Minesweeper USS Heron By Jim Potter During the Armistice of 1918, while two million doughboys and bluejackets were anxious to return to the United States from Europe and to be demobilized, Robert Parks was preparing to help clear a portion of the North Sea Mine Barrage, an area 240-mile-long and of an average width of twenty-five miles, or over 6,000 square miles. Withn this area were concealed a chain of 70,263 naval mines between Scotland and Norway completed by Great Britain's Royal … [Read more...] about Researching Robert
World War I
Researching Robert
Subchaser 265 by Jim Potter As mentioned previously, shortly after the United States entered the World War in 1917, Robert Parks joined the United States Navy. He trained as an electrician and radio operator at Great Lakes Training Center, Naval Training Center at Harvard University, and at New London. Beginning in July 1918, Parks was ready to use his skills on a submarine chaser (SC), intending to help destroy German submarines that were creating havoc at sea after Germany … [Read more...] about Researching Robert
Researching Robert
A Letter Home from New London by Jim Potter Thanks to a McPherson, Kansas, newspaper article published in June 1918, researchers can read a personal letter from Robert Parks. The correspondence gives the viewer an exceptional glimpse at a moment in Robert’s life while he was training in the United States Navy, at New London, Connecticut. Prior to Parks' arrival at the United States Receiving Barracks, State Pier, New London, he had already attained a rating of Electrician Third … [Read more...] about Researching Robert
