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usf2.gif (10730 bytes) USS SIGSBEE DD-502  usf2.gif (10730 bytes)

Just one small ship in one "Big War".........This WW II Fletcher Class Destroyer saw action in the Pacific Theatre of Operations 1943 to 1945.........This web site is a Memorial to the DD-502, her crew that sailed into harms way, and to those sailors that made the ultimate sacrifice.

United States Navy World War Two

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This web site is a MEMORIAL to the SIGSBEE crew members who paid the ultimate price in service to our country. It is also dedicated to the officers and men that served with pride and distinction as "Tin Can Sailors" on her decks in World War Two. LET US NOT FORGET!

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) My Search

anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Launch & Commissioning anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) History and Crew  List

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Memorial   anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) USS Sigsbee Photos anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Crew Photos Webshots

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Action Reports anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) USS Sigsbee Artifacts anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Hollywood and the 502

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) DD-502 Model anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) A Sailors Testimony anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Destroyer Squadron 25

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Reunions 1988 1994 Linked from Billy Roberts Sigsbee site anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) 502 Obituary Archives anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) DesRon25 Reunion 05'

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) DDG-93 anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) DDG-93 Commissioning anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) DesRon 25 Reunion 07'

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) DDG-93 Web Site anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) My family that Served anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Billy Roberts 502 site

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Navy Links Kamikaze attack painting anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)WW II Veteran Tribute

DD-502

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This site last updated on July 8, 2010

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Every ship has a name........Youtube clip Sigsbee/Chung-Hoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9rAunPwbUQ

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 Sigsbee vets meet up with an old friend at the 2009 Virginia Beach Reunion.

Dave Kugler who is in possession of the DD-502's bell was a special guest at the annual East Coast Reunion. He brought the bell to the reunion so those in attendance could, see, touch, and ring the ship's bell. For those sailors in attendance it was the first time for them to see/hear the ship's bell in some sixty-three years. This event was made possible when Sigsbee veteran Billy Roberts, USS Harrison, "son and planner" John Chiquoine, and John Mastin, located the bell and its owner.

The following photos are courtesy of Dave Kugler and Billy Roberts. Visit Billy Roberts webshots page to view these and more Sigsbee related photos @ http://community.webshots.com/user/dd502

Paul Bagin, Greendale, WI

George Mazzagotte, Pennsacola, Fl.

Ed Perley, Downingtown, PA

Hank Elizagaray, Glendale, CA

Elmer Virag, McKeesport, PA

Fred Grupp, Baltimore, Maryland

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This site provides information on service members buried overseas.

Click on banner to access the ABMC site.          

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          View movie clip of the damaged DD-502 as it appeared in the 

                     1950 release of "Okinawa" starring Pat O'Brien

                                                                                          

                                                                                      Click on the poster to view the movie clip

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 SIGSBEE'S bell found! Click on "The Bell" to view photos. Linked from Billy Roberts webshots album. To read letter from bells owner click on the anchor...... anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)

                     

 

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        Locate a Sigsbee Sailors photograph

  Step 1. Looking  for a photograph of a Sigsbee Sailor?  Click on the anchor to see a list of names and the Webshots Album location of that sailor. anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)
  Step 2.

To view Sigsbee Sailor photographs on Webshots click on the sailor.

 

  Step 3. Can't find the name of the sailor you are looking? Search the sailors that have not been identified in Album #12. If you identify a sailor in Album #12 please email this webmaster by clicking on lighthouse.

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 Tribute to the Minesweeper YMS-81 and her crew

Click on the 81's picture below

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                            Please sign our Guest Book (click on the lighthouse). 

Read Guest Book entries: 

anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)  #1  to #44 anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)  #45 to #84  anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)  #85 to #124  anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) #125 to #164  anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)#165 to latest entry

