Wartime Sea Stories

Little-known are the ships that repaired cruisers with bows blown off, carriers with gaping bomb holes on deck, many at sea: This is their story.The author was born is St. Louis, Missouri in 1923 to World War I Navy veterans, a Chief Electricians Mate and a Navy nurse. He joined the Navy on December 9, 1941. He graduated from signal school at Pearl Harbor and was assigned to Admiral Nimitz's flag ship, the USS West Virginia. He transferred to the USS Vestal in August 1942, and served on that ship until November 1943.He was assigned to the USS Silverbell, a net tender. Though an auxiliary vessel, the Silverbell saw four months of bombing and kamikaze attacks at Leyte Gulf. The small ship was also endangered by three typhoons. His tour of duty on the Silverbell lasted until January, 1946. He also served three months on the USS Trego. His last ship was the USS Norton Sound, spending three months in the Arctic.

Walter R. Evans was discharged from the US Navy in December, 1946. He married Joyce Lonergan in Sydney, Australia, having met her when the Vestal visited. They lived in Sydney for three years, where son Earl was born.The family moved to Topeka, Kansas in December 1949. Walter went to work for Goodyear Tire and Rubber, where he worked for 35 years. He and Joyce remain in Topeka.