Veterans recall good times aboard USS Belfast

The World War II combat veterans who served aboard the patrol frigate USS Belfast all are in their 80s now, but they still get a chuckle when they recall the ice cream incident.

The Belfast was fighting in the South Pacific when for some reason its captain decided to take away the enlisted crew’s ice cream privileges. Two of the sailors did not take kindly to the idea of being denied ice cream while the officers still were allowed it, so in the dark of night the ice cream machine went overboard.

“That night the ice cream freezer went over the side,” William LaPlante, of Westminster, Md., recalled with a grin. “The skipper wouldn’t give us any liberty because we took his ice cream freezer away.”

LaPlante and eight other surviving crewmen were visiting the city their ship was named for to celebrate what all expect will be their final reunion. Of the original crew of 200 men, just 38 are still alive.

“We thought 2003 was our last reunion, but we decided to have one more and have it in Belfast,” said Arthur Wells of Toms River, N.J. Wells, the official ship’s historian, organized the first reunion in 1954 and held successive reunions across the country “east to west” beginning in 1988.

Wells said the idea for the Belfast reunion came about when he attempted to donate a brass plaque from the ship to the city’s library. The library suggested the plaque be given to the museum, and it was during discussions with historical society member George Squibb that Wells accepted an invitation to come to Belfast.

During their reunion, the nine shipmates attended an event at the Belfast Museum where they donated a scale model of the “Battlin’ B” for the museum’s collection. They also videotaped recollections of their time at war for the Belfast Historical Society, toured the Coast Guard base in Rockland and were treated to a banquet at the Frank D. Hazeltine American Legion Post 43 in Belfast.

The USS Belfast was a Tacoma class patrol frigate and saw service in the South Pacific islands and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It was a submarine hunter, and the crew recalled that they would serve as support for troop ships landing soldiers on islands under the control of the Japanese. They would then circle around the islands to wait for the Japanese submarines that were sent in to pick up the fleeing officers. They would attack the subs with depth charges and force them to retreat.

The men were “fresh out of high school” and newly minted Coast Guard sailors when they were assigned to Wilmington, Calif., where the ship was under construction, according to Robert Paridy of Port Orange, Fla., the veteran who crafted the USS Belfast model.

The 304-foot-long ship was launched in November 1943 and the crew stayed aboard until the Belfast was given to the Soviet Union in 1945 as part of the wartime lend-lease policy. The Soviets kept the ship until the 1960s when it was scrapped.

“We had to give our ship to the Russkies,” recalled Paridy. “We had to train them. We had one interpreter for 150 Russians. … They were a bright young group of fellows.”

LaPlante recalled that the ship kept 180-proof grain alcohol aboard for cleaning its guns and when the Russians started bragging about how they could handle their vodka, they poured them drinks of grain alcohol mixed with grapefruit juice. They mixed the drinks strong for the Russians and weak for each other.

“This is how Americans drink, we said,” LaPlante said. “They were bombed.”

He also recalled the time his wife came for a visit while the crew was waiting for the Belfast to be launched. The hotels were full and it appeared officers received preference on rooms. As LaPlante and his wife waited in the lobby, they saw officer after officer given rooms even though they had arrived before them.

“Two Coast Guard officers came in and got a room, and one of them came over and gave his room to me and my wife,” LaPlante said. Pointing to Lee “Bud” Bothell of Port Orchard, Wash., he added, “And that is the officer right there. That’s the kind of people they were.”

Bothell, who retired from the Coast Guard after a career of 38 years, drove across country with his son Rex to attend his first reunion. He said he was delighted to see some of his old shipmates and that Belfast was “a nice little town.”

As for the ship’s captain, Wells recalled that when he finally did show up for one of the reunions, the first words out of his mouth were, “Which of you guys took my ice cream machine?”