U.S.S. Witter Invitation to Commissioning on December 29, 1943

Captain, Officers and Crew
of the
U.S.S. Witter
extend to you an invitation
to witness the Ceremony of
The Commissioning of the U.S.S. Witter
at the outfitting dock,
Bethlehem Steel Company
San Francisco, California

ENSIGN JEAN CARTER WITTER, Jr.
United States Naval Reserve

for whom the U.S.S. Witter was named, was killed in action on board the U.S.S. San Francisco, during an engagement between United States and Japanese Naval Forces off Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, on 13 November 1942. At the time of his death, Ensign Witter was serving as Assistant Navigator of the U.S.S. San Francisco. He was awarded post-humously the Order of the Purple Heart.

Ensign Witter was born in San Francisco, California, on 31 January 1921. He was graduated from the University of California where he was a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and was commissioned Ensign in May, 1942.

Postmarked December 28, 1943

Tues, Dec. 28, 1943

Dear Folks,

We arrived here at about 4:00 A.M. and are now just waiting to see what develops. We are in a receiving barracks now but we don't know whether we'll be here any length of time, as we haven't even unlashed our bags & hammocks yet. As far as the famous California sunshine goes, I'm still waiting to see it as it is raining cats & dogs this A.M.

We are about 40 miles from San Francisco and they say it is a pretty good liberty town.

The more I think of what I saw of the country coming out here, the more I want to make that trip again some time and really see everything. You don't realize how big this country is until you start to travel across it or how many different kinds of people and scenery you see. Some of those towns in New Mexico and Arizona looked like they came out of the Wild West movies. The desert impressed me more than anything else. It's hard to believe that you can travel a hundred miles without seeing a house. It's quite an experience, seeing the country for the first time.

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 27, 1943

Dec. 27, 1943 Monday

Well, our trip is almost over. We went thru Los Angeles this morning and are now going up the coast of california. We will hit Frisco tonite. From the train window we have a beautiful view of the Pacifac. We passed lots of orange groves this morning with oranges growing right on the trees. The weather is like late spring and everything is so green you can hardly believe that it is December. We came here by a very roundabout route. From Norfolk we went South to Atlanta then west to Birmingham and from there to Memphis. We went thru Arkansas and Oklahoma and across the Texas Panhandle into New Mexico, the Southwest to El Paso, Tex. them across New Mexico and Arizona to Los Angeles and now north to Frisco.It has been a very interesting trip and I enjoyed it. I really have seen a good past of the country, 25 states to be exact.

I'll have to close now as I have to shave and get cleaned up before we get off,

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 23, 1943

Nov. 23, [sic] Thursday

Dear Folks,

We didn't leave Norfolk until last nite and are now somewhere in South Carolina or Georgia, I'm not sure which. We have genuine Pullman cars this time, and I slept pretty good last nite. We will get to Frisco around Monday So you see, we have a pretty long ride ahead of us. We have the entire train to ourselves, there are no civilians aboard at all, We are divided up by divisions, the engineers are in one car, the deck force in another, the gunners in another etc. We go directly aboard the ship when we get there in Frisco. she's at the Mare Island Navy Yard, 32 miles from Frisco. The weather is cloudy and cold, and the scenery is anything but beautiful. I'd heard a lot about the south but I never believed it was this bad. I guess it will be a little more interesting when we get out west a ways.

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 20, 1943

Dec. 19, 1943

Dear Folks,

Well, I managed to find George after I called you up and I spent the whole day talking over old times. It sure was good to see him again.

There isn't much more to say. My adress will be:

Paul H. Kleinman F2c
U.S.S. Witter DE 636
c/o Fleet Postmaster
San Francisco, Cal.

I'll try to write a few letters on the train and will write or call as sooon as we hit Frisco.

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 17, 1943

Dec, 16, 1943

Dear Folks,

Haven't had a letter in a couple of days now but I guess it is pretty slow on account of the Xmas rush. I got a package from Uncle Julius and also one from the Franks yesterday. Uncle Julius sent me the tackle I asked for, also some candy and snacks.

It has really turned cold down here It has been below freezing the last couple of days. I'll bet its pretty cold up in N.Y. Not much to write about so I will close with

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 15, 1943

Dec. 15, 1943

Dear Folks,

I got your letter and i assure you I wasn't the least bit sick. That isn't much to brag about, as we were only out in the bay, but still, some of the fellow didn't look too good and quite a few didn't have much appetite. The bay was pretty choppy Sunday, choppy enough to ship water on the deck once in a while. since she was a Deisel job, we couldn't learn much about the machinery, but we did et an idea of what it would be like living aboard a D.E. The machine shop, by the way, is about the size of the bathroom at home and consists of a lathe, drill press, and bench.

