Battleship
New Jersey Amateur Radio Station (BNJARS)
| Plank Owner |
| Original Radio Room Gang | | FDR
death announcement | Back to Memory
Page |
Bob Westcott,
1943 BB62 Plank Owner
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|
Bob
was one of the original radiomen onboard the USS New Jersey (BB62)
when it was commissioned in 1943. He is also a Ham radio operator
with the call sign W2MAS and a member of BNJARS. He has been most generous
with his knowledge, stories and memorabilia.
Bob was
20 yrs old when he became part of the first crew to serve on the New
Jersey. He has many stories about his days aboard and especially
about the radio room of that era. In the 1940s the radio room
was located on the 3rd deck off "Broadway" and all communications
that were received were transcribed by typewriter and then delivered to
the proper officer. Bob remembers that in those days there was no air-conditioning
on the ship and he used to take his bedding and sleep in the transmitter
room because it was the coolest place on the ship since it was water cooled.
<<< Bob Westcott with
his family in 1942.
Robert Westcott, Jr (son)
Doris May Westcott (wife)
Robert Westcott, Sr.
Mollie Anna Westcott (daughter)
|
As a radioman
on BB62, Bob kept his own little diary of important facts that were useful
to him in performing his duties. He still has that book and brought it
in to show us. It even included a "code" he used to communicate
with his wife, Doris, to let her know how he was doing and where he was
located. Back in those days, all mail was censored so you couldn't come
right out and say where you were.
When Bob heard
that the Battleship New Jersey was going to become a museum ship,
he was thrilled to be contacted by Joe Cramer, N2XYZ, Public Relations
Officer of BNJARS and asked to participate in the restoration of the radio
room on the ship. He has made many trips from his home to help out on the
ship and has quite enthusiastically shared a lot of his memories with our
members.
On May
26, 2001, BNJARS activated a radio station from the Battleship New Jersey
for the first time. This special event was commemorating
the 58th anniversary of the commissioning of the USS
New Jersey. Bob Westcott, W2MAS, had the pleasure of making
the very first radio transmission from the battleship on that day.
It was quite emotional for both Bob and his family who were present for
the event. You can hear that transmission in MP3
format (thank to the Courier Post).
>>>>
Bob Westcott, W2MAS operates
NJ2BB in May 2001 |
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Original
Radio Room Crew (1943)
We are extremely
lucky that Bob had the foresight to save everything he ever had concerning
the USS New Jersey. One of those items was a crew roster
of the 1943 "Radio Room Gang". This roster was signed by
each of the radio crew and included their name and address as of 1943.
Below is a list of those names and the state each came from. The
original list is handwritten so if any names are misspelled, please forgive
us
1943 Radio Room Gang
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Deward D. Price - AL |
Robert R. Snow - WA |
Vernon H. Merrill - MA |
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A. E. Huston - AZ |
H. B. McCauley - NY |
Robert J. Westcott- NJ |
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ArthurE. Crouse - MA |
James E. Clemont - AL |
Paul D. Dean - OH |
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John Wm. Henry - IN |
James M. Edwards - ID |
Harold L. Yates - IL |
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John Cooper - WV |
Richard L. Stone - WV |
Robert E. Oppinall- OH |
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Kenneth Cunningham-MN |
Richard D. Harrison-IN |
William H. Green - FL |
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Ivan Gravning - MN |
Robert R. Lunekk - IL |
Harold L. Wiley - MO |
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Jack D. Schaar - PA |
Paul F. Brunledge - IA |
James M. Rummel - MI |
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William Pulver - AZ |
LeRoy E. Hurd - CA |
Walter Plaiqek - IL |
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K. R. Wilhite - IL |
Curtis L. Charlain -GA |
Lloyd Craven - SC |
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Thomas R. Donald-OH |
Porrell J. Ferland - MA |
1943 CR Division Officers
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K. Brandt - OK |
D R Borg - MI |
L P Leggetti - WV |
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I. H. Ryalilesnd - NC |
R. H. Mays |
D C Mandeville - MI |
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Special Message
One of the pieces
of "history" Bob has in his possession is the original message
received onboard the USS New Jersey announcing the death
of FDR. Bob was the radioman who actually received the incoming message.
Below is a picture showing that original message:
Click on the image to see a full size, readable version of the
message.
