Joe Edmonds
Engineer

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Joe Edmonds had never seen the ocean before 1944.

Sept-Oct 1943

I was 20 years old and working as a maintenance engineer at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore when I decided to join up and do my part in the war effort. I tried to enlist in the military service on nine occasions but was classed 4-F with punctured ear drums and poor vision.

On the ninth time around, a Major Moore of the 5th Regt. Armory stated that I was needed by the U.S. Maritime Service. He handed me an address on Saratoga Street in Baltimore. Off I went, and was soon signed up for clerk training aboard the S.S. AMERICAN MARINER in Baltimore. Arriving onboard the vessel, the officer greeting me suggested that I type out my work history. After about an hour he came by and asked if I had completed the assignment. I had, and he gave it a quick look over and left the room. In about ten minutes he was back with another officer and they began to question my work history, asking if I could produce the engineer's license mentioned on the summary.

I had the license and my other papers with me and produced them. The newly arrived officer ask me to follow him and soon began to question me again about the license. About this time another officer arrived. They introduced themselves and asked if I would be willing to train as an engineer on ocean-going ships. I agreed, and they asked if I could be ready in an hour: I was to be shipped to New York City that day!! I went home, told my mother I was off to New York City and would phone her when I knew what was going on. I returned to Saratoga Street where I was met by an officer and another fellow (Penzzrie). The officer took us to Penn Station, made all arrangements and we were off to New York City.

The three of us arrived in New York City about 8:00 p.m. and were hustled off to the "Seamen's Church Institute," given something to eat and a short lecture on behavior and told we would have to be up and dressed by 6:00am. We were assigned a bunk in a rather large room; there were about 12 of us by this time. Someone called "lights out" and we were left with our thoughts. We were to awaken rather abruptly about 5:00 a.m. with the statement "rise and shine with the maritime, drop your c---s and grab your socks." You bet we were up showered, shaved, dressed and ready for breakfast.

After a morning prayer and breakfast we were loaded into several cars and transported to the Staten Island Ferry dock in lower Manhattan. We boarded the ferry, counted heads and were ferried to Staten Island, boarded a train and headed for Lands End. Here we were greeted by several officers and divided into groups. Some of the fellows were going to be telegraphers, some seamen, some engineers; I was one of the latter.

After introduction we were taken aboard a transportation boat and headed for Hoffman Island Training Station. My first day "at sea," so I thought, wasn't so bad, not as rough as I thought the ocean might be. This isn't so bad, what were all those stories the fellows were talking about, how rough the sea was, high waves and all that. Little did I know, this was only the entrance to New York Harbor.

After several months of intense training we were again assigned to the S.S. AMERICAN MARINER to complete our training as Prospective Licensed Officers (PLOs). After completion of training we were documented and assigned to duty.

January 1945

My first assignment was as junior engineer aboard the Liberty Ship S.S. THOMAS FITZSIMONS out of New York's East River. We sailed from New York early in January 1945 and arrived in Boston on January 25 for additional cargo and crew. We loaded 2,000 tons of 500lb aerial bombs destined for Russia, and various other military equipment. We left Boston and headed for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Here our escort left us and we waited as Convoy BX-147 was assembled for the trip to England and Russia.

In a few days we headed East and I soon found out what the ocean really was: waves or swells 50-60 feet in height and winds of gale force made me understand that I really was "at sea." For some reason I didn't get sick, so I was called upon to perform many different jobs that I had not been trained to perform. I soon learned. In the engine I rode the butterfly valve for 6 to 10 hours a day, with nothing but saltines and black coffee to keep me going. One of the stewards brought down some lunch meat and bread on several occasions, then, on his last trip up the ladder the ship lifted by the stem and listed to port at the same time. He fell head first into the revolving cranks of the main engine and was killed instantly.

