Trans-Atlantisches Geschichtsprojekt

Der Zweite Weltkrieg in Augenzeugenberichten

Interviewbogen Nr. 5 (Interviewer: Nicholle Reinhardt , Camarillo Highschool, Camarillo, California, USA)

Name:	Robert T. Reinhardt, Jr.
Born:	January 25, 1925
Place of Residence between 1943 and 1945:	Was born and raised in Irvington, New Jersey.
photo/info:	photos and newspaper article

(1) Describe your economic, income, occupation: -

(2) Family situation, number of children, marriage status, connections to family members in active military service: He had a mother, father, and two brothers. One brother was in the Merchant Marines during WWII, and the other brother was in the Korean War (1952). He was the oldest of the three brothers.

(3) Political affiliation \ activity before the war: -

(4) Ideas about one's future and wishes: -

(5) Participation in the war / experience in war: He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserves in November of 1942, because he was not yet 18 years old. He was sworn in on December 7, 1942, and reported for active duty on February 1, 1943. During January of 1943, he graduated from high school. He went to a type of "boot camp" for nine weeks in Bainbridge, Maryland. After a one week boat leave, he went to Norfolk, Virginia where he was assigned to a ship's company for about eight weeks. During the eight weeks, he had a special training for a new kind of ship that was being specially designed for anti-sub warfare. In May he, along with a ship's crew, was transferred to Port Arthur, Texas. There the U.S.S. Flaherty D.E. 135 was commissioned and put into active duty. The U.S.S. Flaherty D.E. 135 was a destroyer escort type which weighed about 1400-1600 tons. She could reach a top speed of about 30 knots (36mph). There was a crew of 180-190 men, and 10-14 officers. The U.S.S. Flaherty D.E. 135 was very maneuverable, and could turn within its own length. She was decommissioned in Green Cove Springs, Florida during February of 1946 (after the war). Between the time the U.S.S Flaherty D.E. 135 was commissioned and decommissioned, only eight men from the original crew were kept on board. They were called "plank holders", and he was one of them. His ship was sent to Bermuda for a "shake down cruise". This consisted of practicing over and over again anti air-craft drills, submarine attacks, ramming, abandon ship drills, chemical attacks, fire, boarding parties, and rescue operations.
On the U.S.S Flaherty D.E. 135, his job was a radar operator. There were nine radar operators divided into three sections. One section was on duty for eight hours, and off 16 hours. While on duty, they operated the radar machines and were on the machine for about 30 minutes and then off. This was very strenuous on the eyes and mind, because one had to be constantly alert for targets coming up on the screen. They had to evalulate the target, determine its course and speed, and determine if action was needed. While ''off'' the radar, they would be on Stand By and also operate the helm (steering the ship). He was also a qualified helmsman. After their shake down cruise, they were assigned to Court Land Group 4 (Atlantic Escort Ship 4). This Group 4 consisted of the U.S.S Pope 133, U.S.S Pillsbury 134, U.S.S Flaherty 135, U.S.S Chatelain 149, and U.S.S Nunzer 150. From about the end of June 1943 until November, these D.E's escorted three convoys consisting of 40-70 ships from Norfolk, Virginia to Casablanca, North Africa, and Oran. They also escorted empty ships back to the U.S.S Guadalcanal, which was an aircraft carrier. They were then known as a hunter killer group, and actively pursued enemy submarines and sunk them.
On June 4, 1944 their hunter killer group had been on patrol in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa, near the Canary Islands, and was returning to Casablanca after about 30 days at sea. (They were running out of fuel and supplies ). The U.S.S Chatelain D.E. 149 picked up a contact underwater off her port bow (left) about 2000 yards (1 mile), which turned out to be a sub (U-boat). The aircraft carrier immediately turned into the wind and left the area at full speed with 1 D.E. as an escort. The remaining D.E.'s began a combined attack on the sub. After being attacked with depth bombs, the sub had to surface because its rudder was damaged and it could not navigate. This was the procedure for subs when they surfaced, and under these conditions they were to scuttle the ship. (this means for all men to abandon the sub and open sea cocks so it will fill up with water and sink). This entire procedure takes about 5-10 minutes, after the sea cocks are opened up. When the sub surfaced and it was obvious that it was being abandoned, the U.S.S. Chatelain D.E. 149 launched a boarding party on a motor whale boat consisting of about ten men. These men actually boarded the sinking sub and within five minutes had to find the open sea cocks and shut them off. They had two or three handy belly pumps (gasoline driven to pump water out of the sub). The men from the sub were in the water (about 70 men) and we had to rescue them. (All of their practices from their shake down cruise came in handy). This sub was the U-505.
