Ghosts of the USS Yorktown

by Bruce Orr

  Published by Haunted America

  A Division of The History Press

  Charleston, SC 29403

  www.historypress.net

  Copyright © 2012 by Bruce Orr

  All rights reserved

  First published 2012

  e-book edition 2012

  Manufactured in the United States

  ISBN 978.1.61423.721.1

  Library of Congress CIP data applied for.

  print ISBN 978.1.60949.781.1

  Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Greater love has no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends.

  John 15:13—American King James Version

  In Memory of Scott Arrington,

  Sailor, Surfer, Warrior, Friend

  Killed by a careless driver

  Although you and I never got to toast our two getting married and you will not hold the child that will make us both grandfathers, we all know you are with us always.

  I know you loved surfing the sea as much as I love diving below its surface And we love those children of ours equally

  To all those who made the ultimate sacrifice

  Serving our country and protecting our freedom

  CONTENTS

  Preface

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  I. THE HISTORY

  YORKTOWN: A NAME OF HONOR

  The Battle of Yorktown: 1781

  The First USS Yorktown: 1839

  USS Yorktown (PG-1)

  USS Yorktown (CV-5)

  USS Yorktown (CV-10)

  USS Yorktown (CG-48)

  II. THE HAUNTINGS

  AS IN LIFE SO ALSO IN DEATH: A DEDICATION TO DUTY

  An Apparition in Khaki

  Not Enough Cookies?

  The Phantom Lights of the USCGC Comanche (WPG-76)

  The Charleston Naval Shipyard Museum: The Invisible Tourist

  The Charleston Naval Shipyard Museum: The Shadowy Intruder

  Shadow People: “Shadow Ed”

  Shadow Ed: One Visitor’s Encounter

  Just Around the Corner

  Rude Awakening

  Dressing the Part

  A Family Connection

  The Weapons Locker

  The Haunted Head

  An Eerie Presence

  Haunted by Heroes

  Happenings in the Hangar Deck

  Cat and Mouse

  Rick and the Captain

  III. THE HERITAGE

  PATRIOTISM, PRIDE, PRESERVATION AND PATRIOTS POINT

  Patriots Point

  The USS Clamagore (SS-342): The Last of Her Kind

  The USS Laffey (DD-724): The Ship That Would Not Die

  The Medal of Honor Museum

  Conclusion

  Bibliography

  About the Author

  About the Photographer

  PREFACE

  RESPECT, HONOR AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION

  After researching and writing my first book, Six Miles to Charleston, I discovered that, at times, the history behind hauntings can be far more intriguing than the legends themselves. I also realized that many of the stories that I grew up with were not preserved in written form and risked disappearing and being lost to future generations. Because of this, I formed a company, Lost in Legend, with the intent of preserving the folklore and legends of my community and state. I approached the subject in a manner in which I preserved the folklore yet incorporated the actual history behind the legend into the story. Thus our motto “Never let the facts get lost in the legend” was drafted. We focus on the history behind the haunting. I have done that with all my works, and this book will be no different.

  During its existence, Lost and Legend has grown to include not only the preservation of our folklore, legends and ghost tales, but it has also included the historic conservation of our artifacts, buildings and legacies.

  I have a deep respect for history and a deeper respect for our military and all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we take for granted. To have developed the reputation of being able to weave historic fact with ghost tales in a dignified manner is something that I have worked hard at staying true to. To have that recognized and being entrusted to do so with such monuments to military and maritime history such as the USS Yorktown is an honor.

  I am a retired law enforcement investigator. Investigations have always been something I loved. Many years ago, as a young patrol officer I was ecstatic to have been selected to become a detective in my agency’s Criminal Investigative Division (CID). My supervisor, Senior Sergeant Hubert “Buddy” Lloyd, was the first to congratulate me, and I still have the handwritten note that he posted in the South District Squad Room for all to see. He recognized that being selected to CID was a turning point in my career, and he made sure that he was the very first to congratulate me.

  Buddy Lloyd was a man who had taken an interest in me not only as a young officer, but also as a friend. He realized that I was a struggling young father trying to make ends meet. He also realized that for that very reason that young man was missing meals at work to pay the bills at home. He often traded a barbecue sandwich for assistance in administrative work or a hamburger for a detailed wash job on his cruiser after my shift was over.

  Two years after transferring to the Criminal Investigative Division, I was leaving one afternoon and ran into Buddy Lloyd in the parking lot. He had since been placed over the aviation unit, and as he approached, I could see his flight suit was stretched rather tightly across his midsection. I approached him and slapped him on his round belly, stating, “You had better lose some weight before your fat ass crashes and burns in that ’copter, old man.” He laughed at me and told me I was not in the best shape myself. I got into my unmarked car and drove away to a much-needed vacation, not realizing that those were the last words I would ever say to my friend.

