When STRONG went down, she took men with her from all over the country and all walks of life. Three of them, including my uncle Billy were from Kentucky. I’ve wanted to connect with the other two families for a long time and was finally able to thanks to the efforts of a woman working with the History Flight organization. She had the skills and access to databases with relative data and was able to share that with me. I am now in touch with family members of Jesse T. “Tommy” Geralds and Frederick Keller. So, thank you Barbara for all your help!
Over the years I’ve offered family members the chance to write a blog that I would post on the website. I offered that to Mike Geralds and he rose to the challenge. Below is his contribution about his uncle Tommy Geralds.
“I have been researching the story of my uncle Tommy (Jesse Thomas Geralds Jr). I have not been able to find any personal life stories about him, but have learned much from the Navy records on Ancestry.com and your website (Project USS STRONG DD467). Here is my attempt to blog about his life in the US Navy. It is based on his story that I shared with my extended family. Please feel free to edit this story to correct errors.
Tommy joined the Navy on 5/11/38 in Louisville, KY when he was 18. He received 12 weeks of training for enlisted men at Norfolk, VA. He joined the crew of the destroyer USS Gridley DD-380 on 11/6/39 and served for ~11 months. He then joined the crew of the destroyer USS Maury DD-401 and served for ~32 months. The USS Strong DD-467 was brand new and he joined it's crew on 8/7/42 (day of commissioning of the ship).
Tommy had earned the rank of Fireman 1st class. His duties were to operate one of the four boilers on the ship. It was powered by steam and the boilers burned heavy fuel oil. The boiler rooms were hot places made even hotter by the hot weather in the South Pacific. The accommodations were spartan at best with tight shared sleeping quarters. They would try to sleep on deck during hot weather. The mess and kitchen were small with mostly basic foods. Reading mail and newspapers was a favorite activity while off-duty.
The Strong began it's career as a convoy escort to protect American ships from the German submarines in the Atlantic (this was their shakedown cruise). They were part the convoy of troops and supplies to retake North Africa from the Germans. In January 1943, they joined an emergency convoy of US troops that sailed through the Panama Canal on their way to Australia. The Japanese had taken the Philippines. Sadly, the crew did not get to see Australia as Aussie ships took over the escort duty at 50 miles from Brisbane. (Captain Wellings did not know of the plans to head to the South Pacific until January of 1943 when he received emergency orders.)
The Strong joined the US naval forces in the South Pacific that were fighting their way north. They were in major battles for Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands. Their duties were to escort convoys and support the Marines that were driving the Japanese from their island bases. They joined a task force made up of 4 destroyers and 3 light cruisers. They were know as the "Night Raiders". Their job was to steam into an enemy area of islands at midnight and shell them for 30 to 60 min. Then, they steamed out at high speed to avoid Japanese planes at daylight. The Strong and it's sister ships (O’Bannon, Nicholas & Chevalier) were critical to these missions since they had the latest surface radar. They led the task force into these gulfs and channels to spot any enemy ships in the dark.
The task force had completed several raids without any losses. On the night of 7/5/43, the task force steamed into Kula Gulf on the north side of New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. They began to shell the enemy on Kolombangara Island (at Villa) and Bairoko Harbor (on New Georgia’s west coast). The Strong was struck on the port side at 12:43 am by a long lance (Type 93) torpedo. The blast crippled the shipped and shutdown the engines. The crew signaled SOS by signal light and the Chevalier came to their aid at 1:13 am. It rammed their ship and tossed rescue lines & cargo nets to the survivors. 241 crewmen climbed aboard the Chevalier in only 7 min. Japanese shore gunners spotted the damaged ship and opened fire with their 140mm guns. Despite a number of survivors being in the dark waters, the Chevalier had to back away to escape the shelling. A few minutes later, the Strong broke in two and sank. As it sank, some depth charges exploded, causing damage to the Chevalier and injury to the men in the water. The task force was forced to leave the Kula Gulf before dawn.
Tommy was reported as MIA. The captain of the Strong reported that the torpedo struck in the forward boiler & engine room. The explosion destroyed this area and opened a big hole in the ship. There were 22 men in the forward boiler/engine room that died instantly. I believe that Tommy was one of these men. While I am sad that his life was cut short at 25, I am proud of his Navy service that helped us win WWII."
