Documents

SHIP DOCUMENTS

Accessible on this page are copies of official documents and other primary source material pertaining to the USS ERIE, its crew and operations. Click on any link to access a PDF of the document (it will open in a new window).

1. SHIP PLANS (selected pages from Booklet of General Plans):

Cover Memo (dated November 3, 1943, explaining why the report was distributed to all U.S. Navy ships)
War Damage Report (narrative and photos).
Plate I – Structural Damage and Fires
Plate II – Flooding Diagram
Plate III – Statical Stability Curves

STRUCTURAL REPAIRS IN FORWARD AREAS DURING WORLD WAR II (December 1949): Excerpt (first 16 pages) detailing why the attempted salvage of the ERIE failed.

“Action of the H.N.M.S. Van Kinsbergen at the Time of the Torpedoing of the U.S.S. ERIE” Memo from the Commanding Officer of the ERIE to the Commanding Officer of the H.N.M.S. VAN KINSBERGEN, dated November 17, 1942

Last Orders (for bulk of the ERIE’s Navy enlisted men who were flown to Guantanamo Bay and transported from there to the Receiving Ship at the New York Navy Yard, aboard the U.S.S. ANTAEUS, dated 1 December 1942)

Log 66: Memo to the Secretary of the Navy concerning the loss of enlisted man, Gavino Enriquez, November 14, 1942

Log 69: Memo to the Commander, Caribbean Sea Frontier, concerning landing of part of crew and loss of ERIE records, dated November 14, 1942

Log 242: Memo to the Secretary of Navy containing initial report on injuries on board the ERIE, dated November 13, 1942

Officers Killed in Action: Memo to the Secretary of Navy, dated November 23, 1942

Transcription of ERIE’S Deck Log during her escort duty with TAG-20, November 10-12, 1942

Official U.S. Navy War Communiqué #191, dated November 13, 1942, announcing (among other events) the attack on the ERIE

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Officers aboard ERIE on November 10, 1942

U.S. Navy enlisted men aboard ERIE on November 10, 1942

USMC Sea Detachment aboard ERIE on November 10, 1942

"Torpedoing and Beaching of the U.S.S. ERIE: Conduct and Performance of Officers and Crew" Memo from Captain Andrew R. Mack to Secretary of the Navy dated January 8, 1943 which resulted in the awarding of a number of medals, commendation ribbons and promotions. (Images of this memo were originally photographed by John Fitzgerald, National Archives and Records Administration-Seattle, for Tracy White, webmaster of Researcher-at -Large site, who then shared these with webmaster of this site.)

Examples of communications sent to relatives in the U.S., after torpedoing of the ERIE:

Commendations:

Letter awarding Silver Star Medal to Captain Andrew R. Mack
Letter awarding Silver Star Medal to Lt. Commander Daniel J. Sweeney (Sweeney had been promoted to Commander when he received the Silver Star)
Letter awarding Commendation Ribbon to Joseph Karns Hilton, Ptr1c (Hilton was awarded the ribbon in 1950 by which time he had attained the rating of Chief Damage Controlman)
Letter awarding Commendation Ribbon to William J. Dickerson, Ship Fitter 1c (Dickerson was awarded this ribbon in 1950 by which time he had attained rating of Chief Ship Fitter)
Commendation issued to Pharmacist’s Mate 2c Stanley John Bokalosky (all the enlisted men on board the ERIE when she was attacked had identical commendations inserted in their Navy service records)

5. DOCUMENTS PERTAINING TO THE REMOVAL OF THE ERIE FROM WILLEMSTAD HARBOR AND SINKING OFF THE COAST OF CURACAO:

Erie Progress Report #48, Capt. J.E. Flynn to the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commander, Caribbean Sea Frontier, dated December 10, 1952

Department of the Navy letter to Department of State reporting on removal operation, dated December 17, 1952

Department of Defense press release on ERIE removal, dated December 19, 1952

6. INTERVIEWS AND PERSONAL DIARIES:

Henry Clinton Reed: A Memoir for My Family: Excerpt from oral interview of U.S. consular official Harry C. Reed describing his visit to the Galapagos Islands aboard the ERIE in August 1940.

Donald V. Leetch: Experiences and Comments about Life Aboard the U.S.S. ERIE (PG-50) and in the U.S. Navy

Narrative of ERIE crew member, Julius H. Nissen, dated 7 July 1943, regarding experiences aboard the ERIE but primarily focused on the torpedoing and loss of the ERIE. (This formal U.S. Navy interview took place almost nine months after the attack and contains factual errors on the cover page and throughout the interview.)

Personal Diary of Bandsman Gene Leek aboard the U.S.S. ERIE (PG-50) during the period December 8, 1941 through February 23, 1942, part of his tour of duty aboard the ERIE. (This document contains a number of misspellings and occasional factual errors.)

Nicholas J. Rodi Diary (excerpted from Nicholas J. Rodi’s book “My Life in the Service”)