They captured this sub June 4, 1944 (two days before Dday in Europe). The most valuable items captured were all the radio codes, descramblers, identification procedures, rendezvous points charts to port, route directions, etc. This was top secret information and the Germans did not know they had this. They all had to sign statements that they would not talk about it to anyone.
A sea going tug boat, fuelship, supply ship was sent to their ships to take on supplies and fuel while on the high seas. They towed the U-505 to Bermuda at about 5-8 knots per hour (10mph), this took about three weeks. While they had the sub under tow, they had to lay down smoke screens so no one could see what they had. They arrived in Bermuda at night and the sub was put in a specially built pier (totally enclosed). About ten years after the war, the U-505 toured the country as a prize of war, and he believes it is now in Chicago in a museum.
His battle station was in the C.I.C. (Combat Information Center). All information was directed there and he operated a D.R.T. (Dead Reckoning Tracer), which was a translucent board about five feet square. This board plotted all the information and they determined courses and speeds of all aircraft, subs, surface ships, and intercept action to destroy the enemy. He was a 2nd Class Petty Officer Radar Operator.
In April 1945 the remaining U-boats in the German Navy were dispatched to the East Coast of the United States to buzz bomb (rockets) various cities along the coast - Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, etc.
Various task forces of the Atlantic Fleet comprising about 40 D.E.'s (Destroyer Escorts) and six C.U.E.'s (Escort Aircraft Carriers) gathered in Argentia, New Foundland to intercept these U-boats. They established a line of defense with the D.E.'s stationed ten miles apart on a north and south axis and maintaining a zig/zag course (search pattern) with the C.U.E.'s to the west (rear); thus, effecting a screen to block any U-boat from passing through.
They stopped for a few minutes to try and sink some floatsom, which was interfering with their radar. They used 20 m.m. guns to sink this floatsom, but they could not, they then had to leave and maintain their position in the line of defense. About half an hour later, the U.S.S F.C. Davis D.E. 136 (their sister ship) came upon the same floatsom and tried to sink it (just like they tried). The sister ship was torpedoed, broke in half, and sunk in two pieces. They were the closest ship, and in about ten minutes they were in the area picking up survivors. While picking up survivors and being dead in the water, they initiated contact on the U-boat that sank the F.C. Davis. While maintaining contact on the U-boat and rescuing suvivors and waiting for more D.E's to assist them, they slowly drifted away from the men in the water. They could not depth charge (bomb) the U-boat, because they would kill all the men in the water from the concussions. His captain gave the order "all engines back dead slow" so as to back up to the men in the water. It is a lot easier to reach men in the water from the stern as it was not high from the water. Just as soon as their engines started up (going backward), the U-boat fired a torpedo at them. Their look outs spotted the torpedo approaching the ship off the starboard (right) beam. The torpedo missed the ship passing across the bow (front). The U-boat then took immediate evasive action and they had to stop picking up survivors and persue the U-boat.
Other ships joined them in pursuing the U-boat, and after about two to three hours they forced the U-boat to the surface and sunk it. Various ships picked up survivors from the U-boat and one of the survivors they they picked up was the captain. Through the interrogation process, he realized that they were the ship that he fired the torpedo at and missed, because they were sitting dead in the water at the time they were (sitting ducks).
He could not understand that he missed, until he heard that they were going backwards. He said, "Who ever heard of ships in battle going backwards". In May 1945 the war with Germany ended. Their task force, comprising six D.E.'s and one C.U.E., were being prepared to go to the Pacific, but the war with Japan ended soon thereafter. In December 1945 they all went to Green Cove Springs, Flordia for de-comissioning services.
In February 1946 he was honorably discharged from the United States Navy at Lido Beach, Long Island at 10:30 in the morning. He was in his house in Irvington, New Jersey by 1:00 p.m. the same day.

