Naval History and Heritage Command

Finding aid (PDF)

Biography

William Duncan Silkworth graduated from Monmouth Junior College and was attending the University of Michigan when he volunteered for the Navy’s V-7 program in 1939.  He was commissioned as an Ensign in 1940 and served in the North Atlantic and the Pacific during WWII.

He was commanding officer of LST-546 for two years and was involved in the repatriation of the Japanese Army from Manchuria at the end of WWII.

As a reservist, he was recalled during the Korean War and served on an admiral’s staff in the Philadelphia Navy Yard as liaison to the South American Navies.  Silkworth retired at the age of 60 in 1979, with the rank of Captain.

Scope and Content Notes

This is a Folder Collection.  

"A Memoir of WWII" was based on letters from LT William Duncan Silkworth II to his wife.  Included are photographs covering the commissioning of LST-546 and the training duty period, from April 1944 until April 1945 in Little Creek, Va.

A summary of the Deck Log for LST-546 is also included.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the Papers of William Duncan Silkworth II, Archives Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C.