Joe Pierre

Joe Pierre

Here’s a photo of the S.S. Tacoma, Matson Lines, in 1945 at pier 30-32 in
San Francisco. She was about 5,000 tons, single screw, riveted hull, with 3
double end and 3 single end boilers with German markings on the water
glasses and was built in Hamburg in 1931. I’ve heard she was supply ship
for the Admiral Graf Spee, the German pocket battleship that was scuttled in
the Plate river in 1939. She was captured there. She had a reefer plant
forward of the boiler room, GE turbines and carried a 5″ 38 on the fantail,
manned by a Navy Armed Guard unit.

The other picture is of me (with the hat on) and Ted Wilke. We both hailed
from Olympia, Washington, and were 16 years old at the time. I was a
fireman and he a mess boy.

Picture of SS Tacoma

Joe Pierre (with hat) and Ted Wilkie

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