(6) Attitude toward the enemy to begin the war and how it might have changed after the war: no data

(7) Ideas about one's future and wishes after the war: no data

(8) Family changes through the war / activities with the family in free time: no data

(9) Political affiliation / activities of the war after the war: no data

(10) Comments on the interview: no data

source(s), place, date: oral interview, held in Camarillo, 1/1996

(1) Describe your economic, income, occupation:	-
(2) Family situation, number of children, marriage status, connections to family members in active military service:	He had a mother, father, and two brothers. One brother was in the Merchant Marines during WWII, and the other brother was in the Korean War (1952). He was the oldest of the three brothers.
(3) Political affiliation \ activity before the war:	-
(4) Ideas about one's future and wishes:	-
(5) Participation in the war / experience in war:	He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserves in November of 1942, because he was not yet 18 years old. He was sworn in on December 7, 1942, and reported for active duty on February 1, 1943. During January of 1943, he graduated from high school. He went to a type of "boot camp" for nine weeks in Bainbridge, Maryland. After a one week boat leave, he went to Norfolk, Virginia where he was assigned to a ship's company for about eight weeks. During the eight weeks, he had a special training for a new kind of ship that was being specially designed for anti-sub warfare. In May he, along with a ship's crew, was transferred to Port Arthur, Texas. There the U.S.S. Flaherty D.E. 135 was commissioned and put into active duty. The U.S.S. Flaherty D.E. 135 was a destroyer escort type which weighed about 1400-1600 tons. She could reach a top speed of about 30 knots (36mph). There was a crew of 180-190 men, and 10-14 officers. The U.S.S. Flaherty D.E. 135 was very maneuverable, and could turn within its own length. She was decommissioned in Green Cove Springs, Florida during February of 1946 (after the war). Between the time the U.S.S Flaherty D.E. 135 was commissioned and decommissioned, only eight men from the original crew were kept on board. They were called "plank holders", and he was one of them. His ship was sent to Bermuda for a "shake down cruise". This consisted of practicing over and over again anti air-craft drills, submarine attacks, ramming, abandon ship drills, chemical attacks, fire, boarding parties, and rescue operations. On the U.S.S Flaherty D.E. 135, his job was a radar operator. There were nine radar operators divided into three sections. One section was on duty for eight hours, and off 16 hours. While on duty, they operated the radar machines and were on the machine for about 30 minutes and then off. This was very strenuous on the eyes and mind, because one had to be constantly alert for targets coming up on the screen. They had to evalulate the target, determine its course and speed, and determine if action was needed. While ''off'' the radar, they would be on Stand By and also operate the helm (steering the ship). He was also a qualified helmsman. After their shake down cruise, they were assigned to Court Land Group 4 (Atlantic Escort Ship 4). This Group 4 consisted of the U.S.S Pope 133, U.S.S Pillsbury 134, U.S.S Flaherty 135, U.S.S Chatelain 149, and U.S.S Nunzer 150. From about the end of June 1943 until November, these D.E's escorted three convoys consisting of 40-70 ships from Norfolk, Virginia to Casablanca, North Africa, and Oran. They also escorted empty ships back to the U.S.S Guadalcanal, which was an aircraft carrier. They were then known as a hunter killer group, and actively pursued enemy submarines and sunk them. On June 4, 1944 their hunter killer group had been on patrol in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa, near the Canary Islands, and was returning to Casablanca after about 30 days at sea. (They were running out of fuel and supplies ). The U.S.S Chatelain D.E. 149 picked up a contact underwater off her port bow (left) about 2000 yards (1 mile), which turned out to be a sub (U-boat). The aircraft carrier immediately turned into the wind and left the area at full speed with 1 D.E. as an escort. The remaining D.E.'s began a combined attack on the sub. After being attacked with depth bombs, the sub had to surface because its rudder was damaged and it could not navigate. This was the procedure for subs when they surfaced, and under these conditions they were to scuttle the ship. (this means for all men to abandon the sub and open sea cocks so it will fill up with water and sink). This entire procedure takes about 5-10 minutes, after the sea cocks are opened up. When the sub surfaced and it was obvious that it was being abandoned, the U.S.S. Chatelain D.E. 149 launched a boarding party on a motor whale boat consisting of about ten men. These men actually boarded the sinking sub and within five minutes had to find the open sea cocks and shut them off. They had two or three handy belly pumps (gasoline driven to pump water out of the sub). The men from the sub were in the water (about 