On Dec. 3. 1942 I packed my Sea Bag and was transported to the Navy Yard in Norfolk Va. In the dry dock I saw the Joseph T. Dickman . She was having some repairs and I learned that she was going to be my new home.

Much has been written about the Dickman but I would like to begin my report  by posting sections of a journal written by Capt. Q.R. Walsh USCG,Retired. Being one of the original crew  I figured he would be the best source of information. The ship was built in Camden in 1922 and named USS President Roosevelt. For many years operated as a First Class Passenger Liner, then in Oct. 1940 was taken over by the War Dept. and converted into a troop ship. It was at that time her name was changed to USS Jos T. Dickman, in honor of Major General Jos. T. Dickman, a distinguished WWI Veteran. .  Her overall length was 535 ft., had a 72 ft beam and a draft of 31 ft. On Jan.10 1941 she was commissioned and maned by Coast Guard personnel. Lt Commander C.W. Harwood was in command. Capt. Walsh wrote he came aboard about the time the ship was converted and was still in possession of her furniture, beautiful mirrors and other fittings, in the passenger compartments for her first class passenger service. Certain holds had been converted for troop service with bunks etc., on the berth decks. Many requests were made, to remove all that furniture etc. to get it out of the way of the workmen. It was decided to move it all from below deck and stow it on  the outboard weather deck . There was literally tons of furniture, beautiful sofas, upholstered chairs, beds etc. Nobody did anything about moving that furniture, till one day several flat -decked barges showed up alongside the ship and everything was thrown over the side, from a height of about 30 ft. into the barges below. It was a sight to behold. The broken mass must have been worth several hundred  thousands of dollars.

Capt. Walsh wrote, there were thieves among the workmen in the yard. The silver napkin rings in the Ward Room were taken, even a personal one, with my name inscribed. The lockers in the crews quarters were also broken into, It was a disgrace. Finally one day 8 crewmen secreted themselves on one of the berth decks, while the crew was having their noon day meal. Sure enough the workmen started to break into the lockers. They were jumped on and roughed up, then taken up to the Officer of the Deck, who called the Yard security police. That seemed to reduce the theft.

The Dickman then left New York and arrived at Hampton Rhodes, where it took part in some Amphibious Training. Had 28 landing craft on board, 18 which were the old spoon bow Higgins boats, which were cradled under the worn screw davits. The davits had not been changed from when the ship was a passenger liner and the boat falls had to be worked by hand. The balance of the boats were located on the weather deck aft, or on the forecastle and were handled by the overhead gear and jumbo booms. It took several hours to get the boats in the water.The davits were not strong enough to take the boats. The worn gear davits bent and froze and were useless. It was a common occurrence to drop boats from the davit heads.

The troops that came aboard were the 26th Division under Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Among the 2400 troops was then Private Winthrop Rockefeller, it seems his friends inveigled him to join. The troops wore the vintage WWI uniforms and when landed on the beach, had to jump off the spoon bow of the landing craft, quite a feat, with a full pack and a rifle in hand. Everything was an innovation,trial and error but the knowledge gained led to perfection of tasks, that proved successful for future amphibious operations. In August the ship went into the Navy Yard, where we  picked up new boats and had electric davits installed.

The Captain wrote amphibious training was interrupted and all ships were ordered out to sea, for maneuvers in formation. We ran at night in close formation. It was quite an experience for all. but became routine after the war started. The Dickman pulled into Charleston S.C. and had liberty. It was here that Rockefeller announced he had rented the entire 3rd floor of a hotel on the battery, so anyone could take a shower. All persons on the Dickman had been on water hours since leaving New York . Everybody got 2 buckets of water per day, per man. However most of the officers and crew of the ship took advantage of the frequent thunderstorms , to take a shower. The Army thought we were nuts but later on started doing it.

The Dickman returned to New York, then moved to Boston for further conversion, remaining until Oct. 1. Stores were loaded, after which the transport proceeded to Halifax and loaded British reinforcements. It was while transporting the British troops, that we learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor and that the U.S. was at war. The Dickman arrived in Bombay, via Trinidad and Cape Town on Dec. 27.debarked troops then retraced it’s steps, arriving at New York Feb. 28,1942. The Dickman, during June was assigned to carry reinforcements to Caribbean Bases, then spent  July in the Chesapeake, preparing for the invasion of N. Africa. On Oct. 24 left Norfolk to take part in it’s first Amphibious landing, the first ever landing across an entire ocean. Arriving at Fedela early Nov.8, she began debarkation. The surf conditions were rough, resulting in the ships loosing many boats. The Dickman lost five landing barges and two coxswain. She remained off shore till the German Subs forced her seaward. The successful invasion was consolidated and the Dickman  entered Casablanca on Nov 15 and completed unloading. Two days later was underway, arriving in Norfolk Nov.30, 1942.  ( End of Capt. Qentin R. Walsh’s notes)

After arriving on board, I was assigned to the Boat Division and told I was a Boat Coxswain of spanking new LCVP.