U.S. Navy, USS Yorktown, USS California, USS Johnson
Hubert is the son of Ellis and Emma Johnson Wilkes. He was born and raised in the Rockledge community of Laurens County, Georgia. After Hubert graduated from high school, he began his secondary education under a special government program. The tuition ran out after the first year so he left school and returned home to live with his parents. They had disagreements as sometimes happens when young people have been away from home for awhile.
Hubert decided his best course would be to join the Navy. War was occurring in Europe but the United States was still enjoying peace when Hubert enlisted on October 28, 1940. He was 21 years old. Hubert's enlistment was for 6 years.
On his last night at home, Hubert had trouble sleeping. He remembers sitting outside at 2 AM in an emotional turmoil. His mother came out to sit with him. She talked to him and gave him some measure of comfort. This is the only time he can remember his mother giving him comfort. It did help. He felt more emotionally settled after that talk with her.
Hubert reported in at the Macon Recruiting Office with only the clothing he was wearing at the time. He knew the Navy would supply him with whatever he needed. Hubert's beginning pay in the Navy was $21.00 per month. He was sent to Norfolk, Virginia for 6 weeks of Basic Training. At the end of Basic Training, Hubert took aptitude exams to determine his job suitability. He qualified for a 4 month machinist school.
When Hubert had completed the Machinist School, he was assigned to the USS Yorktown who was known to Navy personnel as THE FIGHTING LADY. By now, Hubert's monthly pay had increased to $36.00. The Yorktown was a Naval Aircraft Carrier. Hubert reported for duty on the ship in June, 1941. His first assignment on the Yorktown was in B Division Engineering. He worked in the boiler room producing steam for the ship.
The Yorktown left port and did some submarine patrols across the Atlantic Ocean. The only thing they did during this time in furthering the European War effort was in screening for convoy ships to England. He remembers that they were met about 400-500 miles west of England by the Bristish. It looked as if the entire Royal Navy had come out to meet the ships carrying the needed supplies to the British.
On the Yorktown's return trip to the U.S., they encountered a hurricane in the Atlantic. They were tossed around badly for 3 days and nights. The welding crew on board the ship was kept busy during that time welding things down. Hubert was sea-sick as were many others on the ship.
The Yorktown returned to a U.S. port in Portland, Maine. The ship stayed in Portland for 2-3 weeks. Next they slowly went south to Norfolk, Virginia. They arrived in Norfolk on December 2, 1941. The ship was due for a major overhaul. It was estimated that it would take 3-4 months to complete the overhaul.
Leaves had been promised the men about 3-4 days after arriving at the Naval Yard. Hubert's father, who worked for Seaboard Railroad, was in Portsmouth, Virginia visiting with his son. While Hubert and his dad were visiting, they learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, the Navy tightened down on rules and regulations. People in the Navy Yard installed machine guns at the corners of the flight deck of the Yorktown. There was no time for the 3-4 month overhaul of the ship.
A few days later on December 16, 1941 with 1300 recruits on board, the Yorktown sailed. They went south to the Panama Canal then up the West Coast of Central America to San Diego, California.
The recruits were delivered to the Naval Base in San Diego on December 30, 1941. Then the Yorktown sailed west. They had orders to go to Australia with their mission being to keep the supply lines open to Europe and Australia.
Somewhere in the Pacific, the Yorktown's orders were changed. They were then directed to turn around and return to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This appeared to be strange to the ship's crew. When they neared Pearl Harbor, the ships in port had gone outside the bay and lined up so the Yorktown could pass between them. Hubert learned later that Japanese submarines were in the area and the lined up ships were to assist them with safe passage to the port.
While in port at Pearl Harbor, they took on more fuel then proceeded southwest on February 14, 1942. They began patrolling south of the Equator. They went back and forth across the International dateline in the Coral Sea Area.
The Yorktown's crew learned of the large invasion in Indonesia. There was a large fleet of Japanese ships equipped for land and sea action.
The crew heard in the morning hours from their Captain over the P.A. System they were surrounded by the Japanese Navy. The 2 aircraft carriers in the American Fleet had to fight their way out. They proceeded to inflict heavy damage to the Japanese Navy. During the conflict, theYorktown took a hit from a 1000 lb. bomb. It exploded on the Yorktown's 4th deck killing 42-43 men.
