Title: Stuart T. Hotchkiss Memoir, Vol. 3: Task Unit 77.4.1

Identifier: 0564-002-b1-fc   (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/17332)

Description: Captain Stuart T. Hotchkiss, a Yale University graduate and a yachtsman for New Haven, Connecticut, was commissioned on July 2, 1936, in the U.S. Naval Reserves. He entered active duty on 20 April 1941 and commanded five ships during and after World War II. Volume III of his memoir describes the activities of Task Unit 77.4.1 under Rear Admiral Sprague. Hotchkiss discusses how his ship helped to neutralize enemy airfields at Mindoro (an island south of Manila) and Leyte Gulf, leading to the successful invasion and occupation of the Philippines in 1945. The rescuing of burn victims from kamikaze raids, for which he received a Legion of Merit medal, is also mentioned; as well as the alleged sinking of a Japanese submarine by his ship and an explosion on the USS MOUNT HOOD.