There sure isn't any space wasted on those ships. The 3 deck bunks fold back into the bulkheads during the day to make room for the mess tables to be set up. I really think I'm going to like it, tho. I couldn't get my rod into my sea bag and wouldn't want it anyway, as all I want is a couple of hand lines. We haven't heard anything about leaves, so we will just have to keep our fingers crossed.

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 12, 1943

Dec. 11, 1943

Dear Folks,

Well, the cruise turned out to be just a case of going out in the morning and coming in at nite. We are still living in the barracks.

Yesterday we went out all day on a D.E. and we are going out again tomorrow. We only went a little ways out into Cheseapeake Bay, but I feel pretty salty nevertheless. She was a Deisel job, while ours is a turbo-electric so we couldn't learn much about the engines The evaporator plant is pretty much the same on both so i managed to learn something. I'm sure glad our ship isn't a Deisel job, as they are slow as molasses and the engine rooms are so noisy you can hardly hear yourself think. Our ship will be much faster and a lot quieter. Our commissioning date has been moved up from the 23 to the 31, so we may get a few days leave, but don't count too much on it.

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 8, 1943

Dec, 7, 1943

Dear Folks,

There isn't much too write, as I guess I told you the bad news last nite on the phone. [No meet-up in Richmond on the weekend.] Yesterday we went to fire-fighting school and practiced putting out oil and gasoline fires. It was a lot of fun too, sort of a fulfilling of every kid's dream of being a fireman. We went to school again today as we will for the rest of the week until Friday, when we go on the cruise.

I got a letter from George today. He is graduating and expects to be sent to the Pacific Coast. I may run into him in Frisco.

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 3, 1943

Dec. 2, 1943

Dear Folks,

Got your letter this morning also the paper. They made it sound pretty big, didn't they?

The ass't engineering officer has put me down along with 3 other fellows to work on the evaporator. That is the distilling plant on the ship which makes all the fresh water used for the boilers and for drinking They have the complete unit set up in the school, and I have been studying it and think I know it pretty well. It looks complicated with all the pipes and valves and gages and pumps, but it is equipped with automatic relief valves and pressure regulators so that once it is adjusted properly it practically runs itself. Naturally tho,you have to keep a pretty close watch on it, because if any salt was to get into the feed tanks, it could ruin the boiler tubes. An instrument called a salinity indicator is used to measure the amount of salt in the water. This is nothing more than a galvanometer to measure the resistance of the water. the more salt in the water the less electric resistance, and this is shown on the dial. To be suitable for boiler use, the water must have not more than 30 grains of salt per gallon. That is the absolute allowable maximum, in practice we won't have more than 5 or 6 grains. Between 30 and 50 grains of salt, the water is not good for boilers but is suitable for the ship's service tanks, for drinking, washing etc. Over 50 grains it is too salty for any use and must be pumped overboard.

I better stop now or I can go on for pages. It's probably boing to you but I find it interesting and once I get started there is no stopping me. It should give you some idea of what my job will be aboard ship.

Last nite I saw "Son of Dracula." It is a real chiller, and Ralph would no doubt eat it up. This Sunday I'll try to put a call thru early in the morning, about 7:00 A.M. Maybe then the lies will not be so crowded.

Love to all,

Paul

Postmarked December 1, 1943

Nov. 30, 1943

Dear Folks,

Sorry I didn't get a call thru Sunday but the lines were even more crowded than usual and you know how much patience I have to wait 2 or 3 hours to get a call thru.

I haven't had a letter from you for a few days now, but I guess it will all catch up too me soon. I got a letter from Aunt Jennie and one from Aunt Reba.

We had a test on boilers last Saturday and my mark was 3.66, the second highest in the crew. As you know, in the Navy 4.0 is the perfect grade, so you can figure out the percentage if you want, I'm too lazy.

As for the bus connections to Richmond, there is a bus leaving at 5:00 P.M. which arrives in Richmond at about 7:30. I I should get out late for some reason there is another leaving at 7:00 P.M. which arrives at 9:30 P.M. I will probably make the early one tho so if you will meet me at the Grey-hound bus depot in Richmond at 7:30 P.M. on sat. Dec. 11, everything should work out O.K. I can catch a bus back at 3:00 A.M. Monday and still get back in time. I would advise you to try to get to Richmond Sat. morning so that you will have time to find hotel accommodations. If there is anything more you want to know about this arrangement, write and ask. I want to be sure that we get everything straight as we don't have very much more time.

I found out about our chief engineering officers. His name is Lt. MacLane he is a mustang, an officer who has worked his way up from the ranks. He has only been in the Navy 24 years. The assistant engineering officer is an Ensign and he is here with us. He is only 25 but he served a hitch in the Navy as an enlisted man before getting his commission, so he is a pretty regular guy. The other day he told us not to be too hard on the deck force, after all he said, they are our allies.

That's about all, so will close with

Love to all,

Paul