Following that action in the Coral Sea, the Yorktown stopped for a brief time at Tongatabu in the Tonga Islands. Hubert got liberty and went ashore. The natives were out selling their crafts. Hubert liked the sea shell necklaces. He thought they would make nice gifts. Hubert paid $2.00 for 3 strands of the sea shells. He thought he had a great bargain. He later learned that another sailor got 5 strands for 1 pack of cigarettes. (Cigarettes were selling on board the ship for about 5 cents.) Hubert knew then that he had been robbed.
The ship left Tongatabu on April 27, 1942. The Yorktown headed back toward Pearl Harbor. On the way they heard of a huge invasion fleet headed east toward Pearl Harbor and the United States West Coast.
The Yorktown's Galley had given out of food including meat. When they were down to 2 steaks left on board the ship, the steaks were raffled. Two lucky enlisted men won the raffle and enjoyed eating the steaks.
When they arrived at Pearl Harbor on May 27th, 1942, they were expecting about a 3 months overehaul. There was no time for an overhaul. There was very little time for repairs. Working around the clock, the Navy Yard did the best they could in a short time to get the ship repaired and ready to sail again. Basically, a piece of metal was welded over the hull area hit hardest by the bomb.
The Yorktown also took on provisions. Hubert remembers counting 7 refrigerated freight cars lined up to resupply the refrigerators and freezers on board the Yorktown.
On May 30th, the Yorktown left Pearl Harbor and went west-southwest in the still damaged ship to Johnson Island. This is where the Battle of Midway took place. The Yorktown's planes along with the other carriers' planes wreaked havoc on the Japanese Fleet. Things were going smoothly for awhile then the action picked up. There was no time for lunch that day.
Two Japanese airplanes slipped through the anti aircraft fire. A Japanese airplane threw 1 torpedo into theYorktown. The ship was dead in the water. Shortly after, at about 4:20 PM, another plane dropped a bomb down the Yorktown's air intake to the boilers. That cut all steam that the ship needed for her motive power. The ship was by now listing badly.
The Captain issued orders to abandon ship. There was complete turmoil on board. Hubert was on the 4th deck. He scrambled to the Hangar Deck. He got to the ladder on the high side of the ship.
At this particular ladder, every rung was full of sailors. The sailor on the bottom rung was afraid to turn loose. Since the ship was listing badly, it was about 15-20 feet from the end of the ladder to the water on that side of the ship.
Hubert heard a sailor that he knew, but not very good, talking to the Chaplain who had on 2 life jackets. The sailor told the Chaplain that he couldn't swim and needed the extra life jacket the Chaplain was wearing. The Chaplain refused to give up his 2nd life jacket.
Hubert got angry. Knowing he could swim, he gave the sailor his life jacket. Hubert then stripped off all his clothing down to his undershorts. He told the sailor to go down the ladder even if he had to step on someone to get down. Both Hubert and the other sailor he had assisted went down the side of the ladder. As they got to the bottom rung, the man didn't want to turn loose. Hubert pushed the man off the ladder and then followed him into the water.
Hubert never thought of himself as a hero but he did save the man's life. (After reaching port, Hubert heard the person he had saved lie about his rating. He gave a higher rating to authorities. This was wrong and Hubert learned what type of man he had risked his life for when he gave away his life jacket.)
The survivors from the Yorktown were in the water about 1 « to 2 hours. The water was oily from oil leaked from the damaged ship. The water was also bloody from the wounded men in the water. Some were bleeding badly. Hubert had only 2 fears. One was of the Japanese straffing the area. The other was of sharks. Knowing sharks are drawn to the color red made Hubert and the other men very uncomfortable.
Hubert remembers as he was being rescued feeling thankful to God for being on his side. A destroyer had picked him up. Hubert asked one of the men on the destroyer if he knew how deep the water was at that location in the Atlantic. He was told that a recent depth sounding had been done and the water was 20,000 feet deep.
