Fort MacArthur K-9 Command

In 2003, I helped Los Angeles Times columnist Cecilia Rasmussen research the history of the Fort MacArthur Canine Command for her article entitled "The Dogs of War Laid Their Lives on the Line for U.S."

Fort MacArthur was center of the Harbor Defenses of Los Angeles during the World War II era.

Since then, I've researched and found further information on other aspects of the history of war dog training at Fort MacArthur that I'll be posting soon.

Until then, click on the link below to read Cecilia's informative article about the Fort MacArthur K-9 Command:

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/may/04/local/me-then4

Japanese Warships Visit Los Angeles Harbor

Japanese crusier Asama

In early June 1914, the Japanese cruisers Asama and Azuma visited Los Angeles Harbor. They were welcomed by representatives of the Mayor's office of Los Angeles, the Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, and several thousand Japanese Americans.

Both of these ships were veterans of the Russo-Japanese War, and the Asama earlier had participated in the support of Japanese forces in the Boxer Rebellion in China.

Silent Film Legend Mary Pickford Visits Los Angeles Harbor

"America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford visited Los Angeles Harbor on August 12, 1919. Pickford and other dignitaries went aboard the battleship Texas anchored in the outer harbor to honor the crew which had raised $130,000 for the second Liberty Bond campaign, the most of any ship in the U.S. Navy. Pickford presented the men with a silver cup as a reward. The pennant of the George Washington, the ship that had transported President Woodrow Wilson to the Peace Conference in France, was also given to the Texas crew as a personal gift from the President.

While reading her formal remarks, Pickford received the greatest ovation when she quipped that she would prefer to make "a real speech" if she "didn't have to be so formal with the Secretary of Navy" (Josephus Daniels) present. Shortly after this visit, Pickford helped establish the United Artists film studio.

Submarine Disaster in San Pedro Harbor, Two Men Drowned

On September 26, 1921, the USS R-6 submarine sank in San Pedro Harbor due to a malfunction in one of her torpedo tubes. According to news articles and naval reports, two crew members lost their lives: Seaman John Edwin Dreffein of San Pedro and electrician Frank Spaulsburg (or Spalsburg) of Powers Lake, North Dakota.

The USS R-6 (Submarine No. 83) was a 569-ton, 186 ft. long R-1 class submarine built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company (Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company) between 1917-1919 in Quincy, Massachusetts. The crew consisted of two officers, three chief petty officers and twenty-four men. Armament consisted of one 8-inch, .50 caliber gun. The R-6 held four torpedo tubes and carried eight torpedoes.

She was launched on March 1, 1919 and commissioned at Boston on May 1, 1919. After reporting to Submarine Division 9 of the Atlantic fleet at New London, Ct. in September 1919, the R-6 engaged in exercises in the Gulf of Mexico and in Atlantic Coast waters. The R-6 was ordered to the Pacific in April 1921, arriving in San Pedro, California on June 30, 1921. Lieutenant I.R. Chambers commanded the R-6 when the accident occurred a few months later.

The sub sank on September 26, 1921 in two minutes, and rested on the bottom of Los Angeles Harbor in thirty-five feet of water. Its conning tower was about eight feet below the surface. Reports vary, but according to Rear Admiral H.O. Stickney, Commander of the Pacific fleet train (and Medal of Honor recipient), Spaulsberg and Dreffein were on night watch and were the only ones aboard the R-6 at the time of the accident.

Early in the evening, a heavy groundswell rolled into the harbor and caught the R-6 which was lashed side by side with six other submarines and the mother ship Camden. Water rushed down an open torpedo tube on the R-6 (an outboard shutter was apparently left open which affected the inner tube door, and an interlocking device failed). A seaman on a neighboring sub hastily released the stern and bow lines of the R-6, and a sudden rush of water entered the torpedo tube which such force that it shot a geyser up through the conning tower.

Spaulsberg was believed to have been shot high into the air with the geyser of water, landing in the sea and sinking immediately. Dreffein was reported to have reached the deck through the conning tower when a rush of water washed him overboard. A sailor from the Camden tried to save Dreffein him but lost his grip on him.

Controversy erupted after both of their bodies were recovered on October 7. After services were conducted at the San Pedro submarine base, the bodies were transported along the railroad tracks through the freight yards to the Fourteenth Street wharf -- the smelly fish dock as it was described -- where Japanese fishermen were busy at work.

Some of the fish merchants tossed one flag-draped casket on top of the other, to the great ire of the naval officers. After an argument, the caskets were placed side-by-side, a squad fired three volleys, and the train carrying the bodies and several tons of smelly fish rolled out of the yards. The officers were indignant, but if they had waited for another train the transcontinental rail connections in Los Angeles would have been missed.

The R-6 was raised three weeks later and repaired. In February and March of 1923, the sub was used in the motion picture “The Eleventh Hour” which starred Alan Hale and B-Western movie star Buck Jones. Although the R-6 was decommissioned from 1931 through November 1940, she served through September 27, 1945 and was sold for scrap in 1946. During her service, the R-6 was assigned various duties such as anti-U-boat patrol and for training destroyers and destroyer escorts in anti-submarine warfare techniques.

Early History of the Port of Los Angeles

Here is a map (above) and an excerpt from the Report of the Board of Engineer Officers on Deep Water Harbor at San Pedro or Santa Monica Bays, California (as reprinted in the L.A. Times on Jan. 14, 1893):

"The record of vessels wrecked at San Pedro shows, with one exception, that the disasters occurred during the southerly storms, the heavy sea coming to the eastward of Catalina Island. The vessels were driven ashore on the west line of the bay. Among those lost were the Nicholas Biddle, Callao, Adelaide Cooper, San Luis American, R.P. Buck, and the Kennebeck. The exception noted was that of the Amy, which was driven ashore at Point Firmin during a northeast storm from the Santa Ana wind gap."

Harry S. Truman Visits Los Angeles Harbor

Former President Harry S. Truman, having left office just two months earlier, visited Los Angeles Harbor on March 23, 1953 and left a couple of days later. He and his family arrived in Wilmington aboard the SS President Cleveland, on their way to Hawaii. Truman was in a jovial mood and remarked that this was his first vacation in 30 years. While in the harbor, he greeted Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron and members of the Harbor Commission.

The highlight of Truman’s brief stay at the port was the luncheon he had aboard the ship with twelve of his Army buddies, all of whom fought together during World War I in France. Truman played the piano for his fellow artillerymen. Several thousand people saw the Truman’s off from the harbor, while a band played the “Missouri Waltz.”

San Pedro Improvement League Founded

The San Pedro Improvement League was organized in January 1898. Membership initially totaled 36 people. The elected officers (note the familiar names in San Pedro history) were as follows:

John T. Gaffey: President

Vice-Presidents: N.W. Tilton, J.H. Dodson

Secretary: A. Bert Bynon
Treasurer: Henry Boly

This new improvement club announced that they were strictly non-political, and their purpose was for the "improvement and advancement of the town."