70 men) and we had to rescue them. (All of their practices from their shake down cruise came in handy). This sub was the U-505. They captured this sub June 4, 1944 (two days before Dday in Europe). The most valuable items captured were all the radio codes, descramblers, identification procedures, rendezvous points charts to port, route directions, etc. This was top secret information and the Germans did not know they had this. They all had to sign statements that they would not talk about it to anyone. A sea going tug boat, fuelship, supply ship was sent to their ships to take on supplies and fuel while on the high seas. They towed the U-505 to Bermuda at about 5-8 knots per hour (10mph), this took about three weeks. While they had the sub under tow, they had to lay down smoke screens so no one could see what they had. They arrived in Bermuda at night and the sub was put in a specially built pier (totally enclosed). About ten years after the war, the U-505 toured the country as a prize of war, and he believes it is now in Chicago in a museum. His battle station was in the C.I.C. (Combat Information Center). All information was directed there and he operated a D.R.T. (Dead Reckoning Tracer), which was a translucent board about five feet square. This board plotted all the information and they determined courses and speeds of all aircraft, subs, surface ships, and intercept action to destroy the enemy. He was a 2nd Class Petty Officer Radar Operator. In April 1945 the remaining U-boats in the German Navy were dispatched to the East Coast of the United States to buzz bomb (rockets) various cities along the coast - Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, etc. Various task forces of the Atlantic Fleet comprising about 40 D.E.'s (Destroyer Escorts) and six C.U.E.'s (Escort Aircraft Carriers) gathered in Argentia, New Foundland to intercept these U-boats. They established a line of defense with the D.E.'s stationed ten miles apart on a north and south axis and maintaining a zig/zag course (search pattern) with the C.U.E.'s to the west (rear); thus, effecting a screen to block any U-boat from passing through. They stopped for a few minutes to try and sink some floatsom, which was interfering with their radar. They used 20 m.m. guns to sink this floatsom, but they could not, they then had to leave and maintain their position in the line of defense. About half an hour later, the U.S.S F.C. Davis D.E. 136 (their sister ship) came upon the same floatsom and tried to sink it (just like they tried). The sister ship was torpedoed, broke in half, and sunk in two pieces. They were the closest ship, and in about ten minutes they were in the area picking up survivors. While picking up survivors and being dead in the water, they initiated contact on the U-boat that sank the F.C. Davis. While maintaining contact on the U-boat and rescuing suvivors and waiting for more D.E's to assist them, they slowly drifted away from the men in the water. They could not depth charge (bomb) the U-boat, because they would kill all the men in the water from the concussions. His captain gave the order "all engines back dead slow" so as to back up to the men in the water. It is a lot easier to reach men in the water from the stern as it was not high from the water. Just as soon as their engines started up (going backward), the U-boat fired a torpedo at them. Their look outs spotted the torpedo approaching the ship off the starboard (right) beam. The torpedo missed the ship passing across the bow (front). The U-boat then took immediate evasive action and they had to stop picking up survivors and persue the U-boat. Other ships joined them in pursuing the U-boat, and after about two to three hours they forced the U-boat to the surface and sunk it. Various ships picked up survivors from the U-boat and one of the survivors they they picked up was the captain. Through the interrogation process, he realized that they were the ship that he fired the torpedo at and missed, because they were sitting dead in the water at the time they were (sitting ducks). He could not understand that he missed, until he heard that they were going backwards. He said, "Who ever heard of ships in battle going backwards". In May 1945 the war with Germany ended. Their task force, comprising six D.E.'s and one C.U.E., were being prepared to go to the Pacific, but the war with Japan ended soon thereafter. In December 1945 they all went to Green Cove Springs, Flordia for de-comissioning services. In February 1946 he was honorably discharged from the United States Navy at Lido Beach, Long Island at 10:30 in the morning. He was in his house in Irvington, New Jersey by 1:00 p.m. the same day.
(6) Attitude toward the enemy to begin the war and how it might have changed after the war:	no data
(7) Ideas about one's future and wishes after the war:	no data
(8) Family changes through the war / activities with the family in free time:	no data
(9) Political affiliation / activities of the war after the war:	no data
(10) Comments on the interview:	no data
source(s), place, date:	oral interview, held in Camarillo, 1/1996

German version