patrol until the end of the war in the Atlantic.  She was sent to be refitted for anti-submarine duties in the Pacific and was undergoing that refit when Japan surrendered.  At the time of her decommissioning, she was in such good shape that she became the showcase vessel for all submarine chasers being shown to civilian purchasers.   Ensign Gravely was executive officer at the time of the ship's decommissioning on 7 Feburary 1946 and he would be in charge of her until she was out of service.  USS PC-1264 ultimately ended up being sold for scrap but was never scrapped, ending up in the Donjon Marine Yard where she was still afloat c. 1990.

Illustration 6: PC-1264 c.1990

The Past is Prologue: Black, Brown and Beige

Words by Captain Paul Creighton

                On the night of January 23, 1943, Duke Ellington premiered his jazz symphony Black, Brown and Beige at Carnegie Hall.  The piece was performed at a preview on the previous night and once more just a few days later.  Those three performances are the only known complete performances of the work by Ellington, yet “B, B & B,” which was how Ellington referred to the work, continues to echo into the 21^st century by its mere influence alone.  The symphony is subtitled tone parallel to the American Negro.  Ellington intended the symphony to tell the story of African-Americans in the United States up to the present time, 1943.

                The symphony, presented in three movements, begins with Black. The theme of Work Song, contains a complex structure that relates the repetitive nature of the work while still maintaining the uplifting nature of an actual work song.  Come Sunday juxtaposes this with the idea of spirituality, and the position of both themes suggests the close ties between work and spirituality.  The movement ends with Light, which really swings, bringing the movement to a fulfilling conclusion, while still setting the stage for the next two movements.

                Brown begins with, in Ellington's words, “the salute to West Indian Influence.”  The theme alternately known as West Indian Dance, commemorates the participation of Haitian Negroes in the Siege of Savannah, 1779.  The movement continues with Emancipation Celebration, which weaves the two sides of emancipation into the theme.  First the hope of promise of emancipation is highlighted.  Then, by duets between two saxophones and then by a trumpet and trombone, the plight is remembered of those former slaves who had earned a retirement that was lost through emancipation..   The movement ends with Blues, although the theme does not take that musical form.  It parallels the experience of the African-American community through the Spanish-American war and the period following.

                Beige finishes the symphony, taking the listener through the 1920's, 30's and up to the then current conflict.  The movement reminds us of the African-American socialites in Harlem and elsewhere.  The entire movement is very much a statement on the times, the situation of the “black, brown, and beige” which Ellington references in the title of the symphony and a short hand for the pecking order in the ghetto.
                At the time of the concert, a recording ban was in place, so there was not a proper recording made of the event.  However, sound technicians at the concert did make a recording which survives to this day.  Ellington recorded studio versions of many of the themes and some became part of his regular performances.
                Ellington's master work received mixed reviews at the time.  It is said that because of this, Ellington never performed the entire symphony again.  At a later concert at Carnegie Hall, in December of 1943, Ellington would introduce the one theme from the symphony, "We thought we wouldn't play it [Black, Brown and Beige] in its entirety tonight because it represents an awfully long and important story and that I don't think too many people are familiar with the story.”  70 years later, appreciation has only grown for the work, which is now counted as among his greatest musical contributions.

The Past is Prologue: An Historical Column

The Pentagon

Words by Captain Paul Creighton

            The Pentagon, the headquarters for the United States Department of War, was dedicated on January 15, 1943.  Prior to that time, the War Department was headquartered in a series of buildings, each one meant as a temporary solution to the department's need for office space.  The site was selected across the Potomac River and plans began to be drawn.  To save much needed steel for the war effort, the design was limited to four stories, creating a massive building which sprawled over close to 29 acres, in addition to the 5 acre courtyard at the center.

            Noted architects, George Bergstrom and David J. Witmer were the chief architects for the Pentagon.  The basic design work was completed in the astonishingly short time, July 17-22, 1941.  So that on September 11, 1941, the contracts for construction were signed which allowed the actual construction to began on the Pentagon on that very same day.  John McShain was the general contractor for the construction of the Pentagon.  Known as “The Man who Built Washington,” this Philadelphian headed the company associated with the Jefferson Memorial, the Library of Congress annex, the 1950-51 reconstruction of the White House, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

            In order to speed construction, the finalized plans were not available when construction began, and on a number of occasions the construction actually got ahead of the design.  Instead of using steel, cast concrete was utilized.  The Potomac was dredged for 680,000 tons of sand to make the concrete.  Each of the five sides is 77 feet tall and 921 feet long with a facade of Indiana limestone.  Another steel-saving measure was the decision to fore go elevators in favor of concrete ramps.  Noted for efficiency of design, a person walking at normal walking speed is able to walk between any two points in the Pentagon in seven minutes or less.

            Built during the time when racial segregation was still in effect, the building included separate dining facilities and restrooms.  However, since the President Roosevelt had put anti-discrimination measures into effect in the military, the removal of the «Whites Only» signs was ordered by the President, creating one of the few places in Virginia where segregation was not permitted.

            Amazingly, such an enduring structure was designed and built in such a short period of time.  Undoubtedly, America's involvement in World War II created a sense of urgency and much of the political wrangling that would go on in peacetime on a project of this size was simply forgotten for the expediency of the war effort.  Even amid this desire to streamline the design, the process, and the construction, racial segregation was still high enough on the list that it made it into the final designs and construction.  Still, the building was well suited for the task of being the headquarters of the War Department and the building with one too many sides and twice as many bathrooms as needed served the United States well through the remainder of the war and beyond.

