The History of the USS Radnor

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The unfinished hull of the Radnor as she is Launched. Photo Source: Photo Section Naval History Center 202-433-2765

The photo on the left shows the Radnor at her launching at the Sun Shipbuilding Co. in Chester PA. 1918 . The photo shows some superstructure in place, but clearly she is not fitted out yet. On the original photo you can see clearly her name in white letters on her bow. Many men can be seen waving to the camera as she slides from the ways into the water. From the microfilms of the deck logs of the month of May 1919 I received from the National Archives, Ships Histories Branch the Radnor had 28 Officers including Lt. Commander Harloe. Her compliment of enlisted men were 208 for May, 1919. Armament for the same period was as follows: Main Battery (5" Gun & 6 pounder gun) removed. Her small arms locker inventory was: 23 Colt 45 USA model 1911 23 Holsters & Belts for same 12 Springfield Rifles model 1913 11 Belts & Bayonets for same 10 Canteens

The above photo was supplied to me from David Clifford from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Dave owns a print shop named Black Stone Press in Vancouver. Dave had told me this story about the photo which measures 13 inches long. One day he was taking out the trash in the building he lives in and saw this and some other old items in the dumpster. Being that he liked ship pictures he took it out of the trash. It seems that a family in the building, when the mother died the son threw out everything in the dumpster. What a sad ending to a piece of history. I'm very grateful to Dave for rescuing this photo. Dave then did a search in the web for information on the Radnor and came to this page. He e-mailed me to see if I was interested in this photo. My answer was YES I WAS! Thanks very much Dave! If you are in need of some printing please give Dave a e-mail cdave@helix.net This photo shows the Radnor moored to a dock probably in New York. I would say that this is sometime in 1919. If you look close you can see another ship on the other side of the dock. The caption reads" The ship that brought us home USS Radnor". This was probably a photo that was sold to the servicemen who sailed on her a an souvenir.

Diary of one of the Radnor's Crew

I was contacted by a Mr. Bill Murphy who's grandfather James A. McLaughlin, was a crewman of the USS Radnor and was assigned to the Radnor on May 16, 1918. James A. McLaughlin enlisted June 14th, 1917 at Philadelphia and was assigned to the USS Radnor on May 16, 1918. Seaman McLaughlin would have been aboard the Radnor on her first voyage when she departed Philadelphia 31 May 1918 for Cristobal, in the Canal Zone. Mr. McLaughlin died in 1932. Bill had contacted me and told me about a diary of his grandfather that he had found. He was kind enough to give me selected excerpts from this diary. Below is what was in the diary about the Radnor.

Sections from the diary of James A. McLaughlin of the USS Radnor

Assigned to USS Radnor May 16, 1918 and proceeded to Hampton Roads, VA with a crew of 85 men, arrived May 18th, 1918, then ordered to Newport News, VA.

May 19th, 1918: Shore leave.

May 25th, 1918: Proceeded to Baltimore.

June 3rd, 1918: Reports of Subs off coast of the Hatteras. But no contact.

June 10th, 1918: Started through the Panama Canal. He said it was really beautiful and enjoyed the ride.

June, 1918: Left port of Balboa en route to Honolulu and left Honolulu with a cargo of pineapples and headed for Callao, Peru.

June 24th, 1918: Arrived in Callao Peru, trip was not real exiting.

June 1918: Last stop Cliloe, southern end of Chile around end of June. Now in Antofagasta, Chile but ordered out of the harbor by the German ambassador or be interned in port. Left harbor in a hurry radioed USS Vermont and USS Pittsburgh in case of trouble. They arrived to escort the Radnor away.

June 1918: Picked up men over board from a ship called the Eastern Sun and helped them out of the water.

In the diary there is mention two men John McCormick and O'Neil of the gun crew.

July 26th, 1918: Back at the Panama Canal. Radnor went through at night under special orders. James A. McLaughlin was assigned to the fire control station aboard the Radnor.

July 30th, 1918: Submarine was spotted off the port beam but made off with out firing.

Aug. 1st, 1918: Radnor along the coast of Florida and can see lights of the coast.

