Aircraft carrier as troop transport in WWII?

[Wojo1072]

I was wondering if someone here might be able to help me figure out if there is any truth to a story my grandfather told me when I was young...

 

My grandfather served in WWII in the Army. Though he spent most of the war in Washington State as part of the 9th Coastal Artillery, he was shipped out late-war and took part in the Southern Philippines Campaign, and was also part of the occupation forces in Japan. He told me that he was (at least in some part) transported overseas on an aircraft carrier, noting that he had seen an unlucky fellow fall into a prop blade. I never gave the story much thought (my grandfather has long since passed away) but, now that I'm older and know much more about the war, it's occurred to me that this might have been just a story told by a grandpa pulling his young grandson's leg. This is for two reasons: 1) I've never heard of Army troops being shipped overseas on aircraft carriers during WWII (though, I suppose we were trying to transport as many troops as quickly as possible, so it's not out of the question that some were transported this way); and 2) even if Army troops were being shipped on an aircraft carrier, I find it hard to believe that an Army corporal would've had any access at all to the flight deck, especially during flight operations when propellers were spinning.

 

Does anyone know if there could be any truth to this story? In other words, is it even possibly true? If so, does anyone know how I might go about trying to figure out which carrier he would've been on? I know when he arrived in the Philippines, so I have at least some idea of when he would've been transported. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks - Jon.

[Paul70]

I know the Lexington was used as a troop transport after it received damage and was heading for Conus, but that was Navy personnel. The Lexington museum had a photo of the hangerdeck FULL of cots.

 

I doubt you would have gone topside during flight operations. I remember somewhere of hearing about you had to have a pass to go topside.

 

Paul

[patches]

Were they used in transporting troops home as the units in Japan started to go home for inactivation?

[SergeantMajorGray]

Maybe the guy that got hit by the prop was a Navy guy.

[patches]

Well the proof of Carriers as de facto Troop Transports may lie in the histories of them, START your research boys

 

Fleet Carriers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_aircraft_carriers_of_the_United_States

Escort Carriers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_escort_aircraft_carriers_of_the_United_States

[cutiger83]

Maybe the guy that got hit by the prop was a Navy guy.

 

 

I doubt that. The fact that his Grandfather said a guy "fell into the prop" makes me wonder if he meant the "screws" on the ship. Someone not in the Navy would call the ship's screws a propeller. If someone actually "fell" into them, it seems more plausible someone fell overboard than falling into the propeller of an airplane.

 

...Kat

[Paul70]

 

 

I doubt that. The fact that his Grandfather said a guy "fell into the prop" makes me wonder if he meant the "screws" on the ship. Someone not in the Navy would call the ship's screws a propeller. If someone actually "fell" into them, it seems more plausible someone fell overboard than falling into the propeller of an airplane.

 

...Kat

I think you may be on to something.

[SergeantMajorGray]

 

 

I doubt that. The fact that his Grandfather said a guy "fell into the prop" makes me wonder if he meant the "screws" on the ship. Someone not in the Navy would call the ship's screws a propeller. If someone actually "fell" into them, it seems more plausible someone fell overboard than falling into the propeller of an airplane.

 

...Kat

Would it be possible to fall on those while the ship is moving?

[cutiger83]

Would it be possible to fall on those while the ship is moving?

 

 

I don't know for sure but I doubt it. I think "falling into the prop" would be stated as a "general term" than a "factual term". If someone fell overboard, they could get "pulled" into the screws.

[Wojo1072]

Regarding the prop question, it was an aircraft. My grandfather said the guy fell forward after helping turn the propeller.

 

And thanks for all of your responses!

[bronxboymike]

Hello Wojo, I've never heard of an aircraft carrier being used as a transport ship for troops during the war as the troops would hinder air operations from the ship and increase their vulnerability to attack. Perhaps your grandfather was mistaken in his timeframe do to the passage of time. At the end of the war aircraft carriers were used as troop transports as part of "Operation Magic Carpet" which was the effort to return the millions of troops that had been built up in the Pacific as part of the invasion force for Japan. I could be wrong but I think your grandfather was correct in his story, I just think his timeframe was mixed up as to the timeframe. Hope this helps.

Regards, Mike

[uplandmod]

Escort carriers were definitely used as troop transports, I know I've read it here and there over the years especially after the war during operation magic carpet.

