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What ship did my father serve on while in the Navy?

Angie Costner

I am researching to find what ship my Father served on in WWII. I know that he served at the very end of WWII and helped in the rebuilding of Okinawa. He was from Cliffside, NC. His name was Dargan Delious Goode, Jr. He was a machinist's mate, third class (CB) V6 USNR. I have his discharge paper. He was with the 126th US Naval Construction Battalion, 8th US Naval Construction Battalion, and the 125th US Naval Construction Battalion.

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    Good afternoon.

    To obtain copies of your Father's military records, you may download and complete a Standard Form 180 (https://www.archives.gov/files/sf180-request-pertaining-to-military-records-exp-april2018-1.pdf ).

    You may then mail the completed form to the National Personnel Records Center at the following address:

    National Personnel Records Center
    1 Archives Drive
    St. Louis, MO 63138

    You may also fax the completed form to 314-801-9195

    Thanks

    Carl Urich

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    Dear Ms. Costner,

    Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

    The information you provided indicates that he did not serve as part of a ship’s crew.  If he was assigned to a ship, it should have been listed with his other assignments.  Instead he served in three different construction battalions.  Construction battalions are also known as Seabees, and did most of their work on land.  While the seabees would have been transported to the islands where they worked by various ships, while being transported they were passengers rather than crew. World War II passenger lists for Naval, Merchant Marine, and Army transports were disposed of as temporary records.

    If you have not already done so, you may request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). OMPFs and medical records of enlisted men of the U.S. Navy who were separated from the service after 1885 and prior to 1958 are located at NARA's National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO  63138-1002.  To request these records, please mail a completed GSA Standard Form 180 to NPRC.  Veterans and their next of kin also may use eVetRecs to request records. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. When submitting your request, state that you want the file for genealogical purposes and that you want the entire file. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests.

    Also, we searched the National Archives Catalog and located 29 record series relating to construction battalions during the 1940s. Please review them and contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) at Archives2reference@nara.gov about the ones that interest you.

     

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2. Also, the National Personnel Records Center is servicing only urgent requests related to homeless veterans, medical emergencies, and funerals which may be faxed to 314-801-0764.  We thank you for your patience and look forward to resuming normal operations when the public health emergency has ended.

    See the Naval History and Heritage Command’s web page on Seabees and the website of the United States Navy Seabee Museum for information about the missions and history of the Seabees. Histories for specific Construction Battalions can be found at Seabee Unit Historical Information.

    We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!

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    Angie,

    In your research I would start with the 126th Naval Construction Battalion. They were assigned to Okinawa. The Rate of Machinist's Mate would be assigned on a steam driven Ship. It appears that he transferred to the SeaBee's (CB) and was accepted because of his skills. My guess is he would have been placed as an Engineman (EM) (Mechanic). This would usually place him in A Company.

    Joe

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    Angie,

    There are a lot of photographs in the form of film for the 126th on Okinawa. You can view them on Youtube. Search for "They Came To an Island" This film was made by the Navy Civil Engineering division of the US Navy.

    Joe

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    Angie Costner:  You need to utilize Google.Com.  Type in unit history of 126th Naval Construction Battalion in WWII in the Pacific.  The same for the 125th and the 8th.  There you should get all the info you need.  Seabees did construction work of various types on harbors and land.  He would not have served on a ship.  My uncle was a Seabee and was in the first wave ashore at Okinawa.  His unit was responsible for linking together pontoon wharfs.  His unit was also at Normandy on D-Day in 1944.  His unit was then transferred 6 months later back to Rhode Island and then to the invasion of Okinawa.  Evidently each unit had a specific task assigned to accomplish.

    Neal S. Durham

    USN (Ret)