GenMassachusetts-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: [GM-L] Small World
Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2000 20:52:35 EST

William Hickling Prescott had a steamer built which he named the ship: William
H. Prescott. Here is a report on a sailor in WWII who was on that ship
and
someone in 1996 looking for any info on that ship!

From: Farns10th
To: ,
BCC:

Samuel R. Johnston was born February 11, 1926, in
Harlingen, Texas, but was raised in Toledo, Ohio. He
entered active duty in the U.S. Naval Reserve at the age of
18.

He attended boot camp at Great Lakes and entered
Armed Guard School ar Gulfport, Mississippi, September
24, 1944.

His first assignment was a Liberty Ship, the SS WIL-
LIAM H. PRESCOTT. He boarded in New Orleans on
October 24, 1944. The only casualty on the ship was a
winch director who was killed when he fell into the # 5 hold
which was being filled with crated ammunitions and the
hatch covers fell on him. The ship was carrying 7,500 tons
of ammunition, mostly 500 pound bombs. The Armed
Guard Captain on the PRESCOTT was Lieutenant j.g.
J.L. Irvin. He headed up about 28 enlisted men. The ship
went through the Panama Canal to Finschhafen, New
Guinea; Biak, Morotai and Sansapor. While anchored in
Hollandia Bay with thirty Aussies aboard, Samuel was
unable to swim for exercise since his buddy W.W. Wilson
of Bear, Delaware, had a cold. As it turned out, a 20-foot
tiger shark was spotted where they would have been swim-
ming.

Brisbane, Australia, was a wonderful stop; then the
PRESCOTT sailed to Biak, Morotai, Hollandia, Manus,
and into San Francisco.

After the war, S3.muel sailed on the USS VOLANS AKS
9, another Liberty Ship. He sailed to Japan, Manus, China,
Korea and back to San Francisco. He was discharged May
25, 1946.

He retired from the Grand Rapids, Michigan Police
Department in 1986 after 38 plus years of service. He now
works part time for a school security program during the
school year.

He reads about the Navy, World War II, guns and
sharks. He married Monica Mary Sullivan. They have four
children and eight grandchildren. His present address is
1408 Rathbone, Southwest, Wyoming, Michigan 49509

http://www.armed-guard.com/biogj.html


Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 18:02:22 -0700
Reply-To: <>
Sender: ROOTS-L Genealogy List <>
From: Jerry Knox <>
Subject: SS WM H. PRESCOTT

For some time now I have been trying to find any information about the
steamship
"Wm H. Prescott".

I am primarily interested in it's history: where built, size, registry,
owner, etc.

My gggrandparents and their children entered the US in New Orleans aboard
this ship on 28 May 1858. It carried 48 passengers (38 from Ireland and 10
from England; 27 males, 15 females and 6 spinsters) Interesting, huh?

The ship may have been built in the US as William H. Prescott was a wealthy
businessman and noted historian in the 19th century. So far, however, I
haven't found any reference to the boat in any literature about him.

I have also searched the WWW looking in steamships, maritime history,
maritime museums, indexes, archives, etc and any link that even remotely
looks promising. So far, however,

I would appreciate any suggestions as to where else I might look or inquire.

Thanks in advance for any help.

J. Knox

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