Thank you Mike!
-Tammi
Over the years I’ve offered family members the chance to write a blog that I would post on the website. I offered that to Mike Geralds and he rose to the challenge. Below is his contribution about his uncle Tommy Geralds.
“I have been researching the story of my uncle Tommy (Jesse Thomas Geralds Jr). I have not been able to find any personal life stories about him, but have learned much from the Navy records on Ancestry.com and your website (Project USS STRONG DD467). Here is my attempt to blog about his life in the US Navy. It is based on his story that I shared with my extended family. Please feel free to edit this story to correct errors.
Tommy joined the Navy on 5/11/38 in Louisville, KY when he was 18. He received 12 weeks of training for enlisted men at Norfolk, VA. He joined the crew of the destroyer USS Gridley DD-380 on 11/6/39 and served for ~11 months. He then joined the crew of the destroyer USS Maury DD-401 and served for ~32 months. The USS Strong DD-467 was brand new and he joined it's crew on 8/7/42 (day of commissioning of the ship).
Tommy had earned the rank of Fireman 1st class. His duties were to operate one of the four boilers on the ship. It was powered by steam and the boilers burned heavy fuel oil. The boiler rooms were hot places made even hotter by the hot weather in the South Pacific. The accommodations were spartan at best with tight shared sleeping quarters. They would try to sleep on deck during hot weather. The mess and kitchen were small with mostly basic foods. Reading mail and newspapers was a favorite activity while off-duty.
The Strong began it's career as a convoy escort to protect American ships from the German submarines in the Atlantic (this was their shakedown cruise). They were part the convoy of troops and supplies to retake North Africa from the Germans. In January 1943, they joined an emergency convoy of US troops that sailed through the Panama Canal on their way to Australia. The Japanese had taken the Philippines. Sadly, the crew did not get to see Australia as Aussie ships took over the escort duty at 50 miles from Brisbane. (Captain Wellings did not know of the plans to head to the South Pacific until January of 1943 when he received emergency orders.)
The Strong joined the US naval forces in the South Pacific that were fighting their way north. They were in major battles for Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands. Their duties were to escort convoys and support the Marines that were driving the Japanese from their island bases. They joined a task force made up of 4 destroyers and 3 light cruisers. They were know as the "Night Raiders". Their job was to steam into an enemy area of islands at midnight and shell them for 30 to 60 min. Then, they steamed out at high speed to avoid Japanese planes at daylight. The Strong and it's sister ships (O’Bannon, Nicholas & Chevalier) were critical to these missions since they had the latest surface radar. They led the task force into these gulfs and channels to spot any enemy ships in the dark.
The task force had completed several raids without any losses. On the night of 7/5/43, the task force steamed into Kula Gulf on the north side of New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. They began to shell the enemy on Kolombangara Island (at Villa) and Bairoko Harbor (on New Georgia’s west coast). The Strong was struck on the port side at 12:43 am by a long lance (Type 93) torpedo. The blast crippled the shipped and shutdown the engines. The crew signaled SOS by signal light and the Chevalier came to their aid at 1:13 am. It rammed their ship and tossed rescue lines & cargo nets to the survivors. 241 crewmen climbed aboard the Chevalier in only 7 min. Japanese shore gunners spotted the damaged ship and opened fire with their 140mm guns. Despite a number of survivors being in the dark waters, the Chevalier had to back away to escape the shelling. A few minutes later, the Strong broke in two and sank. As it sank, some depth charges exploded, causing damage to the Chevalier and injury to the men in the water. The task force was forced to leave the Kula Gulf before dawn.
Tommy was reported as MIA. The captain of the Strong reported that the torpedo struck in the forward boiler & engine room. The explosion destroyed this area and opened a big hole in the ship. There were 22 men in the forward boiler/engine room that died instantly. I believe that Tommy was one of these men. While I am sad that his life was cut short at 25, I am proud of his Navy service that helped us win WWII."
Thank you Mike!
-Tammi
RSS Feed