Wilson Gateley was assigned to the USS Cadmus while he was stationed in Tampa Bay, Florida,* in 1945 and was a member of her crew during her passage to Norfolk, Virginia. There he was discharged from the navy and began his eventful trip north to visit Katherine Ogden in Rochester, New York.

 

USS CADMUS - AR14

 

A character in Greek mythology, the Phoenician prince Cadmus was said to have introduced the alphabet into Greece, and founded Thebes.

 

Amphion Class Repair Ship: Laid down, 30 October 1944 as a Maritime Commission type (C2) hull under a Maritime Commission contract at Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Inc; USS Cadmus (AR-14) was launched 5 August 1945 by Tampa Shipbuilding Co. Inc., Tampa, Fla.; sponsored by Mrs. B. P. Ward and commissioned 23 April 1946. Captain J. M. Connally in command.


Specifications: Displacement 6,266 t.; Length 492'; Beam 69' 6": Draft 27' 6"; Speed 16kts; Complement 921; Armament two single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount.


Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet since commissioning, USS Cadmus operated from her home port at Norfolk, Va., as a repair ship. Calls to East Coast ports, and cruises in the Caribbean, are part of a schedule which calls for service to the Fleet during major exercises. On 3 September 1957, the repair ship cleared Norfolk on her first Atlantic crossing. After taking part in NATO exercises with TF 88 out of Rothesay, Scotland, she visited ports in Scotland, France, and Spain. Through the first half of 1958 she sailed with TF 63 in replenishment missions during fleet exercises in the Mediterranean. From her return to Norfolk on 7 May 1958 through 1960, Cadmus has continued her program of east coast and Caribbean operations.


In 1964, the USS Cadmus moved her homeport to Newport, RI.


Decommissioned, 4 September 1971; 

Laid up in the Reserve Fleet; 

Struck from the Naval Register, 15 January 1974; 

Sold under the Security Assistance Program to Taiwan, 22 April 1974; 

Final Disposition, fate unknown.

 

*While in Tampa Bay, he was a member of a small team of ETMs (Electronic Technician Mates) who were called upon to help a small Cuban warship get it's sonar system fixed.  The team was successful!