Robert Lorrain Hemstead

Robert Hemstead [detail from video] War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Navy Unit: USS Key, USS HASE Service Location: Pacific Theater Rank: Petty Officer First Class Place of Birth: Newport, RI

Raised mostly by his grandfather, a former rear admiral in the Navy, Robert Hemstead developed a lifelong fascination with the sea and ships. The attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred when he was a young teen, was very personal to him, as he had visited some of the ships with his grandfather. In 1944, at the age of 17, he enlisted with the help of a friend, who forged a fake birth certificate. He wanted to be a gunner’s mate, but when officers discovered that he had learned celestial navigation at 14, he was assigned to duties in that area of the ship. Attached to the Fleet Marine Force, he also did duty as a Pharmacist’s Mate. The most dangerous part of his wartime service came during the historic Philippine Sea typhoon of December 1944, which sank and damaged more ships than any battle in the Pacific Theater.