USS Vandalia (IX-191), a twin-screw, steel-hulled tanker, was the third ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to be named for Vandalia, the name of three cities in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 that is also used poetically for various regions.

As Walter Jennings, her construction was completed in 1921 by the Federal Shipbuilding Company of Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

, for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey

Exxon

Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....

 and she served under the aegis of Standard Oil

Standard Oil

Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...

 through the 1920s and 1930s. Allocated to the Navy by the Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration

War Shipping Administration

The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....

 in late 1944, the ship was renamed Vandalia on 18 October 1944, being designated as unclassified miscellaneous vessel

Unclassified miscellaneous vessel

The IX hull classification symbol is used for ships of the United States Navy that do not fit into one of the standard categories...

 IX-191. She was accordingly taken over from the War Shipping Administration on 23 December 1944 and was commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on the same day, Lieutenant R. P. Morrison, USNR, in command, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Vandalia departed Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 on 27 February 1945 for Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

 and made port on 11 March. Routed to Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

 with a Mariana Islands

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...

-bound convoy, Vandalia developed an engine casualty and was forced to reverse course and turn back to Eniwetok for repairs. The vessel got underway on 18 March but was rerouted on 23 March to Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

 in the Carolina Islands. Entering the harbor at her destination two days later, she proceeded to her assigned berth, remaining there into the summer as station tanker at Ulithi.

She subsequently shifted to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, to serve as storage tanker there in September. On 9 October, a particularly heavy and violent typhoon swept over Okinawa. Vandalia ran aground at 1518 coming to rest about 200 yards (182.9 m) from Miyegusuku Lighthouse on Naha Island and sinking rapidly. The 140 knots (274.4 km/h) winds lashed the ship, and heavy seas pounded the old tanker unmercifully. One engine failed, and the ship went out of control, carried along with the fury of the typhoon, as the ship's force determinedly tried to pump out the engine room, fire room, and after compartments. She came to rest listing to starboard, and the danger immediately confronting the commanding officer, Lieutenant John F. Auge, USNR, was that of the ship capsizing. Accordingly, Auge gave the order to abandon ship, which was done by 0740 on 10 October. There were no casualties.

Seaman Kermit S. Heistad of White Lake, Wisconsin, served as a gunner aboard the Vandalia in the months before the ship ran aground and nearly capsized in Buckner Bay. Heistad and two other unidentified shipmates were largely responsible for saving the lives of the crew and officers. On October 12, 1945, Seaman Heistad wrote an eye-witness account of the successful rescue in a letter to his sister, Rachel Heistad, also of Wisconsin.[1]

"We hit the rocks Monday at 3:30 p.m.," Seaman Heistad wrote. "The wind was blowing at 144 miles per hour. We landed by two smaller ships which had 47 men on them and we took them on our ship by lines. Many of us were washed over board. Sometimes the waves would wash us back on and some times others would throw us a line and save us. Everyone was there two (sic) save the other fellow, forgetting about themselves. I've never heard of greater Heroism. There was not one man lost from our ship or the other two. Our crew as a whole was recommended for a citation.

"Almost 5:30 P.M. our ship drifted off the rocks and began to sink. At 7:30 the water was getting to high to stay on the stern. So we all went forward to the bridge carrying the wounded in strechers (sic). We stayed in the bridge until 6:00 A.M. Wednesday morning. We knew that the ship couldn't last my (sic) longer. Most of the ship was under water and it was turning over. We had the small boat that I and 2 other fellows used to run and so we asked the captain if we could try and get some of the men ashore. He said it was useless, but we could try. So we lowered the boat and got the wounded men in first and started for shore. The captain said if we got ashore we would never get back to get the rest of the men. I prayed every inch of the way back.

"There was black oil all over the water and I was covered with it," Seaman Heistad wrote. "It got in my eyes so I could hardly see and in my mouth and choked me. But we made it back to the ship. God did it all. We went back and forth 7 times to save the crew. We knew we wouldn't make it back every time, but we did. God has all the glory. The officers and captain waited until the last trip and the ship had nearly disappeared when we got ashore. All the men just about tore us apart they were so happy. Everyone was crying. I was covered with oil all over and they wiped me off with their handkerchiefs. Several of them came with their billfolds and tried to give them to us. All I could say was thank God.

"All during the night on the ship there were many things going on," Seaman Heistad wrote in his letter. "Many of them will never be mentioned. All the men were praying. None of us thought we would get threw (sic) alive. The strain was too much for some. They wanted to jump over the side. We had all we could do to keep the men together. We used a table for cleaning and sewing up wounds. Some of the men were awfully badly wounded. One had an awful tear and bruise on his leg. Another had his nose torn all loose and he was cut all over. There were 5 or 6 that were hurt very badly. I can never forget the cries of pain as they were treated and the cries of men as they were washed over the side. I just can't write what is in my heart. It can't be put into words. When we think every man was saved from drownding (sic) surely it was God's mercy. Oh, how I thank him. The captain said he was recommending the 3 of us on the boat for a silver star. But the medals are small. If I do get it, it will be God's medal and not mine."

Heistad, nor the two other unidentified seamen who aided in the rescue, did not receive official Naval recognition for their actions. However, Heistad has received hometown accolades for his part in saving the crew of the Vandalia [2,3]. A memorial display featuring a copy of Heistad's original letter, photos of the Vandalia pre- and post-typhoon, an account of the Allied military gathering in Buckner Bay, and the imact of the storm was presented November 11, 2010, by Heistad's son, Torrey S. Heistad, to the White Lake, Wisconsin, Historical Society. The display now hangs in the White Lake community museum. Kermit Heistad was also featured in an article in the Antigo (Wisconsin) Daily Journal on November 13, 2010, and on television station WAOW in Wausau, Wisconsin on December 26, 2010.

Immediately after the typhoon, the Vandalia commander observed that the ship appeared to be damaged beyond economical repair but nonetheless stationed a guard on board to prevent pilferage. A guard was retained on board until 20 November when, after stripping her of whatever remained of value, Vandalia was decommissioned

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

 and abandoned.

Struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 5 December 1945, the tanker was eventually purchased by the China Merchants and Engineers, Inc., for scrap, on 31 December.

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org