Aug. 2nd, 1918, 2:35 am: Radnor fired upon by sub 50 yards off stern but missed. Started to receive messages (S.O.S.) from other ships hit by the submarine.

Aug. 3rd, 1918: A sub is spotted out about 1,000 yards, fired at us but missed. We fired back not sure if we hit it.

Aug. 4th, 1918: S.O.S. from Jennings being shelled from the same spot we had been in the morning.

Last entry: Looking forward to liberty next day.

The diary is about 67 pages long and is very hard to understand his writing but I do enjoy reading it as I never knew my grandfather. He does not mention much of the cargo other than the pineapples. He also does not mention many of the men by name. After the last entry Aug. 4th, 1918, I do not know if he stayed on board or what. I also wish I could find more info on him or the ship. Many of the places they stopped on this ship the crew did seem to have a good times in the towns.

Bill Murphy, grandson of USS Radnor crewman James A. McLaughlin

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Captain of the Radnor Lt. Cmdr. Marcus S. Harloe

Marcus Sparks Harloe Jr. was born February 14, 1872 in San Francisco, California. His father Marcus Harloe Sr. was born in Ireland about 1832, and at an unknown age came to America like so many of his countrymen. It may have been the trip on the ocean when coming to America that gave the “call of the sea” to his father or it may have just been in his blood but Marcus Harloe, Sr. made the sea his life. At the age of 48 Marcus Harloe Sr. was married and living in the county of San Luis Obispo, California in a town named Huasna. He had by this time been at sea many years and was in June of 1880 already a Sea Captain. His wife’s name was Flora M. and she was a native Californian born about 1847.

In June of 1880 the Marcus Harloe, Sr. family consisted of eldest daughter Fanny E. born about 1869, son Marcus S. born 1872, son Archibald born about 1876, son W. George born about 1878 and youngest son J. Daniel born in November 1879, all 5 children having been born in California. Marcus, Sr. must have provided a good living for the family as a sea captain as also living in the home was a 19-year old female servant named Josefa Ayala. She was born in California and was also a nurse.

On June 26, 1902 at 30-years of age, Marcus S. Harloe, Jr. married Ellen Mary “Nellie” Harrington of Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was born on January 29, 1879 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1910 Marcus and “Nellie” lived in a rented home on the San Luis Obispo County Road in Arroyo Grande Township in San Luis Obispo, County, California. Marcus S. and “Nellie” in May of 1910 did not have any children and Marcus was working as a Surveyor for the Asia Oil Company at the time.

It is not known when, but like his father before him Marcus S. Harloe Jr. also felt the call of the sea. He would have already spent many years at sea for on 13th of May 1918 he was given Command of the newly built Transport Cargo Ship USS Radnor. Lt. Commander Marcus S. Harloe was in the Naval Reserve Force suggesting that he had been in the Navy years before. Lt. Cmdr. Harloe was master of the Radnor and made many trips to South America and across the Atlantic returning doughboys from France. He was still the captain of the Radnor in January of 1920. Lt. Cmdr. Harloe’s home in January of 1920 was on Greene Street in Providence, Rhode Island where “Nellie” his wife lived. Marcus and “Nellie” did not have children of their own and on the Federal Census of 1920 it shows no children living in the home, but sometime in 1918 they adopted a little girl named Alice. Little Alice was adopted by the Harloe's when she was 6-years old (1918). Alice was left on the doorstep of a Catholic Church in Kalamazoo and the nuns named her Alice and a birth date of March 21, 1912. The Harloe’s gave Alice her middle name of Mary after her adopted mother’s middle name.

After Lt. Cmdr. Harloe was relieved from command of the Radnor in 1920, he was assigned to duty in Japan with the United States Shipping Board as traffic passenger agent. Marcus, “Nellie” and Alice moved to Japan and lived there until 1926 when this duty ended. Young Alice learned much about the Japanese culture and spoke perfect “street” Japanese.

Marcus retired from the Navy at the rank of Lt. Commander, but was still sailing until his death. After he left active duty with the U.S. Navy he was master of an American Scantic Line cargo ship named SS Argosy. The Argosy was a 5,620-ton cargo ship built in 1920 by the American International Shipbuilding Corp., Hog Island, Pennsylvania for the United States Shipping Board. In 1926 she was transferred to the American Scantic Line for service on the New York, Copenhagen, Helsinki route.

