VB-89 1945

I

~-l

'

'

U.S.S. Antietam ( CV-36 ) - March 2, 1945 @ Philadelphia, PA.

. , . "" ~ . ;~~ti~"'·.'·" .....

Chelsea ~

· .

. , ·· . ....

. '

. -.'

>.

.B.OSTON-. .. .

' ·

• THE PRESENT C<HWIDDIG OFFICER

ot

• PATROL B<JIBING S~ADROII ONE HUNDRED FOUR'l'BEN

Lieut. C011111ander Donald Carlyle Higgins. USN August 26• 1944

Lieut. CC!!!pQander Riggin• relieTed the Squadron'• ori ginal c.o., Connander L.B. Moilpine. on Augu1t 26th, 19'4., and has sinos that tiae

maint&ined aotive OClllllll82ldo

Lieut. COlllllander Riggin•• llhoee home i s i n Hollywood• Calitornia.

Olll!lll very near to beooming • tlyer tor the UoSo Karin•• instead ot the

Ha..y• a s his fir 1t interest in arlation -• developed at the Karine R•1tM'9

Air Baee at Lo• Angele•, Calitornia while attending the UDiver1ity ot

California at Los Angel••• Howenr, euoh wae not to be, and Lt. OO!ldr.

Higgins o0111111enoed training ae a Naval Aviation Cadet on Kay 15, 19S6.

Be took hie trai.ning at Penneaoola and reoeived hie winge on the 2Srd

ot September, 19370

The tirst duty to whioh Lieut. Commander Higgins r eported wae

with Patrol Squadron 18, tlying P2Y21' while atationed at Pearl Harbor,

Honol ul!i•

VP-18 later beoame VP-13 in 1939 and VP- Z6 in 19.W and he

raained with this unit throughout.

I t is interesting to note that while Lieut. Comdr, Riggin•

wae with VP-13• that Squadron made a 15 plane uee t'lig)lt to Honolulu

i n September ot 191191 replaoing Squadron VP-1, W!ich wa1 being eent on

to the FMlippines, and in June ot 19.W the a1me unit made the first

ro\Dld t r ip tlig)lt trm Honolulu to the Philippine• and r eturn, deli w r-

ing nsw airoraft to VP- l .

• • 1fext in Lieut. Com1111u1der Bizgin11' career ome a short tour

of' in1tructor duty in PBY•' at Penn1acola, and in Deceiaber of' 1 41 he

waa tren1terred into the GUJ111ery Departm.ent there.

!hia period ot duty gaTI1 Higgins 11. chance to malce a n11111e tor

hilleelf in Gunnery Training and, ae Training Officer of the r 11.pidly

expanding Free Air Gunnery Program, he wrote the first in1tructors manual

tor Gree Gunnery, which-• extensively UJ1ed throughout the Navy. In

Karch of 1943 he eetabliahed the Bombardiers Training Course at the

Hollywood laTig11.tion School, Hollywood, Florid&.

In Kay of 194S, Lieut. Commander Higgins toolc onr hie tir1t

oQllllllaJld1 that of the Nanl Air Station, Great Exuma, in the Bah••••

Thia 00D1111and he held until orders oame tranaterring him back to ComA.ir­

Lant, and thenoe to VPB- 114.

On reporting on the soth of' October, Lieut. Commander Higgins

at first took o,,..r the r eaponaibilities of' Flight Oftioer, and then on

January 181 1944 beoame Executin Officer.

On crdere or BuPera, on August 26th, 1944, he aulll!led o0111111and,

relieTing Coamander KcAlpine.

-~

u 102 Ult5

lf' W

U1200 x

USS

um U1NU North Atlantic Ocean u 411 u 243 ~: u 111 t:> U51 U736 U20I

U705 UM3? U1t5? U107 um u1osUH4 ~: ua ~ U1222 U315

U121 U70I UMe U502 UZ70 UM"" U4'3 U451 U 404 USOI 1.t\

u •1 u 4W u., Bay of Biscay u 12'1 u ~ rv

From: German U- boot Losses During World Wor II - Details of Destruction by: Axel Niestle - 1998 ISBN 1-5!57!50- 641-8

France

U~u~u· U1N?

r~-·"~~~~~U441~~~~u_56J~3l2~-Ut55~~~~~~-U-314~-U~870::.:...~~~~~-+....;-:::::::L-~~~~~~~~~·N~ u. Milling In Blyd 8iscay. • -

Ul21

0 '° 100 ''° 200 ~ ...

Scale L• CoMa Spall

um1 u1t3? U571? U116? UM97

( This Official U.S. Navy Photograph ( # 64902 ) was taken by an aircraft from

the U.S.S. Santee ( ACV-29 ) on March 6, 1943 at an unknown location in the

South Atlantic Ocean. The S.S. Arawa was in an independent movement from

Montevideo, Uruguay to Freetown, Sierra Leone. )

The attached U.K. National Archives file shows the S.S. Arawa’s actual vessel movement card for convoy CU-49 ! mck November 6, 2015

( This Official U.S. Navy Photograph ( # 222334 ) was taken by a blimp from ZP-11 based at N.A.S. ( Lighter Than Air ) at South Weymouth, MA. on February 24, 1944. The M.V. Britannic was at an unknown location, likely, positioning herself for

service in convoy UT 9. )

The attached U.K. National Archives file shows the M.V. Britannic’s actual vessel movement card for convoy CU-49 and “ near “ related voyages ! Notice the three month “ lay off “ from August to November of 1944. mck November 10, 2015

mck November 7, 2015

S.T.K. Empire Milner related

In reviewing the vessel movement card for convoy CU 49, please note how destinations for the “ Port of London “ were routed and handled. The attached maps provide insight for those locations.

( Note: The Port of London Authority ( “ Let the Imperial Port Flourish “ ) did not acknowledge my permissions

request for use of their logo ( above ). )

( A special Thank-you ! to the unknown artist and Imperial War Museum # ART PST 13937 for the use of the

above poster. )

mck December 10, 2015

( This Official U.S. Navy Photograph ( # 453383 ) was taken by an unknown

type of aircraft on September 23, 1944. The S.S. Exanthia was in the New York ( Ship ) Channel having

arrived from Liverpool in convoy UC-37. )

mck 09-27-2015

( This Official U.S. Navy Photograph ( # 419746 ) was taken by blimp # K-46

( at an altitude of 500’ ) based at N.A.S. Lakehurst, N.J. in March of 1943. The S.S. Excelsior was at an

unknown location, likely, in the Third Naval District. )

mck 9-27-2015