HPRA
USS HUGH PURVIS - DD 709
Commanding
Officer Notes... Below are the
notes on some of the early C/O's. There are still several dates that
are incomplete. Help from anyone aboard during any period
would be greatly appreciated. More photos would also help, including
those men we already have.
CDR N. Sampson -
(Removed from the list) It turns out he was C/O of the USS
Allen M. Sumner (DD-692) and appeared by mistake for the
Hugh Purvis. That is now corrected on Nav Source.
LCDR T. Buell - ("a'") The dates received from Dennis had shown him as C/O from Sept. 01, 1945 to Oct. 01, 1945, just prior to CDR Musgrave. We now know, from a 1946 newspaper clipping, Buell was the X/O under Musgrave. It is likely he became X/O under CDR Gurnette, though all indications are he was "Acting C/O" for the month of September, 1945.
CDR B.L. Gurnette - ( "A" in the table ) We know CDR Gurnette was the first C/O, since we have the Commissioning Program. According to the information on CDR Musgrave, Gurnette's end date would be 10/1/1945.
CDR C.W. Musgrave - ( "B" in the table ) Information from Norman Shiren (CIC officer 1945) reports that C.W. Musgrave was the C/O when he reported aboard later in 1945. He thought he was the first C/O. We have the Commissioning Program from March 1, 1945 showing that CDR Gurnette was first. Using Norman's information, CDR Gurnette was relieved October 1, 1945 by CDR Musgrave.
CDR Denekas - ( "E" in the table ) We now have have information from John Beaver (YN 1951) that he is for real. He relieved CDR McCarley in October, 1950.
CDR Thomas - ( "F" in the table ) Information received from George Beal (50-52) CDR Thomas relieved CDR Denekas around October 20, 1952. He is not sure of LCDR Martin's status but is sure Martin was not a C/O, most likely an X/O at some point.
LCDR G.W. Martin Jr. & LCDR J.P.Gorman - (f ' - f*) According to information from George Beal (50-52) LCDR Martin was an X/O even though he is listed on Nav Source as a DD709 C/O. There are indications he was "Acting C/O" due to an injury to CDR Thomas. LCDR Gorman is also shown as an acting C/O under CDR Thomas for a similar reason. (From Margaret Gorman (Granddaughter on 3/30/2010: Just prior to the NATO exercise MAINBRACE 13-24 Sept 1952 the Commanding Officer of the Hugh Purvis suffered an accident and was hospitalized. LCDR Gorman expressed high confidence in his ability to handle the ship although he had been Executive Officer for only a short period. of time and his succession to temporary command was approved.) Link... (New from Margaret Gorman - 2/12/2011 - A newspaper clip of Gorman's promotion to LCDR and his 1952 fitness report.)
The sequence of duty is Thomas, Martin, Thomas, Gorman, Thomas; all over a short period. If anyone has a handle on this let us know. This is from two of the contributors to Nav Source, Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves. Wolfgang is from Germany and likes this kind of research. Ron is a retired Chief Petty Officer. Fred Willshaw maintains the Nav Source pages and provided us with their information.
If anyone has further information on any of these, please use the link at the bottom of most pages, to let us know.
LCDR T. Buell - ("a'") The dates received from Dennis had shown him as C/O from Sept. 01, 1945 to Oct. 01, 1945, just prior to CDR Musgrave. We now know, from a 1946 newspaper clipping, Buell was the X/O under Musgrave. It is likely he became X/O under CDR Gurnette, though all indications are he was "Acting C/O" for the month of September, 1945.
CDR B.L. Gurnette - ( "A" in the table ) We know CDR Gurnette was the first C/O, since we have the Commissioning Program. According to the information on CDR Musgrave, Gurnette's end date would be 10/1/1945.
CDR C.W. Musgrave - ( "B" in the table ) Information from Norman Shiren (CIC officer 1945) reports that C.W. Musgrave was the C/O when he reported aboard later in 1945. He thought he was the first C/O. We have the Commissioning Program from March 1, 1945 showing that CDR Gurnette was first. Using Norman's information, CDR Gurnette was relieved October 1, 1945 by CDR Musgrave.
CDR Denekas - ( "E" in the table ) We now have have information from John Beaver (YN 1951) that he is for real. He relieved CDR McCarley in October, 1950.
CDR Thomas - ( "F" in the table ) Information received from George Beal (50-52) CDR Thomas relieved CDR Denekas around October 20, 1952. He is not sure of LCDR Martin's status but is sure Martin was not a C/O, most likely an X/O at some point.
LCDR G.W. Martin Jr. & LCDR J.P.Gorman - (f ' - f*) According to information from George Beal (50-52) LCDR Martin was an X/O even though he is listed on Nav Source as a DD709 C/O. There are indications he was "Acting C/O" due to an injury to CDR Thomas. LCDR Gorman is also shown as an acting C/O under CDR Thomas for a similar reason. (From Margaret Gorman (Granddaughter on 3/30/2010: Just prior to the NATO exercise MAINBRACE 13-24 Sept 1952 the Commanding Officer of the Hugh Purvis suffered an accident and was hospitalized. LCDR Gorman expressed high confidence in his ability to handle the ship although he had been Executive Officer for only a short period. of time and his succession to temporary command was approved.) Link... (New from Margaret Gorman - 2/12/2011 - A newspaper clip of Gorman's promotion to LCDR and his 1952 fitness report.)
The sequence of duty is Thomas, Martin, Thomas, Gorman, Thomas; all over a short period. If anyone has a handle on this let us know. This is from two of the contributors to Nav Source, Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves. Wolfgang is from Germany and likes this kind of research. Ron is a retired Chief Petty Officer. Fred Willshaw maintains the Nav Source pages and provided us with their information.
If anyone has further information on any of these, please use the link at the bottom of most pages, to let us know.