Understanding Service Location History

My Dad's WWII Navy Service Record includes the following: COMSERFOR 7th F_ BOAT POOL 15-1 NAVY #3142. i am guessing he served in the 7th Fleet Service Force, Boat Pool 15-1 appears to be located in Manila Phillipines (I have pictures of him in the Philippines in what appears to be 1945). I am guessing Navy #3142 is Hull #3142, which is a Liberty Ship named USS Edwin Duff, which transported boxed aircraft.
Questions:
1. Do my assumptions seem logical?
2. What is a Boat Pool, and what did Boat Pool 15-1 do?
3. Is there any way to track the passage history for Navy Vessel #3142 to see if it was in the Phillipines in 1945?

 

There was no USS Edwin H Duff. There was an SS Edwin H. Duff, one of about 100 some odd liberty ships constructed at the Wainwright Yard in Panama City, FL. The ship was operated by United States Lines from roughly August to October 1945 when mothballed in the reserve fleet on the south side of the James River, opposite Fort Eustis, VA. Again, SS Edwin H Duff not a ship in US commissioned service . . . at least not until acquired by the USN in 1957, renamed USS Interdictor (YAGR-13) and put into service as a radar picket ship. Interdictor was decommissioned in 1965. I can find no evidence that the ship operated in the Pacific in its 3 months of operation in 1945.

USN installations in WWII were assigned a number. "Navy #3142," as these things are generally written, refers to a location. In this case, as you have already surmised, 3142 is Manila, PI.

 

Seconded...#3142 is the hull number assigned the SS Edwin H. Duff by the US Maritime Commission, not the US Navy.

 

Thank you so much for clarifying. Hence my Dad never served on the SS Edwin H Duff, but rather was assigned to Boat Pool 15-1 in Manila, Any idea what a "Boat Pool" would consist of during the War, and why it was called 15-1?

 

It would appear the boat pool was a repair and distribution operation for small craft, up to, including, and apparently predominantly, landing type craft. These were distributed across the Service Force as necessary in support of supply functions at various installations and activities in the 7th Fleet area of operations. From what I’ve seen in a brief run through was that the constant demand from fleet subordinate activities put considerable stress on the operation.

From the ComSerFor7thFlt March 1945 war diary, for example
“The problem of procuring an adequate number of small boats has become increasingly pressing in view of the great March expansion of PHILIPPINE bases with accompanying Service Force responsibility of maintaining logistic support. The LCVP’s and LCM’s are the important cogs connecting the shuttle of material and supplies from issue and cargo ships to shore storage facilities and the eventual return of the material from the supply depot to the forces afloat. Such intercourse is essential to the supply cycle, especially at these bases like LINGAYEN, SUBIC, MANILA, and LEYTE, as dock space must either be first constructed or repaired before the supplies, provisions, and stores can be off-loaded in any appreciable volume.

“The shortage of LCM’s which are the Supply Depot “workhorses”, has been acute, and can be attributed to two factors:

1. Failure of shipping points in the U.S. to maintain their commitments.
2. Difficulty in moving the LCM’s from the rear bases to the PHILIPPINE bases

“In an effort to remedy the first factor, Commander Western Sea Frontier has been informed of the shortage and has been asked to provide the Service Force with a dependable schedule of new boats to be shipped from the States. This schedule, if reliable, can greatly assist in making a more efficient allocation and distribution of such craft.

“The second factor will become less important upon completion of the Army Engineer Assembly Depot in the MANILA area, as LCM’s can then be received, knocked down, and assembled upon arrival at the depot. The fact that the Army moved its Assembly Depot from MILNE BAY to MANILA left the area temporarily without assembly facilities; these are prerequisite in assembling the boats, as their size and weight make transporting them in an assembled state very difficult. Shortage of deck stowage space for such purposes is also acute.”

I have found no specific references to a Boat Pool 15-1, though that does not surprise me. I would presume that the simplest answer to your question why “15-1” is probably correct but also not particularly helpful or what you might want to hear . . . military forces have a marked tendency to break down gaggles of people and similar operations into easily identified units. Picture, for example, parents back home in Floodplain, Missouri sending a letter to an address such as

Sea2s John Cadiddlehopper USNR
ServFor7thFlt
FPO 12345, San Francisco, Calif

as opposed to

Sea2c John Cadiddlehopper USNR
ServFor7thFlt
Boat Pool 15-1
FPO 12345, San Francisco, Calif.

Which letter do you think would get in dear little Johnnie’s hands first?

Sorry not to be of more help, specialty of the house is naval aviators and naval aviation matters, not Service Forces.

 

Dear R Leonard, you are amazing!! After mindlessly scouring internet you have very quickly provided details that is valuable news... I cannot thank you enough!!
David Peck