USS Fletcher Crew Photos
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1942 - 1949

1942 fitting out crew
Fitting out crew 1942

Commissioning Officers, June 30, 1942
Commissioning Officers

Commissioning ceremony, June 30, 1942
Commissioning 1942

10-11-07, Bill Cole II, the son of Fletcher's first CO, displays a commissioning pennant presented to his father at the end of his tour on Fletcher along with his treasured binoculars, the same ones he used in battle. Photo courtesy of Dave McComb
Bill Cole II
the son of first CO

Photo taken in April 1943 in Sydney, Australia. REAR L-R: Lt.jg Fred Gressard, Lt. Irving J. Davenport, Lt.jg Arthur H. Murray, Lt. John G. Hughes, Lt.jg J. Stark Hamilton, Lt.jg Walter S. Sullivan, Lt.Cmdr Robert D. McGinnis, Ens. William Steiger, Lt. Raynham Townshend Jr., Lt.jg Donald C. Sinclair, Lt.jg Alvin C. Wilson. FRONT L-R: Lt.jg Donald J. Amato, Ens. Frank D. Eaton, Ens. J. Paul Banister Jr., Lt.jg Walter C. Classen, Ens. Clinton C. Ternstrom. Photo courtesy John O'Neill, USS Nicholas 1943-1946.
Officers, April 1943

Captain Robert P. Briscoe, CO of DesRon 5 and the Cactus Strike Force flew his flag in Fletcher in early 1943. This undated US Navy photo was taken near Guadalcanal.
Capt. R P. Briscoe

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson. WWII Crew 1

The signal gang in 1944. Upper left is William Richardson who was attached to the flag of CDD42. Photo courtesy of his son William 'Skip' Richardson. Upper right is Bud Hiskey. WWII Crew 2

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson. WWII Crew 3

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson. WWII Crew 4

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 5

E. Division, early 1945. Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 6

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 7

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 8

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 9

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 10

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 11

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 12

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 13

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 14

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
WWII Crew 15

Taken in March 1944 at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. Photo courtesy John O'Neill, USS Nicholas 1943-1946.
Officers, March 1944

The ship's mascot 'GQ', October 1944. Photo courtesy of William Richardson.
Mascot “GQ” 1944

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
King & Queen

CO, Commander John L. Foster, early 1945. Photo courtesy of Marlon Piper.
Cmdr. John L. Foster

1942. Photo courtesy of Marlon Piper
SM3 “Luke” Lukacik

40mm gun crew on Mt. 43 in early 1945. Photo courtesy of William Richardson. 40mm gun crew

Photo courtesy of Marlon Piper
Officers May 1945

Fletcher sailors on liberty in war torn Manila, April 1945. Photo courtesy of Marlon Piper.
Manila 1945

Shellbacks 1944

Late 1945. Photo courtesy of Linda Ayotte-Messner
Gun crew 1945

Robert E. Wilkinson, f2c, late 1945. Photo courtesy of his daughter, Linda Ayotte-Messner
Robert Wilkinson

Painting the torpedo tubes
Chip and paint

Photo courtesy of William 'Skip' Richardson.
Polywog

Hawaii, 1945. Robert Wilkinson on the left, Photo courtesy of Linda Ayotte-Messner
Hawaii 1945

Courtesy of Linda Ayotte-Messner
Late 1945

A working party on Corregidor, March 3, 1945. Photo courtesy of William Richardson.
Corregidor 1945

II Division, late 1945. Photo courtesy of Linda Ayotte-Messner
II Div. late 1945

After engine room crew, late 1945. Allard, Anderson, Boyd, Beeker, Peterson, Simmons, Tyler & Staehli. Photo courtesy of Linda Ayotte-Messner
Engineers 1945

Richard Crow & Robert Boyd, late 1945. Photo courtesy of Linda Ayotte-Messner
Snipes 1945

Quarterdeck watch, late 1945. Ltjg Charles Canfield, RdM3c Charles Daws & S1c James Hayes. Photo courtesy of Linda Ayotte-Messner
Late 1945

 


1950 - 1959

Official U.S. Navy Photo, Ship's Company October 1951
Ship’s Company 1951

Ship's company August 1952. Photo courtesy of Bob McCurley
Ship’s Company 1952

Charles Roe standing on Mount 52 on the fantail, 1957. Photo couresy of Joe Davis.
Mount 52 portrait

