U.S.S. SLC...USN...William T. Fitzgerald, AMMC


William T. Fitzgerald passed away on Dec. 25th, 1998. Information from son, William D. Fitzgerald

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Jan. 19, 2013

Sandy Eskew:

My father, 20 year retired ('27 to '47) AMMC William Thurman Fitzgerald, served on the USS Salt Lake City in the early 1930s then later on the USS Portland, then after the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Nov 42), he was the leading chief at the cruiser school at Alameda for the rest of the war (large family). He lost most of his air crew shipmates at the Guadalcanal Battle so he rarely mentioned anything about his Navy experiences (PTSD).

He did talk a few times about the 1933 Long Beach earthquake (Mar 10, 1933) and guarding a Safeway market at night, having the ship fully steamed in the harbor with sailors ready to cut the anchor chains in case of a title wave.

Do you know if it was the Salt Lake City or was it the Portland that was docked there during that earthquake?

Thanks,

William D. Fitzgerald
Anaheim, CA