COMMANDING OFFICERS OF DD847

A GREAT DEAL OF INFORMATION AND PHOTOS ON THIS PAGE WAS PROVIDED BY BlLL GONYO AT NAVSOURCE.COM.,WOLFGANG HECHLER OF LAUTERTAL, GERMANY and our own PHIL DILLOWAY and BILL MEYERS and OTHERS WITH MUCH GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION! You Can Provide Additions, Information and Corrections for this Page at: RLW_Photos@webtv.net

CDR JOHN TILGHMAN PROBASCO (March 28 1946 to Sept 1946)

I was informed by a fellow shipmate who served aboard at the time of the Commissioning, that Commander Probasco had to be relieved because of sickness. Check our History Page and find more information on the page.

CDR SIDNEY ROBOTHAM MILLER USN (46 TO 47) Email Message; Hello Gerold, I have a correction for the page. Our first skipper left the ship early in our maiden voyage to the Med in 1946 and I am not sure his name was Probasco as I don't remember him at all. He had some kind of medical problem and was transferred back to the states and was replaced by CDR Miller, who was from Memphis. He was a fine officer and a real great man. He would sometimes come around on the deck and talk to the crew while we were underway. Hope I have shed some info that is helpful. Take care and keep up the "Willie Boat" info. Bill Myers on board in 1946 to 1948.

CDR ROBERT JAMES HARDY (DEC 47 TO JUL 49

CDR ROBERT K IRVINE USN (49 TO 51)

Born 5/29/1915 at San Francisco, CA., Served 6/1934 to 7/1968....The Photo Below (Left to Right) CDR Irvine, ENS J Hillary Billings and LT Wicks.... Ensign Billings left the Wilson to Submarine School and qualified as a submarine officer. He later went to the University of Maryland where he earned a doctorate in Mathmatics. He then was posted as Deputy Superintendent for new construction at the Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME. He went down with the USS Thresher in 1964 on a deep submergance trial. He was an observer and not a member of the ship's company. USS R L Wilson was in the Philadelphia Shipyard for Fram Conversion at the time. Phil Dilloway

RADM LESLIE J. O'BRIEN USN (51 TO 51)

Born 2/14/15 at Jonesboro, AR, Service Dates 6/1938 to 7/1971 Admiral O"Brien (Obie) was guest speaker at our 2003 Reunion in Savannah, Georgia with much appreciation!!

CDR ASBURY COWARD USN (52 TO 53)

Born 11/4/1914 and Served 6/1934 to 11/1967...... He is the father of Capt. Asbury Coward IV, Born 1/13/42 at Green Bay, WI., Served 6/1964 to (Retired)

CDR HINTON K. SMITH USN (7/53 TO 8/54)  Guest Gear   HOME FOR USS ROBERT L WILSON DD 847   Guestbook Entry:  Tuesday 10/04/2005 12:37:10am Name:Rear Admiral Cabell S Davis USN(Ret) E-Mail:libbydavis@webtv.net. Comments: served as engineer officer july 1954-september 1955. c.o. july 1953-aug 1954 was cdr. h. i. smith usn. c.o. aug 1954-1955 was cdr. h. a. i. sugg usnr. these CO's should be added to the list of commanding officers. I made two trips to med. first was in summer of 1954 where I reported for duty aboard R. L. Wilson in toulon france. we hit ports in italy, greece, turkey, france again, and spain before returning to norfolk. a week later we were at hurricane anchorage in chesapeake bay for several days before hazel's eye passed directly over us. we heeled 50º and dragged anchor 1,000 yards but no damage. the next year(1955) we made a short cruise to the med to take a few midshipmen from the naval academy on their summer cruise. we visited valencia, spain and portsmouth, england and then gitmo after off loading some football varsity including hall of famer ron beagle at bermuda. shortly after our return to norfolk we again were at hurricane anchorage for diane, nothing noteworthy this time. I had a qualified relief on board, jack redmond, and bupers having selected me for engineering duty officer ordered me to norfolk naval shipyard. shortly wilson was in that shipyard for regular overhaul (of course I had prepared the work request package before I left rlw!). a short but very enjoyable tour of duty and great shipmates officers and enlisted!