The Past is Prologue: An Historical Column

Words by Captain Paul Creighton

1942: Turning Point

            1942 was a true turning point in the Second World War.  1941 saw the globalization of the war.  Countries from both hemispheres were involved on multiple fronts.  Then, by the middle of 1942, the tides turned on several of those fronts.

            In the Pacific, the Japanese fleet was dealt a decisive blow in a matter of four days (4-7 June 1942) with the Battle of Midway.  The Japanese fleet never recovered from the loss of four aircraft carriers and one heavy cruiser.  The results of Midway were far reaching as the Japanese struggled to make up losses of skilled pilots.  The Japanese loss of momentum allowed the Allies to go on the offensive in the Pacific.

            Shortly after the Battle of Midway, the First Marine Division landed on a number of islands to begin the Guadalcanal Campaign (7 August 1942); these landings marked the first Allied counter-offensive in the Pacific Theater.  They were also the opening moves in the Solomon Islands Campaign which would last throughout the war but would prove to be a war of attrition for the Japanese fleet and the corps of skilled pilots.  The losses at Midway were compounded by the losses in the Solomon Islands, and the Japanese war machine could not keep pace with those losses.  Meanwhile, the American military was bolstered by a constant increase in wartime production and trained military personnel.

            In the Atlantic, German U-boats had menaced the coast of the United States during the first half of 1942.  New coastal convoy methods were put into place which forced the German Navy, the Kriegsmarine, to withdraw from coastal operations on 19 July 1942.  The Battle of the Atlantic then shifted to the mid-Atlantic and the so-called “air gap” where air cover from ground-based planes was not available.  However, the ocean convoy system continued to evolve which protected Allied shipping.  During the first half of 1942, the Kriegsmarine suffered the loss of less than one U-boat for every forty Allied ships lost.  By the fall of that same year, the losses were approximately one U-boat for every ten Allied ships lost.

            Across the Atlantic, on the far side of Africa, the Panzer Army Africa, comprised of German and Italian units, continued to drive into Egypt, intent on controlling the Suez Canal.  The Western Desert Campaign had been a series of back and forth advances for each side, but eventually, the Panzer Army Africa was less than 70 miles from Alexandria.  This proximity to the canal and important cities in Egypt led the defending British Eighth Army to launch a counter-attack at El Alamein, the place where the opposing armies had stalemated over the summer.  In the fall of 1942 (23 October-11 November), the Second Battle of El Alamein saw the British Eighth Army manage to break through the Panzer Army Africa and force a retreat.  At the time, it was seen as a major victory.  In hindsight, Winston Churchill would later remark, “It may almost be said, 'Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.'”

            In 1942, Europe was occupied by Germany.  The Soviet Union has pressured the other Allies to open another front in Europe which would divert German forces.  On 8 November 1942, the Allies landed troops in Western Africa as part of Operation Torch.  American, British, Canadian, Free French, and Dutch forces formed three task forces to land in Morocco and Algeria.  The Vichy French were supported by the German Luftwaffe in defense which was confused and half-hearted.  The landings resulted in captured airfields and beachheads established.  This also brought to a head the problems between the Vichy government and Germany.  As a result, Germany abrogated the treaty with the Vichy French and began the occupation of Southern France.  French forces in Africa joined the Allies and French warships which had been pledged to support Germany as result of the treaty began to join the Allies.  From their beachheads, the Allies moved eastward to eventually contact the retreating Panzer Army Africa in Tunisia in January 1943, which had been in retreat since the defeat at El Alamein.

            It was in the summer of 1942 that the German Sixth Army pressed deep into the Soviet Union.  This was part of multiple thrusts targeted communications, transportation hubs, and the vast mineral wealth of the Soviet Union.  The German sixth Army had as its objective the city of Stalingrad.  The Luftwaffe heavily bombed the city, leaving much of it in ruins.  The German Sixth Army advanced in  bloody house-to-house fighting to take all but a fraction of the city.  The Soviet defenders were divided into two shrinking pockets, the Volga choked with ice so that their supply boats could not keep the defenders properly supplied.  The German Sixth Army could not dislodge the Soviet defenders.  The German use of combined arms was rendered useless by the terrain of the ruined city and the Soviet tactics of keeping their front lines as close to the Germans as possible, the so called “hugging the Germans” tactic, so as to limit the effectiveness of air and artillery attacks.  On 8 November 1942, the Luftwaffe had been withdrawn from Stalingrad to respond to the Allied landings in North Africa.  The combination of setbacks was compounded by the weather, halting the German Sixth Army and allowing the Soviets to conduct a counter-attack beginning on 19 November 1942.  The Battle of Stalingrad would wage on into February of 1943, but the end result would be the capture of the German Sixth Army.  After Stalingrad, the Axis would never experience another strategic success on the Eastern Front.

            Amazingly, the United States entered the war after Pearl Harbor was attacked on 7 December 1941 but just six short months later on 7 June 1942 the Battle of Midway had seen the beginning of the destruction of the Japanese fleet and the pilot corps.  The Japanese losses suffered at Midway would never be replaced.  This ushered in a series of victories for the Allies on a number fronts.  The Allies would mount important counter-attacks all over the globe in 1942.  Winston Churchill commented on the significance of Second Battle of El Alamein on 10 November 1942, “This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”  These remarks could be applied just as well to Midway, Guadalcanal, the Atlantic, Operation Torch in Morocco and Algiers, and Stalingrad in 1942.