Talk:USS Camel (IX-113)

From article
I visited the National Archives in College Park, MD in July 2011 and examined all pages of the ship's log, and cannot find reference to many of the statements above, particularly the one about stowaways.

Also, the ship seems to have been built for a complement of officers plus crew of 79, which today is a huge number of personnel for such a small vessel.

Pages A-1 and A-2 of the Ship's Log, dated Nov. 22, 1943, states:

ADMINISTRATIVE REMARKS: “1434: The following named officers and men reported aboard under orders for duty following commissioning: Lieut. Donald Dunham, Jr., USNR, Commanding Officer Lieut. (jg) Marc J. Parsons, USNR Lieut. (jg) John A. Greene, USNR Lieut. (jg) Walter R. Clair, USN Ensign Evan H. Harris, USNR, and a list of some 45 crewmen [given]." Signed by Parsons.

The National Archives Still Photo Department card catalog no. 337204 makes only one reference to a photo of the USS Camel, dated Aug. 7, 1945: “USS Camel (IX113) at 1235 caught fire bearing 299 degrees (t) [true] and 7,000 yds. in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, Ryukyu Is. Taken from USS WEST VIRGINIA (BB48).” Contains legend on photograph, photo no. 337204 with hand-written comment, “Can’t see ship. Guess you have to walk a mile for a Camel.” I cross-referenced this Aug. 7, 1945 date with the USS Camel’s log book which indicates that the ship was moored – not underway – on that date. Thus the date on the photo is incorrect and Camel is in the photo, or else the date on the photo is correct and the legend on the photo identifying one of the ships as the Camel is incorrect.

The only mishap in the 1,200+ pages of Ship's Logs was a fire on board during Watch 4 that was extinguished with no harm to the ship, on this same date, Aug. 7, 1945. The Deck Log - Columnar Sheet for that date clearly shows that is was moored all 24 hours.

-- Jock Stender, son of Ensign Herbert R. Stender, USNR, Charleston, SC — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stender1 (talk • contribs)