Thomas VanOrt

Serving about the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Ingham, Thomas VanOrt of Terre Du Lac saw action in the European and North African campaigns of World War II. He was a Quartermaster 1st Class and served from 1940 through 1944.

The ship was assigned to temporary duty with the Navy on April 1, 1941, and 24 days later was ordered to Lisbon, Portugal. When the national emergency was declared in September, the U.S. forces were ordered out of Portugal, a neutral country. The Ingham returned to Boston under wartime conditions, crewmen standing watch four hours on and four hours off for the seven day trip. "We had been the only U.S. vessel in European waters during that time, April through September of 1941."

VanOrt recalls, "The Ingham was assigned to the North Atlantic convoy routes participating in numerous convoy battles. One of our memorable experiences was the sinking of a German submarine (U626) south of the Denmark Strait. This incident was not confirmed until a much later date after the war.

"It was called a hole-in-one by a perfectly dropped depth charge (on a second run) after a previous run on a 'mushy' contact by our sonar. There were no survivors. This date was Dec. 17, 1942.

"There were many convoys in the North Atlantic in the period of 1942 through 1944 that the Ingham participated in. In February of 1943 it was involved with convoy SC-118 which German Grand Admiral Doenitz termed 'the hardest fought battle of the war.' In March of 1943 the Ingham escorted convoys SC122 and HX229 involving the greatest convoy battles of all times involving 44 U Boats (German submarines) and 115 Allied surface vessels with air escorts.

"Later in 1944 the Ingham was converted to an AGC (amphibious flagship) and transferred to the Pacific 7th Fleet. It became the flagship of Admiral Buckmaster, USN, and participated in 11 landings. They included the Philippine campaign, Zamboanga, Sanagi Bay, Baluti Bay, Panyay, Corregidor, Negros, Subic Bay and Mindinao."

The Ingham is now at Patriot Point, S.C.