Hubert and the other rescued sailors stayed on the destroyer overnight. The next morning they were transferred to a cruiser. On board the cruiser, they were given soap and towels to clean themselves. The rescued men were covered with an oily and slimey film from the wreckage in the water. Hubert was given a pair of dungarees and a tee shirt to wear.
A day or 2 later, Hubert was transferred to a sub tender that took him back to Pearl Harbor. When the Yorktown sank, all Hubert's money, clothing, personal items and records went down with the ship. Hubert remembers having 16 pairs of whites (uniforms) and 12-15 cartons of cigarettes purchased and ready for a future assignment in San Diego. All this went down in the ship.
Upon arrival at Pearl Harbor, Hubert went to the Red Cross for assistance. He had no money, no clothes, no razor or anything. The Red Cross refused to help him. Hubert heard about a small organization called the Navy Relief. They gave him $10.00 for toothpaste, toothbrush, razor, etc. He told them that he would repay them as soon as he got paid. They assured him that would not be necessary. The money was a gift. Their mission was to assist Navy personnel in need. Hubert didn't forget the Navy Relief Organization when he received his next paycheck. He donated $20.00 to them.
When the Yorktown sank, it created many probems for many people. The Yorktown had 3200 people in the Ship's Company and 2000 more people involved with the aircraft on board. The total of 5200 people on board lost all their worldly goods. The Navy had to try to reconstruct records for all the personnel. Checks could not be issued for monthly pay for these men until they could re-construct those records. This was long before automation and with the United States at war, the situation was overwhelming. It took about 2-3 months to develop the new records.
Also lost were the several millions of dollars that the ship had taken on board to pay the men who had not been paid since the Coral Sea Battle. The ship itself and it's equipment was a huge loss.
While at Pearl Harbor in 1942, Hubert was assigned to the sunken USS California, an old battleship, which was sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack. He worked on the raising of the ship. They got it cleaned and in running order. Hubert was transferred back to the United States. He came back on the USS California. Their orders were to take the USS California to the Bremerton Navy Yard in Washington where 30 to 40 million dollars were spent on the overhaul of the ship.
Hubert's next assignment was on the USS Johnson. He remembers the Captain as being a hot shot and a speed demon. The rougher the weather---the faster he would go. This Captain had a motto of sorts. The sailors could go ashore in their shorts if they wanted to but God help them if the Shore Patrol caught them out of uniform. Hubert knows of one instance where that happened. The sailor was Court Marshalled.
On the shake down cruise for the USS Johnson, they heard something big was coming up. The ship got underway. About 24 hours later the Captain explained over the PA system that they were headed to the Marshall Islands. Hubert remembers being told that their mission was to secure the Islands from the Japanese. "Captain Hotshot" volunteered his ship to be the 1st American ship of that fleet to go into Atoll Harbor. It was so shallow the ship had to go in on the high tide and leave on the high tide. After they got back out of the harbor, they patrolled around the island.
The next morning, thunder sounds woke Hubert up. He got up, dressed and went topside. Their battleship was throwing shells onto the island. They learned that 8000-9000 Japanese troops including a Japanese General were on the island. The men did not know the island was filled with Japanese at the time they had gone on a fact -finding trip around the island the day before.
The American Battleships and Aircraft Carrier airplanes were in what was called a softening up operation. Hubert's ship, the USS Johnson, was assigned to guard the south approach to the island. They were to keep submarines from removing the Japanese General from the island.
A night or so after the Marshall Islands were secured, Hubert was suffering severe stomach pains. About 11:30 or 12 that night, Hubert woke the ship's doctor up and described his pain. He was put on a little motor whale boat and taken to the USS Prairie destroyer tender. The doctor on board had performed 7 surgeries that day. He decided that Hubert had to have surgery to correct his problem and end the severe stomach pain. Hubert remembers the surgical sheets were still warm having just come from the ship's laundry.
During the surgery, the surgeon found Hubert's intestines had become crooked. He was told that he was dying slowly. The surgery straightened out his problem and he recovered. Hubert was transferred to the USS Relief Hospital Ship that took him back to Pearl Harbor. He was then taken to Aeia Heights Hospital in Hawaii for further transfer to the Naval Yard at Pearl Harbor.
