Project 888
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Name: Jimmie Lee HOLLINGSWORTH Rank / Rating: STM2-Steward's Mate Second Class Service #: 836 00 95 DOB: Aug 08, 1925 From: Rocky Mount, NC Parents: Roberta Hollingsworth Went Aboard: Dec 30, 1944 Age When Ship Went Down: 19 years, 11 months, 22 days Spouse: Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Jane Gwinn Goodall |
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Jimmie Lee Hollingsworth was born on 8 August 1925 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
He was just shy of his 20th birthday when Indy was torpedoed and sunk.
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| His mother, Roberta Hollingsworth, lived in South Norfolk, Virginia at the time her son Jimmie Lee registered for the draft, one day after his 18th birthday on 9 August 1943. Jimmie Lee Hollingsworth was working at Jefferson Barber Shop in South Norfolk at the time. Not much else is known about Hollingsworth’s family. Navy records list his next of kin as his aunt and uncle, Nannie and Monroe Hollingsworth. His last known address was in the care of James Harris in Nashville, North Carolina. The town of Nashville is located very close to Jimmie Lee Hollingsworth’s birthplace. It is not known what relation Hollingsworth had to James Harris. Hollingsworth boarded his first and only ship, USS Indianapolis (CA- 35) on 30 December 1944 and worked as a Steward’s Mate Second Class. His shipmates, Joseph Berry, Jr., Joe Walker Hill, Henry Jordan, and Cleo Randolph were in the same transfer group from the Navy Training and Distribution Center, Camp Elliot, San Diego. He was on the ship for the last two Battle Stars before Indy had to return to Mare Island for repairs. Jimmie Lee Hollingsworth was nine days shy of his 20th birthday when he passed. | |
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 | Jimmie Lee HOLLINGSWORTH, STM2-Steward's Mate Second Class, was one of 28 African-American men who were members of the Steward Branch, the only division on the ship in which there was not a single survivor. The restricted duties of the Steward Branch were to serve the officers of the ship, including the admiral's and captain's wardrooms, dining areas and sleeping quarters. The services were essential to the smooth and efficient running of Indianapolis. Many of Indianapolis's African-American crew members voluntarily performed duties as gunners' mates, assigned to a specific battle station as one complete unit. More details about the valuable service of these men can be found by reading the book: 'Heroes in the Shadows: The Untold Story of the African American Sailors Aboard USS Indianapolis (CA-35)', by Jane Gwinn Goodall, with contributions from Janice Alston and Arlene Taylor (Henry Jackson, StM1), Jeanette Pitts, M.D. (Albert Rice, StM1), and Jacqueline Dugan and Ernestine Peete (Magellan Williams, StM1). |