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anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)Burial at sea on the Sigsbee April 15, 1945 following kamikaze attack the previous day. Linked from Billy Roberts Sigsbee site.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Patriotic Videos
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) SIGSBEE west coast veterans and SIGSBEE family members attend a luncheon onboard the USS CHUNG-HOON Oct. 2008
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Three great Sigsbee related photos 1. Twenty MM gun crews on Sigsbee's stern   2. Sailors on Empire State Building 1943       3. Close-up of crew preparing a tow line after the kamikaze hit of 4/14/1945
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)  North Platte Canteen a must see video
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)  World War II Navy Rank and Rate Abbreviations
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)  January 23, 2009, marks the sixty sixth anniversary of the Commissioning of the USS Sigsbee DD-502 at Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn, NY. Click on the anchor to view the members of the Commissioning crew and officers copied from Administrative Logs. Linked from Billy Roberts 502 site.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)  Register your name at HULLNUMBER.COM and join other SIGSBEE veterans. HullNumber.com's mission is to provide a means for shipmates to keep in touch with one another.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) "The Old Salts" Which sailors served on the 502 the longest? Click anchor for answer. Linked from Billy Roberts site.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)  "Recollections" THE WAR YEARS, BY ROBERT D. KARL, as told by Bill Branch March 2005.   Web Master's Note: Ensign Robert D. Karl, was ordered to report for duty to the New York Navy Yard, where he was to join the soon to be Commissioned USS SIGSBEE DD-502 as Assistant Gunnery Officer. The following excerpt from "Recollections" deals with Robert's time spent on the SIGSBEE. 
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) New photos of the SIGSBEE taken from the cruiser USS MIAMI 4/14/1945. Photos were sent to me by my friend Dave Schroeder. The photos were found by his friend Joe Lewis.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) 1931 Naval Academy wire photo of Gordon P. Chung-Hoon
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Photos donated in memory of  Sigsbee veteran Vincent Palmieri
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) SIGSBEE attempted to rescue a downed airman on July 16, 1944. Read the deck logs which describes the event. Linked to Billy Roberts SIGSBEE site.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) SABINE PASS tows the 502 from Guam to Pearl Harbor for repairs.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Tribute to Lt. Thomas R.Weschler, Gunnery Officer  Aug. 15, 1943 to Mar. 9, 1945. Linked to Billy Roberts  web site.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Photo of  Sigsbee at the Philadelphia Navy Yard 1973. Photo taken by Ted Stone and courtesy of the Cote Collection. 
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes) Location in the Pacific Ocean off Okinawa where the Sigsbee was hit 4/14/1945. Courtesy off Billy Roberts.
anchorbutton[1].gif (433 bytes)Description and order form for "War Diary: USS Stevens 1941-1946"   This book is about the STEVENS, a sister ship to the 502       and member of DesRon 25 (see photos and info on DesRon 25 link)

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   There are twenty-four (24) sailors honored on the Memorial Page on this web site, of these, seven (7) sailors do not have a  photo posted. It is our goal to obtain a photo of each Sigsbee sailor that made the ultimate sacrifice. During our research my good friend Billy Roberts and I have been unable to locate any family members of these seven sailors.  If anyone visiting this site can help, please contact us using the email link on this page. :         

Looking for surviving family members of these sailors lost on the SIGSBEE:

Name    &     Rate            Received onboard     Service #        Enlisted                     Family Info ******************************************************************************************

Cox, Carlton C. F1c                  2/9/45           975 57 79       no record *  Wife; Julia Berry Cox, Rt 4 Box 213Mobile, AL.

Freeman, Joseph W. Jr. BM2c  1/23/43          262 25 99      Norfolk , VA Wife: Charlotte Marie, 2105 Avondale, Dr. Durham, North Carolina 

Heflin, Joseph L. S1c                 8/8/44           756 16 63     Huntington , WV Father: Ralph B. Heflin, Salem W.V. married a Maggie Tierney, in West Union, WV. 1924.

Hudson, William O. S2c           12/2/44           736 14 31       no record*  Father; Archie S. Hudson, 2023 Holmby St. Los Angeles, CA.  

Mellum, Ernest P.M3c            12/20/43         886 62 28       SF, CA        Mother; Emma Josephine Mullem, 2118 Eye. St. Sacramento, CA

Mueller, Lawrence E. EM2c      11/25/44         853 43 28     Chicago , IL Wife; Mrs. Alice May Mueller, 5859 N. Mobile, Ave. Chicago, IL 

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Missing (lost overboard) 7/25/43

Shapiro, Myer H. F1c              1/23/43          202 20 71      Boston , MA 1/15/42  Mother; Minnie G. Shapiro, Malden, Mass

Note: Information compiled by Billy Roberts using ships muster rolls, with research help from John Chiquoine. 

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Awarded Feb. 14, 2004

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Thank You  Entre Computer Center of Louisville, Ky. for your support and generosity in making this site possible. 

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                                                                                      This web site established in 1998