TheUS Navy Armed Guard was a force ofUnited States Navy gunners and related personnel established duringWorld War II to protect U.S.merchant shipping from enemy attack.[1] A shortage of escort vessels to provide unarmed merchant vessels with adequate protection shifted the burden to onboard crews to help counter the constant danger presented byAxissubmarines,surface raiders,fighter aircraft andbombers.[1] The NAG was headquartered in New Orleans, and had three training centers, atNorfolk,Virginia;San Diego,California; andGulfport,Mississippi.[1] At the end of the war, there were 144,857 men serving in the Navy Armed Guard on 6,200 ships.[2]
The United States Navy Armed Guard (USNAG) wereU.S. Navy gun crews consisting ofGunner's Mates,Coxswains andBoatswains,Radiomen,Signalmen, an occasionalPharmacist's Mate serving at sea on merchant ships; toward the end of the war a fewradar men joined the crews.[2] The Armed Guard served on Allied merchant marine ships in every theatre of the war. Initially, a shortage of trained officers found chiefs and even petty officers in command; later a single commissioned officer would be in charge.
The assignment as an Armed Guardsman was often dreaded because of the constant danger. The important cargoes that merchant ships carried made them priority targets of enemy submarines and planes. Merchant ships were vulnerable, being slow and unwieldy, while lacking armor and having light firepower at best. Furthermore, merchant ships were among the last to receive updated equipment. Early on in the war, some ships only had a few machine guns, so the crews painted telephone poles to imitate the barrels of larger guns. The most common armament mounted on merchant ships were theMK II 20mm Oerlikon autocannon and the3"/50,4"/50, and5"/38deck guns.
When practicable, the Navy Armed Guard aboard a merchant ship would provide cross-training to merchant crew members in the use of the guns in the event of casualties. The Navy Armed Guardsmen would typically sail round trip on the same ship, occasionally they would get a different assignment upon reaching their destination depending onAlliedconvoy schedules.
The 1943 filmAction in the North Atlantic, featuringHumphrey Bogart,Raymond Massey, andAlan Hale, illustrates the importance of the Naval Armed Guard and how it interfaced with theMerchant Marine officers and crew.[3]
