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1918 US Naval Service message USS ACHILLES?


Tony641
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I thought this was a neat piece so had to grab it. Don't know anything about it other than what I can read. I've tried researching it but can't find anything (not see where to start though). I thought the content of the message was pretty unique. Are these common out there? This is the first I have seen but have never really looked for one before, just stumbled across this one.

 

Thanks for any info. Tony

 

aytt9u.jpg

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Salvage Sailor

Interesting Armistice radiogram message from Vice Admiral William Sowden Sims, Commander of US Naval Forces in European waters during the Great War. I've not been able to identify a USN commissioned vessel knows as "U.S.S. ACHILLES" circa 1918 although I have found traces of USN officers assigned to her in the Naval registers. Nice research project for you Tony to fill in the blanks.

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Salvage Sailor, ok let me know if this makes sense. It's not USS Achilles but HMS Achilles. She was a Warroir-classed armor cruiser with the Royal Navy, 2nd Cruiser Squadron in the First World War. She was credited with sinking the German raider Leapold in 1917.

 

Tony

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Salvage Sailor
Salvage Sailor

I think I found her. She was a Panama Collier built and converted under a Navy contract to coal the fleet in WWI, thus not actually commissioned as "U.S.S."

 

See page 556 here https://books.google.com/books?id=aHZNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP17&lpg=PP17&dq=u.s.s.+achilles+collier&source=bl&ots=hv5XCSI8BG&sig=zB328Ijthp7ohu1shR4hi1rvjWI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_lKPMvPbTAhVGyGMKHd0WCZQQ6AEIODAE#v=onepage&q=u.s.s.%20achilles%20collier&f=false

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aerialbridge

Incredible paper and great find. Talk about historic.

 

My grampa was a WWI Navy Radioman and went to the Cambridge radio school. Prior railroad telegrapher for about 5 years. Got out of the reserves in '21 as an RM2c. I wish to heck I would have asked him for the yardlong of his radio school graduating class back in the late 60's when I was a kid and found it in his attic. It was minty rolled up in perfect shape. Sometime between then and after he passed several years later it got flattened and creased and gramma cut it up-- why have all these strangers in the picture? :wacko: A few pieces and one with him and about 10 other guys in 2 rows survived for me to get a scan of.

 

Anyway, here's possibilities for the sender "Grober" for your research.

 

 

Grober Victor -- [service Number] 001621156, [Date of Enlistment] 06/03/1918 (unlikely, unless he was already a civilian radioman)

Grober Frank Ernest -- [service Number] 001621155, [Date of Enlistment] 06/30/1917
Grober Edward Claude -- [service Number] 001621154, [Date of Enlistment] 04/20/1918 (unlikely unless he was already a civilian radioman)
Grober Jacob -- [Date of Birth] 12/24/1899, [service Number] 000075211, [Date of Enlistment] 07/20/1916
Grober Edward Adolph -- [Date of Birth] 02/13/1896, [service Number] 000093495, [Date of Enlistment] 06/18/1917

 

 

Here's some possible Grobers for the sender.

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Thank you guys for the help. I will post if I find any information. I'm heading out of town this weekend for my daughter's soccer tournament so I should have plenty of spare time to do some research.

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