This story fits between Leora’s Dexter Stories (the Wilson family Depression years) and Leora’s Letters (the war years). The USS Yorktown (CV-5), the aircraft carrier that would be sunk at Midway Island in 1942, had been based at Pearl Harbor a year earlier. So why was the aircraft carrier in the Atlantic during 1941?
Toward the end of May, 1941, Donald Wilson, a Yorktown crewman since 1937, wrote his folks in Iowa to change his address to %Postmaster, Morgan Annex (Navy Desk), New York, NY. There was a rigid censorship of both outgoing and incoming mail so he couldn’t tell him where he was, but he knew they could figure out his ship had been ordered to the Atlantic.
Indeed, a month earlier the carrier had quietly taken on ammunition and tons of produce. Sealed orders were opened April 23, which revealed that the Yorktown and her screen of destroyers were Panama bound. All the markings on the ship were painted over so that spies at the canal couldn’t identify the carrier.
May 6, a darkened Yorktown arrived at the Canal Zone after dark and headed for Bermuda. President Roosevelt declared a state of “unlimited national emergency” and announced extended Neutrality Patrols, which the carrier would be part of.
Yorktown’s Operations in the Atlantic May-November 1941
Neutrality Patrol No. 1: May 31-June14
The Yorktown operated out of Hampton Roads, Norfolk, VA, into the central North Atlantic, with a British naval observer aboard. During the two week patrol, they ranged almost to the Cape Verde Islands, especially watching for Nazi U-boats.
Returning to Norfolk, Donald wrote his folks that he’d been in Bermuda and that their mail from there had been censored because it was a British port. He said the carrier was about to be painted black and would take on supplies for another patrol run. “We patrol or rather play stool-pigeon. That is, our planes spot an enemy near the convoy and radio Washington some story in code. The British pick it up on that frequency and they know the location of the ship.”
June 24, still at Norfolk, he wrote home, “I may send those [graduation] pictures home I have of Dale, Darlene, and Dan. . . .When things get tough I’ll send my valuables, what few I have. No use letting Davy Jones have them, you know.”
Neutrality Patrol No. 2: June 29-July 13
During June, according to Richard Ketchum, German U-boats in wolfpacks and attacking at night sank 61 merchant ships in the Atlantic. The Yorktown’s second cruise covered more than 5000 miles. They lost two planes during flight operations but the pilots and passengers were rescued.
Donald’s July 15 letter revealed that they were stocking up on winter supplies so he figured the next run would be in the North Atlantic, possibly Iceland. He couldn’t get leave unless it was for reenlistment or an emergency.
Neutrality Patrol No. 3: July 30-August 10
The Yorktown operated “as under war conditions, including complete darkening of ships when at sea.” The carrier returned to Bermuda.
Neutrality Patrol No. 4: August 15-August 27
The carrier probed farther eastward into the central North Atlantic than ever before, returning to Bermuda.
Neutrality Patrol No. 5: August 29-September 6 (dips to the south)
The Yorktown soon headed southeast, hunting a rumored German cruiser, nearly to Trinidad.
On Don’s 25th birthday, September 14, the carrier left Norfolk for Argentia, Newfoundland, where a base had recently been established. They arrived September 22 and operated from there, under battle conditions, until October 10, protecting convoy lanes from the US to 150 miles beyond Iceland. The first Allied convoy to Russia left Iceland September 28.
October 17, the USS Kearny was torpedoed by a U-boat near Iceland, with eleven killed.
Donald wrote home October 22 from Casco Bay, Portland, Maine, “When they start sinking our hips, well all they got to do is declare war and make this thing official.”
Convoys “Cargo” (eastbound) and CT-5 (westbound):
October 26-November 8 (farthest north)
The Yorktown sailed with twelve naval ships to escort a convoy of six merchantmen to MOMP (Mid-Ocean Meeting Point) to be transferred to the British. They escorted a troop convoy of eight ships back to Nova Scotia. They picked up strong German radio signals from U-boats. October 31, the USS Ruben James was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat in the north Atlantic, with 115 killed. November 3, the Yorktown crew went to General Quarters (battle positions) when torpedo tracks were reported.
