Gross, William L.

Few facts are known about the life of Colonel William L. Gross (1839-1909). He was the son of a Minister who migrated from eastern Pennsylvania to Peoria County, Illinois, and William was living in the town of Brimfield there in 1856. That year he also served in the Post Office in nearby Knoxville, Illinois. William may have attended Knox College in Galesburg and we know that he taught school. Between August and December of 1862, he was an employee of the Cairo, Illinois, Telegraph Office as a civilian. He may have served there until he received an appointment at the United States Military Telegraph headquarters at Danville, Kentucky in September 1863. In October 1863 he was commissioned Captain, Assistant Quartermaster in the United States Volunteers and Assistant Superintendent. In July 1865 he was sent to the New Orleans, Louisiana, office of the Military District of the Gulf, and in March 1866 he was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel, Superintendent of Telegraph, Military District of the Gulf. He mustered out of the military in July 1866, and in August was appointed manager of the Western Union Office in Omaha, Nebraska.

William Gross was born on July 28, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended local public schools and remained in the Boston area until he joined the U.S. Navy in January 1942 at the age of eighteen. Gross spent roughly three years in the navy, all of it during World War II, and served only on the USS Brooklyn. On the Brooklyn, Gross began his miliary career operating an anti-aircraft gun. After a brief trial at this post, he requested a new assignment. Gross was transferred to something more interesting--radar operations, a new position since the introduction of radar equipment on naval ships. The USS Brooklyn became a part of the Atlantic Fleet, a new squadron of ships organized by the US Navy in preparation for World War II, and, because of this, Gross crossed the Atlantic several time. Of the actions the USS Brooklyn saw during World War II, Gross was on the ship for all of it, including two major naval battles, one off the coast of North Africa and the other off the western coast of Italy [see historical note for USS Brooklyn below for more details]. In 1945, Gross accepted his discharge from the navy at the same time the Brooklyn was decommissioned. After his naval career, Gross enlisted in the Massachusetts State Police where he retired with the rank of Captain after twenty eight years of service. After retirement, he became superintendent of the Boston and Maine Railroad Police and then the Chief of Police in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Gross married the daughter of a Boston Police detective and they had one daughter whom they raised together.

The USS Brooklyn (CL 40) was not the first vessel to go by that name. The first USS Brooklyn was a Sloop Steamer built in 1858 and used in battles in the Gulf of Mexico on behalf of the Union forces during the Civil War. The second ship, built in 1896, and participated in battles off of Southern Cuba during the Spanish- American War. The third one was born due to the efforts of Brooklyn residents who signed a petition requesting a new armored cruiser to be built and named for their beloved borough. Due in part from the efforts of this petition, Congress authorized the building of the USS Brooklyn (CL 40) in 1933. The Brooklyn was constructed in the Brooklyn Navy Yard between 1936-1937 and it was the first cruiser of its class, Class Light. Fashioned in the style of a Japanese NACHI cruiser with heavy artillery, she had fifteen 6" 47-caliber guns, eight 5" 25-caliber dual purpose guns, plus smaller caliber anti-aircraft guns. The Brooklyn also had a hanger which carried scouting plans used for anti-submarine patrols or as spotters. Her speed was 32 knots, and boasted 15,000 miles without a fuel stop. This new class of ship aside from the Japanese class, was considered the most heavily armed ship in the world at the time. At the Brooklyn Navy Yard on September 30, 1937, Kathryn Jane Lackey, daughter of Rear Admiral F.R. Lackey and descendent of generations of Brooklynites, the USS Brooklyn was christened with a bottle of champagne and the career of the ship was officially launched. As part of the Cruiser Division Eight, the Brooklyn spent much of her first year training and runnnig exercises at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and near the Panama Canal. In early 1939, she was ordered to return to her home port and participate in the opening of the New York World's Fair. On May 23, 1939, she assisted in the salvage operation of Squalus, a sunken submarine, off the coast of New Hampshire. Thereafter she was back on the west coast ready for the opening of the Golden Gate Exposition at San Francisco. In 1941, she made a good-will and training tour of Samoa, Auckland (New Zealand), and Tahiti. By midyear, she was ordered back to the Atlantic. From the eastern seaboard, the Brooklyn carried an initial contingent of American troops to Rykjavik, Iceland, to relieve the British Army. In 1942, after Pearl Harbor and America's entry into World War II, much of the USS Brooklyn's duties included transporting troops or escorting convoys to different allied ports including Panama, Ireland and Scotland. She was involved in a small encounter with a German U-boast off the coast of New Jersey and, later, the successful rescue of all 1,500 passengers and crew from the burning transport ship Wakefield (previously the luxury liner Manhattan). The major battles seen by the ship were off the coast of North Africa and in the Mediterranean. By the fall of 1942, the Brooklyn, joined the Western Naval Task force, later known as the Atlantic Fleet, in America's attempt to establish miliary control of North Africa. On October 24, 1942, Task Force No. 34 was en route to Morocco, carrying supplies and army personnel under the command of Major General George S. Patton. The convoy of ships spanned an area of the Atlantic Ocean roughly the size of 20 by 30 miles. Not sure whether or not the French would put up a fight for control of the North African coast, the USS Brooklyn helped troops land at Fedala and Casablanca on the Sherki Peninsula on November 8th. The Brooklyn silenced the French defense battery positioned on the coast and continued to destroy French defense artillery as American troops pushed their way inland. It was here that the Brooklyn received the only damage it would receive the entire war-a shell that was either a dud or ricocheted into the sea without exploding. It left a small mark and six injured crew. It was also here that the Brooklyn escaped a near certain kill from a French torpedo. The Brooklyn was ordered back to the U.S. in early 1943 and began training exercises off the coast of Maine. She received an overhaul at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and took a couple of convoys to North Africa. In May, she remained in North Africa and entered the Mediterranean to aid in landing boats of troops and supplies near Licata, Sicily. The Brooklyn returned to the U.S. under orders and went back to the Mediterranean once again in July. There she assisted other ships at Palermo and became the Flagship of Cruiser Division Eight's Rear Admiral Lyal A. Davidson. She spent Christmas of 1943 in Malta and threw a party for many Maltese orphans. In early 1944 the Brooklyn was one of many ships that participated in the Battle of Anzio. Securing Anzio greatly aided the American troops' success in Rome and the recapture of Italy. By late summer of 1944, the Brookyn cleared enemy obstacles off the coast of Southern France west of Cannes for troops to land. After Cannes fell to the Allies, the Brooklyn was ordered to tour U.S. Naval bases in the Mediterranean, then to return to New York City. The Brooklyn was awarded four battle stars for her service during World War II. The USS Brooklyn remained on the east coast of the United States for much of 1945 as the war came to a close. She was placed in commission in reserve in January 1946 and then placed out of commission in reserve in January 1947. On January 9, 1947, the Brooklyn was sold and transferred to Chile under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. The ship was then renamed the O'Higgins. She served in that nations' navy into the mid-1980's and was sold for scrapping in 1991. Due to the efforts of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity at Brooklyn College, the bronze bell that decorated the USS Brooklyn (CL 40) during its tenure in the U.S.Navy was donated to Brooklyn College in November 1951. Senator Lehman of New York approved the request and presented a bill to Congress honoring it. The bill was passed because of Senatorial Courtesy and the bell was returned to the borough for which it was named. The bell from the USS Brooklyn has been on display at Brooklyn College ever since.