According to Jill Scott, the granddaughter of Marcus Harloe, who has a Copenhagen, Denmark newspaper article dated May 11, 1926, that tells how the Argosy became ice-bound for 100-days in Husum, Sweden when Marcus was aboard. The Argosy had stopped in Husum for a load of wood pulp and the ice quickly surrounded her. Eventually the ice became 12-feet thick before the Swedish Navy broke her loose of the ice and she sailed on to Philadelphia. On a return trip of the Argosy, Marcus Harloe became sick with septicemia (blood poisoning) and died at sea on July 13, 1926. Jill Scott has a newspaper article of this event and it only states, that “he died suddenly.”

Marcus and “Nellie” at the time of his death lived on Lincoln Blvd. in the Presidio in San Francisco, California. Lt. Cmdr. Marcus S. Harloe was then buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery, Section Os, Row 9, Site 7, after serving his Country in the navy for many years. During a trip from California to Kalamazoo, Michigan “Nellie” passed away on June 5, 1942. “Nellie” is buried in a cemetery in Kalamazoo.

Alice Mary Harloe was married to Jack Blair Ellsworth on June 17, 1933 in San Francisco, California. Together Alice and Jack had 3 children, Jack, Judy & Jill (Scott). Alice’s youngest daughter Jill Scott tells how in 1945 Alice and Jack and the 3 kids moved from California to Idaho Falls, Idaho where Jack Ellsworth and his two brothers opened a Dodge auto dealership that they ran for 52-years. Alice Mary Ellsworth, the adopted daughter of Marcus and “Nellie” Harloe passed away on March 26, 1995 in Escondido, California.

Photo of Lt. Cmdr. Harloe with his adopted daughter Alice and wife “Nellie” visiting aboard the Radnor in July of 1919. This view is looking aft just outside of the wheelhouse on the port side of the ship. Alice proudly holds her fathers hand as “Nellie” looks on. Captain Harloe stands smartly, and has two service stripes on his left sleeve of his uniform and in his right hand he is holding a cigar. The wheelhouse door is swung open back against the wall of the wheelhouse. Just behind “Nellie” over her left shoulder can be seen the base of the Radnor’s King Post, which also held the radio mast.

Lt. Commander Marcus S. Harloe headstone in the San Francisco National Cemetery

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Radnor's Navigation Officer Lt. jg George Comer

Biography of Captain George Comer

George Comer was born in Quebec, Canada in April of 1858 an immigrated to the United States in 1860 with his parents. His father was a man of the sea and during an unknown tragedy at sea lost his life, this is assumed to be after they an immigrated to the States. His mother was then left to care for the family and she eventually could not support the children and young George Comer at an unknown age spent some time in an orphanage and finally was placed as a foster child with a family in East Haddam, Connecticut, the town he would live in for the rest of his life.

During 1875 George was in his seventeenth year when he like his father felt the calling of the sea. George walked a distance of 25 or so miles from East Haddam to New London, Connecticut to take a job on a whaler. This would be the start of a life long journey on the seas for George as the next 44 years saw George at sea all of but 3 years.

George learned the whaling trade and worked his way up to becoming Master and in 1895 became Master of his first ship. Comer was Master of the Whaling/sealing schooner Era from at least 1897-1906. The Era was based out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Comer was also the Master of the Whaling/sealing schooner A. T. Gifford of New Bedford, from 1907-1912. Artic whaling was what he specialized in and a typical Whaling voyage would last about 27 months. About 16 months of this would be spent in the winter anchorages being completely frozen in the ice. The whaling parties would be virtually cut off from the outside world and their survival depended on what they brought with them. Fresh meat only came from deer and salmon that they could trade from the local Inuit peoples. During those times the Inuit’s would make camps near the whaling vessels and would interact with the men on the whaling ships. This is where Captain Comer came to learn and respect the Inuit people. Captain Comer considered himself to be an amateur Artic explorer and with the help of the local Inuit learned about the Hudson Bay and the Inuit’s. Comer even collected items for several well-known Natural History Museums worldwide. Comer would eventually become a leading authority in the live and ways of the Inuit people and the Hudson Bay region. After 1912 Comer’s whaling career was winding down and still he took part in several Artic expeditions for the American Museum of Natural History.

