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Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith:
Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith: Mr. Ainley: Mr. Smith:
That was the entire crew. We probably had about eight officers. Was your skipper pretty good? Yes, always had a good one. I reported to the Executive Officer. He was communications officer also and in charge of navigation. Tell me about clothing and equipment aboard ship. Did you run into any cold weather? No. The coldest we ever had was in North China, but we were only there a few days then we went back to Hong Kong. What were your feelings or emotions during that time? Were you anxious to get home? I think everybody was. I enjoyed the Navy. I was with a good group of guys, good food and quarters. Was there any time when you were under fire? No. Was there anything out of the ordinary when you were working on your rig or hitting an object that was hard to identify? Sometimes we would have a false echo. I can remember one large rock when we would go to Shanghai we had to find to figure out where we were. Did you use the radar also for weather? A cloud or storm might cause a false echo? Yes. I don't remember whether radar was refined enough to find weather. It is today. Were your sleeping quarters in a hammock?
No, we had bunk beds, stacked three high. We couldn't sit up but could get in and out pretty easily. When did you get out of the service? I got out in May, 1946, in Charleston, South Carolina. We came back through the Suez Canal and then back across the ocean. Did they retire the ship then? Yes, it was put in moth balls in Florida. It's since been destroyed. What were your feelings when you came home?
The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Merle Ainley. Ainley joined the Navy in September of 1944. He completed Radar School in Hawaii, and served as a Radar Specialist and navigator aboard USS Finch (DE-328). They traveled to Guam, Leyte and maneuvered along the China Coast, with a carrier task force. They transported prisoners-of-war from Taiwan and Formosa to Manila. They traveled to Saipan and completed occupation duty in Hong Kong, completing air sea rescue and charting harbors. He returned to the US and was discharged in June of 1946.
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Ainley, Merle.Oral History Interview with Merle Ainley, September 26, 2003,
text,
September 26, 2003;
Fredericksburg, Texas.
(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1604391/m1/5/:
accessed July 16, 2024),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.;
crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.