CDR H. A. SUGG USNR (8/54 TO 55) Dates Provided by Rear Admiral Davis USN Retired

CDR ERIC ISHINGER USN (2/55 TO 1/57) Born 2/17/1921 and Served: 6/1942 to 7/1969 Retired as Captain

CDR WILLIAM H. HARDCASTLE USN (11/57 TO 7/59)

Born 5/16/1920 at Philadelphia, PA., Served 6/1939 to 6/1972. CDR Hardcastle graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1942. During WW II, he served on the USS SHUBRICK, a destroyer, and saw action in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and the Pacific. During 1951 to 1953, he attended Harvard Business School and was awarded a degree of Master of Business Administration. In November 1957, CDR Hardcastle took command of USS Robert L Wilson.

CDR ROBERT E JEFFERY USN (59TO 60) Service Dates; 8/1936 to 7/1965 Billy Massingale informs us that CDR Jeffery was aboard during the Santa Maria incident just after CDR Hardcastle.

LCDR LEAHMAN J. HOLT USN (7/60 TO 4/61) Born 5/3/1922 and Served: 12/1942 to 4/1966 CDR Holt received the American Campaign Medal, Navy Occupation Service Medal (Europe), Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal and World War II Submarine Combat Medal

CDR JAMES R. BRANSCOME USN (4/61 TO 10/61) Born Hillsville, VA 10/31/1921 and Served: 5/1942 to 7/1964

CDR ROBERT D RINESMITH USN (62 TO 63)

Born 4/20/1916 at Huntington, IN., Served 10/1935 to 10/1965. Duty Stations are USS WILSON DD847, USS DELONG DE684, USS CUSHING DD797, USS CORRY DD463, USS BAGLEY DD386, Surface Anti-Submarine Development Detachment, Key West, Medals are American Defense Service, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, World War II Victory, Korean Service and Vietnam Service.

LCDR ARVIN CHERTAVIAN USN (1963 TO 1963)

This was the XO (second from the right) who assumed command during the period that the ship was in the Philadelphia ship yard during her Fram Conversion in 1963

CDR KENNETH WESLEY GAVITT USN (7/63 TO 6/65)

Born 8/11/1921 at Narragansett, RI. Served 1940 to 1965, Duty Stations include, USS WILSON DD847, USS CURTISS AV-4, USS WINSLOW DD359, USS CONE DD866, USS RICHARD E KRAUS DD849 and USS SPROSTON DDE577. Medals: Navy Good Conduct, American Defense Service, American Campaign w/5 stars and World War II Victory Medal. Keep in mind Commander Gavitt was a Mustang Officer and started as an enlisted man.

CDR CHARLES EDGAR NIMITZ USN (6/65 TO 5/67)

Born 1/30/1925 at Washington DC. Served 6/43 to 8/69. This Photo is From the 1966 Med Cruise book.  Charles Nimitz, graduated from the US Naval Acadamy in 1946.  (same year I graduated from the Maritime Academy)
Son of Captain Otto Nimitz of Kerrville, TX
He also commanded the minesweeper USS Gull 1950-51 and later commanded the USS Lorain County LST1177. Info provided by Phil

E-mail message
Date:    Sun, Mar 15, 2009, 11:55am (PDT+3) From:    CHARLES NIMITZ Phil and Gerold, thanks for the kind notes. My father was Charles C. Nimitz (ex Wilson CO) and passed away in 1990. I am his oldest son and remember the Wilson well. I appreciate all the effort that went into the creation and maintenance of the web page and visit it from time to time. Dad was very proud of his ship and I feel certain he would be a member of your organization and would participate in your reunion if he was still around. A couple of minor corrections and an addition to dad's bio if you are interested. His full name was Charles Edgar Clark Nimitz. His first and middle names were from his grandfather Charles Edgar Clark who commanded the Oregon (BB3) in the Spanish American War. Basically dad used Charles C.(for Clark) Nimitz and in most case dropped the Edgar. Also the minesweeper AMS-16 was just the USS Gull not the Sea Gull. Between his command of the Gull off Korea and the Wilson in Norfolk he commanded the Thaddeus Parker (DE 369) in Newport. The reason I was trying to reach Bill Jones was to see if I could retrieve the 1965 Wilson cruise book I sent him a number of years back. I believe he borrowed it to copy dad's photo for his/your web page and I lost track of him (his email address was no longer was active). Anyway not that big of a deal. My mother, who still lives in the same house in Va. Beach, has many mementos of the Wilson and that era spread around her home including another cruise book. I did read about the anchor move and will send a contribution and see if I can get some dollars out of my three younger brothers. Out of curiosity, did either of you serve with my dad?
Thanks again,
Charlie Nimitz
(Charles H. Nimitz)