 

I usually come across it when I'm researching Army Soldiers and Marines.

 

I'm sure if we got your grandfathers name we can search the Navy Rosters, sometimes they are listed in the Navy rosters.

 

Leonardo

[Wojo1072]

Hello Wojo, I've never heard of an aircraft carrier being used as a transport ship for troops during the war as the troops would hinder air operations from the ship and increase their vulnerability to attack. Perhaps your grandfather was mistaken in his timeframe do to the passage of time. At the end of the war aircraft carriers were used as troop transports as part of "Operation Magic Carpet" which was the effort to return the millions of troops that had been built up in the Pacific as part of the invasion force for Japan. I could be wrong but I think your grandfather was correct in his story, I just think his timeframe was mixed up as to the timeframe. Hope this helps.

Regards, Mike

 

It's entirely possible that my timeframe is the one that is mixed up. He told me this story (and a few others) when I was probably about 9 or 10 - over 30 years ago. I always assumed that he was telling me about his trip there; but it could be he was telling me about his trip back. An older soldier who would've been about 31 when he shipped out in 1945, he passed away in 1992, so it's been a long time since he told me this.

 

A problem for me, and the main reason I'm looking for some assistance here on the Forum, is that he apparently told only me this and some other stories, so I can't even turn to another family member to confirm my memory. My father hadn't even heard it. Like many other veterans, my grandfather simply didn't talk about the war, ever. The family knew where he went (Southern Philippines, Hiroshima) and knew what he did (ambulance driver), but he really didn't say much else about it. I remember sitting at his feet as a little kid and asking him about the war - this was one of the stories he told me.

 

I will look into Operation Magic Carpet. Thanks, Mike.

 

Jon

[Wojo1072]

Escort carriers were definitely used as troop transports, I know I've read it here and there over the years especially after the war during operation magic carpet.

 

I usually come across it when I'm researching Army Soldiers and Marines.

 

I'm sure if we got your grandfathers name we can search the Navy Rosters, sometimes they are listed in the Navy rosters.

 

Leonardo

 

Are Navy rosters something which are available online that I can search? Though I appreciate it, I don't want to impose. And thanks to you as well, Leonardo, for that additional clue.

 

Jon

[uplandmod]

Yes they are on Ancestry.com. If you post his name we might be able to research it.

 

LF

[Wojo1072]

Yes they are on Ancestry.com. If you post his name we might be able to research it.

 

LF

 

I've thought about joining Ancestry.com; being able to search records like this is certainly an additional incentive. I'll have to look into that.

 

If you have a chance and don't mind looking, his name's Dennis C. Wolff. He's the only Dennis C. Wolff that shows up in the National Archives' World War II Army Enlistment Records so, if you find one listed, that is almost certainly him. I greatly appreciate it - even if you don't have time to look, you've already helped me out a lot.

 

Thank you - Jon

[Garandomatic]

I looked to no avail for Dennis Wolff, and even dropped the second f, as sometimes the rolls have slight errors in spelling. Sorry, man. Interestingly enough, a friend has a whole family's worth of things that I might buy, and one of the four brothers was an Aviation Machinist's Mate that rode to the Pacific for duty at a base, I think, on an escort carrier that did nothing but ferry people and planes back and forth, and participated a lot in Magic Carpet.

[Wojo1072]

Thank you very much for looking. I appreciate it!

 

Jon

[Bobby]

Found this at http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG448.pdf

 

 

 

 

Troop Transport at the End of World War II

At the end of the Second World War, the United States had literally

millions of military personnel deployed around the globe. While some

were retained within operational areas to perform postwar-occupation

duties, most were transported back to the United States to be demobi-

lized and released from military service. Since few airplanes of the era

could fly transoceanic distances, and the personnel to be redeployed

were vast, ships became the primary means of transporting military

personnel back home. Aircraft carriers were included in the fleet of

ships used for this purpose.