It took us 24 days to get to somewhere off the coast of the United Kingdom. During the night some kind of command was given and another ship struck us at #5 hold on the starboard side. I was asleep and it sounded like a terrific explosion at the time. I was soon on deck, with my life jacket, dashing for my assignment at No. 4 lifeboat. I was stopped by the Captain, who informed me we had not been torpedoed but had been struck by another ship in the convoy. I accompanied him to the after boat deck where we could see the other vessel with a bunch of fellows on the bow. One shouted "anybody from Brooklyn on there?"

The first mate soon arrived and told the Captain that there was no leaks that they couldn't handle. Most of the bombs were in #1 double bottom - thank God! The next day we looked over the damage and the powers-that-be arrived at the decision to put us in to Falmouth, England, for survey and/or repairs. The survey revealed that the ship could continue, however our destination was changed to Antwerp, Belgium.

After much maneuvering and depth charging by our escorts during our trip up the Scheld River we arrived in Antwerp, discharged our cargo and docked for repairs to the hull - it was quite a dent and required one month to repair. We were then sea-worthy and ordered back to the States.

With a stop for ballast, again in Falmouth, we were on our way in convoy for Nova Scotia and the US. This was in April of 1945 and the month that President Franklin D. Roosevelt died; it was a very solemn and sad day. The balance of the trip was quiet.

We arrived in New York on April 20, 1945, and discharged. The Captain (Frank Piear) asked if I would sign on for the next trip and so I did. On this second trip I found myself assigned as the ship's doctor and junior engineer. I had trained in the emergency room at the Station Island Marine Hospital and was certified.

After a short stay in the shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. we headed for Norfolk, Va. on April 28, 1945. Here we loaded war cargo and headed, in convoy, for the Mediterranean. We arrived in Marseille, France, around the 1st June, 1945.

June 1945

On June 19, 1945, in the company of Captain Slayton, I was taken before the U.S. Vice Consul in Marseille, the Honorable Ruth J. Tarrance, and was sworn in as an 3rd Assistant Engineering Officer and Navy Reserve Officer assigned to the S.S. WILLIAM PROUSE; the 3rd engineer aboard the PROUSE had died.

We left Marseille shortly after, as the cargo aboard the PROUSE was needed on the Pacific, crossed the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal on to the Philippines. We arrived in Leyte and Tablogon Harbor some time early in August 1945, discharged some cargo and took on tons of beer for the troops massed on Okinawa preparing for the invasion of Japan.

Then we got word the war was over. The U.S. had dropped a new kind of bomb on Japan and they had surrendered. What a celebration we had!!

We were then ordered to Okinawa where we were caught in a typhoon. The ship and engine were severely damaged. Our 1st Assistant Engineer had the little finger of his right hand pulled off and was unable to perform his duty. The 2nd and I had to stand six-hour watches around the clock -- this wore me out. We were then ordered to San Francisco. We were making six to eight knots and it took for ever to get "home."

During this trip the gun crew dumped the ammunition and we all drank some of the beer. There was a line of beer cans as far as one could see but no one appeared drunk or out of hand. We arrived in San Francisco October 15 and were discharged on October 20th. 1945. I stayed in 'Frisco for several weeks and then left for my home in Baltimore, Md.

1946

I maintained my engineers license and worked on the waterfront as a marine engineer aboard the city fireboats. I was injured in the line of duty, with both knees broken. In 1969, after 25 years on a marine license, I retired from the Baltimore Fire Department.

1970

I then entered college at the University of Maryland, graduating with a masters degree. After graduation I started a new career as a family counselor.

1988

After 15 years working in hospitals and private practice, I retired again, and now live at Bonnie Blink in Baltimore County, Maryland.

1988

I became a Member of Project Liberty Ship. Working with Charlie Crabbin, I helped removed the degaussing cables and had the commemorative coins struck from the copper from this cable.

1994

In 1994, I represented the American Merchant Marine Veterans (AMMV) in D-Day Commemorative Services in Exter Cathedral, England.