CDR FRANK L. KOVARICH USN (5/67 TO 5/68) Date:  Mon, Aug 2, 2004, 8:02pm From: Subject: COMMANDING OFFICERS OF DD847 To:    Well back to CMDR Kovarich!!! He had been on the Willy Boat in civies checking it out and visiting with some of the other officers, I guess. On the weekend I was on liberty friday and I was on my way to Philly, where my wife was from and we lived, when I could be home on wknds about 3 out of 5 as I remember. I had no car so I always hitch-hiked home, and I was hitching from D & S Piers to the Bay Bridge Tunnel, thats the way I did it unless one of the other Philly guys was going that way , then of course you gave him $10 or $15 dollars for gas, but on this occasion I was hitching!!! This fella picked me up, he was in an Oldsmobile, I believe and in civies, with a trench coat. He struck up a conversation, and he began to ask me some questions about the Willy Boat, he asked me where I worked and did I like it, and what I thought of the rest of the crew, including the Captain, XO. etc, nothing really that I shouldn't talk about, as we neared the place where I would start my trip home at the entrance to the Bay Bridge Tunnel, he introduced himself and informed me the he would be the new Skipper, and that he would be on board starting Monday when I got back from my three day wknd. It was kind of a shock to me at first, but he seemed to be a nice guy to me, and I told him that it would be my pleasure to serve under his command. We always got along after that encounter as strange as it was!!! Mike Loveall (redbone)       ps: sure wished I could think of the next Skippers name, he was a nice guy too!!!

CDR WILLIAM P. ST.LAWRENCE JR USN (5/68 TO 10/69) CDR William P. St. Lawrence Jr. commanded also the submarine USS. ALBACORE (AGSS-569) as a LCDR from Nov-01-1962 to Aug-15-1963. From:    "Dickerson, Barry" Cdr. W. P. St Lawrence Jr. was the CO that relieved Cdr. Kovarich sometime between 5/20/68 and 8/4/68.  He was still CO in January 69 when I left the ship.

CDR RODION CANTACUZENE USN (10/69 TO 5/71) From: "Ken" To:    Subject:    Commanding Officers of Robert L. Wilson DD847 Date:    Sun, Jul 3, 2005, You are missing a Commanding Officer of the willy boat. After Cmdr St Lawrence and before Cmdr Conrad the ship was commanded by Cmdr R. Cantacuzene (sp) his XO was Lcdr Kent Larabee.  We made a cruise to the med.

CDR PETER C. CONRAD USN (5/71 TO 8/72) CDR Peter C. Conrad commanded also the submarine USS. GUDGEON (SS-567) as a CDR from July 1965 to November 1967. He was retired as a Rear Admiral in October 1985. His XO was Lcdr Richard Dodson who later retired as Captain. From: Steve Slattery and Ens George Fellows who served aboard (71 to 72) George just visited Admiral Conrad and Capt Dodson in June '05

CDR RICHARD W RUSSELL USN (8/72 TO 8/73)

CDR Russell was relieved by CDR Charles Truxall Jr. on August 22, 1972

CDR CHARLES W TRUXALL JR USN (8/73 TO 8/74)

Born 5/23/1933 at San Mateo, CA. Served 6/1951 to 6/1978. He is the Son of Capt Charles W. Truxall USN Born 1/8/1902 and Served 6/1921 to 8/1953 Charles Truxall JR has attended the 2004, 2005. Ship's Reunion!
 
At our plaque dedication ceremony at the US Navy mermorial Foundation, Commander Truxall, as the last Commanding Officer of our beloved ship, held a Captain's Meritorious Mast where he presented the Cold War Warrior's Commemorative medal to the ship's company in attendance.  That inspiring ceremony is available on a DVD. See Small Stores item this web site.  If you look closely at his official portrait you will see a pair of Dolphins.
 
He was qualified in both destroyers and submarines

LCDR JOSEPH F KELLY USN (8/6/74 to 9/30/74) Lcdr Kelly was The XO of the ship, who took command only for a few weeks until decommisioning. Often in the case of a CO being relieved just a few weeks or months before decommissioning. That is when the CO gets other orders and the Navy doesn't want to install a full CDR, so the Navy gives command to the former XO (Executive Officer)