Left to right: Hoyt Coker, Wayne Bryce, Joe Davis, Dennis Vosocsky, Eli Bourgeois. Seated: Bob Cory. Photo courtesy of Joe Davis.
Fantail portrait 1957

Chief Kontze at Midway Island, November 26, 1953
The Chief

Starboard Side Refueling, Formosa Straits 1957
Refueling station 1957

Courtesy of Muriel Reeves (top row, far right)
Supply Div. 1952

Gil Teclaw on the fantail while the ship is doing 25 knots.
Fantail 1951

Hawaiian Village circa1951. L to R: Harold 'Bruce' Campbell, Bill Henson, Al Nathe, Fred Huelson, Jerry Koch, Robert Pardo. Photo courtesy of Al Nathe.
Honolulu 1951

1952 Deck Division. Photo courtesy of Bob McCurley
Deck Div. 1952

L to R: Robert L. Robinson, Tina, unknown, Johnnie Johnson, Frank Vasquez & Lewis. Ship's Party, Polynesian Village, Honolulu, 1953.
Ship’s party 1953

Photo courtesy of Al Nathe.
Engineer gang 1950

 

Eli Bourgeois and Buck Locke in 1957, photo courtesy of Eli Bourgeois Eli & Buck 1957

Carl Becker, circa 1958. Photo courtesy of Eli Bourgeois
Carl Becker

Al Nathe remembers how it was at the 1991 reunion in Baton Rouge. Photo courtesy of Al Nathe.
Ah, the good ol’ days

On the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge. L-R: Jerry Koch, Gene Oaks, Buzz Schultz, Al Nathe & Harold 'Bruce' Campbell. Photo courtesy of Al Nathe.
1950s crew in 1991

 


1960 - 1969

Sea & Anchor detail on the fantail as the ship entered Hong Kong, March 21, 1969
Sea & Anchor detail

Olangapo City bar, Feb. 14, 1969. L-R, Snyder, McAtee, Mone, Lewis. Photo courtesy Charley Snyder Subic Bay 1969

Working on the Hedgehog Mounts
Hedgehog mount

Some free time on the fantail.
Relaxing on the fantail

BMSN Mitchell, BMSN Prier, SN Phelan, SN Cargill and SN Maxwell at the Sampaguita Club, June 1964. Photo courtesy of Frederic E. Mitchell
Subic Bay, 1964

A Cookout on the Fantail
Fantail BBQ

Free Time
Free time

Target Practice
Target practice

A sonar technician smirks beside the sonar transmitter.
Sonar Technician

Waiting for Liberty Call
Waiting for liberty call

Shipmates. Notice the sign language which the photographer didn't notice until 2002!
Pals?

While in Sasebo for upkeep some of the crew signed up for a tour to Nagasaki where they enjoyed a Japanese meal and later toured the atomic bomb site and museum. 1968
Japanese Meal

The Aft Lookout, 1969
Aft lookout

Standing down after another UNREP
After an UNREP

Ship to Ship Personnel Transfer at Sea,1968
Motor whale Boat

Three CPOs and an Ensign
Hard at work

New Camera
New camera

Pals in a bar in Sasebo, Japan in January 1969
Pals

Bathythermograph drop near Okinawa in January 1969
BT drop 1969

Recovering a Torpedo after a Practice Shot
Torpedo recovery

Sea & Anchor detail on the fantail as the ship entered Hong Kong, March 21, 1969
Horsing around

Mail Call
Mail call

Spilled Paint Oops!

A typical enlisted man's locker
Locker

A sailor carrying a purchase in duty free Hong Kong approaches the quarterdeck in 1968.
The Quarterdeck 1968

Wes Wipperman strumming a guitar during a free moment, 1968
A free moment

Sea and anchor detail on the fantail prior to entering Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1969. Notice the running rust from an extended period at sea.
Sea & anchor detail 1

The Sea & Anchor detail on the fantail
Sea & anchor Detail 2

A Chinese harbor pilot reports on board prior to the ship entering Kaohsiung Harbor in Taiwan, 1969
Harbor pilot

After a test firing of a torpedo, April 1969
Where’s the torpedo?

