Category Archives: Crew

WWII M26 Life Preservers

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In many of the WWII crew photographs you will see certain crew members of the group wearing a rather odd-looking belt around their waist, such as highlighted in the photograph below. These “belts” are M26 life preservers. Crew members were required to wear their life preserver whenever they were “on-duty” or “on-watch.”
WWII M26 Life Preserver-small2

Correct position was at chest-level and around under the arm pits, however the belts rarely stayed up at chest level and were more comfortably worn at the waist. However, inflating the belt at waist-level put the wearer at greater risk of drowning.

Apparently the CO2 canisters were easy to set off, and many of the crew would take the canisters out of their belt so that they wouldn’t be victim of pranksters and “accidental” inflation. The belts could still be manually inflated by blowing up the two bladders via two long black tubes.

Here is a link at WarRelics.eu with additional information, and a close-up view of these life belts.

In Memory: Sterling Funck

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I am sad to announce that my grandfather, Sterling Funck, passed away at the end of July, He was 89. Our entire family will miss him tremendously. His obituary is here.

Funck, Sterling - US Navy Picture - 1943

Sterling was well taken care of by the Lebanon VA Medical Hospice Unit during the final weeks of his time with us. Thank you to the staff at the Lebanon VA for taking such good care of him during his final few weeks. He truly felt respect and care in the hands of these fine doctors and nurses when he needed it the most.

Sterling’s stories from his time aboard the USS Harry Lee and the USS Calvert are available on the Adventures page of this web site. If it not been for his willingness to share his stories I may never have known of the Calvert’s rich history from her many years of service in the US Navy.

 

 

In Memory: Leonard Eck, WWII veteran and USS Calvert crew member

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Condolences to the family of Lenoard “Len” Francis Eck. Leonard passed away on March 27th, 2013 at the age of 89. He served aboard the USS Calvert during 1945/46 while the Calvert was assigned to service near Shanghai, China. Prior to his time aboard the Calvert, Leonard served aboard the USS Freemont (APA-44) for most of the war.

From Leonard’s son, Glenn C. Eck, of Philadelphia PA: “My father, Leonard Francis Eck, passed away on March 27th, 2013 aged 89 years, in his hometown of York, PA.  He was able-bodied and healthy until the end.  A wonderful father and a wonderful man, he spoke often of his service aboard both the USS Fremont and the USS Calvert during WWII.  Although he was not online himself, he enjoyed the Calvert website very much when he had opportunities to view it.”

Here is Leonard’s online obituary at Legacy.com. You may contact Glenn directly via email.

Crossing the Line, Nov 15 1943 – Hand-drawn Chart

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This chart was hand-drawn by Walter “Fred” Cox on the day that the Calvert, part of the US Navy’s Gilbert Operation’s Northern Task Group, crossed the Equator and International Dateline. From Ronnie Cox: “My dad drew that diagram on that day to commemorate the occasion.  He couldn’t mail it home because the censors would have confiscated it  so he brought it back with him after the war.  Sadly Dad passed away in 1967 but I have the original document in my possession.”

The Calvert is listed near the center of the diagram (upper-right quadrant).

1943-11-15 - Northern Task Group Invasion Fleet crossing the line - by Fred Cox