For example, the veteran USS

Enterprise

was available for this mis-

sion. Beginning in November 1945 and proceeding into 1946, the ship

made several voyages back and forth to Europe. More than 10,000 U.S.

military personnel, mostly Army, returned to the United States aboard

Enterprise

in what were called the “Magic Carpet Ride” voyages. In

late 1945, USS

Independence

(CVL-22, a light fleet carrier) joined the

“Magic Carpet” fleet (see U.S. Navy, http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/nav-

palib/ships/carriers/histories/cv06-enterprise/cv06-enterprise.html)

[Popo367]

_{While at the VA I spoke with a B-29 crewman that was stationed on Tinian and he told me that he came home on a cruiser that stopped at Tinian specifically to pick up troops. He said that all kinds of ships would stop by to pick up troops including aircraft carriers, battleships, and support ships.}

[patches]

I would imagine the accommodations aboard the Warships was not the best for these troops, as these Warships did not have accommodations for anyone other than the crew, unlike Troop Transports, cramped as they might of been, could accommodate lagre bodies of men more comfortably, but then, to paraphrase Any Port in a Storm...... Any Ship Heading Home.

[Jack's Son]

We had a mass exodus of civilians at the end of the Vietnam war that involved the Midway. Why not use a carrier for transport?

[sigsaye]

At the end of WW2, anything that could float and was pointed towards the US was used as a troop transport. Carriers left their air groups behind and had cots set up on the hanger decks. Any place on any ship they could stick a live human body cot a body shoved in. Watch the last eppisode of Victory at Sea, shows this very clearly. The troops did not complain. They were going home, just wanted to get out. The combat guys had lived a lot longer in much worse contitions, and it would only be for a week or so. My father got the job of cleaning out ships that had been used for bringing guys hole, while waiting for a ride to China. Said they were filled with stuff the GIs left behind, boots, fatigues, gear, anything that they did not need to get on a train home was dumped. If it slowed them down, they left it behind. He said they collected it all up and burned it incase it had bugs. He was loaded on a DD for the trip back to China. With Sailors it was easier. Most ships were running short handed due to seperations as guys rotated home. The new Sailor passengers were simply assimilated in to the crew and worked their way over. This was in '47.

 

As for the Escort Carriers, their original intention was to be replacement ships. They were to be used as part of the logistic train following the battle force. When a Fleet Carrier need replacement planes or air crews, the "Jeep" Carriers would transfer them off. They were quickly turned into combat carriers though. Still, stuff the hanger deck with cots and you can haul a lot of troops.

[mike wayne]

jeep carriers is what my dad refers to them as and he was on cv-25, cowpens. this is the first time I have seen someone else use the term. i'm just curious, but how many army guys were in the pacific theatre? mostly marines in the pacific and army in Europe? i'm sure there was army there too but relatively few of all the u.s. military in the pacific. the original posting is a great story and the forum members were quite helpful. i'm glad I joined just to read but it's nice to know there are guys willing to help if needed.

At the end of WW2, anything that could float and was pointed towards the US was used as a troop transport. Carriers left their air groups behind and had cots set up on the hanger decks. Any place on any ship they could stick a live human body cot a body shoved in. Watch the last eppisode of Victory at Sea, shows this very clearly. The troops did not complain. They were going home, just wanted to get out. The combat guys had lived a lot longer in much worse contitions, and it would only be for a week or so. My father got the job of cleaning out ships that had been used for bringing guys hole, while waiting for a ride to China. Said they were filled with stuff the GIs left behind, boots, fatigues, gear, anything that they did not need to get on a train home was dumped. If it slowed them down, they left it behind. He said they collected it all up and burned it incase it had bugs. He was loaded on a DD for the trip back to China. With Sailors it was easier. Most ships were running short handed due to seperations as guys rotated home. The new Sailor passengers were simply assimilated in to the crew and worked their way over. This was in '47.

 

As for the Escort Carriers, their original intention was to be replacement ships. They were to be used as part of the logistic train following the battle force. When a Fleet Carrier need replacement planes or air crews, the "Jeep" Carriers would transfer them off. They were quickly turned into combat carriers though. Still, stuff the hanger deck with cots and you can haul a lot of troops.

 

[sgtpete]

jeep carriers is what my dad refers to them as and he was on cv-25, cowpens. this is the first time I have seen someone else use the term. i'm just curious, but how many army guys were in the pacific theatre? mostly marines in the pacific and army in Europe? i'm sure there was army there too but relatively few of all the u.s. military in the pacific. the original posting is a great story and the forum members were quite helpful. i'm glad I joined just to read but it's nice to know there are guys willing to help if needed.

 

That is a common misconception due to media coverage. The US Army had about 22 Divisions in the Pacific, while the entire Marine Corps consisted of only 6 Divisions. So the overwhelming number of troops were Army troops.