'Selected to join the prize crew'

Jack E. Bozarth

During the waning months of World War II, I was serving as an enlisted crew member of USS Robinson (DD-562). Prior to the cessation of hostilities between the United States and Japan, my ship captured and boarded a Japanese gunboat, Ijn Ataka, in the South China Sea. Once the Ataka stopped and signaled her surrender, a prize crew from the Robinson was sent aboard to take charge of her and I was one of those selected to join the prize crew.

The officer in charge of the prize was Lt. Elmo R. Zumwalt, USN, who, at the time, was serving as the USS Robinson's operations officer.

The Ataka was sailed into Shanghai, China, by her Japanese crew as supervised by the American prize crew, and turned over to authorities there.

Lt. Zumwalt was the epitome of what graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy should represent, and was recognized as such by all the crew members, particularly the enlisted crew. Few of us were surprised by his achieving the highest position in the Navy.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, then Admiral Elmo Zumwalt was appointed as Chief of Naval Operations after serving as commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam.

Admiral Zumwalt became famous because of the numerous "Zoomies" he sent out in regard to needed changes for enlisted personnel. He is recognized as the driving force behind the many improvements initiated toward better conditions for them in the fleet.

While much of the Pacific Fleet returned to the United States upon the official surrender by the Japanese, the USS Robinson remained in the South China Sea area and supervised the minesweeping operations there. During that time, I was privileged to attend the wedding of Lt. Zumwalt in Shanghai in late 1945.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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