William is said to have been born Sept 20, 1927. This researcher is unable to prove his day of birth. However, it is proven he was born in Sept 1927.
He was the ninth child born to John Peter and Julia Ann Hennant Nugent. John was born in PA and Julia in Belgium. They married in PA and all their children were born there.
In 1930, the family was living in Independence, Washington Co., PA in the unincorporated area known as Avella Town. John Nugent, was 37 years old and working as a "fire boss" in a coal mine. His father was born in the Irish Free State and his mother in England.
Julia Nugent was 35 years old and a housewife. Her father and mother were both born in Belgium. Julia immigrated to the US in 1904. The census records 10 children in the home. William was 2 years and 7 months old. This census was enumerated on April 10th and establishes William's birth date as Sept 1927. His siblings were Mary T. Lilian, John P., Martin L., Esther M., Wilma M., Elizabeth M., Marcella, William J. and Patricia L.
By April 1, 1935, the family had removed to Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, and were renting a home on Lincoln Avenue. The 1940 census recorded only Julia in the home. John Peter was not found in the census records and may indicate that he was working away from home. Julia was 45 years old and seven of here children were living with her, including another son, Jerome. William was now 12 years old.
William attended Rosary High School in Detroit. It is likely he did not graduate.
With his parent's permission, he entered the service in Feb 1945 at age 17. He arrived on Feb 20, 1945, for basic training at the Navy Training Center, Great Lakes, IL, He was advanced from AS (Apprentice Seaman) to S2c (Seaman 2nd class) on April 11, 1945. He was transferred on April 23rd to distribution center at Shoemaker, CA. After a long train trip, William arrived April 27th to await his first duty assignment.
On May 12, 1945, William saw his ship for the first time. The famed USS Indianapolis CA-35 had limped several thousand miles back to Mare Island for repairs from a kamikaze attack off Okinawa on March 31, 1945. She arrived at San Francisco then forward to Mare Island on May 2, 1945. In addition to repairs, the ship would be overhauled, refitted and painted inside and out over the next two-and-a-half months.
As William walked the dock he did not expect to see what he saw. There was his new ship, but not in the water. She was resting on massive wooden keel blocks designed specifically for her hull and labeled with her name. Yard workers were busy repairing two holes in the bottom of her keel as well as one on her deck on the port quarter while other workers were repairing two of the heavy cruiser's propellor shafts.
Once on board, William would hear the sounds of banging, hammering, chipping and witness the fire from torches against the steel hull 24 hours a day. The decks, which covered the length of two football fields, were an obstacle course of men and equipment. Dust and other debris covered every surface.
Only part of the enlisted and officers were kept on board in dry dock. It is not known if William remained on board. Most of the crew and officers were moved to housing at the navy yard and for the enlisted this was likely due to the need for repairs to a berthing compartment and mess hall.
When the ship was floated out of dry dock on June 22nd, more crew would spend their time on board assisting yard workers with repairs and attending to everyday duties and upkeep. Each division had a job to do and no one was exempt. As a S2c, William was likely assigned to the deck division for general duty.
William was not the only new crewmember trying to find his way around the chaos of the ship. While Indy was at Mare Island, over 250 new enlisted crewmembers came aboard and most like William, straight from boot camp to replace the men who had left the ship when she arrived for repairs.
In addition to new enlisted men, new officers had arrived and accounted for almost half the complement which was now over the number normally on board. Twenty Ensigns were straight from midshipmen's school or the Navy Academy. They were officers, but every bit as "green" as William.
Chipping paint and rust was one of those jobs that nobody wanted but had to be done before Indy could receive her new inside paint and outward camouflage pattern. This was likely a job assigned to new crewmembers of the lower ratings, like William. Also, he would assist with the painting.
William bunked amid ship, on the lower levels, that was laid out in some 25 compartments arranged in rows with a narrow passageway between them. Bunks were stacked from floor to ceiling. The unfortunate man who was assigned the top bunk would find that his nose was only 12 inches from the ceiling. When not in his bunk, it was lifted up and secured with a chain to the bulkhead to allow just a little more room for his bunkmates. It was very close quarters.
There was a perk for crewmembers - Ice Cream. The cooks set up an ice cream parlor, called a "gedunk." The favorite flavors were peppermint and tropical passion. The crew ate about twenty-five gallons a week. Forty gallons of coffee were brewed at a time, so always available. Two mess halls served three meals a day along with snacks and sandwiches. There was a post-office, sick bay and dental office and a small library.
When would he get to become a real sailor and travel the high seas? He did not know. For two months he had been stuck in navy yard Hell, but that was about to change.
July 4, 1945 was a day of celebration and a "Open-house" was held on board. Wives, girlfriends and other friends came to see what they had only seen from the dock, if that close. There were fireworks over the bay that night. It was a relaxing day for William, finally.
On July 12, 1945, with work not yet completed, Capt. Charles Butler McVay, III, received an unexpected and somewhat bewildering order to have Indy ready to depart the US no later than July 16th. Telegrams were sent ordering crewmembers and officers in service schools or on furlough to return to the ship immediately.