  A few days into my vacation, I received a phone call in Indiana and was advised that the agency’s helicopter had gone missing while on a mission searching for the Lowcountry serial rapist. The elusive rapist had terrorized the area for a number of years and was responsible for approximately thirty sexual assaults on women throughout Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston Counties. Now it seemed that he was inadvertently responsible for the disappearance of two of my friends.

  I immediately returned from my vacation and joined my friend Rick Presnell and over three hundred others in a search-and-rescue operation for Buddy and his spotter, Bill Nalley. It was believed that the black helicopter had gone down in the dense woods adjacent to the airport and that the two on board may possibly be injured and still alive. Four days later, we located the wreckage and our hopes of a rescue turned into a recovery operation as Senior Sergeant Buddy Lloyd’s and Deputy Bill Nalley’s remains were removed from the woods.

  Ironically, Buddy had died in the manner in which I had kidded him about. The investigation revealed that the helicopter had been overweight, and Buddy had attempted to return to the airport. Due to poor visibility, it had clipped the top of one of the trees, spun out of control and was destroyed in a fiery crash. On June 7, 1992, twenty years ago to the date that I am writing this, Buddy and Bill became part of Lowcountry history when they died in the line of duty searching for a serial rapist. That man, Dun
can Proctor, was later captured and is serving two consecutive life sentences for his crimes. My friends paid the ultimate price in a mission they were dedicated to. When over three hundred of us united in our search, we were dedicated to our mission also. We were determined to bring them home, and we did.

  I have told that story because I am often asked about the engraved aluminum blue band that I wear around my wrist. It is a memorial band that honors a supervisor who fed his young subordinate barbecue sandwiches because he knew he did not have the money to feed himself while putting food on the table for his family. He also knew the young man had too much pride to accept a handout, and out of respect, he found a way to make him work for it.

  I know about respect. Buddy Lloyd was one of many who taught me its formula: it must be given in order to be earned. I also know about honor. It comes when one has learned the formula for respect.

  As I left a planning meeting for this project, my elevator opened onto the Hangar Deck aboard the USS Yorktown. I have always had a fascination with World War II aircraft, and for reasons unknown, I have always been drawn to the F4U Corsair. As I was walking past her aircraft, I heard a familiar sound. It is a sound that I have never gotten used to and one that I have heard far too many times. It is a sound I heard many years ago as I stood at attention in full uniform in a cemetery as two helicopters flew over in honor of two of my fallen brothers.

  Taps began to play.

  It was an emotional moment for me inside that hangar and drove home exactly how much of an honor writing this book truly is.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to thank the following people and organizations:

  Adam Ferrell, publishing director at The History Press, for the concept of this book.

  Mac Burdette, executive director of Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

  David A. Clark, senior curator and director of exhibits for Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

  Sis Reda, director of marketing and sales for Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

  Ashley Smith, public information officer for Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

  Rick Presnell, owner of Swamp Fox Diving.

  Tom and Sally Robinson, owners of Charleston Scuba.

  Charles “Charlie” Fox.

  The Charleston County Rescue Squad.

  Edgar “Sonny” Walker, president of USS Laffey Association.

  Brian Parsons, chief electrician at Patriots Point.

  A.J. Tarquino, USS Laffey Association webmaster.

  Christina Wood Jordan, of Corporate Events and Catered Affairs.

  Lori Von Dohlen, of Corporate Events and Catered Affairs.

  Boy Scouts of America, Coastal Carolina Council.

  Bruce M. Frey, Patriots Point volunteer.

  Robert “Skip” Moore.

  Pilot V.T. “Tony” Whitlock and Wendi Slemmer, Pee Dee Helicopters.

  Susan Fowler, the Official Shadow People Archive.

  The staff at the Berkeley County Public Library.

  The staff at the Charleston County Public Library.

  The staff at the Dorchester County Public Library.

  Kayla Orr, KOP Photography.

  Joe Venezia, Patriots Point volunteer.

  Vernon Brown, Patriots Point volunteer.

  INTRODUCTION

  South Carolina’s history has never stopped at her shoreline. In fact, the waters surrounding the Lowcountry contain as much, if not more, history than do her cities, towns and villages. It was by travel on these waters that Charlestowne was discovered in 1670. It was also by continued travel on these waters that the town was sustained and goods were imported and exported.

  The commercial import and export of goods attracted many seafaring folk, but not all of those people that traveled these waters had the greatest intentions. Pirates found their way into our harbor to prey on others bringing goods. Piracy interfered with commerce. This created problems, and soon solutions to those problems were created. Ships began to patrol these waters, and as the pirates were captured, a more permanent solution to piracy was introduced at the end of a rope.

  Eventually, forts occupied by the military forces that protected this land began to fill the harbor in an effort to protect her waters. Those forces defended our seas and our shores from ALL enemies, both foreign and domestic. Eventually, those enemies would also include ourselves when South Carolina chose to secede from the Union and the Confederacy fired the first shots of the Civil War, shots that were fired over these waters and into Fort Sumter.

