This is the third in a series of Brick Wall posts about my Biological Grandfather (William D. Bond). You are invited to read the first and second parts.
I contacted the County courthouse in Manitowoc, WI in hopes I may find the paperwork dealing with the childsupport case for my mother, but was informed that those records were not required to be kept any longer. Those records would have been destroyed years ago. I had no idea who the lawyer was that handled the case for my grandmother, so any hopes of acquiring information that way was out of the question (if any of those records would have survived). I would also like to note that if I can find Naval records for William D. Bond, I may find financial records that will show he had to pay child support and of course will be a key link in confirming him as my biological grandfather.
With very little information to work with in finding my biological grandfather (William D. Bond), my only option appeared to be to any information dealing with the Navy. I noted that if William was in the Navy, then he probably would have had to have something to do with submarines. The Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company located in Manitowoc, WI was the only military operation going on in that area and they were building submarines. William could have been stationed on one of the new submarines that were being built or he could have been part of a support team. Another possibility is that maybe he was on a vessel that came in for repairs. If he was stationed on one of these new submarines he would be listed on the crew for its maiden voyage and I could find this information from the Navy. Years ago I looked on the internet to see if I could find out what submarines where being built at the time William would have been stationed in the Manitowoc area and I found nothing. A few years later I searched the internet again and viola, I found something. I found a detailed list of the submarines that were built by the Manitowoc company during WWII. I concentrated on those vessels that were nearing completion at the time William would have met my grandmother, which would have been in about mid 1943. Here is the list of the new submarines that William may have been associated with while he was in Manitowoc.
- USS Puffer (SS-268), launched 22 November 1942, commissioned 27 April 1943
- USS Rasher (SS-269), launched 20 December 1942, commissioned 8 June 1943
- USS Raton (SS-270), launched 24 January 1943, commissioned 13 July 1943
- USS Ray (SS-271), launched 28 February 1943, commissioned 27 July 1943
- USS Redfin (SS-272), launched 4 April 1943, commissioned 31 August 1943
- USS Robalo (SS-273), launched 9 May 1943, commissioned 28 September 1943
- USS Rock (SS-274), launched 20 June 1943, commissioned 26 October 1943
- USS Golet (SS-361), launched 1 August 1943, commissioned 30 November 1943
Follow me in future Blog posts about my search for my biological grandfather as I report the search process I took and the results of the search.