With most of the crew back on board, as well as yard workers, Capt. McVay ordered the crew to ready for departure on Saturday morning, July 14th. He took his ship on a brief trial in an attempt to not only test the ship's repairs, but give the green crewmembers some degree of training. The exercises included speed runs, emergency turns, full backdown as well as radar, radio and fire control procedures. William was likely overwhelmed with this crash course at sea. He would be thankful that the seas were calm.
Glen Harley Peterson, a new member of the crew and who died in the sinking, wrote a letter home on July 14, 1945"
"Last Monday we took our trial run out to sea to test the guns and engines. We went out about seventy miles. It wasn't too rough so I didn't get sea sick but I suppose I will when we go out. I sure hope that I don't get sick. You could really feel it when they fired those big guns. That part was kind of fun."
The next morning, Sunday, Indy put back into Mare Island and a few hours later, Capt. McVay received his final orders.
He was to depart Mare Island that day for Hunter's Point Navy Yard in San Francisco Bay where he would receive top-secret cargo for transport to the island of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands. Two Navy officers would come aboard with the cargo to ensure its safe delivery. He was to proceed at flank speed to Pearl Harbor, refuel and continue on.
Capt. McVay was not told the contents of his cargo, so no one else on board knew. Rumors were rampant among the enlisted.
In the early morning hours of July 16, 1945, Indy prepared to get underway. She depart Hunter's Point at 8:00 a.m., and at 8:36 a.m., passed under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Over the PA system, Capt. McVay informed the crew they were steaming to Pearl Harbor at flank speed. He ordered the crew to stay clear of the forward part of the main deck because the speed of Indy could cause large waves to break over the bow.
A few hours later, Indy hit rough seas with swells of fifteen feet. Even with a slight reduction in speed, with each wave the ship rose then suddenly slammed into the troughs with a violent jarring along with a roll from side-to-side. The old salts on board had experienced a much worse ride, but William was not likely reassured by their calmness and secretly feared for his life.
Later in the day of July 16th, Capt. McVay was told by one of the Navy officers in charge of the top-secret cargo that "every day we take off the trip is a day off the war." McVay informed several key officers what he had been told, but the enlisted crew was not told.
The next day, the weather improved and the screws of the four massive engines were pushing the ship along at an average of 29 knots. Indy shuttered and vibrated as she plowed through the warm water, her engines almost at their limits.
Arriving at Pearl Harbor, William would long for just a few hours on dry land. It was not to be. No one without previous orders was allowed to go ashore. But, there was good news. Indy had steamed, averaging 29.5 knots, over 2,000 nautical miles in 74.5 hours from the Farallon lightship at San Francisco to Diamond Head, Oahu, TH, setting a new time record. The crew erupted with shouts and cheers when Capt McVay made the announcement. Indy refueled and continued her mission.
The secret cargo was off-loaded at Tinian on July 26th. Before departing that afternoon, McVay received orders to proceed to Guam, 120 miles south of Tinian. The next morning she arrived at Apra Harbor, Guam, where the captain received routing orders for her final destination - Leyte.
Indy departed Apra Harbor at 9:00 a.m. the next morning, Sunday, July 27, 1945. Half-way en route to Leyte, on July 30, 1945, Indy was struck by two torpedoes from Japanese submarine I-58 and sank in 12 minutes. Whether William made it off the ship and into the water is not known.
William had served on board Indianapolis for only 79 days. He was two months shy of his 18th birthday when he gave all to his country.
His name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, Philippines. He was awarded the Purple Heart, posthumously.
William, you are not forgotten.
William's older brother, Martin, served in the US Army and was killed in Germany in 1945.
Source CreditsMichigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952, Ancestry.com; citing marriage of John P. Nugent and Julia Hennaut. No date given. County File Number 746017/State File Number 424521.
1930 US Census, PA, Washington Co., Independence Twsp. Enumerated April 10, 1930. HH #242; citing family of John Nugent
1940 US Census, MI, Wayne Co., Detroit. Enumerated April 27, 1940. HH #76; citing Julia Nugent family.
Moore, Katherine D. (1991). Goodbye Indy Maru. Lori Publications, Knoxville, TN.
Vincent, Lynn, & Vladic, Sara. (2018). Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History. Simon & Schuster, New York.
USN WWII Muster Rolls, 1938-1949; Ancestry database
USN Ships, Stations and Other Naval Activities, 1939-1949; Ancestry database
USN USS Indianapolis CA-35 Final Sailing List, 17 Aug 1945; Ancestry database.
Navy Department, Casualty Section, Office of Public Information (1946): Combat Connected Naval Casualties, WWII, by States; Vol. AL-MO; MI
Detroit Evening Times, Tues, Aug 28, 1945, p. 7; citing William Gerald Nugent, MIA
Rank / Rating: S2-Seaman Second Class