Admiring Playmates of the Month, Miss November 1967 and Miss May 1968.
Dreaming

Helo Personnel Transfer, March 5, 1967
Personnel transfer

Hilo Harbor Hawaii, 1967
Hilo, Hawaii

Listening to music during slack time. 1969
Slack time

Shore patrol in Hilo, Hawaii, 1967. The walkie talkie is for communicating with the ship visible in the background anchored in the bay.
Shore Patrol

Fox Division guys in the torpedo shop amidships in 1967. L-R: Faubion, Dombrowski, Durkee, Ossman. Photo courtesy David Lesher
Fox Div. guys

Man overboard drill, 1968
Man overboard drill

Hi-Q Club, Olongapo City, Philippines, 1968
Subic Bay 1968

Jan Cordes writes a letter home, 1968.
A letter home

The torpedo shop amidships on the main deck doubled as the berthing area for Fox Division's sonar and torpedomen. Pictured is Jan M. Cordes. August 1968. Torpedo Shop

Shortly after returning to Pearl after a 6 month WestPac deployment, August 29, 1968. The bow of the USS Nicholas DD-449 which returned with Fletcher is partially visible in the background. Welcome Home

Sonar watch
Ping jockey

Pulling alongside USS Sacramento AOE-1 to refuel in 1968. A carrier is already UNREPing on the other side.
Preparing to UNREP

(Left to Right) Blevins, Paul and Bryant, 1966. Photo courtesy of Ed Blevins
Supply men

Hazardous working conditions on the fo'c's'le. January 1967. Photo courtesy of David Lesher
Wet Deck

Christmas at sea near Vietnam, 1968. That's popcorn being poured into a paper bag.
Christmas 1968

Hong Kong
Hong Kong night life

An officer talking to someone below
Choose a caption

Equator 1968
Equator 1968

Although this photo was taken on April 9, 1968 it could just as easily have been made on any of Fletcher's Equatorial crossings. This pollywog is having a very smelly bucket of slop poured over him moments before he officially became a Shellback.
Crossing the Equator

Equator 1968
Equator 1968

Equator 1968
Equator 1968

Sonar gang 1968, gathered around the starboard hedgehog mount. Top row left to right: Franklin Taylor III, Eugene Durkee. Bottom row: Jan Cordes, Wes Wipperman, David Lesher. Photo courtesy of David Lesher
Sonar gang 1968

Walt Duvall & David Lesher pose on the fantail during a high speed run, August 1968. Photo courtesy of David Lesher.
Fantail portrait

5 inch antics

Frederic Mitchell & Joe Keller
3 inch gun crew

Executive Officer, LtCdr Ronald H. Swinnerton. Phoot courtesy of Robert Sinclair
LtCdr Swinnerton
December 1965

1967
Loading a torpedo

1967
Loading a torpedo

1967 Loading a torpedo

Photo courtesy of Steven Morgan
Cmdr. Morgan, 1965

1966. Photo courtesy of Steven Morgan
Manning the rail

Manning the rail, May 1969. Photo courtesy of Charles Barnsley.
Manning the rail

Returning from WestPac, March 17, 1966. Photo courtesy of Steven Morgan
March 17, 1966

Returning from WestPac, March 17, 1966. Photo courtesy of Steven Morgan
March 17, 1966

Circa 1965. Photo courtesy of Steven Morgan
Lounging

Late 1968, First Division crew 'shooting the breeze' in their berthing area . Photo courtesy of Charles Snyder
Shooting the breeze

A sailor and his girl in Hong Kong.
A girl in every port?

Captain Taylor visits his pollywogs. April 8, 1968. Photo courtesy QMC Joseph A. Patton Pollywogs
April 8, 1968

Return to Pearl Harbor after the final WestPac, 5-8-69
Return to Pearl
May 8, 1969

QMC Patton gets lynched in April 1968 shortly before Fletcher crosses the Equator. Photo courtesy QMC Joseph A. Patton
Equatorial lynching!

Change of command ceremony, July 31, 1965. Photo courtesy of Steven Morgan
July 31, 1965

 

John English and James Marcantel show their muscle next to the depth charge rack on the fantail. August 1968. Photo courtesy of David Lesher.
Showoffs!

Crew waiting for change of command ceremony to begin, July 31, 1965. In the background is USS Philip DD-498, USS Savage DER-386 and an unidentified DER. Photo courtesy of Steven Morgan.
July 31, 1965

Return to Pearl Harbor after the last WestPac cruise
Last Homecoming
May 8, 1969

Left to right, John Morgan Sr., Anthony Parra Sr., Charles Snyder at a reunion in Arizona in 2009
1969 crew

 


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