United States Navy Armed Guardunits were established duringWorld War IIand headquartered in New Orleans.[1]The purpose of the guard was to man the deck guns of merchant ships to provide a nominal defense against attack. This was to counter the constant danger presented by enemysubmarines,surface raiders,fighteraircraftandbombers.[1]There was a shortage of escort vessels to provide the merchant vessels with adequate protection. The NAG had three training centers, atNorfolk,Virginia;San Diego,California;andGulfport,Mississippi.[1]At the end of the war, there were 144,857 men serving in the Navy Armed Guard on 6,200 ships.[2]
Unit composition
editThe United States Navy Armed Guard (USNAG) wereU.S. Navygun crews consisting ofGunner's Mates,CoxswainsandBoatswains,Radiomen,Signalmen,an occasionalPharmacist's Mate,and toward the end of the war a fewradarmenserving at sea on merchant ships.[2]Armed Guard crews served on Allied merchant marine ships in every theatre of the war. Typically the crew was led by a single commissioned officer, but earlier in the war chiefs and even petty officers had command.
Duty
editThe assignment as an Armed Guardsman was often dreaded because of the constant danger. Merchant ships were slow, unwieldy, and priority targets of submarines and planes. Furthermore, merchant ships were among the last to receive updated equipment. Early on in the war, some ships only had a few machine guns, so the crews painted telephone poles to imitate the barrels of larger guns. The most common armament mounted on merchant ships were theMK II 20mm Oerlikon autocannonand the3 "/50,4 "/50,and5 "/38deck guns.
When practicable, the Navy Armed Guard aboard a merchant ship would provide cross-training to merchant crew members in the use of the guns in the event the Navy personnel were killed or injured. The Navy Armed Guardsmen would typically sail round trip on the same ship, occasionally they would get a different assignment upon reaching their destination depending onconvoyschedules.
In film
editThe 1943 filmAction in the North Atlantic,featuringHumphrey Bogart,Raymond Massey,andAlan Hale,illustrates the importance of the Naval Armed Guard and how it interfaced with theMerchant Marineofficers and crew.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abcWorld War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, MD[1]
- ^abArmed Guard - Sea Lane Vigilantes, Project Liberty Ship, 2014[2]
- ^Action in the North Atlantic,VHS,ISBN0-7928-0745-6.
- The Battle of the North Atlantic 1939-1943,by Samuel Eliot Morison,ISBN0-7858-1302-0
- A Measureless Peril, America in the fight for the Atlantic...,by Richard Snow,ISBN978-1-4165-9110-8