On 7 November 1903, Captain George Comer of the American whaling schooner Era recorded on a phonograph a few songs of the Aivilingmiut and Qaernermiut in northwestern Hudson Bay. These appear to have been the earliest sound recordings ever made among the Inuit of Canada and Alaska.

Comer completed six whaling and trading voyages to Hudson Bay between 1875 and 1919. Though his main purpose was to secure whale oil, baleen, and skins, he became under the tutelage of the anthropologist Boas an active collector of scientific information and material culture from the region. In 1911 Captain Comer obtained a major Iglulik Eskimo collection from central Canada.

The American Museum of Natural History commissioned him to do considerable amount of work in anthropology and ethnology as well as in natural history. His records of geographical and topographical information were outstanding and he was made a fellow in the council of the Geographic Society. Comer made more than three hundred plaster casts, or life masks, of Eskimos, which are now in museums in Germany, Canada, and in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. In the American Museum of Natural History in New York City is the Comer Collection of skins of various Arctic animals, geological specimens, birds, bird's eggs, and other interesting specimens.

Comer was as familiar with the Antarctic as with the Arctic, although he spent more years in the northern than the southern zone. He was in the Arctic when Peary made his dash to the North Pole and when Capt. Cook made his claims to discovery.

In the later part of his life Comer ceased to travel to the North, but he still kept up his correspondence with his scientific and sporting friends and also with his Eskimo friends. Comer was much in demand as a lecturer on whaling, and the Arctic and Antarctic lands and people, and he illustrated his lectures by many interesting photographs which he had himself taken and transferred to slides.

As America was feeling the pull into the First World War Comer felt the call to serve his Country and at age 59 enlisted in the Navy where his skills could be of good use. Comer was assigned to the USS Radnor, which was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and was used as a cargo ship carrying Army munitions and supplies overseas during World War I. As the Navigation officer on the USS Radnor, Lt. Jg Comer may have been on the first crew of the Radnor as she was launched in May of 1918. At some point prior to August of 1919 Lt. Jg Comer was transferred to the USS Wyska, a 12,185-ton freighter. Not much is known about this ship and her name may also have been the USS West Kyska ID# 3701 and she was based out of Cristobal in the Panama Canal Zone. Comer was then promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to the Shore Patrol ship USS Elinor as 2nd Officer. The Elinor was an 8,785-ton freighter with the Navy ID # 2465. She was formerly named General de Castelnau. Lt Comer served on the Elinor from February through April of 1919. Comer was then made Master of the Auxiliary schooner USS Finback from July through September of 1919.

After discharge from the Navy Comer involved himself in more trading and explorations in to the Hudson Bay areas. His last visit into the regions was in 1919 at age 62 to say fare well to his life long Inuit friends. Finally returning to his home and family in East Haddam, Connecticut for the remainder of his life where he was regarded as a local person of interest and fame. Comer married his wife Julia L. at the age of 19 in 1877. Julia was 20 at the time and was born in Pennsylvania and together they had a daughter named Nellie G. born in April of 1878 and a son named Thomas L. born in April of 1886. Both children were born in East Haddam.

Comer even served a term in the Connecticut State Legislature. In declining health due to his years at sea and Artic explorations Comer died in 1937 at the age of 79.

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Pharmacist Mate Glenn F. Batchelder

Glenn Batchelder was the son of J. S. Batchelder of Craig, Nebraska. Glenn entered the Navy at Salt Lake, Nevada on July 13, 1918. He was assigned to the Navy Yard at Pudget Sound, Washington and placed on the USS Philadelphia. On January 19, 1919 Batchelder was advanced in rating to Pharmacist Mate 2c and sent to Navy Yard at New York. There he was assigned to the USS Radnor and served on board the troop transport and made several trips with returning soldiers. Pharmacist Mate 2c Batchelder was detached from the Radnor and released from the Navy in July of 1919.

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