This time at Pearl Harbor, Hubert was assigned to work on a tug boat. Following this he was able to transfer to the Receiving Station on the island. He was assigned to the Caretaker Upkeep Portion of the island. This was called the Ship's Company. They provided steam for the galley to cook and other uses for steam. They also provided the electricity for the needs of the Receiving Station.
Hubert was stuck in Pearl Harbor for several months. An All Navy Bulletin was issued saying all men having served overseas duty for so many months could have 30 day leaves. He asked for and got the leave.
After Hubert's 30 day leave, he was ordered to report to San Diego, California for 3 months supply duty.
Orders came in for Hubert to then transfer to the Anti Aircraft Training Center at Point Montero, California. Point Montero is located 25 miles north of San Francisco, California. Hubert left San Diego with 25 cents in his pocket and 1 meal ticket. Hubert ate his evening meal on the train. He arrived in San Francisco early the next morning hungry and broke. There was a long line of 21 sailors waiting for breakfast. Since no arrangements had been made for Hubert's breakfast, he joined the line. They were short one plate. The cook said he knew he had counted 21 sailors and he had 21 plates. They never did find out that Hubert had eaten breakfast when he was not expected to eat there.
Hubert got transportation on to Point Montero where he reported in for duty. He was there 3 months before the base was de-commissioned. He was sent back to the Transition Center in San Francisco for further transfer. He was there for a few days. During the time Hubert was in San Francisco, he was given shore patrol duty. One night while patrolling on Fisherman's Wharf, the manager at Jack Dempsey's Restaurant called them inside. There were 3 or 4 Chaplains who were drunk and cursing. Several customers left the restaurant because of the ruckus. The manager wanted the Shore Patrol to remove the Chaplains from the restaurant. Enlisted men on Shore Patrol could not touch officers. They called the Shore Patrol Officer. He told Hubert and the other men to get the Chaplains. They did!
Hubert's next orders were to report to an old supply ship in the harbor. Hubert went and when he saw the ship, he said no way would he sail on that ship. He was told that he had no choice. They had waited several days for a water tender and he was it. Hubert made his explanation to the doctor on board who filled out a transfer for him to go to the hospital. The ship's Captain almost exploded. He was cursing and carrying on something terrible. He had his yeoman to send letters to the Commander of the 14th Naval District Office and to the Chief Medical Officer of the 14th District.
The transfer to the hospital was declared to be valid. Hubert was admitted to the hospital where he underwent surgery. Two months after the surgery, he was told that he could transfer out of the Navy 2 months earlier if he desired. Of course, he so desired. Sixty one days later, Hubert was officially discharged from the Navy. At the time of his discharge, Hubert's Navy pay was $126.00 per month.
While in the Navy during these war years, Hubert earned several awards. Those awards are for his service in the Pacific Campaign, the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway and the Victory Medal.
Following his discharge, Hubert came home and loafed around some. He knew he had to eventually go back to work. He took a job with his brother-in-law cutting pulpwood. He did this for 4-5 months. Hubert knew that there was something better to do with his life than cutting pulpwood. After some thought, he decided to return to college for a degree. Since he had one year of college prior to the war, he only had 3 more to go.
Hubert graduated from Auburn University in 1951 with a degree in Agricultural Education. The G.I. Bill covered this part of his education. His first teaching job was in Cobb County, Georgia where he was an agriculture teacher. Hubert continued to take college courses until he had earned his Master's Degree in Agricultural Education and his 6 year Degree in Supervision and Administration. He continued to work in our public schools for 31 or 32 years. Some of those years were teaching and others were spent in school administration. He retired in 1982.
In 1959, Hubert married the "lady of his life". She is Jessie Raffield Wilkes. They adopted a son in 1966. Jody Wilkes lives near them in Rockledge. Jody has a daughter, Laura, who is Hubert's pride and joy. She lives nearby so Hubert and Jessie see her often. Hubert has 2 stepchildren, Larry and Dorothy McLendon, 2 step granddaughters and 2 step great granddaughters. He loves and enjoys them all. The stepchildren and their families live out of state so he doesn't get to see them as often as he would like.
Hubert and Jessie are active members of Union Baptist Church. Hubert still has some farming interests which he continues to enjoy.
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