J. Sherwood Tuttle,
Commander, USN
Oct. 1, 1914 - Sept. 28,
1997

Captain John Sherwood Tuttle, he preferred "J. Sherwood Tuttle", the
second commanding officer of the WATCHMAN was a mustang
Quartermaster first class in the enlisted ranks. I recall, as a young
Ensign that he would come into the wardroom and order up a head of lettuce from
which he would peel leaves all the while carrying on a normal conversation.
He also had a thing about lemons. Later, I found out that he was a
survivor of the USS POPE (DD-225) which was sunk in the Java Sea in February,
1942. He and his shipmates along with survivors of HMS ENCOUNTER spent about 20
hours in the water before being picked up by the Japanese destroyer IKAZUCHI
commanded by LCDR Shimsaku Kudo. The IKAZUCHI picked up a total of 442 people at
great risk to her own safety. (Read more about this episode in the links
below.) He then spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp in Celebes.
Perhaps the lack of these foods while in the POW camp created a craving within him. Anyway
the following sites give more information about him, the USS POPE (DD-225)
as well as the Japanese ship that picked him and other survivors up.
Capt. Tuttle's POW history:
http://projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=304620
More on the USS POPE (DD-225):
http://military.wikia.com/wiki/USS_Pope_%28DD-225%29
LCDR Kudo:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=59721642
Info on Celebes POW camphttp://ww2today.com/7th-april-1942-suffering-and-defiance-as-prisoners-of-the-japanese
Official report on sinking of POPE
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/logs/DD/dd225-Java.html
From the above web pages: "The following day,
Ikazuchi rescued 442 survivors from Pope and Encounter.
The survivors had been adrift for about 20 hours - in rafts and lifejackets, or
clinging to floats, many coated in oil, and some blinded. This humanitarian
decision by Lieutenant Commander
Shunsaku Kudō placed Ikazuchi at risk of attack, and it interfered
with her fighting ability, due to the sheer load of rescued sailors. The action
was later the subject of a book and a 2007 TV programme."
Ray Hand served as Electronics Materiel
Officer (EMO) under Capt. Tuttle and offered a few anecdotes.
Hi Frank,
and all my shipmates,
But first a warning.
Once I got stated writing sea stories about Captain Tuttle I
kept thinking of more stories. I probably have written way too much but I
did it anyway.
*****
Captain Tuttle is certainly
a colorful part of Watchman history
and there are many sea stories that can be told. Given his World War II
experiences, however, I think his sometimes seemingly “eccentric behavior” —
like the lettuce episode — should be forgiven.
As an idealistic fleet Ensign just out of the Naval Justice
School, I confronted him from time to time about his, “unique
interpretations” of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This did not
please the Captain. He was fond of saying,
“Nobody tells me how to run my ship.”
From time to time, however, I was “called on the carpet” by a real
lawyer/Navy Commander on Treasure Island who reviewed our ship’s legal
actions. Fortunately for me, he clearly understood relationships between
Captains and a junior officers and he thankfully he always “had my back”.
On a more positive note, I am grateful to Captain Tuttle for
the opportunity he gave me to learn how a navy ship works as a “system” from
stem to stern. I think he thought that
cross training of junior officers was a good safety measure for the
ship. In any event, it had a significant influence on my future career as a
naval system engineer.
In keeping with his motto, “Nobody tells me how to run my
ship”, the Electronics Material Officer (EMO) and the Supply Officer stood
bridge watches. The EMO billet was designated for limited duty officers
only that had previously been an Electronic Technician Chief. But the
Captain wanted to promote the EMO, Glen Grosenbach. to Operations Officer
and so he did. And then he promoted me to EMO since I had a degree in
electrical engineering.
Captain Tuttle made the rules for his ship.
I never observed the Captain pealing a head of lettuce, but
he did like J. Sherwood Tuttle and also perfected
a very flowery “J.S. Tuttle” signature
with which he signed all Watchman correspondence. By the way, he insisted
that all correspondence for his signature be typed without erasures. Many a
time a Yeoman retyped a letter several times before getting it “error
free”. In those days we had typewriters and not word processors and
printers. By the way, when I left the Navy he gave me a nice letter of
recommendation complete with the flowery “J.S. Tuttle” signature.
Captain Tuttle making
“full” Commander was a rare and significant accomplishment for a
mustang in those days and should be respected. Never the less, he must have
been planning for it for sometime. I remember him coming aboard ship in his
brand new blue dress uniform with three shiny new gold stripes on each
sleeve and a Commanders hat with shiny gold “scrambled eggs”. We then put
to sea and we all shifted to our khaki uniforms. Soon the Captain made an
appearance on the bridge and the scrambled eggs on his khaki hat were so
green you would have thought he had been wearing the hat in salt air at sea
for 20 years. Out of respect, I tried not to laugh, but I understood
because I had heard as a midshipman that sometimes senior officers soaked
their scrambled eggs in salt water for effect.
Three more stories and I am done.
First, my wife Sharon reminds me that while Watchman’s junior
officers wanted to spend the little shore time we had with our wives and
girl friends, Captain Tuttle always wanted to have a cocktail party.
Attendance at the parties was not mandatory but
not attending was a big mistake.
Really big ! !
Second, Captain Tuttle enlisted in Portland Oregon and
requested permission to take his own ship
back to Portland to end his naval career. Again, the junior officers
would rather have been ashore in San Francisco but we went to Portland
anyway. The trip was never-the-less a experience to remember that included
crossing the bar at the mouth of the Columbia River and a 12 hour “sea and
anchor detail” up the river to Portland. Captain Tuttle had schooled us on
the dangers of crossing the bar but the inbound trip was uneventful with
calm seas. On our return the sea was rough. Shortly after crossing the bar
the engine room rang up “all stop”. I was on the bridge and you should have
seen the Captain’s face. We had damaged the bearings on the forced draft
blower to the boilers. The Captain order the engine room to keep it running
until we could get far enough off shore to effect repairs. We then wallowed
in the rough sea until repairs could be made and we could head home.
And finally a humorous story. Captain Tuttle decided
Watchman needed a new logo and that he would design it. He had studied the
“rules of heraldry” which he
lectured us on during dinner in the Ward Room. In order to draw a logo, he
got some colored crayons and went to work. He needed to sharpen the crayons
to do his work so he used the pencil sharpener in the Chart House which was
next to his Sea Cabin. The crayon sharpening gummed up the pencil sharpener
with crayon wax. One day a Seaman, a Quartermaster striker, was sitting in
the Chart House. A Third Class Quartermaster came into the Chart House and
took the cover off of the pencil sharpener. He noticed the wax and said to
the Seaman, “Who did this?”. The Seaman said, “Captain Tuttle”. So the
Third Class said, “Then tell Captain Tuttle to clean it up.” and he left the
Chart House. No doubt the Captain heard the conservation from his sea cabin
so later when the Third Class returned to the Chart House, the Captain
walked in. The Captain took the cover off of the pencil sharpener, noticed
the wax, said, “That needs cleaning.”, took out his pocket knife, and
started cleaning it. You should have seen the look on the Third Class’ face
when he thought the Seaman had followed his order.
Score one for the
Captain’s sense of humor.
End of sea stories. Best wishes to all my shipmates — Sharon
and I talk regularly about you and the Watchman days.
Ray Hand