  No, the history of the Lowcountry definitely does not stop at her shoreline, but the sea is a lot slower in giving up her secrets than her earthy counterpart.

  One such example occurred on February 17, 1864, as eight men traveled out into the Charleston Harbor on a secret mission. Thirteen others had already lost their lives to the waters in this very vessel, and by the end of this night’s attack, these eight brave souls would also come to rest on the bottom of the harbor. It would not be until August 8, 2000, that the waters of the harbor would give up those dead. Even now, 12 years after releasing Lieutenant George E. Dixon and his crew, the sea has still not given up her secrets as to what happened to the CSS Hunley and her crew some 148 years ago.

  Perhaps the fact that the Charleston Harbor is so adept at keeping secrets is the reason that these great ships—I refer to them as the “ghosts of war”—have chosen to reside here at Patriots Point. It seems that the sea and the ships have a mutual understanding of each other. Both these waters and these great ships are excellent at keeping their secrets and are notorious for creating mysteries.

  The great Greek philosopher Plato is quoted as having said, “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” If the stories of paranormal encounters at Patriots Point are true, then Plato is greatly mistaken. Perhaps for some dead the war never ends. Maybe they are caught in some perpetual cycle that never ceases. Quite possibly these dead are actually some paranormal echo that continues long after the initial event of their demise has ceased. Whatever they may be, there are some, because of their experiences, that believe these entities continue to walk the corridors of the USS Yorktown and fight in battles long ended.

  When I was approached about working on a project about Patriots Point’s paranormal experiences, I was honored yet cautious. The issues at the location have become so numerous and frequent that they could no longer be ignored. There became a necessity to document those events and a desire to share them with others, and I was presented with that opportunity. As I approached this endeavor, I wanted to investigate, interview and document those who have witnessed paranormal events at the maritime museum, but I wanted to do so in such a manner as to respect those who gave their lives defending the freedoms so many take for granted. Indeed, caution should be exercised when dealing with such an intangible topic as “ghosts” and relating it to such tangible and historic locations as the USS Yorktown.

  I grew up in the Charleston area as a navy brat. Both my father and my stepfather served in the United States Navy. Both were submariners. Both were chiefs, and both were radiomen. I guess when my mother found a good thing, she stuck with it. No one could ever say that the woman was not consistent.

  My stepfather served on many subs, and he has helped me with this project. Although he never served on the USS Clamagore, he did serve on her twin sister, the USS Tiru. He was instrumental, and his experiences were invaluable, in helping me understand the mindset of the men living under extreme pressure—inside and out—of a submerged United States Navy vessel.

  My father also served on many subs before a vehicle accident with a drunken driver injured his knees so badly that he could no longer negotiate the ladders. His injuries forced him to retire from a career he truly loved. One of the subs he served on was the USS James Madison. My father took pride in the fact that he took the first voyage out on the USS James Madison and, decades later, returned to take the last voyage back when she was decommissioned. He cons
idered it one of his greatest accomplishments. He was a plank owner, a member of the original crew when the sub was commissioned, and had such a great love for her that he was honored to return to her when the opportunity arose. Perhaps the men on board the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point felt the same in death about their respective ship as my father did in life about his. Maybe that is why they return or maybe why they have never truly left.

  Both my father and stepfather loved those old subs and spent a majority of their lives aboard them. They also logged plenty of hours in the “freckle maker” and yet emerged unscathed. It is my hope that, unlike a mischievous gremlin in the freckle maker, this book does not send a lot of highly pressurized waste material your way.

  (To the uneducated, the freckle maker will be explained in a later chapter).

  It is my intention to honor both of these men, my two fathers, and all others that served by honoring all those who may continue to serve on the ships at Patriots Point in battles long ended.

  It has never been and it is still not my intention to persuade or dissuade you in the possibility of ghosts. That is a personal decision, and each person is entitled to their own belief. Each story within this book is based on an experience by those who are entitled to their belief based on their own personal encounter.

  That having been said, my being an investigator, researcher and author of the topics I choose, many folks inevitably ask me my opinion in regard to the paranormal and the existence of ghosts. My answer to that is quite simple.

  “That’s complicated,” is my response.

  If the person or persons posing that question smile and regard my answer as evasive, then I let them go with a chuckle. If they persist, they invite themselves for the lecture that you the reader are about to receive.

  The word paranormal does not equal ghost. Paranormal is something beyond reasonable explanation or our ability to explain as normal. It does not mean that it is unnatural. It is simply something that naturally occurs that we are not yet able to explain in an accepted scientific manner. There are things occurring every second that modern science has yet to explain. If you think everything in the realm of the human experience can be scientifically explained, then you are deluded. Even the things that we take for granted as scientifically acceptable are subject to reevaluation and change as time advances. What we accept now may be laughed at as ridiculous in the next century. Here is a case in point, as explained by J. Allan Danelek in his book The Case for Ghosts: An Objective Look at the Paranormal. I consider this one of the most compelling views in the field.