The Yorktown returned to Casco Bay. The Neutrality Patrols were why the CV-5 was not at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but Davy Jones did end up getting Donald Wilson’s valuables, including the photos he mentioned and the letters from home that he’d saved. His carrier was sunk five months later during the Battle of Midway, June 7, 1942.
Knowing that war would break out soon, Donald Wilson and a crewmate went AWOL to hitchhike to the Iowa farm where Don’s family lived. Their arrival at the farm opens the book, Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II. Five brothers served, but only two came home.
There are two stories about Donald Wilson in Chapter 8: Veterans in the book The Immigrant and the Outlaw: A Collection of Stories from America’s Heartland. Uncle Don saw more combat during WWII than anyone in the family.
Information and map are from That Gallant Ship: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5) by Robert Cressman.
You’ve written these words before “five brothers served, but only two came home” … but they hit me each time I see them. They take me back. What that must have been like for their parents. I imagine myself in that same situation. Wow. Such a great pic too of Donald’s brothers!!!
Thank you so much, Brian. I have tried as well because I knew Leora as such a cheerful grandmother. They had just bought their first ever home and the boys had even kidded about having a little airplane hangar on part of the acreage. That’s where all the worst telegrams arrived. I just can’t imagine.
Such fascinating stuff! Praying that you’re both doing well. ❤️❤️🙏
Thank you, Gail. Moving slowly, but still forward!
It was a very tense time and subterfuge was going on both sides of the Atlantic. My father was on destroyer excorts from 1939 through to 43 when he managed to get a shore posting when my second eldest sister was born… but was back out there to the Far East only coming home in 1946.. He left two ships that were sunk weeks later and he lost many shipmates. He rarely talked about it until we persuaded him to write his memoirs. The impact on all serving young men and women is not measurable. ♥♥
Oh my. I’m thankful your dad wrote his memoirs. We must remember what they went through. Uncle Don had planned to make the Navy a career (since 1934), but finally got out in 1946–just gone too much, losing those younger brothers and his dad. He’d experienced more combat that anyone in the family.
My father was also in the Korean War and away again between me at 3 and 5… I found him in bed with my mother after a late night arrival and screamed the house down as I didn’t recognise him! ♥
Oh, I guess you would!
Another compelling story from “The Immigrant and the Outlaw!” 🙂
Thank you, Nancy. It’s sure potluck, isn’t it!
Yes, and with potluck there is always something for everyone. 😁
After seeing that much combat, I don’t blame Donald for deciding against becoming a lifer in the Navy.
A terrific story, Joy. The neutrality patrols must have been nerve-racking. Thanks for sharing
I’ll bet they were. Thanks, John! After the war broke out, Donald’s older brother was assigned to a tanker in the Atlantic, up and down to Aruba! His letters were tense.
It does make we wonder why the sinking of those two USS ships didn’t draw us into the war then. And those 61 merchant ships sunk—horrors! What happened to their crews?
They just knew it was a matter of time, that something would trigger it for the Americans. You’re right, Eilene.
[…] What Caused a Young Navyman to Go AWOL in Late 1941? by Joy on Joy Neal Kidney […]
This is captivating, Joy. AWOL is not desertion. He must have wanted to see his family before the war began.
And that’s how Leora’s Letters opens, with Don and a friend showing up in the farmhouse in the middle of the night. No one locked their doors back then. Don’s friend was the son of a sheriff, who would have to turn them in right away. They knew Don’s folks would probably just wait until warnings came from the navy, which is what they did.
Wow, Joy. 😲
A fascinating and deeply important slice of WWII naval history. The Yorktown’s Atlantic neutrality patrols really highlight how close the U.S. was already operating to full war footing before Pearl Harbor quiet movements, censored letters, and dangerous convoy work long before official entry into the war.
Thank you for sharing this well-documented family and historical connection.