A-6

Porpoise (Submarine No. 7) sitting high and dry on a pier at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City, 1908. She had been hoisted out of the water so that she could be prepared to be deck loaded on the USS Caesar (Collier No. 16) for transport to the Philippines.

Photo in the private collection of Rid Hedman.

Porpoise deck loaded on the USS Caesar (Collier No. 16) for transport to the Philippines, April 1908. Her sister Shark is sitting next to here. These boats were completely unable to make the voyage themselves, so this was the best way of doing it, and it worked well.

U.S. Navy photo via Navsource.org.

USS Porpoise (Submarine No. 7) crew muster for April 15, 1910. Data is incomplete due to lost records.

Crew Muster April 15, 1910

Vande Parr James P. - Ensign - age 24 - Born: New York

Brown Harley H. - MM 1c - age 27 - Born: Vermont

Dergrinan, William - EM 1c - age 31 - Born: Missouri

Gratner, John L. - MM 2c - age 23 - Born: Texas

Hodson, Emil - SN - age 25 - Born: Montana

Irwin, Max A. EM 2c - age 23 - Born: Missouri

Kimbel, Andrew J. - EM 2c - age 25 - Born: Indiana

Mc Farland, Otis H. - CGM - age 26 - Born: Indiana

Stack, James F. - GM 2c - age 23 - Born: Massachusetts

Storey, Norman H. - CEM - age 34 - Born: Maryland

Van Sickle, William E. - CMM - age 31 - Born: Missouri

Thank you to Linda Talbott of the US GenWeb Census Project® for providing this information.

The following information is from an email from Gary Howell, a family member.

"Attached is the photo of William E. Van Sickle. I don't know much about his service other than the 1910 census, where he is listed as a sailor on the USS Porpoise in Manila. On his WWI draft registration and 1940 census, he is a Machinist at the Washington Navy Yard. Whether he was still in the Navy or a civilian worker in 1917, I don't know."

"His parents were Eli Van Sickle and Anna Elizabeth Horn, who was my Great Great Grandmother's sister. This makes him my first cousin, three times removed. It is a source of great pride to have a pioneering Submariner in my family."

Photo courtesy of MM2(SS) Gary R. Howell, USN.

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