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IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 17, 1950 LI 5-6700 Ext. 76161
Twelve U.S. Navy personnel are missing
and one is dead, as a result of two minesweepers, the USS PIRATE
and USS PLEDGE, striking mines almost simultaneously and sinking
off Wonsan harbor on the east coast of Korea on October 12.
The two 185-foot, steel-hulled minesweepers struck separate mines
within a period of six minutes shortly before noon (Korean time)
while engaged in minesweeping operations with other vessels within
three miles of the enemy-held island of Sin-do.
The PIRATE sank in about five minutes, and the PLEDGE within an
hour.
Enemy coastal guns on Sin-do island opened fire on survivors in
the water and on vessels which proceeded to their rescue. Other
U.S. Navy surface ships and carrier-based planes in the area attacked
and silenced the shore batteries before any survivors or rescue
vessels were hit.
The high-speed minesweeper USS ENDICOTT and the minesweeper USS
INCREDIBLE picked up the survivors. All were later transferred
to the ENDICOTT and carried to hospital facilities at Pusan.
The next of kin of the 12 missing and one dead have been notified.
One other U.S. Navy minesweeper, the USS MAGPIE, was sunk; and
two destroyers, the USS BRUSH and USS MANSFIELD, were damaged
in recent weeks by striking mines off the east coast of Korea.
The MAGPIE listed her casualties as 21 missing; the BRUSH as 11
dead, three missing and 10 injured; and the MANSFIELD, which first
reported seven injured, later added 19 others as slightly injured.
The PIRATE was commanded by Lieutenant Cornelius E. McMullen,
USN, of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Also aboard the PIRATE was Lieutenant
Commander Bruce M. Hyatt, USNR, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Commander
of Mine Division 32.
The PLEDGE was commanded by Lieutenant Richard O. Young, USN,
whose mother, Mrs. Mary W. Young, lives in Inverness, Florida.
The dead (USS PLEDGE):
Martin Joseph Nowak, Radarman, Second Class, USN, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Henry Nowak, Niagra Falls, New York.
The missing (USS PLEDGE):
Richard Thomas McCoy, Radarman, First Class, USN, brother of Mrs.
Cozette E. Bassett, Los Angeles, California.
Kenneth Eugene Galley, Fireman, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
John Galley, North Irwin, Pennsylvania.
Bernice Cauthen, Engineman, Third Class, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Roach Cauthen, Monroe, North Carolina.
Vern Harris Fuller, Engineman, Second Class, USN, husband of Mrs.
Ardythe Lorraine Fuller, Yokosuka, Japan.
Robert William Turner, Chief Engineman, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Albert Francis Turner, Juniata, Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Marcel Albert Smith, Damage Controlman, Third Class, USN, husband
of Mrs. Esther Lalena Smith, Bell Gardens, California.
The missing (USS PIRATE):
Earl Joseph Mocklin, Commissaryman, First Class, USN, son of Mrs.
John Mocklin, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Robert John Nelson, Fireman Apprentice, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Robert M. Nelson, San Francisco, California.
John Norman Thomson, Electrician's Mate, Third Class, USN, son
of Mr. & Mrs. John Thomson, Dundalk, Maryland.
Adrian Warren Johnson, Machinist's Mate, First Class, USN, husband
of Mrs. Ophelia Ann Johnson, Houston, Texas.
Gerald George Smith, Fireman, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Burton
Raymond Smith, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Alfred Lewis Coleman, Fireman, USN, son of Mrs. Lillie Bernice
Taylor Coleman, Lucedale, Mississippi.
Source: DOD Office of Public Information Immediate Release,
17 October 1950, USS Pirate File, Box 474, Ships History
Division, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC.
10 April 2001